The Lesson From Paul's Conversion
Tom Shrader walks through Acts 9 and the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, arguing that the event demonstrates salvation is wholly the work of God — from preparing Saul's heart on the Damascus Road to commissioning Ananias as His instrument. Drawing on Major Ian Thomas's reflection on Saul's pre-conversion view of Christ, Shrader shows that genuine conversion involves a total reversal of values: recognizing that Christ is everything and self is nothing. He applies this to every believer, pressing the congregation to examine whether their own life shows the immediate fruit and ongoing transformation that marks authentic faith.
“If you take all of life and all that's in it, what's of supreme importance is knowing Christ and following Him, and everything else fades away.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Acts
Recorded: 1999 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 1 hr 14 min
Themes: conversion, salvation, grace, transformation, surrender, faith, repentance, God's sovereignty, new believer, doubting salvation, questioning faith, seeking assurance, young adult, skeptic exploring christianity, struggling with self-sufficiency, feeling unworthy
Scripture: Acts 9:1-31, Romans 12:2, Philippians 3:12, Galatians 1, 2 Corinthians 11, Matthew 5:3
Theological Themes: soteriology, monergism, regeneration, divine election, salvation by grace, sanctification, total depravity, effectual calling
Full Transcript
The Significance of Paul's Conversion
Open your Bibles to the book of Acts, the ninth chapter. When we look at Acts chapter 9, we are examining the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. It is an event that for me personally has been one of those passages of Scripture that I go back to over and over again. It is significant in my life, and I think it is significant in the history of the church.
In the eighteenth century in England, there were two young men who were unbelievers — not neutral, but antagonistic toward the faith. Their names were Gilbert West and Lloyd Lyttleton. One of them reportedly said, "Christianity stands upon a very unstable foundation. There are only two things that actually support it: the alleged resurrection of Jesus Christ and the alleged conversion of Saul of Tarsus. If we can disprove those stories, which should be rather easy to do, Christianity will collapse like a house of cards." These two men set out to do exactly that — to disprove the resurrection and disprove the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.
Gilbert West tackled the job of disproving the resurrection, and Lyttleton took on the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Years later, each wrote a book. Gilbert West's book was titled *The Resurrection of Jesus Christ*, and in it he argued for the historic fact of the resurrection of Christ. Lloyd Lyttleton wrote a book titled *The Conversion of St. Paul*, in which he argued historically and biblically for the authenticity of the conversion of St. Paul.
You and I have a task much easier. We know this is the infallible Word of God, so we know that it is true. As we look at this conversion of Saul of Tarsus, there are many different issues and many different lessons.
The Singular Lesson
Last week we looked at the lessons — plural — of Paul's conversion. This week I changed the title to the singular: *the* lesson. It is a lesson of gigantic theological importance and of equally great practical importance. Here is what I believe is the lesson in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus: that conversion is completely and totally an act of God. When we look at it, we see God orchestrating and moving, at work in the lives of the two principal players — Saul and Ananias.
God Prepares Saul's Heart
The first point is that God prepares Saul's heart. Look at verse one: Saul is uttering threats with every breath. He goes to the high priest and requests letters addressed to the synagogues at Damascus, asking for their cooperation to arrest any of the followers of the Way. The Way — that is the Christians who are there. Apparently word has come to Saul that the Christians are finding something of a safe haven in Damascus, where a large group of them had gathered. He is going to arrest them, capture them, and bring them back to Jerusalem.
As he nears Damascus, verse three, it is noon and a brilliant light flashes. He is knocked to the ground and hears a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" This reveals the close identification between Jesus and His people — when they are persecuted, He is persecuted. It is so important to see that Saul is not seeking God. He is not out looking for salvation, not trying to find the meaning of life. He feels he has already found it. He is on a mission, in his own mind, to serve God. Saul does not see himself as a candidate for an evangelism opportunity — he considers himself one of God's men. But God understands that although Saul is a religious man, he does not know Him in an intimate way and has not come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.
So the Lord says, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Get up and go into the city and do what you are told." Into the city Saul goes, and he is there three days — blind, unable to see, taking no food and no water. God prepares his heart.
God Prepares a Messenger
At the same time, God is preparing Ananias as a messenger. Look at verse ten: "There was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, 'Ananias.' 'Yes, Lord,' he replied. 'Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you arrive, ask for Saul of Tarsus. He is praying to Me right now. I have shown him in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.'"
Ananias objects: "But Lord, I have heard about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem. And we hear he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest every believer in Damascus." Even as God prepares Saul's heart to hear the gospel message and to come in repentance and faith, He prepares a messenger. This is all about God.
You cannot read the New Testament and not come to the clear teaching that God chooses who will be saved. And inevitably that leads to the question: if that is true, then why should I evangelize? Why should I share my faith? Why should I reach out to those around me? If everyone who is going to come to Christ has already been chosen and will come, why evangelize? The answer is clear. First, because He told you to. Second, because just as He has chosen who He will save, He has chosen the instrument He will use to save them — and He is going to use His people. He is going to use you.
How exciting it should be to sit here today and realize that perhaps right now, on the other side of town, the other side of the nation, or around the world, God is preparing the heart of someone He is going to use you to come alongside — to be the instrument who shares the truth with them. It is all of God, but He has chosen to use human instruments like you and me.
A Mission Given
Not only did He save Paul, He had a mission for him. Here is what He tells Ananias in verse fifteen: "Go and do what I say, for Saul is My chosen instrument to take My message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer." There is a mission for Saul, and there is a purpose in Ananias.
You Have a Mission
God saved you for a reason. He will use you in a powerful way — His design is to use you. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God still has something for each person in this room to do. You know how I know it? You're still breathing. When He's done with you, you will die. But until that moment, every breath, every thought, every action, every word is to be taken captive by Him, to be used for His honor and for His glory.
You have a mission. You have a purpose. Each person has a deep desire to be a significant part of a significant movement. There is no more significant movement on this planet than the movement of the body of Christ.
Walls Come Down
Look how walls are broken down and barriers are removed. Ananias went and found Saul — these two bitter enemies, arch-rivals. Not long before this, if Saul had seen Ananias, he would have been after him to arrest him, maybe beat him, maybe even execute him. Yet Ananias laid hands on him and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so you might regain your sight, to be filled with the Holy Spirit." Instantaneously, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized, and afterwards he ate some food.
That is the message and the mission. The ministry that God has given us as His people is the ministry of reconciliation. He breaks down barriers. Demographics are not an issue to God. There is no Greek or Jew, no male or female.
A few years ago, we introduced a song during a building program in the other building called "Let the Walls Fall Down." The irony of singing that song in the midst of a building program was not missed on too many. But the song was not about walls of brick and mortar — it was about walls we put between ourselves, walls of hate and division, and God comes and removes all of those.
That is why you can have that incredible experience where you meet someone, and after just a few minutes of conversation you discover they too are born-again Christians. Within moments you are having a more intimate, personal conversation with them than you have ever had with blood relatives. The reason is that you do not just share a chain of DNA with them — you share a vibrant relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to break down all of those walls and set them aside.
Have You Been Converted Like Paul?
Now here is the question we ask again today: have you been converted like Paul? I believe that what we see here is not an abnormal but a normal picture of conversion. When we say that, we do not mean circumstantially — we mean substantially. Has your heart, your mind, your life been changed and transformed like the apostle's? If not, then it is reasonable to say you have not been converted at all. This is the norm.
Paul later writes in Romans chapter 12, verse 2: "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." The New American Standard puts it this way: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Has your mind been renewed? Has there been a perspective in your life that has changed? Has your life gone from me, me, me, to Him, Him, Him? That is the reversal.
Major Ian Thomas on Saul's View of Jesus
Major Ian Thomas undertook the awesome task of putting himself in the shoes of Saul of Tarsus and writing about Saul's view of Jesus prior to the Damascus Road experience and subsequent to it. Let me read this to you. It is a little long, so please hang in there.
"As Saul of Tarsus, I made my own independent evaluation of this man called Jesus of Nazareth. I investigated his life to see if this leader of this Nazarene cult was worth following. I was not unfair. I was not unkind. I applied to him all the normal, natural standards by which any life is evaluated in any age.
I looked first into his ancestry and discovered there was a cloud over his birth right from the start. As I investigated it, it became quite clear that he was the illegitimate son of a faithless woman who had been taken in by a kind-hearted carpenter and raised as his own son. He was an outcast from the beginning, and socially, he was worth absolutely nothing.
I investigated his professional standing and discovered he was born of peasant stock and attended no schools. He was raised by a simple carpenter in a village of no standing in Israel, and professionally, he was worth absolutely nothing.
As Saul of Tarsus, I investigated his theological and ecclesiastical background, and I found that he had sat at nobody's feet, that he had not been to seminary, that he had no ecclesiastical or theological training. In fact, he was repudiated by all the ecclesiastical authorities of his day. He was nothing but a street preacher, a rabble-rouser, and as far as his theological standing was concerned, he was worth absolutely nothing.
Furthermore, I looked into his standing financially. I found he had no bank account, that he was born in a cave and laid in a borrowed manger, that he lived in other people's homes. He was an incorrigible scrounger, always borrowing things. He borrowed money to pay his taxes. He borrowed his clothes from other people. He rode around on a borrowed donkey. He died on a borrowed cross and was buried in a borrowed tomb. Financially, from the standpoint of the accumulation of the world's goods, he was worth absolutely nothing.
So as I investigated and applied to him the normal standards by which any life is evaluated in any age, I discovered that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, was not worth following. He was—"
The Reversal at the Heart of Conversion
But on the Damascus Road, something happened. There, in a blinding flash of a moment, I looked into the face of a man, and I saw God. I discovered that He, whom I thought to be worth nothing, was Lord of everything, that He was the God of glory, that everything that is made is upheld by the word of His power, that He is behind all things, that He is the very imprint and image of God. There I found that He, who I thought to be nothing, was everything, and I, who I thought to be everything, was nothing.
That is conversion. In that moment, I came to a tremendous reversal of all of the values of my life. Later I learned that I, who was nothing, could be filled with Him, who was everything, and that would make my life something. That is conversion in Paul's life, and that is conversion in the life of every believer.
Blessed are the poor in spirit — literally those who are spiritually bankrupt. They understand they are nothing. They come to Him not clinging to any works, but emptying themselves of their works, of their pride, of their self-exaltation, denying themselves, dying to themselves, and reaching to Christ and Christ alone. For I realize He is Lord of everything, and I am nothing by comparison to Him.
Counting Everything as Loss
Paul goes on and writes about that in Philippians 3. He says, if you take everything that I have — all of these achievements, and he lists them, and they are significant achievements in the eyes of the world — and you compare them to this singular thing, this thing of knowing Christ, there is no comparison at all. All of life flows from a knowledge and an understanding of who Christ is. Paul says, I count all of this stuff as rubbish compared to knowing Christ. There is nothing for me to pursue in life but knowing Him, and that pursuit is a lifelong pursuit.
Philippians 3:12 — Paul writes this: "I don't mean I've already achieved these things, or that I've already reached perfection, but I keep working toward the day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me to be. Brothers and sisters, I'm still not all I should be, but I'm focusing my energies on one thing, forgetting what lies behind and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ, is calling us heaven worthy."
He saved you for a purpose, and the purpose is not to become significant in the world's economy, but to become significant in His economy.
Conversion Takes Root Immediately
I believe that if you haven't been converted like Paul, you haven't been converted at all. We hear this all the time — someone will say, "Well, I prayed a prayer at a camp when I was 15, but nothing happened for 20 years, and now all of a sudden my heart is on fire. I'm in His Word and I'm studying." Inevitably the question comes: do you think I was converted at age 15? Ultimately the answer is it really doesn't matter — the issue is that you are now, and we praise God and thank Him for that. But my instinctive reaction is no, you weren't.
I think this takes root immediately, and immediately there is fruit. Look at what happens in Paul's life. In verse 20, immediately — how long? Immediately — he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues. Here is the message he declared: He, that is Jesus, is the Son of God.
One author writes that in other words, Paul starts by proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ — that Jesus is the Lord, that He is God, that He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He owns all things. All things exist for Him and are upheld by His power. He is the meaning behind all history and the purpose behind all living.
Life's Meaning Is Found Only in Christ
That is why the world will never figure out life. You cannot figure out life apart from Christ. That is why you see people go from mate to mate to mate, job to job to job, thrill-seeking to thrill-seeking to thrill-seeking — because they think in and of those things they are going to find life and the meaning of life. The meaning of life is found only and solely in a relationship with Christ that is vibrant and alive: to know Him and to make Him known, to study His Word, to be immersed in what this Word says and what it means in your life.
There was someone in my office this week. As we began to talk, my question was simple: what is going on in your life? What is God doing? They could not even finish a sentence. After talking for a little while, the person said, "I have been crying a lot lately — not because I am depressed, but because I am overwhelmed with an understanding of who God is and what He is doing in my life."
Men and women, that is conversion. That is normal. That is the standard. I do not mean a singular weeping and wailing — I am talking about the experience of a transformation of thought. I do not care if you have been in church for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 50 years, or 70 years. If you have not come to an understanding that knowing Christ and pursuing Him supersedes everything else, I do not think you are converted at all.
The Amazement of Those Who Heard
Immediately Paul goes — not a day or two or a week. At once he goes. At once there is life change. That is why you can be so worn out in your Christian life: you are out trying to change things, and your life has never been changed.
All those who were hearing him continued to be amazed. They began to run down his resume: "Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name of Jesus? And did he not come here with the specific purpose of bringing the church bound back to the high priest?" When verse 21 says all who heard this were amazed, I think he means all.
The Amazement of Damascus
The church was a little leery. How about the Jews? They had to be excited that here comes this pro from Dover coming down to Damascus to take over, persecuting the church, and now the one who came to persecute is the one who's proclaiming. They had to be amazed. Saul continued to increase in strength, and he continued to confound the Jews by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
Here is what he did. He said, "You pick the book, you pick the page, lay it open, and there is Christ." He took that Old Testament and said, "The Messiah that was promised has come. The Lamb that was just a picture has now arrived. It is Jesus Christ. He is the Christ, the Messiah." The Jews heard this message from Him.
Three Years of Preparation
When some days had elapsed, we would never know it from this text alone, but when we go to the book of Galatians and study chapter one, we see that the period of time described in verse 22 leading to verse 23 is actually three years — three years of intensive training, three years of studying, three years of prayer and meditation and preparing as God worked on Saul's life.
Many days later, the Jews plotted to do away with him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates of the city day and night so that they might put him to death. They had heard all they wanted to hear from him, and they were going to catch him and kill him.
Lowered in a Basket
His disciples took him by night and led him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. Consider this: all the fanfare that accompanied his arrival to the city of Damascus, all the excitement and the fear — this was a man of great reputation who came to the city with great pomp and circumstance. He leaves in a basket.
We do not have to guess how Paul felt about that. Here is what he writes in 2 Corinthians 11: "If I may boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is to be praised forever, knows the truth. When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Artus kept guards at the city gate to catch me, but I was lowered in a basket through the window in a city wall, and that is how I got away."
He says, "You want to hear about the most significant thing I have ever done? I climbed into a basket while they let me out." Why was that significant? It was at that moment that, yet again, Paul was reminded of how weak he is and how strong God is. That is how you grow.
Strength Through Weakness
I believe — and we have never done it and never will — but what a great exercise it would be to go around the room and have each of you share when God really taught you something significant about Him, about yourself, and about the relationship one with another. I believe that for most of you, maybe nine out of ten, maybe higher, you would reflect back on a time of hardship and pain and suffering, when everything so overwhelmed you that you reached a point where you said, "God, you take it. I cannot do it anymore." For when I am weak, that is when I am really strong.
Paul said he found his strength when he died to himself, when he denied himself, when he set his agenda aside, when he gave up the foolish notion that somehow, in and of himself, he could do something significant. He understood what Jesus taught: apart from Him, I can do nothing. When Paul understood that he was nothing and God is everything, but that he could be filled by He who is everything, his life became something.
The Danger of Misplaced Priorities
Maybe you are here today, even as a Christian, and you really feel that your life does not matter. With all the love I can muster, let me tell you why it does not matter. It is not God's fault. It is not my fault. It is not Walter's fault, or Harper's fault, or Gary's fault, or Taylor's fault. It is your fault. You are the one who, for whatever reason, has decided to elevate your agenda above God's.
You are the one who has decided that knowing Him is important, but it is not the only thing. There are other things — deals to close, relationships to nourish, stuff to do. "God, I will get back to you." God will not let you live that way.
When I look at the life of the Apostle Paul, I remember when I first read it and found myself saying, "I want to be like Paul." I kept reading and at the end of the day I realized: this is not extraordinary. This is the way God designed us to live in Him. He does great things — not Paul. Paul understood one thing: if you take all of life and all that is in it, what is of supreme importance is knowing Christ and following Him, and everything else fades away. All of the distraction goes away.
The Lesson of Larry
Last Sunday, many of you were here when Larry was here. Most of you had not seen him before. You had heard me talk about him, so in your mind's eye you had a picture — probably a man around 5'10" or 5'11", maybe a powerful voice you had heard on tape. You had a picture of how this man was going to be. And then what you saw was an old, crippled man in a wheelchair.
Some of you probably mistakenly felt a little sorry for him. Do not feel sorry for him. That arthritis that is literally deforming his body is, I believe, one of the great blessings God has ever given him. All the distractions that are normal to you and me are gone for him.
Pursuing Christ Above All Else
He wonders whether he should spend six hours on Monday playing golf. Going to the mall for hours on end and walking around are giant, almost impossible obstacles to him. So what does he live for? Knowing Christ. He studies and he reads and he teaches and he fellowships with God's people. That is his life.
Do you want to make a difference? It does not matter whether you are one of the kids sitting in here, whether you are a high school student, a college student, whether you are middle-aged, or whether you are at the end of your life. Do you want to make today and every day extraordinary? Here is what you do: pursue Christ and Him alone. Everything else fades away by comparison.
Paul Arrives in Jerusalem
That is what happens in Paul's life. They are trying to get him, the disciples took him by night, and now he arrives at Jerusalem. As they were trying to associate with him — the word "trying" there means literally repeated attempts — the disciples did not believe him. They were afraid, as verse 27 tells us.
But Barnabas — we have seen Barnabas before, the son of encouragement, the man who was highly regarded by the church — took hold of him and brought him to the apostles. He described to them how Paul, then called Saul, had seen the Lord on the road, that the Lord had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. Saul was then with them, moving about freely, speaking out boldly in the name of Christ.
The Role Reversal: Saul and Stephen
He was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews, and they were attempting to put him to death. This is the exact role reversal between Saul and Stephen. This is the very thing Stephen was doing when Saul oversaw his martyrdom. Saul had been going about preaching and teaching, and now they are ready to put him to death. They have had enough of him.
Verse 30 tells us that when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him to Tarsus. And now, in our study of the book of Acts, Saul — Paul — moves from center stage for a while. He is gone from our study for several years.
God's Continuing Work in Paul
He is not stagnant during this time. He is not atrophying away. He is active and working, and God is using him. We will see that when we pick his story up again. But here is what I want you to see: you can have a Christian spiritual life as vibrant as that of Saul, if you will forget what lies behind and strain forward for the prize He has for you.
Have you done that? Are you doing that? What is stopping you? Unconfessed sin? Unrepentant sin? The pursuit of the world's goods? The busyness of life? You figure it out. You put those things away. You let them shrink aside. He increases, and your agenda decreases.
Closing Prayer
Father, help us see that. Help us understand that, like the apostle, You have a plan for our lives and You will use us in a powerful and significant way. God, we ask that You do that. Thank You for this church that cares so much about You, about Your Word, and about its people. We pray that You use us, and we pray that in Jesus' name, amen.