What did Jesus mean when He revealed himself to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus and He used the Greek words about “kicking against the goads”? It sounds like a serious warning, doesn't it?
From that moment, Saul who would become the great apostle Paul, recognized Jesus as the true Christ, the Messiah that the Jewish people had been waiting for.
Without the conviction of the Holy Spirit, no one can believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Once this happened to Saul of Tarsus, the time that he was allowed to “not believe” that Jesus is the Christ, came to an end. Those who continue to deny Jesus, after God reveals Himself to them and continue to live like before, they will pay the price. As long as we are blind to the truth, God tolerates our ignorance. But once we see and realize the truth, if we continue to reject the pardon that Jesus paid the price for, by dying in our places on the cross to save us, then we are bringing damnation upon our own selves. ("Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7)
The Lord told Paul, that he would be instructed about the right path that he should follow.
While Saul had been very religious and zealous for God, he had “not been on the right path” because he had refused to accept that Jesus was the Son of God and as a result he disobeyed God and persecuted the followers of Jesus Christ. He needed to be awakened and delivered from his rebellious path. If he would not have received the correction of the Lord, he would have been keeping the door open for receiving even more suffering by continuing to persecute the Lord and His people. The more he would rebel, the more he would suffer and feel the pain from “kicking against the goads.” Saul knew exactly what Jesus meant by the expression He used. In those days, oxen teams were yoked together to pull wagon loads or for farming. When the oxen refused to follow the directions given by their masters, they used something called “goads” to force the animals to cooperate. As long as the animal stayed on the path and did as directed, they would never know the pain of the goad. These goads were made from a type of cane or strong reed that farmers would cut and prepare by sharpening them or inserting something sharp in their ends. Saul knew immediately what the Lord meant. He was a very educated young man, as he studied "at the feet of Gamaliel,” which was the best school of his time; so the writings of the Greek poets were familiar to him. The Lord in His omniscience, would never use a phrase that the one He is talking to could not understand, because He knows what we know, how we think and what is in our heart. (“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:13)
The great Saul, the one who was on top of things no matter what, the one who brought terror among those who followed Jesus and was empowered by the high priest to persecute them, even from Damascus, was now humiliated by being blind and needing help to even move around.
What the devil intended to destroy the church, God used as a catalyst for its growth. The persecution against the early church caused the followers of Jesus to flee to the nearby cities, where they made more disciples. In doing so, the Gospel was also preached in Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch – where those that followed Jesus started to be called Christians for the first time (Acts 11:19, 26).
There was a need for a preacher and apostle to the Gentiles, one that would be brave enough to stand up to the Pharisees belief in the Talmud (the set of rules and explanations added by the Pharisees to the Law of Moses) which forbade any contact or connections between Jews and Gentiles. Isn't it amazing that God would choose Saul of Tarsus for that calling? Paul described himself in these verses as: “a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Philippians 3:5b-6).
One encounter with Jesus and this prideful, arrogant Pharisee was humbled and transformed from being a persecutor of the church to becoming a true follower of Jesus Christ and a persecuted one himself.
God had the perfect plan in calling Saul to be His messenger to the Gentiles. First of all, He appeared to him, not in Israel, but on the way to Damascus, in Syria and then He told Ananias “Saul of Tarsus is My chosen vessel to preach My Name to the Gentiles.”
God allows us free will and does not force people to do right. Even if God brings a person to a place where it would be very difficult to not choose rightly, as God often does, the choice still belongs to the person. The Lord knows us much better than we know ourselves and nothing surprises Him. God was much more patient with Saul of Tarsus, than the early church desired, but while he was allowed to persecute Christians, the early church grew and expanded tremendously around Jerusalem and even helped make the way for Saul's ministry to the Gentiles.
Saul in Greek means “desired” and truly fit the former Pharisee. But once he was born-again, and started in ministry, he chose to call himself “Paul” - which means “little and small.” In choosing this name it was reflecting his changed heart and that he now humbly considered himself insignificant. What a valuable lesson for us too. Humility is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and should be evident in all who become born-again in Jesus Christ.
Doesn't it seem that the Lord was giving Saul a “little direction” at a time? And why so? Well, it is because the Lord requires that we live by faith, walking step by step with Him, being passionate to find out the next step from the One who has the perfect plan for us. It was the same for Paul. As the Lord told him: “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” What the Lord meant, was from that moment, he was to walk by faith and that the next step would be revealed by the Holy Spirit at the right time, after he obeyed the previous step. At that particular moment, his new brothers in Christ, were to show him what to do next. How ironic! The former persecutor now needed help and guidance from the very ones that he previously considered heretics and was now one of them!
What must have been going on in his mind and heart? For years, Saul knew exactly what he believed and why, and now it had all crumbled like a sand castle. And it continues. Over and over many of us think we know so much and have it all together, only to find out we knew nothing at all! And as God transformed and renewed Paul's mind in His Word, so does He for us.
There is no doubt that Paul rejoiced in finding the real Truth. He sincerely regretted all the evil that he had done, especially against Christians, but now he was a “new man with a new heart.” And from his heart, started to flow the “rivers of living water” that Jesus said would happen for all believers. Glory to God! What a tremendous joy it is in being saved!
Why did the Lord choose the process of using Ananias to heal Saul and not just heal him immediately? By sending one of His faithful children, from Damascus, God helped the local church change its opinion about Saul and was also showing them, that now he was their real brother in Christ. It was God's way to help them no longer fear Paul as, “Saul the persecutor and enemy of the church,” and help them be willing to launch Paul's ministry.
The Lord is amazing. From all of His children in Damascus, He chose Judas (which means “will be praised”) who lived on the “Straight” Street (which in Greek means – “the straight, the right way to salvation, the right and saving purposes of God). So even in hearing the destination that he was headed to, he was to “praise God” walking on “the right path for the saving purposes of God.” With God the path is straight, without unnecessary zig-zags, detours or wrong turns. By walking in obedience with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, step by step, we can live truly fruitful and fulfilled lives.
God always has a purpose and a plan in everything He does; whether we can understand it at the time or not. It is truly helpful to realize that God works by specific plans and goals. When God chooses to manifest Himself by signs and wonders, visions, dreams, words of knowledge, prophecies and so on, He has His purposes in doing so. We need to learn to pay close attention to the voice and directions of the Lord. God's directions are always in one accord with the Bible. The Lord would never lead us against what is written in His Word. Saul knew very well the teachings of the “Law of Moses” (The ”Torah,” the first five books of the Old Testament) and he was also well-versed in the prophetic books of the Old Testament. He knew he could not ignore the vision that God had given him and that he had to take it very seriously. The change in Paul can be clearly seen by the evidence of his life.
From the moment Saul saw Jesus, he knew that he was guilty of all the atrocities he had committed against God's children and was about to face the harsh reality of what it would mean to suffer for Jesus' Name. The Lord told Ananias:
Even though Paul chose to obey and serve God, it seems that there was a certain amount of suffering he would have to endure. Paul suffered multiple persecutions during his 32 years of ministry (from his conversion in 36 A.D. to his death in 68 A.D. when he was martyred at the command of the Roman emperor Nero). But if he had not repented and obeyed God, the price he would have paid would have been even higher, on earth and eternally. Paul considered his sufferings (that he listed in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33), to be from “a messenger of Satan” (2 Corinthians 12:7) and not caused by God. The Lord equipped Paul with all he needed to endure the many, many hardships he faced and Paul even considered them as “but a light affliction, which is but for a moment” that “is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). And God does the same for all of us. For more on this matter, please consider the article “Paul's Thorn in The Flesh.”
Had Saul persecuted Christians out of mere ignorance or even stubborn ignorance? There is no doubt that Saul had witnessed the strength and determination of the Christians he had persecuted. He witnessed them preferring to die rather than to deny their Lord. There is much speculation on this subject, but one thing is clear, Paul ceased from being “the persecutor” and lived the rest of his days being persecuted and eventually even gave his life for his faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul's deep relationship with Jesus and the abundance of revelation that he received through the Holy Spirit along with the knowledge of the Word of God, truly gave Paul the strength to keep on ministering and even ministering with joy, in spite of all the pain, hardship and persecution and never go back to his old life.
Paul was not trying to hide his past, as we can see from what he wrote to Timothy, his ”true son in the faith” as he was considered by Paul:
Finally Paul chose to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and he fasted and prayed while waiting to hear what the Lord wanted him to do next. After three days of not hearing anything, and not giving up, God answered Saul's commitment and sincerity by preparing Ananias' heart to come and minister to him. As one can imagine, it was all a huge surprise to Ananias. And as the Lord was speaking with him, Ananias answered unto the Lord, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” Ananias wanted to make sure the Lord knew about Saul's bad deeds because it was utterly shocking to him that God would want to help this one who hurt His saints so much! The Lord listened patiently to His child's heart, even though He knew all that Ananias was thinking and what he needed to hear to be ready to obey and go pray for Saul to get his sight back and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus wants us to know who to really fear. If we do not realize that our life on earth determines our eternal destiny as in where we will spend the rest of all eternity, we could end up where we would not want.
The Lord is also making clear that the eternal damnation is not equal for all who die unsaved. Those who die without knowing Jesus and the will of God, “shall be beaten with few stripes” meaning that their punishment in hell will be at a lower level than the punishment of those who knew the truth and continued to live like they never heard the Gospel.
Also, “to whom much is given, from him much will be required.” The Holy Spirit does not waste His gifts and we are not to waste them either. For those of us who receive the spiritual gifts, we have a responsibility to use them for God's glory, for the “edification and exhortation and comfort to men” (1 Corinthians 14:3) within the Church and for ministering to those who are not Christians yet or those who are backslidden. Every single one of us is called to share the Gospel, the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Just as when a person is in love, everyone around them hears all about his or her loved one; it is the same with the born again Christians, as they are in love with their Lord. In a state of healthy growth in the Lord, we should really desire to tell others about Jesus and be hungry for studying His Word because we want to know our Lord even more. The deeper we know the Word of God, the more we can change, becoming better examples for those around us; and also be able to better answer the questions of those to whom we minister with, being able to better disciple them. We will also grow in our prayer life, as we will feel the urge to pray more “that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ,” (Colossians 4:3), to enlighten our mind to understand the Scriptures better and also to open the hearts of those to whom we share the Good News, to be willing to accept Jesus as Lord over their lives and live for Him.
In order to be able to grow in the Lord and effectively disciple those who we know that have come to Jesus, we need a deep relationship with the Holy Spirit. Only the anointed power of the Holy Spirit changes us and those with whom we minister. People do not repent because they hear beautiful words or sophisticated sermons. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin and gives the desire to be saved. All the Bible teaches us about living a Christian life is very useful and important. All the facets of the Christian life are important individually and are connected to each another in such a close way that “each one needs the others” in order for us to function as Christians. Facets such as keeping a clean heart by renouncing and repenting of sin, reading, studying and meditating on the Word of God, prayer and fasting, sharing the Gospel, praising and worshiping the Lord for who He is and all He does, living in obedience to God, operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit are all important individually and collectively. We cannot neglect any of these without suffering loss.
God, in His wisdom, does not ask us to do anything that we cannot do or that would cost us more than be beneficial. In being a part of the Lord's vineyard, it is not only service. While we serve Him in maintaining a proper relationship and live life in obedience to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we reap the benefits of growth and spiritual maturity.
Our salvation cost the Lord much more than we think it cost us. We feel that we must “give up everything” so that we can follow Him which is true in a sense. But literally, God the Father had his Son leave His position, splendor, beauty and divine order of heaven to live within the limits of a human body in a dirty, shabby, dusty and sinful world... God the Father endured seeing His son taunted, tortured, whipped, beaten, bleeding and exhausted without being able to intervene and even more, to see His innocent Son take upon Himself all the sin, suffering, grief, sorrows and diseases of all mankind (Isaiah 53:4-5). To watch His son, who had never sinned, hang on the cross that He was nailed to through His hands and feet, between two thieves, among the "transgressors" suffering the worst and most painful death possible at that time. "Jesus cried with a loud voice,"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" The Lord was saying, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) Jesus was actually acknowledging that His Father had forsaken Him. When our sins separated the Father and Son, for the first and only time ever, their pain was at the highest point and beyond comprehension. They chose to go through all that pain, out of their love for us.
How could we not treasure a love so great? Who paid more? God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit or us???
What did we really give up to be saved? The sin, bad habits and lifestyles and many of the relationships we had were destroying us. The rules that God has made for us have always been for our benefit. Sin separated us from Him and the true, abundant life He had for us. We gained eternal life, a pardon from the eternal death that we deserve. It has been “all gain” for us. There is nothing in this world worth losing our souls for and yet, many turn back to sin every day.
Life with God is constantly beneficial for us. He knows what we could never know and is constantly here to help us make right choices. We need to glorify God with all our hearts and souls, and give Him our attention everyday and focus on the One who “deserves” all the love, adoration, honor, obedience and our worship. When we detach ourselves from the stresses of this life, we can begin to realize that there is the bigger picture and trust that God always brings something good from what at the time, seems the worst.
All that the devil ever brings against us, is to hurt and destroy us. However, God can and does change all that is meant for our harm to good. This verse is one of the first ones that comes to my mind when going through hard times and I must say that I have never been disappointed. Each time the Holy Spirit has strengthened me with this verse; He also reminded me of similar situations that I went through and which seemed hopeless and how the Lord always saw me through. Is this not true for us all, as the Lord's children?
Once we taste the goodness and love of God and enjoy the safety of His protection over our lives, there could be no real reason to ever "go back" to the old life of sin and temptation. If one somehow might be tempted by the devil to partake of the so-called “pleasures of the world,” do not be deceived. Nothing can compare to what the Lord has for us in this life and even more of what He has prepared for us for eternity.
As Paul recorded under the leadership of the Holy Spirit,
The Lord cleansed and forgave us, covered us in His righteousness and canceled the debt we owed for our sins and asks one thing of us: "to live by the Holy Spirit" meaning, in obedience to the Lord.
The more I think about it, I can sincerely say that it really did not cost me anything to make Jesus my Lord and Savior. All the things that I thought were so valuable, especially “self-lordship,” are nothing to me now. The fact that I had to change the way I think, live, act and even learn new values were all for my benefit. It is “profit” to me and not “cost.” I would not turn back from my new life in Christ for anything. Why would I want to go back to an old lifestyle full of worry, fear and insecurity? So the “price” I paid was actually a “huge gain” and in contrast, the price my Lord paid dearly for me was a “true cost.” I can only love Him and never cease to thank Him for redeeming me! Loving Jesus has only brought me the greatest good! Glory to God!
The Bible states that there is no thing or person that can separate us from our Lord. We can be sure that it is only up to us to remain His forever! What a comforting statement! We will spend our eternity with the One who died for each and every one of us and from a place of pure love!
We will be in heaven for all eternity where there is nothing filthy, fake, wrong, ugly or damaging. Where everything is pure, peaceful, holy and beautiful; where there is perfect: love, joy, happiness, corporate peace and individual inner peace, truth, satisfaction... There we will feel 100% fulfilled, without having any jealousy or envy against one another. In heaven we will not have to prove anything to someone else and we will be who God created us to be, in His image. There will not be any competition between people or people stressing to please each other in order to have peace or be appreciated. In heaven we will all act right and do good all for God's glory, without making any mistakes or sinning. There will not be any devil or evil spirits to attack or tempt us. And there will be no sinful nature for us to battle with. The devil will have been thrown into the lake of fire for all eternity. We will all have glorified bodies which will be perfect without bad moods, sadness, hate, fear, depression, anxiety or sickness. For me, the first great revelation about eternal life was when I realized that there I will never be upsetting any one else! As God's children, we should not fear death, but on the contrary we should say as Paul wrote to the Philippians: "For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you” (Philippians 1:23-24).
The Apostle John, led by the Holy Spirit, wrote the following about heaven:
Glory to God for all the great and wonderful things He prepared for us in heaven. For sure, once we know these truths, we would not even consider “kicking against the goads” of God's correction!
- Acts 9:3-5 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
From that moment, Saul who would become the great apostle Paul, recognized Jesus as the true Christ, the Messiah that the Jewish people had been waiting for.
- 1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
Without the conviction of the Holy Spirit, no one can believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Once this happened to Saul of Tarsus, the time that he was allowed to “not believe” that Jesus is the Christ, came to an end. Those who continue to deny Jesus, after God reveals Himself to them and continue to live like before, they will pay the price. As long as we are blind to the truth, God tolerates our ignorance. But once we see and realize the truth, if we continue to reject the pardon that Jesus paid the price for, by dying in our places on the cross to save us, then we are bringing damnation upon our own selves. ("Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7)
The Lord told Paul, that he would be instructed about the right path that he should follow.
While Saul had been very religious and zealous for God, he had “not been on the right path” because he had refused to accept that Jesus was the Son of God and as a result he disobeyed God and persecuted the followers of Jesus Christ. He needed to be awakened and delivered from his rebellious path. If he would not have received the correction of the Lord, he would have been keeping the door open for receiving even more suffering by continuing to persecute the Lord and His people. The more he would rebel, the more he would suffer and feel the pain from “kicking against the goads.” Saul knew exactly what Jesus meant by the expression He used. In those days, oxen teams were yoked together to pull wagon loads or for farming. When the oxen refused to follow the directions given by their masters, they used something called “goads” to force the animals to cooperate. As long as the animal stayed on the path and did as directed, they would never know the pain of the goad. These goads were made from a type of cane or strong reed that farmers would cut and prepare by sharpening them or inserting something sharp in their ends. Saul knew immediately what the Lord meant. He was a very educated young man, as he studied "at the feet of Gamaliel,” which was the best school of his time; so the writings of the Greek poets were familiar to him. The Lord in His omniscience, would never use a phrase that the one He is talking to could not understand, because He knows what we know, how we think and what is in our heart. (“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:13)
- Acts 8:3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
The great Saul, the one who was on top of things no matter what, the one who brought terror among those who followed Jesus and was empowered by the high priest to persecute them, even from Damascus, was now humiliated by being blind and needing help to even move around.
- Acts 9:1-3 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
What the devil intended to destroy the church, God used as a catalyst for its growth. The persecution against the early church caused the followers of Jesus to flee to the nearby cities, where they made more disciples. In doing so, the Gospel was also preached in Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch – where those that followed Jesus started to be called Christians for the first time (Acts 11:19, 26).
There was a need for a preacher and apostle to the Gentiles, one that would be brave enough to stand up to the Pharisees belief in the Talmud (the set of rules and explanations added by the Pharisees to the Law of Moses) which forbade any contact or connections between Jews and Gentiles. Isn't it amazing that God would choose Saul of Tarsus for that calling? Paul described himself in these verses as: “a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Philippians 3:5b-6).
One encounter with Jesus and this prideful, arrogant Pharisee was humbled and transformed from being a persecutor of the church to becoming a true follower of Jesus Christ and a persecuted one himself.
- Acts 9:6-16 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” 13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
God had the perfect plan in calling Saul to be His messenger to the Gentiles. First of all, He appeared to him, not in Israel, but on the way to Damascus, in Syria and then He told Ananias “Saul of Tarsus is My chosen vessel to preach My Name to the Gentiles.”
God allows us free will and does not force people to do right. Even if God brings a person to a place where it would be very difficult to not choose rightly, as God often does, the choice still belongs to the person. The Lord knows us much better than we know ourselves and nothing surprises Him. God was much more patient with Saul of Tarsus, than the early church desired, but while he was allowed to persecute Christians, the early church grew and expanded tremendously around Jerusalem and even helped make the way for Saul's ministry to the Gentiles.
Saul in Greek means “desired” and truly fit the former Pharisee. But once he was born-again, and started in ministry, he chose to call himself “Paul” - which means “little and small.” In choosing this name it was reflecting his changed heart and that he now humbly considered himself insignificant. What a valuable lesson for us too. Humility is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and should be evident in all who become born-again in Jesus Christ.
Doesn't it seem that the Lord was giving Saul a “little direction” at a time? And why so? Well, it is because the Lord requires that we live by faith, walking step by step with Him, being passionate to find out the next step from the One who has the perfect plan for us. It was the same for Paul. As the Lord told him: “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” What the Lord meant, was from that moment, he was to walk by faith and that the next step would be revealed by the Holy Spirit at the right time, after he obeyed the previous step. At that particular moment, his new brothers in Christ, were to show him what to do next. How ironic! The former persecutor now needed help and guidance from the very ones that he previously considered heretics and was now one of them!
What must have been going on in his mind and heart? For years, Saul knew exactly what he believed and why, and now it had all crumbled like a sand castle. And it continues. Over and over many of us think we know so much and have it all together, only to find out we knew nothing at all! And as God transformed and renewed Paul's mind in His Word, so does He for us.
There is no doubt that Paul rejoiced in finding the real Truth. He sincerely regretted all the evil that he had done, especially against Christians, but now he was a “new man with a new heart.” And from his heart, started to flow the “rivers of living water” that Jesus said would happen for all believers. Glory to God! What a tremendous joy it is in being saved!
Why did the Lord choose the process of using Ananias to heal Saul and not just heal him immediately? By sending one of His faithful children, from Damascus, God helped the local church change its opinion about Saul and was also showing them, that now he was their real brother in Christ. It was God's way to help them no longer fear Paul as, “Saul the persecutor and enemy of the church,” and help them be willing to launch Paul's ministry.
The Lord is amazing. From all of His children in Damascus, He chose Judas (which means “will be praised”) who lived on the “Straight” Street (which in Greek means – “the straight, the right way to salvation, the right and saving purposes of God). So even in hearing the destination that he was headed to, he was to “praise God” walking on “the right path for the saving purposes of God.” With God the path is straight, without unnecessary zig-zags, detours or wrong turns. By walking in obedience with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, step by step, we can live truly fruitful and fulfilled lives.
God always has a purpose and a plan in everything He does; whether we can understand it at the time or not. It is truly helpful to realize that God works by specific plans and goals. When God chooses to manifest Himself by signs and wonders, visions, dreams, words of knowledge, prophecies and so on, He has His purposes in doing so. We need to learn to pay close attention to the voice and directions of the Lord. God's directions are always in one accord with the Bible. The Lord would never lead us against what is written in His Word. Saul knew very well the teachings of the “Law of Moses” (The ”Torah,” the first five books of the Old Testament) and he was also well-versed in the prophetic books of the Old Testament. He knew he could not ignore the vision that God had given him and that he had to take it very seriously. The change in Paul can be clearly seen by the evidence of his life.
From the moment Saul saw Jesus, he knew that he was guilty of all the atrocities he had committed against God's children and was about to face the harsh reality of what it would mean to suffer for Jesus' Name. The Lord told Ananias:
- Acts 9:15-16 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.””
Even though Paul chose to obey and serve God, it seems that there was a certain amount of suffering he would have to endure. Paul suffered multiple persecutions during his 32 years of ministry (from his conversion in 36 A.D. to his death in 68 A.D. when he was martyred at the command of the Roman emperor Nero). But if he had not repented and obeyed God, the price he would have paid would have been even higher, on earth and eternally. Paul considered his sufferings (that he listed in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33), to be from “a messenger of Satan” (2 Corinthians 12:7) and not caused by God. The Lord equipped Paul with all he needed to endure the many, many hardships he faced and Paul even considered them as “but a light affliction, which is but for a moment” that “is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). And God does the same for all of us. For more on this matter, please consider the article “Paul's Thorn in The Flesh.”
Had Saul persecuted Christians out of mere ignorance or even stubborn ignorance? There is no doubt that Saul had witnessed the strength and determination of the Christians he had persecuted. He witnessed them preferring to die rather than to deny their Lord. There is much speculation on this subject, but one thing is clear, Paul ceased from being “the persecutor” and lived the rest of his days being persecuted and eventually even gave his life for his faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul's deep relationship with Jesus and the abundance of revelation that he received through the Holy Spirit along with the knowledge of the Word of God, truly gave Paul the strength to keep on ministering and even ministering with joy, in spite of all the pain, hardship and persecution and never go back to his old life.
Paul was not trying to hide his past, as we can see from what he wrote to Timothy, his ”true son in the faith” as he was considered by Paul:
- 1 Timothy 1:12-13 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
Finally Paul chose to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and he fasted and prayed while waiting to hear what the Lord wanted him to do next. After three days of not hearing anything, and not giving up, God answered Saul's commitment and sincerity by preparing Ananias' heart to come and minister to him. As one can imagine, it was all a huge surprise to Ananias. And as the Lord was speaking with him, Ananias answered unto the Lord, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” Ananias wanted to make sure the Lord knew about Saul's bad deeds because it was utterly shocking to him that God would want to help this one who hurt His saints so much! The Lord listened patiently to His child's heart, even though He knew all that Ananias was thinking and what he needed to hear to be ready to obey and go pray for Saul to get his sight back and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
- Luke 12:4-5 “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”
- Luke 12:47-48 ”And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”
Jesus wants us to know who to really fear. If we do not realize that our life on earth determines our eternal destiny as in where we will spend the rest of all eternity, we could end up where we would not want.
The Lord is also making clear that the eternal damnation is not equal for all who die unsaved. Those who die without knowing Jesus and the will of God, “shall be beaten with few stripes” meaning that their punishment in hell will be at a lower level than the punishment of those who knew the truth and continued to live like they never heard the Gospel.
Also, “to whom much is given, from him much will be required.” The Holy Spirit does not waste His gifts and we are not to waste them either. For those of us who receive the spiritual gifts, we have a responsibility to use them for God's glory, for the “edification and exhortation and comfort to men” (1 Corinthians 14:3) within the Church and for ministering to those who are not Christians yet or those who are backslidden. Every single one of us is called to share the Gospel, the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Just as when a person is in love, everyone around them hears all about his or her loved one; it is the same with the born again Christians, as they are in love with their Lord. In a state of healthy growth in the Lord, we should really desire to tell others about Jesus and be hungry for studying His Word because we want to know our Lord even more. The deeper we know the Word of God, the more we can change, becoming better examples for those around us; and also be able to better answer the questions of those to whom we minister with, being able to better disciple them. We will also grow in our prayer life, as we will feel the urge to pray more “that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ,” (Colossians 4:3), to enlighten our mind to understand the Scriptures better and also to open the hearts of those to whom we share the Good News, to be willing to accept Jesus as Lord over their lives and live for Him.
In order to be able to grow in the Lord and effectively disciple those who we know that have come to Jesus, we need a deep relationship with the Holy Spirit. Only the anointed power of the Holy Spirit changes us and those with whom we minister. People do not repent because they hear beautiful words or sophisticated sermons. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin and gives the desire to be saved. All the Bible teaches us about living a Christian life is very useful and important. All the facets of the Christian life are important individually and are connected to each another in such a close way that “each one needs the others” in order for us to function as Christians. Facets such as keeping a clean heart by renouncing and repenting of sin, reading, studying and meditating on the Word of God, prayer and fasting, sharing the Gospel, praising and worshiping the Lord for who He is and all He does, living in obedience to God, operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit are all important individually and collectively. We cannot neglect any of these without suffering loss.
God, in His wisdom, does not ask us to do anything that we cannot do or that would cost us more than be beneficial. In being a part of the Lord's vineyard, it is not only service. While we serve Him in maintaining a proper relationship and live life in obedience to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we reap the benefits of growth and spiritual maturity.
Our salvation cost the Lord much more than we think it cost us. We feel that we must “give up everything” so that we can follow Him which is true in a sense. But literally, God the Father had his Son leave His position, splendor, beauty and divine order of heaven to live within the limits of a human body in a dirty, shabby, dusty and sinful world... God the Father endured seeing His son taunted, tortured, whipped, beaten, bleeding and exhausted without being able to intervene and even more, to see His innocent Son take upon Himself all the sin, suffering, grief, sorrows and diseases of all mankind (Isaiah 53:4-5). To watch His son, who had never sinned, hang on the cross that He was nailed to through His hands and feet, between two thieves, among the "transgressors" suffering the worst and most painful death possible at that time. "Jesus cried with a loud voice,"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" The Lord was saying, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) Jesus was actually acknowledging that His Father had forsaken Him. When our sins separated the Father and Son, for the first and only time ever, their pain was at the highest point and beyond comprehension. They chose to go through all that pain, out of their love for us.
How could we not treasure a love so great? Who paid more? God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit or us???
What did we really give up to be saved? The sin, bad habits and lifestyles and many of the relationships we had were destroying us. The rules that God has made for us have always been for our benefit. Sin separated us from Him and the true, abundant life He had for us. We gained eternal life, a pardon from the eternal death that we deserve. It has been “all gain” for us. There is nothing in this world worth losing our souls for and yet, many turn back to sin every day.
Life with God is constantly beneficial for us. He knows what we could never know and is constantly here to help us make right choices. We need to glorify God with all our hearts and souls, and give Him our attention everyday and focus on the One who “deserves” all the love, adoration, honor, obedience and our worship. When we detach ourselves from the stresses of this life, we can begin to realize that there is the bigger picture and trust that God always brings something good from what at the time, seems the worst.
- Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
All that the devil ever brings against us, is to hurt and destroy us. However, God can and does change all that is meant for our harm to good. This verse is one of the first ones that comes to my mind when going through hard times and I must say that I have never been disappointed. Each time the Holy Spirit has strengthened me with this verse; He also reminded me of similar situations that I went through and which seemed hopeless and how the Lord always saw me through. Is this not true for us all, as the Lord's children?
Once we taste the goodness and love of God and enjoy the safety of His protection over our lives, there could be no real reason to ever "go back" to the old life of sin and temptation. If one somehow might be tempted by the devil to partake of the so-called “pleasures of the world,” do not be deceived. Nothing can compare to what the Lord has for us in this life and even more of what He has prepared for us for eternity.
As Paul recorded under the leadership of the Holy Spirit,
- Romans 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
The Lord cleansed and forgave us, covered us in His righteousness and canceled the debt we owed for our sins and asks one thing of us: "to live by the Holy Spirit" meaning, in obedience to the Lord.
The more I think about it, I can sincerely say that it really did not cost me anything to make Jesus my Lord and Savior. All the things that I thought were so valuable, especially “self-lordship,” are nothing to me now. The fact that I had to change the way I think, live, act and even learn new values were all for my benefit. It is “profit” to me and not “cost.” I would not turn back from my new life in Christ for anything. Why would I want to go back to an old lifestyle full of worry, fear and insecurity? So the “price” I paid was actually a “huge gain” and in contrast, the price my Lord paid dearly for me was a “true cost.” I can only love Him and never cease to thank Him for redeeming me! Loving Jesus has only brought me the greatest good! Glory to God!
- Romans 8:31b-38 If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Bible states that there is no thing or person that can separate us from our Lord. We can be sure that it is only up to us to remain His forever! What a comforting statement! We will spend our eternity with the One who died for each and every one of us and from a place of pure love!
We will be in heaven for all eternity where there is nothing filthy, fake, wrong, ugly or damaging. Where everything is pure, peaceful, holy and beautiful; where there is perfect: love, joy, happiness, corporate peace and individual inner peace, truth, satisfaction... There we will feel 100% fulfilled, without having any jealousy or envy against one another. In heaven we will not have to prove anything to someone else and we will be who God created us to be, in His image. There will not be any competition between people or people stressing to please each other in order to have peace or be appreciated. In heaven we will all act right and do good all for God's glory, without making any mistakes or sinning. There will not be any devil or evil spirits to attack or tempt us. And there will be no sinful nature for us to battle with. The devil will have been thrown into the lake of fire for all eternity. We will all have glorified bodies which will be perfect without bad moods, sadness, hate, fear, depression, anxiety or sickness. For me, the first great revelation about eternal life was when I realized that there I will never be upsetting any one else! As God's children, we should not fear death, but on the contrary we should say as Paul wrote to the Philippians: "For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you” (Philippians 1:23-24).
The Apostle John, led by the Holy Spirit, wrote the following about heaven:
- Revelation 21:3-4 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Glory to God for all the great and wonderful things He prepared for us in heaven. For sure, once we know these truths, we would not even consider “kicking against the goads” of God's correction!
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