Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (I Cor. 13:4-7).
These words are some of the purest and most sublime that have ever been uttered! Yet the amazing reality is that the man who wrote these words was at one time full of hatred, bigotry, animosity, and vengeance. He seethed with anger. His life was bent on destroying others.
What changed him? To answer this question is to understand the nature of salvation. Though Saul's conversion was unique as is any other person's, there are common elements present in his conversion that help us understand the way of salvation.
I. A Common Condition
Everyone likes to think of himself as 'a free moral agent', with the ability to choose, make decisions, and act without constraint from anyone. To a degree this is true, though there are multitudes of people who live under such external oppression and constraint that their decisions are essentially dictated by the system under which they live. However, there is another side to the story. We are only as free as our nature. And our nature is not free.
All of us face the same problem that Saul encountered: ourselves. Yes, there are totalitarian regimes that oppress men and force them to act in certain ways or conform to certain dictates. But the most oppressive master confronting any human is himself. His own nature enslaves him so that he ignores the beauty of conforming to God's standards.
The term "original sin" identifies this wretched condition. It is common to all people. Martin Luther said of "original sin": "It is a blind wickedness, refusing to recognize the Word of God and his will and work, but introducing instead things of its own heathenish imagination" [Sermons of Martin Luther, vol. VIII, 286].
In the case of our text, Saul did not act evil and therefore affect his nature. Instead, he was acting according to his sinful nature. He was at liberty to act and do according to the dictates of his own character. The problem was that his character was affected by the fall, so he acted as one who was in bondage to sin. Perhaps it seems strange to us that any man who had been schooled in the Old Testament Scriptures could be so violent and evil toward Christians. Saul was a very religious man, one that gave himself constantly to the study of Scripture and the practice of religion. He was zealous for God in all he did. He desired to please God in his actions. But everything in his life was skewed against God, against righteousness, against holiness because his nature had never been changed.
1. Nature of sin
You will notice how Luke describes Saul. Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples.... The language of this statement expresses the whole idea of one's nature. "Breathing" shows a constant practice (hence, the present participle) of inhaling. It points to the atmosphere of Saul's life. The text describes this atmosphere as being one of "threats and murder." Luke had already [Acts 8:3] stated that after the stoning of Stephen, "Saul began ravaging the church." That term pictures him as "a wild and ferocious beast" [Calvin quoted by Stott, 168] that constantly sought to destroy the lives of Christians. The whole drive and desire of his nature was destruction, all in the name of Jehovah.
I suppose there is nothing any harder to accept than our own sinfulness. We might admit to doing a few bad things now and then, but to come to grips with the total depravity of our character is a difficult thing to swallow. Yet this is the whole of the biblical record concerning man. David described this in his penitential Psalm 51:5, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me." Even as a newborn David acknowledged that there was no innocence in his life, but only a heart that was full of selfish cravings. As Dr. Millikin reminded us Tuesday night, 'We do not come into the world with a clean slate'. We are already tainted and bent toward sin and rebellion against God and any God-given authority.
Jeremiah delivered the word of the Lord to Judah, crying out, "Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds." But the response of the people to this divine plea was, "But they will say, 'It's hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart'" (Jer. 18:11-12). The problem was the heart, not the will to act. This is why the assessment of Jeremiah concerning the heart is just as clear today as it was in the 6th century BC: "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (17:9).
Jesus used the image of a tree to help us understand the depravity of our natures. He told us that the good tree will bring forth good fruit and the bad tree will bring forth bad fruit. "The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil" (Matt. 12:33,35). He offered no middle ground. We act according to our nature.
The clear word of the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:10-12 shows the problem of our nature: "There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one."
As hard as Saul tried he could not get away from his nature. Neither can you unless Someone outside of you changes your nature. You cannot change yourself anymore than a leopard can change his spots. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to do evil" (Jer. 13:23). This puts all of us in a desperate, helpless, and even hopeless condition apart from the grace of God. The nature of our hearts in rebellion against God and His holy law leaves us under the divine sentence of judgment. We are totally depraved. We are not "absolutely depraved" as if we are as bad as we can be, but we are totally depraved, so that evil has affected every part of our nature. We all have the capacity for committing any sin know to man. We are a people in desperate need of transformation!
2. Activity of sin
Activity follows nature. Since our nature is that of a sinner, so is our practice. Do you realize that Saul was just doing what came natural to his nature? We can point our finger at his violence and bitterness, yet he was doing what all of us do, only perhaps in this case in a much more open fashion. In this instance we find him securing permission from a legal standpoint through the high priest to arrest, persecute, and imprison Christians (v. 2). He had "ravaged the church" in Jerusalem and with the persecution, Christians had spread 150 miles away in Damascus. So Saul journeyed there in an attempt to uncover Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem so that they would no longer spread the gospel. All that he did was simply acting according to his nature.
The activity of sin is evident by our (1) opposition to truth and (2) resistance to Christ and the gospel. Saul had read and memorized great portions of the Old Testament. He knew the Law. He had read the prophets concerning the new covenant. He read concerning the Messiah in both prophets and wisdom literature. Yet he opposed the truth because it was contrary to his nature. The truth exposed his heart in its evil condition and helplessness. He did not want to admit that he was a helpless sinner in desperate need of the redemptive work of Christ. His opposition to truth naturally led to resistance to Jesus Christ and the gospel. This is the case with any unregenerate person. He will oppose truth and resist the gospel until he is regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
It is never an unusual thing for a sinner to act like a sinner. Nor is it unusual for a sinner to either run from truth or seek to oppose it. Most people will do anything to keep from being forced to look into the mirror of God's Word and see themselves for what they really are (James 1:23-25). This is why biblical, expository preaching is not popular with the masses. When the Word of God is expounded in all its power and clarity, we are confronted with our desperate condition and need of a work of grace.
I think it is clear that Saul had heard much about Jesus Christ. All Jerusalem was filled with His teaching (Acts 5:28), so Saul was familiar with it. He may have been in Jerusalem during the crucifixion and watched the events that transpired. He obviously was present during the early days of the church and heard the gospel message of Stephen before the Jewish masses. With everything he heard, Saul's hatred grew greater. For every testimony, every sermon, every godly witness exposed the darkness and wretchedness of his heart. So the natural way to deal with this was to try to silence those who spoke the gospel.
Does this say anything about your own heart? Do you find yourself hating the preaching of God's Word or despising the Christian witness of someone or turning off any teaching that does not appeal to your 'felt needs'? Do you feel like running away from biblical truth or changing the subject of the gospel onto something more comfortable? Then, my friend, you are in need of uncommon grace that comes only from the Lord Jesus Christ.
II. An Uncommon Grace
Though all of us are recipients of God's grace in a general way, some experience an 'uncommon grace' or 'special grace'. This is saving grace. It is evident that what happened to Saul did not happen to his companions, which is what he explains in Acts 22:9, "And those who were with me beheld the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me." Let's consider the difference between common grace and uncommon grace.
Common grace refers to the goodness of God which is prevalent among all men, at least as concerns matters of life and nature. The air we breathe, the food that sustains us, the relationships which bring us happiness are all gracious gifts of God. The fact that we even exist or are maintained in a state of life is evident that God has given grace to us. Grace is that which God gives and man does not deserve. Even as it concerns life, we are undeserving of it, yet God gives it to us and sustains us. Added to this is the fact that multiplied millions around the globe have heard the offer of the gospel of Jesus Christ and are called upon to receive forgiveness and redemption through Christ by means of repentance and faith. This universal offer of the gospel is evidence of common grace.
Special grace or 'efficacious grace' refers to something quite different. It is a unique work of God, granted according to His good pleasure, in supplying what is necessary for sinners to respond in repentance and faith to the offer of the gospel. This type of grace recognizes the total depravity of man, that a sinner is "dead in his trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1), that his understanding is darkened due to his fallen nature (Eph. 4:18), and that if left to himself, he will not even seek after God much less believe the gospel (Rom. 3:10-12). Though the sinner has the liberty to respond to the gospel, i.e., free will, he does not have the ability to arouse himself from spiritual deadness to repent and believe.
A. A. Hodge put it like this: "A man always wills as upon the whole he pleases, but he cannot will himself to please differently from what he does please. The moral condition of the heart determines the act of the will, but the act of the will cannot change the moral condition of the heart" [The Confession of Faith, 164]. In other words, even after hearing the gospel a sinner will still act according to his fallen nature. He must have a new mind or new nature if he is to respond rightly to the offer of the gospel. He cannot give himself this new mind nor can he just decide to have a new nature. That is an impossibility if indeed he is a fallen creature.
Let's see how this uncommon grace operated in Saul's salvation.
1. The goads of grace
The KJV of verse 5 has the statement, "...it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." While this phrase is not found in any of the early Greek manuscripts, which is the reason it is not included in the NASB translation, it is found Paul's third description of his testimony in Acts 26:14. The word "pricks" or "goads" refers to pointed sticks that jabbed an ox when it attempted to go the wrong way or was used to point the ox in the right way. The ox was considered a stubborn animal that needed "persuasion" to get it to cooperate, so the farmer used "goads" to accomplish this. The goads kept pointing the ox in the direction the farmer desired it to go.
The implication of Acts 26:14 is that our Lord uses many "goads" to show us our need for Him. Saul was "goaded" to expose his heart and to reveal the Savior to him. This is an example of the grace of God and may be considered as common grace, though it may lead to special grace.
In the case of Saul, as we have already mentioned, he had been hearing about Christ while in Jerusalem. He heard the testimony of Stephen and it is even possible that he heard the testimony of Peter and John before the Jewish Sanhedrin. He saw the response of Christians as he persecuted them. With every expression of love and every word of testimony or proclamation, Saul was goaded to Christ. These goads may have been painful at the time, ripping at the heart of this callused Pharisee, yet each was an expression of the mercy and grace of God toward this sinner.
Can you think of any "goads" that God in His marvelous grace used to point you to Christ? I remember hearing a two hour sermon the day before I came to Christ that goaded me as a lost church member. I can think of a godly couple that showed the love of Christ to me and that continually confronted me with real Christianity.
Perhaps the "goads of grace" have been affecting you without you even realizing it. You may feel the sting of the preaching of the gospel or the heaviness of heart when the Word of God is preached. Or maybe you have come to a stronger awareness of your sin and you have found yourself literally despising your own actions and attitudes. Or maybe, like Saul, everywhere you turn you keep getting confronted by the gospel and you find yourself irritated by it. My friend, wake up! The grace of God is goading you to point you to your need for the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are many people who are goaded. But some resist these goadings. King Agrippa, who testified that he was 'almost persuaded' by Paul's testimony of the gospel, was goaded, but to our knowledge he resisted this work of common grace (Acts 26:28). Can you resist the goadings of the grace of God? Yes, as long as these are workings of common grace they can be resisted. But how about the work of special grace--can this be resisted?
2. The suddenness of uncommon grace
In the case of Saul, he had done nothing, as far as we know from Scripture, to make himself sensitive to the gospel or to even show an interest in the gospel. He had resisted every goading of grace that had previously struck him. He had purposely opposed the gospel and showed not even the least inkling of desire to know Christ or to apply the work of Christ at the cross to his life. But all of this changed in an instant! This stubborn, proud, hardened sinner was melted in a flash and brought humbly to the cross of Christ. How did this happen?
Some would say that Saul just decided at this point he needed to give up the fight and become a follower of Christ. But there is no evidence of even a consideration of change nor of Saul 'making a decision'. John Stott makes this striking comment,
What stands out from this narrative is the sovereign grace of God through Jesus Christ. Saul did not 'decide for Christ', as we might say. On the contrary, he was persecuting Christ. It was rather Christ who decided for him and intervened in his life. The evidence for this is indisputable [The Spirit, The Church, and the World, 168].
And it came about that as he journeyed [obviously with the purpose of persecuting Christians], he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" and he said, "Who art Thou, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
I think it is clear that the farthest thing from Saul's mind was converting to Christianity! He was intent on destroying Christianity. Suddenly, the uncommon, efficacious grace of God in Christ came to Saul and everything changed. He did not put up a fight. He offered no words of complaint or resistance. He did not cry out that this was unfair treatment. He meekly submitted to the convicting, regenerating work of the Spirit, and bowed himself to Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
The light affected Saul with blindness, but not his companions. The voice was understood by Saul, but not by his companions. The grace of God pinpointed him like the fine ray of a laser. Precisely what took place is what Paul later described as regeneration. It is the "But God," of Ephesians 2:4, that intervenes savingly in the heart of a rebellious sinner. This is the abundant "grace of our Lord," of I Timothy 1:14, that supplied what this "blasphemer, persecutor, and violent aggressor" needed to repent and believe (I Tim. 1:13). One of Paul's clearest explanations of what happened to him is found in Titus 3:3-7.
For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
This is why Paul testifies that salvation is 'all of grace', "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9). The grace of God comes to us according to His good pleasure and purpose (Eph. 1:3-14; I Cor. 1:26-31). This act of special grace is evident by the regenerating work of the Spirit, so that our dead minds are brought to life (Eph. 2:4-7), our darkened understanding suddenly has light (II Cor. 4:6), our free will is lifted from its bondage to our depraved nature so that we willingly and freely respond in faith to the gospel of Christ. This is precisely what Jesus meant when He stated in John 6:37, 44, 65: "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out....No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day....For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father."
How did Saul come to Christ? Strictly by the grace of God! How can any of us come to Christ and receive all that He has done redemptively? By the very same way of the grace of God. God does not give grace because we deserve it--or else it would be merit, not grace. He gives grace freely, according to His own good pleasure, so that no one can boast before Him.
3. The compulsion of uncommon grace
Could Saul have resisted this 'intrusion' of grace? I would answer like this, Paul did not want to resist this intrusion of grace and neither does anyone who is truly a recipient of special grace. Why is this true? When we consider that the very reason we resist the gospel and reject every offer of common grace is due to our sinful nature, unrenewed wills, and dead minds, when that condition changes, then the very desire of our heart is to receive what God has done through Christ. To resist is to give evidence that we have never known special grace.
Look at Saul. Here was a man who lived in the atmosphere of "threats and murder," seeking to ravage and destroy anything that had to do with Jesus Christ. Then, in one moment, everything changed. The heart that was so bent on resisting Christ and the gospel is now bent on obeying and believing the gospel. Jesus told him, ...but rise, and enter the city, and it shall be told you what you must do. Does he put up a struggle? Does he complain? Does he say, "Well, let me think about this for a while?" The grace of God in Christ that came to him in focused, regenerating power was irresistible.
Now people want to argue this point with the idea, 'Well this means that we don't have a free will'. My friend, it means nothing of the sort! Your will is still as free as ever,...no, even freer! As a matter of fact, it is now truly free. Ernie Reisinger points out, "No one is saved against his will; however, God changes the willer so as to make the sinner willing....The Bible teaches that salvation depends not on man's willingness but on God's willingness, God's grace, and God's power" [Founders Journal, Summer 1996, 23], hence Romans 9:16, "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." Now your will gladly bends to the divine call to repentance and faith. The idea of resisting the impulse of the Holy Spirit never even enters your mind! How does this come about without violating the free will of man? Because this is an act of God's grace, God's power, God's ability, rather than simply the ability of man. You and I do not have the power to 'make a man willing' to repent and believe, but the Creator and Sovereign can indeed accomplish this without violation to the creature. "But how?" you ask. He changes the nature of the man and the man therefore gladly and willingly follows after Christ. When God does this by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, there is a clear conversion.
III. A Clear Conversion
There's no question about what happened to Saul. He was a new creature! He did not make himself a new creature, but that was a work of God's grace. We notice what happened to him.
1. A distinct hearing of the gospel
Saul heard and understood while those about him didn't. He fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him.... He had heard Stephen preaching, yet at that time he did not really hear, i.e., understand. The reason he understood at the point of our text is because of what the Holy Spirit did instantaneously in his mind and nature. A person being brought under the influence of special grace will understand at least the basic elements of the gospel. That comes by the Holy Spirit's work. This is clearly evident by the fact that the companions of Paul saw the blinding light and heard the heavenly voice, but none of that made sense to them.
When God gets ready to do a saving work in a person, they will hear the gospel in a new way. Rather than as a natural man who does not understand the things of the Spirit of God (I Cor. 2:14), the gospel comes to them "in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction" (I Thes. 1:5), so that they understand its claims and respond to its demands. Obviously, you will have various degrees of understanding in those who hear, but you can be assured that such a person understands enough to trust in Christ alone for his salvation so that he may be saved.
2. A definite response to the gospel
Saul responded immediately to the Lord's command. A person may be under conviction and the awakening work of the Spirit for many weeks, months, and even years. But in that moment that their eyes are opened, they respond in repentance and faith.
Augustine wrestled with Christianity for some time until he heard a voice in his garden telling him to take and read. As he read from Romans 13, immediately all of his resistance ended and he believed the gospel of Christ. Martin Luther struggled for years with his salvation, but when the truth of "the just shall live by faith" broke into his heart, he immediately believed. When John Wesley heard the preface to Luther's commentary on Romans being read concerning this same subject of justification by faith alone, immediately he 'felt his heart strangely warmed' so that he did believe in Christ and Christ alone. "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me." How do you come? Come to Christ in repentance and faith; turning from your sins and trusting Christ and His merits for you.
Conclusion
Perhaps your struggle with the claims of Christ and the demands of the gospel has been going on for a long time. The Holy Spirit can end your struggle by repenting of your sins and trusting Christ alone to save you! Do not resist His urgings. Do not trust in the arm of your own strength. Cast yourself upon the Lord who is mighty to save and ready to save those who humble themselves before Him and rest in Him. Look to Jesus Christ alone to save you.
You need not wait for a bright light from heaven to blind you, but you can trust the light that breaks into your mind and heart to reveal Christ to you. You need not wait for an audible voice from heaven to speak to you, but you can trust in the truth of the gospel that the Holy Spirit has driven home to your heart.
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by South Woods Baptist Church.
Please include the following statement on any distributed copy:
Copyright South Woods Baptist Church. Website: www.southwoodsbc.org. Used by permission as granted on web site. Questions, comments, and suggestions about our site can be sent here.
Copyright 2008, South Woods Baptist Church, All Rights Reserved