The Conversion of St. Paul - Acts 9.1-22 - January 25, 2015
1) St. Paul’s conversion seems so spectacular. This is for two
reasons. First, when we consider the murderous hatred in Paul’s heart for
Christ, his conversion to faith in Christ seems so much more miraculous. Saul
had not been ambivalent toward the faith. He sought to destroy it. While St.
Stephen was being made into the first martyr of the New Testament Church, St.
Luke records that “the witnesses laid
down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.” (Acts 7:58) Saul
approved of Stephen’s death. He held everyone’s coats while they fulfilled
their bloodlust. Stephen’s death breathed a new life into the hatred the Jews
had for Christ and began a persecution of Christians in Jerusalem and the
outlying areas. Again, St. Luke records, “As for Saul, he made havoc of the
church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them
to prison.” (Acts 8:3) Saul seethes with hatred for
Christ and His Christians because Saul was wholly committed to the Law of
Moses, specifically he was committed to the idea of works righteousness. Saul
was zealous for the idea that in the performing of the works of the Law sinners
could be justified before God. Saul was totally committed, zealous, and
single-minded in his defense of Moses as a the way of salvation which is why he
must so vehemently oppose Christ, who teaches not works but faith in His
atoning death upon the cross. Saul stood to lose so much if Christ was true. In
Philippians 3:5-6 Paul lists the
credentials he held under the Law. “Circumcised
the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of
the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the
church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” If Christ was truly the Son of God who saves only by
faith, all Saul’s credentials, all his works, all his zeal, meant nothing.
2) Later in life, writing as a prisoner for the sake of
Christ, He writes: “But what things were
gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all
things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I
may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is
from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the
righteousness which is from God by faith.” (Philippians 3:7-9) Because of his conversion to Christ, Paul
counts all his own good works as trash and refuse. All that matters is knowing
Christ and having the perfect righteousness of Christ, not his own works of the
Law which were, in reality, filthy, hypocritical, unclean rags. Paul, once the
Apostle of Moses, teaching justification by works of the Law, now casts all of
that thinking aside for the sake of faith in Christ. Christ turned Saul’s zeal
for the Law into zeal for the Gospel of faith in Christ. Chris reshapes Saul’s
vim and vigor for Moses into a faith which would rather die a thousand times
than reject Christ. We see this towards the end of the reading from Acts. “Immediately he preached the Christ in the
synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Saul increased all the more in strength,
and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is
the Christ.” (Acts 9:20, 22) Saul’s
conversion sticks in our hearts because we see the complete change that Christ
works in this man, making a disciple of the Law into a preacher of the Gospel.
3) St. Paul’s conversion seems so
wonderful and spectacular to us because of this utter change. And it should
bring us all true hope and consolation whenever we despair about the magnitude of
our own sins. We must not look at the depth of our sins and wallow in despair,
thinking that our sins are too great and numerous to be forgiven by God. The
Lord works this great salvation in Saul to demonstrate to all mankind the
extent of His mercy. St. Paul writes to young Bishop Timothy, “This
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this
reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all
longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for
everlasting life.” (1 Timothy 1:15-16) The Gospel is for
all people because Christ died to atone for the sins of the entire world. But
Paul serves as the chief pattern of God’s mercy that we are to look to when our
sins overwhelm us. Look what the Lord God does with the chief of sinners! He
was a murderer. He spilled the blood of the saints in the streets. He
imprisoned our brothers and sisters in Christ. He struck terrorized the
faithful with his threats. He denied Christ openly, loudly, and impenitently.
St. Paul calls himself the chief of sinners and this most certainly true, for
the Holy Ghost inspired St. Paul to write this of himself. If the Lord shows
mercy to this man who is chief of all of us sinners then what will the Lord
show to you, to me, to all the world. It doesn’t matter if your sins are
different from Paul’s sins. You can’t stack yours up against his for
comparison. He is the chief of us. And Jesus came into the world to save the
chief of sinners to show that He wants to save all sinners, not by works of the
Law, not by Moses, not by what you can do within yourself by your own power,
but by faith in Christ’s righteousness and confidence that His death atones for
all your sins. St. Paul’s conversion is spectacular for this great turn around.
But this turn around in Saul is for you, to show you that this is how Christ
deals with all sinners.
4) The second reason that St. Paul’s conversion seems so
spectacular is the mode in which it seemed to occur. Bright, unapproachable
light, the voice of Christ booming in his ears. Christ appears to Saul and
preaches the sternest law to him. “Saul,
Saul, why are you persecuting me? I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is
hard for you to kick against the goads.” (Acts 9:4-5) The full force of
Christ’s judgment is brought upon Saul. Saul has been persecuting Christians.
But Christ says no, when you persecute them you are really persecuting me, for
they are my body, they belong to me and I to them in the mystical union of
faith. Saul is crushed by the hammer of Christ’s accusation and brought low by
His word of condemnation. We must note that this is not where Saul is
converted. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16), not the
Law. The Law does not convert us to fear, love and trust in God above all
things. The Law does not inspire true faith in our hearts towards Christ. The
Law always condemns us for our sins and leaves us bloodied, bludgeoned, and
beaten. Saul is not converted on the road to Damascus. He only hears Christ’s
accusation against Him and learns of His true blindness. Christ blinds Saul
physically to show Saul just how spiritually blind he has truly been. It is a
picture of his spiritual condition. It is a visible manifestation of the
preaching of the Law against him.
5) When Saul asks the Lord what it is that
he should do, Christ does not preach the Gospel to him. He says, “Arise and go into the city and you will be
told what you must do.” (Acts 9:6) Christ reserves the great honor of preaching
the Gospel for the Holy Ministry which He ordained before He ascended into
heaven. The Lord Jesus sends His servant Ananias to Saul. Ananias enters the
house where Saul was and says, “Brother
Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you came, has send me
that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately
there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his
sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.” (Acts 9:17-18) Here is St.
Paul’s conversion. Not in the blinding light of the Law on the Damascus road, but
here in the Gospel given in Holy Baptism. We should note that Saul wasn’t
baptized by immersion because they were in the rather large city of Damascus and
nowhere near a river. St. Paul’s conversion from the religion of the Law to the
religion of the Gospel happens at the hands of Ananias pouring water combined
with God’s Word over the head of Saul. Christ gives the Holy Spirit to sinners
when they are baptized so that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, sinners can
then believe the Gospel that their sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ,
for “no one can say that Jesus is Lord
except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3)
6) So we see that our conversions to the
true faith are just as spectacular as St. Paul’s. His was perhaps more flashy
in the sense that Christ physically appeared to him, but this was necessary so
that Paul could see the risen Christ and be called as His Apostle to the
Gentiles. But in the way the conversion happened, it is the same as ours. Saul
was converted by Law and Gospel. Christ condemned Him for his many sins and
transgressions. Christ then absolves his many sins and transgressions by faith,
which is given through the Gospel in Holy Baptism. Christ does this through the
Office of the Ministry. He does not do with without means, but uses His pastors
and His Sacraments to do His Gospel work while He is ascended to the right hand
of the Father. St. Paul’s conversion is spectacular, but not because Christ
just zaps Paul and makes him a changed man. His conversion is spectacular
because it shows us our own conversions, through the preaching of the Law and
the hearing of the Gospel that your sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. His
conversion is spectacular because it shows us how Christ deals with the chief
of sinners, and if He is merciful to the chief of sinners, how can He show us
anything but great mercy and abounding compassion when we repent of our sins?
Saul’s conversion points us to our own conversion that happens ever day, for
Christians ought to be daily repenting of our sins condemned by the Law and
daily hearing the good news of great joy: that Christ is mercy, and that He
shows His mercy in the Gospel, no matter the depth of our sins or the width of
our transgressions. How He deals with Saul is how He deals with all of us. He
gives us His mercy through His Gospel and means of Grace. Amen.