Paul: His Life and His Teachings The Redemption of Saul
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No.3 Paul: His Life and Teachings – The Redemption of Saul
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overview
We started a new series on Paul: His Life and His Teachings previously, we talked about what new birth is all about from the background of Paul. It is really a complete turnaround of one’s life.
We also look at some of the things that made him great, namely: his decisions, his statements, and his love for the church. In this lesson, we are going in more detail on how Paul’s life turned around. Let’s start with his journey on the road to Damascus as narrated in Acts chapter 9. At that time, the followers of Jesus, referred to by Luke as disciples, were fulfilling the Great Commission. They were making disciples as they continued in the apostles’ doctrine, spend their time together in fellowship, the breaking of bread, and in prayer. They were under intense pressure as they were threatened by Paul, then Saul. It is under these circumstances that one’s discipleship will show. Unless a person is properly discipled, it will be very difficult to withstand these kinds of pressures in life. Meanwhile, Damascus provides the crossroad in the life of Paul. It was a very pivotal moment in his life. It changed him for eternity and through his life, he changed the world.
Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus is a story wherein darkness meets the light. Light always prevails. There is no way that darkness can prevail over the true light. In the passages in chapters 22 and 26, Paul testifies regarding his encounter with Jesus and declares the basic proclamation of his identification with who Jesus is His baptism, His ministry, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. In all three accounts in Acts, there are common features of Paul’s testimony: the light, the falling to the ground, the voice that Paul heard, the command given to Paul, and the commissioning of Paul. All these point to the veracity of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. Such encounter validates his call to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ just as Paul taught in his first epistle to the church in Corinth (1 Cor.15:5-8; cf. 9:1). In fact, incidentally, even in modern day apostleship, it seems like experiencing the appearance of Jesus Christ is a common denominator. Nott say that Jesus need to appear to the person to validate his or her apostleship. Rather, that such encounter is observed to be a common experience among the apostles of Jesus.
Another thing to note is the ministry of Ananias. It seems like that in Paul’s conversion and commission, Ananias served as the representative of God, and indirectly of the Church. We really don’t know much of this Ananias character which is very interesting thing to ponder on. There also seems to be a distinction/difference between the 12 and Paul in Acts, even in the New Testament corpus. As to Paul’s encounter, there was a sudden appearance of the Light or theophany, which is a common mode of revelation in the Old Testament (cf. Psa. 27:1; 78:14; Isa.9:2; 42:16). Light has also been understood to mean “revelation.” Hence, Paul understood this event as revelatory. As Paul wrote, “For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:12).” The same word for light was used elsewhere in Acts that demonstrates that this light is physically blinding and dazzling. It came from heaven and the impact of the sudden appearance of the light is such that it made him fall to the ground. This must have been very a shock and awe experience for Paul.
Notice that Paul both fell to the ground and heard a voice, that is, a sound. It doesn’t seem like he saw the actual image of Jesus because of the blinding light. However, he was able to distinguish the sound and was able to carry on a dialogue with the theophany. This is one of the features of divine revelation – perception. Jesus addressed Paul in Hebrew, Saul, שָׁאוּל. The companions of Paul at this point were rendered useless. They failed to perceive the significance of what was taking place. In another account, they could not even understand the voice. Or, they just heard a sound. God touched Paul’s life in such an awesome way –it was unique, yet very personal encounter. The experience was life changing and as a result, Paul “enslaved” himself to the gospel and preached it all throughout the known world. We have our own encounter with the Savior that led to our own redemption – it may not be like that of Paul but it is likewise personal, unique, and life-changing. Regardless of the manner of our encounter with Jesus, the same power of God through His Holy Spirit that is in Paul is also in us. May we commit ourselves to the gospel like Paul and preach the gospel to every area of influence that God has blessed us with. Praise be to God!