The Conversion of Saul Lord (Acts 9 :1-9) By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

The Conversion of Saul Lord (Acts 9 :1-9)

By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce    

Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical Precepts & Gospel music

Scriptures reading Acts 9 : 1-9

 Lord appeared to Saul 

¹ But Saul, still breathing threatening and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ² and asked for letters from him to Damascus for the synagogues, so that if he found any who were of the way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³ And as he went, he drew near to Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ And he fell on the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ⁵ And he said, who are You, Lord? and He said, I am Jesus, whom you persecute. ⁶ But rise up and enter into the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.⁷ And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸ And Saul rose from the ground; and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. And they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without seeing, and he neither ate nor drank.

 

Verse 2 Denoting the Lord’s full salvation in God’s New Testament economy. It is the way God dispenses Himself into the believers through Christ’s redemption and the Spirit’s anointing; it is the way the believers partake of God and enjoy God; it is the way the believers worship God in their spirit by enjoying Him and follow the persecuted Jesus by being one with Him; and it is the way the believers are brought into the church and built up into the Body of Christ to bear the testimony of Jesus.

Verse 4 A corporate “ME” comprising Jesus the Lord and all His believers. Saul did not have this revelation. He thought that he was persecuting Stephen and other Jesus-followers, who were in the way, which he considered heresy (24:14). He did not know that when he persecuted these, he persecuted Jesus, for they were one with Him by being united to Him through their faith in Him. He considered that he was persecuting people on earth, never thinking that he touched anyone in heaven. To his great surprise a voice from heaven told him that He was the One whom he was persecuting and that His name was Jesus. To him this was a unique revelation in the universe! By this he began to see that the Lord Jesus and His believers are one great person- the wonderful “Me”. This must have impressed and affected him for his future ministry concerning Christ and the church as the great mystery of God (Eph.5:32) and laid a solid foundation for his unique ministry.

Verse 5 Saul call Him “Lord”, even without knowing Him (Rom.10:13).

Verse 6 The Lord would not directly tell Saul immediately after his conversion what He wanted him to do. This was because he needed a member of His Body to initiate him into identification with the Body, for he had been saved and brought to the Lord directly by Him, not indirectly through any channel. Unless a member of His Body had been sent by the Lord to contact him, it would have been difficult for any member of the Body to receive Saul. This is related to Saul’s knowledge concerning the Body of Christ and to his ministry for the Body of Christ later (Col.1:24)

Verse 8 This was the Lord’s dealing with Saul. Before this, Saul would have considered himself marvelously knowledgeable, as one who knew all things concerning man and God. Now the Lord made him blind so that he could see nothing until the Lord opened his eyes, especially his inner eyes, and commissioned him to open the eyes of others (26:18).

 

Bibliography,

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.