The salvation of Saul was to result in the gospel being preached to distant people and lands, and in the extension of the church to many key cities. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness (John 12:46). (3) The racial expansion from the Jews to the Gentiles. * [9:43] The fact that Peter lodged with a tanner would have been significant to both the Gentile and Jewish Christians, for Judaism considered the tanning occupation unclean. While Paul may not have brought about the execution of all those whom he arrested, including women as well as men (verse 2), verse 1 strongly suggests that this was his desire and ambition. Why this swift act of judgment? . Ananias was a disciple of Jesus who lived in Damascus and was Who told Saul to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street? 2:1 He said to me, Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you. 2 As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. Now that the Lord had identified Himself as Jesus, Saul recognized that he was the sinner. And look, you blind, that you may see. (13) As Stephens death, instigated (or at least assisted) by Saul, resulted in an intense and widespread persecution of the churches in Jerusalem and elsewhere, so Sauls conversion seems to have been directly related to the return of peace (cf. The call of salvation is a call to holiness, and to obedience, and to fellowship, with God and with our fellow-believers. (14) There is an interesting symmetry or parallel between the conversion of Saul and the conversion of Cornelius. In our text Ananias was instructed to go to Saul and to lay hands on him so that he might receive his sight (9:12). 7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. Why was Ananias afraid of helping Saul? When the Christians learned that the Hellenists to whom Saul had preached were plotting to kill them, they helped him escape through Caesarea and on to Tarsus. The Lord seeks and saves individuals, and thus our methods should be personal. sunodia, Luke 2:44). F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts, Revised Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988), fn. Preachers working through the narrative lectionary with their congregations, then, will do well to explore this passage in detail in order to establish the character of Paul well for the second half of Acts (Acts 13-28; see how this role is foreshadowed in 9:15), which shifts the focus from the ministry of the Twelve in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to his role in taking the gospel throughout Asia Minor, Greece, and even to Rome (see Acts 1:8). They could not out-argue him. Questions: Why were Ananias and Sapphira not given a second chance? For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life (1 Thessalonians 4:7). 2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For the remainder of this essay, I will pursue the second option. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. ,%d/3o3o6jda=|4S-LJ3ajLcNfZyV;CkCl>390q
{KQ0lQ)0>~cy:CJkP|4M-\v Saul is welcomed into the church. A man once confessed to his pastor that even though he didnt think of himself as hating people, there was one person he really hated for the way the person had wronged him. 3. 154 What is both interesting and important about this text is that the call of salvation does not necessarily require a change of career. 24n but their plot became known to Saul. Proving (sunbibazon). He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. Bob is a pastor/teacher and elder at Community Bible Chapel in Richardson, Texas, and has contributed many of his Bible study series for use by the Foundation. For you are our glory and joy (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20). The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). also 16:17; 18:25-26). The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". It strikes many readers as harsh, a return to Old Testament retribution. Theologically, we know this as the doctrine of mans total depravity.151 Paul surely believed that it was essential for men to begin with the understanding of their own sin, for in his Epistle to the Romans, he took the first two and one-half chapters to prove that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). For just as you once were disobedient to God but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, so these also now have been disobedient, in order that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. Their attempt to deceive the apostles was an attempt to deceive God putting the Spirit of the Lord to the test (v. 9) and they paid the price! When Paul spoke of his conversion here in Galatians 1, he did not speak of the light which shone without, but rather of the light which shone within. Even then he knew he wanted to live the life of a religious. We would readily grant that every conversion which is recorded is unique, to some degree. The men who traveled with Saul were frightened and confused. The casting of this spell on this false prophet could therefore have been an act of kindness, as Gods blinding of Saul had been, intended to cease his opposition and perhaps even to bring about his conversion. What is the significance of the story of Ananias and Sapphira? He sent me so that you can see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit. 18 Immediately, something that looked like fish scales fell from Sauls eyes. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. I very much doubt anyone prayed that this Saul might be saved. 129 By this time Saul has gained a reputation as the ringleader of the movement to make Christianity extinct. Jesus repeated his command, explaining that Saul was his chosen instrument to deliver the gospel to the Gentiles, their kings, and the people of Israel. Sauls conversion was also his call to ministry, and this conversion experience is strikingly similar to that of one of his predecessors, Ezekiel: 1:4 I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the northan immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. They could not prove him wrong from the Scriptures. The conversion of Saul is a very crucial event in this book, which spells out from a historical point of view (Romans, from a theological viewpoint) the relationship of Jews and Gentiles in the plans and purposes of God. 7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 23:16-17, 19, 24; 23:26). /w\/)sr?o|cBw3>E> The Lord It was just such a miracle which gave Saul his spiritual sight, as he received back his physical sight. They are also very significant in what they conveyed to Saul. Also, You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you (Deuteronomy 28:28-29). This divine illumination is that miracle which God performs within a lost, blinded, dead soul, so as to bring about salvation: 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. It was evidently a term used by the early followers of Jesus to denote their movement as the way of life or the way of salvation. F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts, Revised Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988), p. 181. He is there praying,j helpful to the Lord. To Paul, his relationship, by faith, to Jesus Christ was also the beginning of his new relationship to the body of Christ, the church: Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christs afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way,137 both men and women,138 he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Saul Visits Jerusalem. 12 The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, 13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, 14 and all the rest of the clans and their wives. It would seem not to be there on the road to Damascus. WebThis happened to Ananias of Damascus when he ministered to Saul of Tarsus. 134 Blaiklock comes to this conclusion concerning the time of Sauls conversion: Probably the earliest acceptable date for the conversion on the Damascus road is AD 33. Leave them; they are blind guides. 17) and the restoration of the man after the shattering experience he had known, and for the early ministry in Tarsus, Syria, Cilicia, and Antioch, which prepared mind and method for the major assault on the pagan world. There are two very important implications to the personal dimension of Sauls conversion. Barnabas, one of the Christians, assured them Sauls faith was genuine. 10 i There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias. He answered, Here I am, Lord. 11 The Lord said to him, Get up and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Ananias had not only heard of how Saul had been systematically destroying the church in Jerusalem, hunting down men and women and turning them over to the authorities, but also knew that he was on the march to Damascus, ready to destroy that church as well. There are affinities between his conversion experience and Ezekiels inaugural vision, in which the prophet saw the likeness of the heavenly throne and above it a likeness as it were of a human form (Ezek. 27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Peter Heals Aeneas at Lydda. About three hours later, Sapphira arrived. Charles Spurgeon once wrote: Prayer is the autograph of the Holy Spirit upon the renewed heart. God was sealing Saul to Himself. What happened when Ananias anointed Saul? What Ananias didnt know is that Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. How many times should a shock absorber bounce? It almost seems harder to convince Ananias that Saul is (or will be) a Christian than it is to convert Saul. Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit because it was the Holy Spirit who dwelt in the apostles, giving them their power and authority. Let us be careful to discern what changes the gospel requires and what changes it does not. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.