The book of Acts, authored by Luke, details the events after
Christ’s ascension into Heaven and the men and women who helped shape the early
church. Peter who became a leader and continued spreading the gospel. Stephen who
is traditionally thought to be the first martyr of Christianity. Philip who
performed miracles in Samaria and baptizing an Ethiopian man. One man who
helped the early church more than any other man, Saul of Tarsus, who became known
as the Apostle Paul after one of the greatest conversions to be recorded in the
Bible. Acts 7:58-28:31 detailed his life as Saul, his conversion and his
mission trips to travel to every region he could, preaching the message of
Christ and establishing churches. He continued to teach from inside a prison
cell, letters to the churches he established and his companions which became
the books Romans through Philemon.
When Saul of Tarsus is first introduced by Luke, he is
hated, persecuting the early Christians. The first mentioned of Saul of Tarsus
is in Acts 7:58, 60 at the stoning death of Stephen. He gave his approval as
Stephen died (Acts 7:60). Luke details Saul’s conversion in Acts 9: 1-19, Saul
made murderous threats against the disciples and made his way to Damascus to
gather men and women who belonged to the Way (early Christians) to arrest them
(verse 2). While on the road, a flash of light from heaven surrounded him, as
he fell to the ground, a great voice spoke “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute
me?” (verses 3-4). It is Jesus who tells Saul to make his way into the city and
wait there. When Saul gets up from the ground, he is unable to see. He, with
the help of his companions, makes his way to Damascus. For three days, he was
blind, unable to eat or drink (verses 8-9). In the city, Ananias, a disciple,
was given a vision from Jesus to seek Saul to restore his sight (verses 10-12)
but Ananias is hesitant because he has heard stories about Saul of Tarsus. But
Jesus reassures him that Saul will be his instrument to spread his message to
the Gentiles and the people of Israel (verses 15-16). Ananias obeys, finds Saul
and restores his sight. Saul was baptized and began to regain his strength
(verses 17-19). The lessons in Saul’s conversion is that people can be changed
by Jesus, even today. Saul was convinced he was persecuting heretics when he
was persecuting Jesus himself as believers are the body of Christ on earth.
Despite his fears, Ananias obeys Jesus and finds Saul, greets him lovingly,
calling his Brother Saul (Acts 9: 17). It is not always easy to show love to
other, especially when we are afraid of them or doubt their motives. However,
we must show lovingly acceptance to other believers, for even the hardest
hearts can be softened by the power of Jesus Christ.
Soon after his conversion, Saul began to preach in the
synagogues (Acts 9:20). He grew more and more powerful in his conviction.
People were skeptical about Saul but soon were convinced as his changed life
was evident (Acts 9:22). It is important to know what the Bible teaches and how
to defend your faith, but your words need to be backed up with the actions in
your life. This can be difficult to do. In the song, What if I stumble? by DC Talk (1995), a quote from American author,
Brennan Manning (1934-2013) was used. He says “The greatest single cause of
atheism in the world today are Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips
and then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. This is what an
unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” Unfortunately, there are many
Christians who acts as if they are perfect and judges of the world and become
blind to their own faults that the world still sees. These are the Christians
that the non-believers sees and says, “Well if that’s being Christian, then why
bother?” Walking with Christ is not easy. We are still human with human
weaknesses and we will stumble every now and then as our human side takes over.
However, we need to strive to emulate Jesus as best we can. If we are humble,
admit our mistakes, we can show non-Christians that being a follower of Christ
isn’t about being perfect, that we aren’t the judges of the world. We are to
show Jesus’s love and bring his message to the world. Saul is one of the great
examples of how a life can be changed by Christ and being his message to the
world. He admits his weaknesses and even delights in them as he writes in 2
Corinthians 12:7-10 that his weaknesses keeps him humble and God’s power is
displayed in our weaknesses. Strive to be humble and show the world that we can
be strengthen by Jesus despite our weaknesses, despite our faults, and despite
our failings.
By the time he begins his mission trips, Saul begins to use
the name Paul. Some have thought that he changed his name to further signify
his conversion. However, the names are interchangeable as he is Jewish as well
as Roman through his father. The custom was two names to reflect both
heritages. He seems to change to the name Paul as he travels around through
Greece and what is today called Asia minor, preaching the message of Jesus to
Gentiles. My thought is that he did so to be more approachable than going by
his Jewish name would. The book of Acts details three mission trips. During his
first mission trip, he travels with Barnabas where he encounters a Jewish
sorcerer and false prophet called Bar-Jesus (Acts 13:1-7). They traveled
throughout the area, boldly preaching the message of Jesus (Acts 13-14). During
his second, Paul begins to traveling with Silas (Acts 15:40) where they
traveled through Syria and Cilicia (Acts 15:41). Timothy (Acts 16:1-5) and Luke
(Acts 16:10 the change in pronouns) join Paul and Silas on their mission trip.
During this trip, Paul and Silas were imprisoned for “advocating customs
unlawful” for Romans to practice (Acts 16:21). During their imprisonment, there
was a great earthquake which freed their shackles. It convinced the jailer of
the power of God (Acts 16:25-30). After his third mission trip, while in
Jerusalem, Paul is arrested by Roman troops (Acts 22) when a group of Jews stirred
up the crowd and accused Paul of defiling the temple by inviting Gentiles in
(Acts 21:28). Eventually he is sent to Rome, where he is placed under house
arrest, allowed visitors and boldly preached the message of Jesus (Acts
28:30-31). Tradition holds that Paul was released after two years and sets off
on a fourth mission trip. However, there is no Biblical account of this, only
mentions by Paul in letters to the various churches. During his mission trips,
Paul displayed a boldness and fierce intensity. He carried the mission to
spread the gospel to the rest of the world as commanded by Jesus (Acts 1:8).
In conclusion, while the book of Acts isn’t just an account
of Paul but the early church, you can’t deny the impact he had on the early
church as he helped spread the message beyond the Jewish communities. He has become
known as the apostle to the Gentiles. Of the 27 books in the New Testament,
Paul has been the attributed author to 14 of them although some scholars now
question if he truly authored some of them. God used all parts of Paul, his
background, his citizenship and even his mistakes to spread the gospel to all
people. A man who once approved of the murder of one of God’s people became the
loudest voice for him. If God can use a man like Paul, he can use anyone of us
to further his message. All we need to do is be sensitive to his leading and
direction.
