'Ac 9:1-19

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Conversion of Saul (Ac 9:1-19a)

The name by which Christianity was known was ‘the Way’ (see Ac 9:2; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22). Possibly the name originated with the Christians themselves, who believed their movement was the way of the Lord, the way of salvation and the way of life. But to the Christians’ opponents the name represented a movement that had to be destroyed.

By this time the gospel had spread north at least as far as the Syrian city of Damascus, which had a large Jewish population. The Sanhedrin therefore sent fiery young Saul to arrest any Christians who still attended the synagogue and bring them to Jerusalem for trial (Ac 9:1-2).

But before Saul reached Damascus he had an encounter with the risen Jesus that convinced him that Jesus was Lord and Christ, as the Christians claimed. The persecutor became a disciple of Jesus (Ac 9:3-9; cf. 2:36; 1 Cor 9:1; 15:8).

Through one of the local Damascus Christians, God revealed that he had chosen Saul to go to distant countries, taking the gospel to rulers and common citizens alike, to Gentiles and Jews without distinction (Ac 9:10-15).

This would be a difficult task (Ac 9:16), but God prepared him for it by filling him with the Holy Spirit. Saul demonstrated openly his break with the old life and his start of the new by being baptized (Ac 9:17-19a).

Saul’s entire background and training had been used by God to help prepare him for the work ahead (Gal 1:15-16). He was a full-blooded Jew born in Tarsus, a town in Cilicia in south-west Asia Minor (Acts 22:3; Phil 3:5).

He inherited Roman citizenship from birth (Acts 16:37; 22:26-28), had a Roman name, Paul (Acts 13:9), and grew up to speak both Greek and Hebrew (Acts 21:37,40).

As a religiously zealous youth, Saul moved to Jerusalem where he studied Jewish law according to the strict Pharisee traditions, his teacher being the well known Rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3; 23:6; 26:5). Like all Jewish young men he learnt a trade, which in his case was tent-making (Acts 18:3).

All the influences in Saul’s upbringing and education, whether Greek, Hebrew or Roman, had an effect on his life and ministry. The Greek influence taught him how to think clearly and analyse issues (Eph 3:1-6), the Hebrew influence helped him develop a character of moral uprightness (Phil 3:6), and the Roman influence gave him an international outlook that led to his great plan for the spread of Christianity (Rom 15:19-24).