The Conversion of St. Paul
January 25, 2026
Text:
Acts 9:1-22
The Lord Jesus stops Saul of Tarsus
in his tracks. Saul is going his own
way, and it is the wrong way.
Jesus is the Way (and the Truth, and the Life – John
14:6), but Saul’s way is to persecute the Way, to find those belonging
to the Way (men and women), and bring them bound to Jerusalem (Acts 9:2). And so, the light, suddenly flashing
from heaven (v. 3). And the voice:
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (v. 4; ESV). That is the accusing finger of God’s Law,
convicting, condemning. “Who are you,
Lord?” … “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (v. 5). For, in persecuting those who belong
to Jesus, you persecute Jesus Himself.
And now what? Blindness
(v. 8). His physical condition
exposing his true spiritual condition.
And really, it’s a death, isn’t it? Three days (a time stamp which should
not be insignificant to us) he is without sight, and neither eats nor drinks
(v. 9).
But then? A Divine Promise: You will be told what
you are to do (v. 6). And God sends
a preacher… Ananias, by name. And
Ananias preaches (v. 17), and Saul hears, and the Spirit comes
on the wings of the Word. Therefore Saul
believes, and is healed (“something like scales fell from his
eyes” [v. 18]), and he rises (a word which should not be
insignificant to us, especially after three days), and is baptized. After which he takes food and is strengthened
(v. 19). He is converted. Saul to Paul, we sometimes say…
although, don’t make too much of that. Saul
is his Hebrew name, after the first King of Israel, coming, as he does, from
the Tribe of Benjamin. Paul is
his Greek name, particularly fitting as he will now be sent to the
Gentiles. Converted, though, from
denier of Christ to believer in, and preacher of,
Christ… from vigorous persecutor of the Church to one “now preaching the
faith he once tried to destroy” (Gal. 1:23)… one who confesses… one who
will learn how much he must suffer for the Name of Jesus (Acts 9:16)… an
Apostle (which is, one sent by Jesus to speak in His Name, so
that what he says is as good as if Jesus said it Himself, because Jesus does
say it Himself through the voice and pen of Paul)… one who will carry the Name
of Jesus before Gentiles and Kings and the children of Israel (v. 15)… one who
will die for that Name, beheaded in Rome, we believe, on the same day
Peter was crucified upside down, under Emperor Nero, who was insane, first of
all, and who, as we know, blamed the Christians for the Great Fire in AD
64. But dying, he lives. In Christ, who died, and who lives. His conversion is nothing less than a
resurrection from the dead. Indeed,
his Baptism into Christ was to die with Christ, and so he lives
in Christ, as Paul himself teaches us in Romans 6. And one day soon the risen Christ will raise
Paul, bodily, from the dead, along with Peter and all people, and give
eternal life, bodily, in the New Creation, to Paul, and us, and all
believers in Christ.
You know, this account of the
conversion of St. Paul illustrates for us how conversion works for all
of us. Young and old, men and women,
infant and adult, this is how it happens.
Oh, usually not with the spectacular flash of light and voice from
heaven and scales covering eyes and such.
Artist that He is, God usually paints with much more subtle tones. But sometimes He has to get the attention of
the Lutherans, and that demands a more obvious demonstration! In all seriousness, it is not unlike the way
the Baptism of Jesus shows us visibly and audibly what takes place in a hidden
way in our own Baptism into Christ. What
happens here to Paul in his conversion, happens in a hidden way to us in
ours. The ordo salutis, we call
it; the order of salvation. Now,
understand, this order is not a chronological process, but rather a theological
sequence. Like Saul, God finds a person
going his own way. That person stands
condemned under God’s Law. That is all
of us in Adam. We are sinners. Our nature is so corrupted by the inherited
disease of original sin, that before we even have a chance to commit
sin, we are sinners (remember, it is not that we are sinners because we
sin; it is rather that we sin because we are sinners): conceived and born
spiritually blind (thus the scales), dead (three days), and an
enemy of God (like Saul, the enemy of Jesus and persecutor of the Church). So, we go our own way. Off to sin and unbelief. Off to hurt Jesus, and kill Jesus. But, in His grace, the Lord stops us in our
tracks. And there we stand, naked, like
Adam and Eve in the Garden. Our
corruption is exposed. And the Law
terrifies us. God is rightly angered
over our rebellious state. But now we
enter upon the ordo salutis proper.
What happens? God sends a
preacher. Or a Christian confessor. Or a Bible passage. Or Christian parents who bring us to Baptism. The Gospel, in other words. And the Spirit comes on the wings of that
Gospel and turns us. He picks us up out
of our corrupt way, and puts on His Way, the Way of Jesus, who is
the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He
speaks the faith into us, breathes the life of Jesus into us. So that we live in Jesus. And salvation now having been apprehended by
faith, thereupon (and after the ordo salutis) follow
sanctification, love, and good works.
And sufferings for the Name of Jesus.
Notice, though, how God does it
all. Conversion is totally and
completely God’s work in us, by grace alone. We don’t make our decision for Jesus. We don’t decide to follow Him. Not before the Spirit does His work in us. How could we?
Not only were we blind, and hating God, we were dead. Have you ever asked a dead man to make a
decision about anything? How did that go
for you? “Hey, why don’t you decide to
just get up out of that coffin and rejoin the living?” Well, he probably would, if he could make that
choice, but he can’t, why? Because
he’s dead. And if anything is going
to change that, it has to come from outside of the dead man. It has to come from God. Only God can raise the dead. That is how it is with conversion. Conversion is nothing less than a
resurrection from the dead. And that
is what God does for us when He gives us faith in Christ. Now, He doesn’t do it by randomly zapping us
from heaven (He didn’t do that with Paul, either. Read the text carefully.) He does it by means of the Gospel, which is
to say, the Word and the Sacraments.
These are the Spirit’s divinely appointed means. They aren’t our works, but His. Thank God, it all depends upon Him. Isn’t that good news? Because He’ll never screw it up. I will, every time. But He won’t.
Ever. He is ever faithful. And not only does He bring us to faith in the
first place, it is He who keeps us in that faith. Now, we can walk away from the faith. That is true.
We should always be aware of that, and receive it as a warning, and so
stay ever near Him in His Means of Grace.
But what else can separate us from the love of Christ? Paul tells us in Romans 8. Nothing. Nothing else in all creation. Not death or life or angels or rulers or
things present or things to come or powers or height or depth or anything
(Rom. 8:38-39)… God is faithful, and He keeps us by His Spirit in the
one true faith. You can count on Him,
and rest in Him.
Also, think what a comfort this is
when we are anxiously concerned about the conversion of others. Especially loved ones. Right?
If conversion is all God’s work, what a relief! Realize this: You can’t convert anyone. Now, you can and should pray for a
person’s conversion (your tears are particularly precious prayers). And you can and should speak to the Gospel
to that person (remember, that is the means the Spirit uses to bring
about conversion). And invite them to
Church. Or, if they’re your kids, bring
them to Church. Always. Bring them to Holy Baptism. And Sunday School. And Catechism class. And pray and read the Bible with them at
home. Teach them. But you can’t convert them, or keep them
converted. That isn’t your job. That is God’s job. And that takes the pressure off of you,
doesn’t it? It’s His
responsibility. You just get to
be His instrument in it. And for
that, you can rejoice and thank God.
Beloved, let this make you bold to
confess Christ. Speak Jesus to the
world. Live a Christian life. Unapologetically. And then… suffer for it, if called to do
so. What’s the worst that can happen to
you? Don’t fear those who can kill the
body, but cannot kill the soul. Fear
only Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt. 10:28), and that is
God. For, dying… what? You live. They can’t, actually, take your
life. They can’t, actually, take
anything from you. Because, whatever you
lose in following Jesus, never forget this: You’ll receive it back a
hundredfold, in this life, and in the life to come. And in the end, eternal life. And the whole world.
By the way, let this fill you with
compassion, too, for people like Saul of Tarsus. Remember what the Lord can do with a
guy like that. And maybe… just maybe,
like God did with the martyrdom of Stephen (remember, they laid their cloaks at
the feet of a young man named Saul (Acts 7:58)?)… maybe God will use your
suffering in the conversion story of your persecutors. I only say that in case an angry mob comes
and interrupts us one of these days.
It’s been known to happen. Don’t
be scared of them, and don’t get angry at them.
Pity them. Pray for them. Paul himself once said, “Bless those who
persecute you; bless and do not curse them” (Rom. 12:14). Love them.
Preach to them. And then die for
them.
Because Christ is risen. And He’ll raise you. And by your suffering, He might just pick
them up (your persecutors) and set them on the Way. God grant it.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
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