Lost Soul to Apostle | Acts 8:3, Acts 9:1, Acts 9:4-9 | Caleb Torgerson
Paul, one of the most famous apostles to ever live. His story is one of the most apparent life transformations in all of the bible. Let’s talk about it.
Paul, previously known as Saul was a non-believing Christian killer and imprisoner. (I’ll be referring to Paul as Saul until his name change) After the stoning of Stephen, a persecution of the church had begun. Acts Chapter 8:3 says “But Saul had began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged them off both men and women and put them in prison.” And Later in Acts 9:1 it says “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples.” I find the wording here interesting “Saul was still breathing out…” The word breathing feels intentional, as to say, these murderous threats and imprisonment of Christians were a significant piece of his life just as the breath in his lungs.
Now during this time of threats of death and imprisonment towards the Christians, Saul went to the High Priest, Ananias, and asked for and received permission to put any Christian man or woman who had fled to Damascus in prison.
This act of following the Christians as they fled, to continue imprisoning them (and killing them), shows Saul's persistent and passionate personality that we are able to see throughout his life. At this point in his story, his passion is towards the persecution of the church. However, there is still hope for Saul as he is about to encounter Jesus for the first time in his life.
While Saul was on the road to Damascus, a bright light overcame him and he heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.” The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For 3 days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.” Acts 9:4-9.
For 3 days Saul was blind…
But after those 3 days, Saul had his sight restored and his heart was filled with the Holy Spirit. Despite what I had previously thought, Saul didn’t immediately go into ministry and being a missionary after he got his sight back. He spent around 13-14 years studying the scriptures and growing in his faith. He had spent that time thinking and rethinking his theology but he wasn’t learning from the teachers and preachers, he spent his time with the Lord as he was thinking about his theology. I find this to be a good moment to pause and think about how we figure out our faith.
Do we spend time with God as we figure out our faith?
Or…
Do we just take the information given to us by preachers and Sunday school teachers and base our faith around that?
And that's not to say those are bad ways to learn about God or the Gospel of Jesus, but as we grow in our faith, it's important to also build a relationship with God for yourself by spending time in prayer or in the scriptures (or both).
Saul was later given the new name of Paul, not from Jesus but from Luke, one of the disciples of Jesus. The name Saul means prayed for and the name Paul means humble. This name change, gives us Paul's journey, from (Saul) a lost soul who needed to be prayed for, to (Paul) an apostle and humble servant of Jesus.
After this time spent figuring out his faith, Paul began his mission of creating more disciples of Jesus. He used his breath, the very breath that was used to speak out murderous threats to the Christians, to speak the Good News of Jesus among people who had not encountered Jesus. He headed out to cities and communities that had not yet been reached by other disciples and planted these seeds of faith in the communities that they could then spread among more people.
I believe that, just like Paul we are able to be disciples of Jesus no matter what are background looks. We are all human and commit sins every day, none of us will ever be perfect. We can take this story of Paul, who may have committed some of the worst crimes before becoming one of the most influential apostles through his teachings and mission, as inspiration to move on from our past sins and focus on doing the good work of God.
Are we using the breath in our lungs, to spread the Good News of Jesus?
Or…
Are we so focused on our past mistakes that we forget the mission of the church is to share the gospel with others?
Are you looking for an easy way to spend a few minutes in intentional prayer each day? Check out the LivingintheWay.com Daily Prayer Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Music!
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