Stephen first appears in Acts because some widows were being overlooked. Before we hear his defense before the council or his prayer beneath the stones, we meet a man the church could trust to help put that neglect right. I want to begin there, because his care for people belongs with everything we later learn about his courage. The man who spoke so firmly before Jerusalem’s leaders had already been willing to serve people who needed a meal.
Stephen’s Witness Begins With Service
Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Acts 6:1-7
The Jerusalem church had been sharing its resources to provide for believers in need. As the congregation grew, however, the daily distribution failed some of the people it was meant to help. The Hellenists were Jews whose language and background were shaped by the Greek-speaking world; the Hebrews were Jews associated more closely with the local Hebrew or Aramaic-speaking community. Their widows belonged to the same church, but they were not receiving the same care. Luke identifies the neglect without telling us whether it came from prejudice, poor organization, or some other failure.
The apostles took the complaint seriously. They gathered the disciples, explained their responsibility to prayer and the ministry of the Word, and asked the congregation to select seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. The congregation chose them; the apostles prayed and laid hands on them. Responsibility was shared openly so the widows would receive help and the apostles could continue the work entrusted to them.
Waiting on tables was not beneath a spiritual man. Handling food, money, and people’s needs called for honesty and sound judgment, especially where a cultural division had already exposed a weakness in the congregation. Stephen’s reputation had to be known by the people choosing him. A claim to be Spirit-filled would have been a poor substitute for being trustworthy with someone else’s provision.
The seven men have Greek names, which fits the setting of the complaint, though a Greek name alone does not establish a man’s background. Luke specifically identifies Nicolas as a proselyte from Antioch, a Gentile who had converted to Judaism. The church chose men capable of addressing the need rather than dismissing the people who raised it.
These men are often called the first deacons. There is a reasonable connection between their service and the later office, but Acts does not explicitly give the seven that title. I understand the passage as an early pattern of recognized, qualified men taking responsibility for practical care. It also fits the wider apostolic teaching that authoritative church office is entrusted to qualified men. The apostles’ ministry of the Word and the seven men’s care for the widows both required spiritual faithfulness. Neither assignment excused neglecting the other.
Luke then reports that the Word spread, the number of disciples increased greatly, and many priests became obedient to the faith. The church had faced a real internal failure without abandoning either its teaching or its care for needy believers. Stephen’s wider ministry developed within that life of service.
Wisdom, Signs, and False Accusations
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. They also set up false witnesses who said, "This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us." And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.
Acts 6:8-15
Stephen did great wonders and signs, although Luke does not describe the individual miracles. He also reasoned with men associated with the Synagogue of the Freedmen. Freedmen were formerly enslaved people or their descendants. The names Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia connect these opponents with Jewish communities outside Judea. Readers differ over whether Luke describes one synagogue with several regional groups or more than one synagogue, but the conflict itself is clear: these men disputed with Stephen and could not withstand the wisdom and Spirit by which he spoke.
Stephen’s Greek name and the setting suggest that he, too, belonged to the Greek-speaking Jewish community. This was a dispute among Jews over Jesus, the law, and the temple. It should not be recast as an outsider attacking an alien religion. Saul came from Tarsus in Cilicia, so it is possible that he had some connection with these debates. Acts names him at Stephen’s death, however, without identifying him as one of the debaters.
Unable to answer Stephen, his opponents induced men to accuse him of blasphemy. They stirred up the people, elders, and scribes, seized him, and brought him before the council, the Sanhedrin. This was Jerusalem’s ruling religious council, before which Peter and John had already appeared. The witnesses charged Stephen with speaking against Moses and God, the holy place and the law. They also claimed he taught that Jesus would destroy the temple and change the customs Moses had delivered.
Luke calls these witnesses false. A false accusation can distort something a person really said as well as invent something he never said. Jesus had foretold the temple’s destruction, and in John 2 He spoke of the temple of His body. He also taught that He came to fulfill the law. Stephen may have explained what Christ’s coming meant for the temple and Mosaic customs, but Luke has not preserved the particular words his accusers twisted. Their charges do not give us a reliable transcript of his teaching.
As the council looked at Stephen, they saw his face as the face of an angel. Luke does not say that Stephen became an angel or explain exactly what his appearance looked like. Moses’ shining face after meeting with God may come to mind, but Luke does not describe rays of light coming from Stephen. The striking appearance accompanied the testimony of a man his opponents were accusing of speaking against God.
What we do have is Stephen’s answer. He affirmed God’s covenant with Abraham, Moses’ divine commission, the law God gave, the tabernacle, and the building of Solomon’s temple. He would charge the leaders with disobeying the God they claimed to honor by rejecting His promised Messiah.
Stephen Answers From Israel’s History
Then the high priest said, "Are these things so?" And he said, "Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, 'Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.' Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them four hundred years. 'And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,' said God, 'and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.' Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.
Acts 7:1-8
Stephen addressed the council as brethren and fathers, then began with the God of glory appearing to Abraham in Mesopotamia. God’s dealings with their father began before he lived in the promised land and long before there was a temple in Jerusalem. God called Abraham out, promised him the land, and foretold both his descendants’ affliction and their deliverance. Abraham had neither possession of that inheritance nor a child when the promise was given, yet God’s covenant did not depend on either circumstance already being in place.
Stephen was not canceling the land promise. He was reminding the council that the God who made it had been at work before the institutions they were defending existed. Circumcision, Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve patriarchs all belonged to God’s unfolding covenant dealings. The patriarchs themselves, however, had not always welcomed the man through whom God would preserve their lives.
"And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to the Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.
Acts 7:9-16
Joseph’s brothers sold him because they were envious, but God was with him in Egypt. God gave him wisdom and favor before Pharaoh, and Joseph became the means of providing food when famine struck. On the brothers’ second visit, Joseph made himself known, and the family came to Egypt. The brother they had rejected was the one through whom they received help.
I see a pattern here that prepares us for Stephen’s charge concerning Jesus. Rejection by members of Israel had not prevented God from working through Joseph for their good. Stephen does not formally call Joseph a type of Christ, but the resemblance is plain enough: the leaders could not assume that their rejection of Jesus proved He had no divine commission.
The reference to seventy-five relatives differs from the seventy given in Genesis 46:27 in the Hebrew text. The ancient Greek translation of Genesis gives seventy-five, reflecting a different household reckoning; the NET translators’ notes discuss the expanded count among Joseph’s descendants. I retain the Masoretic text, the traditional Hebrew text, as the base for the Old Testament while accepting Luke’s inspired record of Stephen’s words. We should acknowledge the numerical difference without treating it as though no ancient witness to the larger count exists. Stephen’s immediate subject is how God brought Jacob’s family into Egypt through Joseph.
"But when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt till another king arose who did not know Joseph. This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father's house for three months. But when he was set out, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. "Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, 'Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?' But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?' Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.
Acts 7:17-29
As the time of God’s promise drew near, Israel grew in Egypt under a king who oppressed them and ordered their infants exposed. Moses was born into that danger, cared for at home, and then raised by Pharaoh’s daughter. He was educated in Egyptian wisdom, yet when he was forty he went to visit his own people. Seeing an Israelite mistreated, he killed the Egyptian who was oppressing him.
Stephen explains that Moses supposed his brethren would understand God was delivering them through him. That expectation does not make the killing righteous. Exodus records that Moses concealed the body, and his intervention the following day exposed how little his people recognized his authority. When he tried to stop two Israelites from fighting, the aggressor challenged his right to rule and referred to the Egyptian’s death. Moses fled to Midian, where he lived as a stranger and had two sons.
Forty years passed before God sent Moses back to Egypt. His eventual commission came through God’s appearance and command in the wilderness.
"And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying, 'I am the God of your fathers–the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses trembled and dared not look. 'Then the LORD said to him, "Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt."' "This Moses whom they rejected, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years. "This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, 'The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.' "This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, 'Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: 'Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.'
Acts 7:30-43
The Angel of the Lord appeared in the burning bush, and the voice identified Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses was told to remove his sandals because the ground was holy. I understand this divine appearance as the eternal Son revealing Himself before His incarnation, often called a Christophany. The identification rests on who speaks from the bush, not on an assumption that every angel mentioned in Scripture is Christ.
God had seen His people’s oppression and heard their groaning. He sent back the very Moses whose authority had been challenged, making him a ruler and deliverer. Moses led Israel out with wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness. Moses’ rejection by his own people had not nullified the authority God gave him. The council’s claim to defend Moses would become an accusation against them when Stephen turned to their rejection of Jesus.
Stephen also reminded the council that Moses foretold a Prophet like himself, whom the people were to hear. Jesus is that promised Prophet. Far from treating Moses with contempt, Stephen appealed to Moses’ own testimony. He called the words Moses received living oracles, meaning God’s living revelation entrusted to Israel. The men now claiming to defend Moses needed to listen to the One Moses had announced.
Israel’s refusal to obey Moses continued after the exodus. While he was on the mountain, their hearts turned back toward Egypt, and they asked Aaron to make gods to lead them. They made a calf and rejoiced in the work of their own hands. Stephen then drew on Amos to connect that rebellion with Israel’s later worship of the heavenly host and the judgment of exile. He was tracing a persistent course across Israel’s history, not placing every act mentioned by Amos within the same wilderness generation.
We must hear that rebuke in its actual setting. Stephen was a Jew speaking from Israel’s Scriptures to Jewish leaders; Jesus, the apostles, the prophets, and the thousands of Jewish believers in Acts belonged to the same people. This passage gives Gentiles no excuse for contempt toward Jews. It exposes the danger of resisting God’s word while claiming the standing of His covenant people.
God Is Not Confined to the Temple
"Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built Him a house. "However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: 'Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest? Has My hand not made all these things?'
Acts 7:44-50
The tabernacle had been made according to the pattern God gave Moses. It accompanied Israel in the wilderness and into the land, so Stephen could hardly be accused fairly of dismissing it as a human invention. He likewise acknowledged David’s favor with God and Solomon’s building of the temple. The temple was not an unauthorized mistake.
Yet Solomon’s temple could not contain its Maker. Stephen quoted Isaiah’s declaration that heaven is God’s throne and earth His footstool. God had appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia, preserved Joseph in Egypt, and spoken to Moses in Midian. His presence and authority had never depended on the Jerusalem building. The council could not make possession of the temple a defense for disobedience to God.
Jesus had already confronted the same reliance on religious standing. His hearers honored the prophets’ tombs and insisted they would never have joined their ancestors in killing them. Their treatment of the messengers God was sending them exposed that claim.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"
Matthew 23:29-39
Jesus named Jerusalem’s killing of the prophets and its refusal to be gathered to Him. He also announced judgment on its house. His warning about the temple would be fulfilled in its destruction in AD 70. That judgment did not mean God’s word had failed; the warning was itself part of His word.
The refusal Jesus condemned was continuing as Stephen addressed the council. These leaders were hearing about ancestors who rejected God’s servants, yet they were refusing the testimony concerning Jesus. His defense ended by charging these leaders with continuing that resistance.
The Heavens Open and Stephen Dies
"You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it." When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:51-60
Calling them stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears drew on the language of Israel’s own prophets. Their outward covenant sign had not made them willing to hear God. They claimed to honor the law received through angels, yet had betrayed and murdered the Just One foretold by the prophets. Stephen’s severity followed the evidence he had laid before them.
His charge that they always resisted the Holy Spirit describes culpable resistance to God’s testimony. Calvinists distinguish the outward call and common operations of the Spirit, which people can resist, from an inward effectual call that brings those God has chosen willingly to faith. The Westminster Confession, chapter 10, makes that distinction; it does not teach that people never resist any work of the Spirit. I disagree with restricting God’s saving call in that way. I understand Scripture to present grace genuinely offered to every person, which a person can refuse. Stephen’s words fit that understanding, though the charge alone does not settle every argument over effectual calling. His hearers were responsible for refusing the Spirit’s appeal through the testimony they received.
They were cut to the heart, but their response was rage. In Acts 2, convicted hearers asked what they should do and received Peter’s call to repent. Here the council gnashed their teeth at Stephen. Being disturbed by God’s word is not the same as yielding to it. These men turned on the man who had exposed their sin.
Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked into heaven and saw God’s glory and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. He identified Jesus as the Son of Man, recalling Daniel 7 and Jesus’ own testimony before the council. The crucified Jesus whom these leaders had rejected was alive and glorified, exercising divine authority.
Other passages describe Christ seated at God’s right hand, expressing His established authority and completed sacrifice. Acts does not explain why Stephen saw Him standing. Some understand Jesus to be receiving or honoring His witness; others understand Him to be standing as a witness or in judgment. Those are interpretations of His posture. Luke plainly tells us whom Stephen saw and where He stood.
When Stephen announced the vision, his hearers cried out, stopped their ears, and rushed at him together. They cast him outside the city and stoned him. Rome governed Judea, but Luke does not describe an orderly capital proceeding or a carefully delivered verdict. He describes a crowd acting in fury. The men who would not hear Stephen’s testimony were now killing him.
Under the stones, Stephen called directly on the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit. Then he knelt and asked the Lord not to charge his killers with this sin. His prayer confessed Christ’s deity and His authority to receive the departing believer. Luke says Stephen fell asleep, a description of bodily death that does not teach an unconscious soul. Stephen entrusted his spirit to the living Jesus.
The prayers recall Jesus’ own words at the cross. Luke had recorded both His plea for His executioners and His entrusting of His spirit to the Father.
And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God." The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, "If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself." And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.'" Having said this, He breathed His last.
Luke 23:33-46
Jesus prayed to the Father; Stephen prayed to Jesus. The servant’s words echo his Lord’s mercy while recognizing the Lord as the One into whose care he was going. Stephen had spoken frankly about betrayal and murder, so asking mercy did not make the crime less evil. He refused personal vengeance and left his killers’ guilt with the Lord.
Stephen is commonly called the first Christian martyr, the first believer whose killing for his witness to Christ is recorded after Pentecost. Being full of the Spirit did not spare him a violent death. We must not blame a faithful believer’s suffering on deficient faith or promise that obedience will always bring an escape. Neither should we turn Stephen’s death into a rule that every courageous sermon must produce the same result.
Persecution Scatters the Witness
Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.
Acts 8:1-8
Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. Their grief belonged alongside their faith. Knowing that a believer is with Christ does not make his murder easy to bear or make the loss of his company unreal. The church had lost a man who served its widows and taught the Scriptures with wisdom.
As persecution drove believers out of Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria, the apostles remained. Those who scattered continued preaching the Word. Philip went to Samaria, proclaimed Christ, and performed signs, and the city received his ministry with great joy. The mission Jesus had announced in Acts 1:8 was extending beyond Jerusalem through people who had been driven from their homes.
God brought good from their displacement without making the persecution good. The people attacking the church remained responsible for their violence. Yet their efforts to suppress the gospel carried its witnesses into other communities. Stephen’s death and the scattering belong within the wider advance traced in the book of Acts.
Saul had guarded the killers’ clothes and consented to Stephen’s death. His immediate course was to ravage the church, entering homes and dragging men and women off to prison. Later, the risen Christ confronted him on the Damascus road. Years after that conversion, Paul recalled his part in Stephen’s killing while recounting another appearance of the Lord.
"Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.' So I said, 'Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.' Then He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.'"
Acts 22:17-21
The Lord who received Stephen was now sending Saul to the Gentiles. Saul’s course after the killing had been to intensify his assault on the church; Acts gives us no account of Stephen’s death secretly softening him. The decisive intervention was Christ’s appearance to him on the Damascus road. His conversion on the road to Damascus displays the grace of the Lord whose witness he had helped kill.
As I consider Stephen’s life, the widows’ distribution is a good place to examine our own service. A church can be busy and growing while some of its most vulnerable members are overlooked. We need to listen when a substantiated complaint exposes that failure, especially when differences of language or background make a person’s needs easier to miss. Men entrusted with responsibility should have the character to put the problem right, not merely the ability to defend the existing arrangement.
Stephen’s defense also calls for more than admiration of a courageous speaker. He knew the Scriptures well enough to address the actual charges, trace God’s dealings with Israel, and expose the council’s refusal to hear. Raising our voices, insulting someone, or provoking a needless quarrel cannot replace that work. We need to understand what God has said before claiming to speak boldly on His behalf.
A church building, a respected tradition, or a denomination’s sound teaching in the past cannot guarantee our present faithfulness. When Scripture exposes our own sin, we need to receive its correction. It would be a miserable misuse of this passage to admire Stephen while behaving like his accusers toward anyone who brings an unwelcome truth. The Holy Spirit strengthened Stephen to speak and confronted his hearers through that testimony. Our response should be repentance rather than an effort to silence the person who has shown us our fault.
Stephen’s final prayer teaches mercy without requiring us to surrender lawful protection or pretend that wrongdoing is harmless. A Christian may report a crime, seek protection, and tell the truth about an abuser without seeking personal revenge. Forgiveness does not require lying about what happened. Stephen named the sin and entrusted judgment to Jesus even as he asked for mercy.
My Final Thoughts
Stephen could entrust his spirit to Jesus because of who Jesus is and what He had done. He is the eternal Son, fully God and fully man, born of a virgin and without sin. Wicked men physically punished and killed Him, and He willingly bore that suffering for our sins in His innocent body. His saving work through His shed blood and death was completed before He rose bodily from the grave. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus.
Christ died for the whole world. Everyone who repents and believes in Him is forgiven and justified, declared righteous before God. The believer is born again as a new creation, indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit. We neither earn that salvation nor keep ourselves saved by our performance. Its security does not excuse lawlessness, and a Christian label alone does not establish that someone has been born again. The new life God gives bears evidence in the way we respond to Him.
I want us to carry Stephen’s care for neglected people into our understanding of his courage before the council. His faithfulness included both assignments. He served people who needed help, explained Scripture when challenged, and asked mercy for the men killing him. The same Lord who received Stephen deserves our obedience in the ordinary responsibilities before us and in whatever cost that obedience may bring.
Saul was not traveling to Damascus because he had questions about Jesus. He was going there with authority to arrest Jesus’ disciples and bring them back in chains. The risen Lord confronted him as a persecutor and brought him into the fellowship he had set out to destroy. As I follow his conversion, I see both the seriousness of his guilt and the mercy of Christ, whose saving power does not depend on every believer having an experience as dramatic as Saul’s.
Saul Thought His War Against Jesus Served God
Saul was born in Tarsus of Cilicia and belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. He had Roman citizenship from birth and grew up in Jerusalem, where Gamaliel trained him in the strict observance of his fathers’ law. His education gave him a thorough knowledge of Jewish teaching, and he could also work in the Greek-speaking world. God would later use those advantages in his ministry, but they had not given him spiritual life.
Before Damascus, Saul put his education, discipline, and influence to work against Christ. When he later explained what he had once counted as gain, he included both his religious credentials and his zeal in persecuting the church. Others could admire his record under the Law, but none of it supplied the righteousness he needed before God.
though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:4-11
Paul was not claiming to have been sinless. His conduct had met the standards by which his religious life was judged, even while he remained an enemy of the Messiah. After meeting Christ, he gave up confidence in that record and trusted the righteousness God gives through faith.
He also admitted that he had thought it necessary to oppose Jesus of Nazareth. That makes sincerity a poor defense for his conduct. A person can be morally certain and still be wrong, and religious conviction can make him more dangerous when it persuades him that cruelty serves God. I need truth to correct my confidence rather than assume that strong conviction makes my judgment trustworthy.
Acts first introduces Saul at Stephen’s death. Stephen testified that he saw Jesus standing at God’s right hand, and the enraged men drove him outside the city and stoned him. The witnesses laid their clothes at Saul’s feet while they took part in the killing.
When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:54-60
Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
Acts 8:1-3
Saul approved of the killing and went on to enter homes, dragging men and women away to prison. He later admitted that he punished believers in synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme. He cast his vote against those put to death and pursued disciples even into foreign cities. Acts does not say that Saul personally carried out an execution, but it leaves no doubt about his willing participation in deadly persecution.
Stephen prayed that the Lord would not charge his killers with their sin. Scripture does not tell us that Stephen knew what would become of Saul, but this persecutor would later receive the very mercy for which Stephen prayed. Forgiveness brought Saul into the fellowship he had tried to destroy without making his violence any less wicked.
The Risen Jesus Stopped Saul and Sent Ananias
Saul obtained letters from the high priest to the synagogues at Damascus, a major Syrian city beyond Judea. He intended to bind followers of “the Way,” an early description of Jesus’ disciples, and bring them back to Jerusalem. Near Damascus, at midday, a light brighter than the sun surrounded him and his companions.
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. 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.” 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.” And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 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. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 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.” 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. 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.” Then Ananias answered, “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.” 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.” And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.
Acts 9:1-19
Jesus asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Saul had attacked the disciples, and the Lord treated that attack as persecution directed against Himself. These believers belonged to Christ, who identified Himself with the people Saul had been harming. I understand this as a real union between Christ and His church, without making the church divine or merging believers into His person.
When Saul asked who was speaking, Jesus answered, “I am Jesus.” The Nazarene who had been crucified was alive and addressing Saul personally, so he could no longer defend the judgment on which his campaign rested. Jesus compared Saul’s resistance to kicking against goads, the pointed prods used to guide livestock. An animal that kicked against the prod injured itself, and Saul’s opposition to Christ was likewise doing him harm. Faced with the Lord he had opposed, he asked what he should do.
Saul had expected to lead prisoners out of Damascus, but his companions had to lead him into the city by the hand. For three days he could not see and neither ate nor drank. Instead of carrying out the arrests he had planned, he prayed and waited for the Lord’s direction. His fasting could not pay for his sins; he depended on mercy from the One who had confronted him.
While Saul waited, Jesus sent Ananias to the house of Judas on Straight Street. Ananias knew Saul’s reputation and explained why he was concerned about going: this man had harmed the saints and had arrived with authority to arrest them. Jesus answered by revealing His purpose for Saul. The former persecutor would bear Christ’s name before Gentiles, kings, and Israel, and would learn how much he must suffer for it.
Ananias obeyed and addressed him as “Brother Saul.” He did not have years of changed conduct to examine, but he had the Lord’s explicit instruction. He welcomed Saul because Christ had sent him, even though the danger he had described was real.
Ananias explained that Jesus had sent him so Saul might receive his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Saul regained his sight and was baptized. Acts 22 adds Ananias’ appeal to arise, be baptized, and wash away his sins, calling on the Lord’s name. I read that appeal in light of Scripture’s teaching that Christ cleanses sinners through faith in Him. Saul was calling on the Lord for salvation, and his baptism publicly confessed that cleansing and his identification with Jesus.
I understand Saul to have turned to Christ before he entered the water. He had responded to Jesus, obeyed His direction, and prayed, and Ananias had already greeted him as a brother. Those details fit someone who had come to faith, rather than someone waiting for water to give him spiritual life. Baptism was a commanded response to salvation. We should obey that command while recognizing that the Holy Spirit gives new birth when a person believes in Christ.
The Three Acts Accounts Describe One Real Encounter
Paul later recounted Ananias’ visit when he explained his conversion to a hostile Jewish crowd in Acts 22. Roman soldiers had just rescued him from a riot at the temple. Speaking to his own people, Paul began with their shared heritage and his training under Gamaliel, then described Ananias as a man respected by the Jews in Damascus. The crowd listened until Paul spoke of Jesus sending him to the Gentiles. Reading his testimony alongside Luke’s account in Acts 9 helps us follow both the encounter on the road and the instructions he received afterward.
“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. “Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ “And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’ And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. “Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him. Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’ “Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.'”
Acts 22:3-21
In Acts 26, Paul again explains his conversion, this time while in Roman custody before King Agrippa. Because Agrippa knew Jewish customs and disputes, Paul speaks about his former Pharisaic convictions and shows that his message agrees with Moses and the prophets. Here he gives particular attention to the commission Christ entrusted to him.
“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come– that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
Acts 26:9-23
These accounts were given to different audiences, so each develops the encounter without repeating every detail in identical words. All three describe a persecutor confronted by the risen Jesus and called to bear His name. Acts 26 gives a fuller summary of Christ’s commission, while Acts 9 describes the visit from Ananias and the instruction he delivered. I understand Paul to be bringing his calling together in that summary without recounting every stage through which it was confirmed. Christ was the source of the calling, including what He directed Ananias to tell Saul.
Jesus’ commission reached far beyond Saul’s first sermon. He would testify about what he had seen and what Christ would reveal to him afterward. Through that witness, people would turn from darkness to light and from Satan’s power to God, receiving forgiveness and an inheritance through faith in Christ. Saul’s later mission grew from this calling, rather than from a career he devised for himself after an unusual experience.
Two differences in the descriptions deserve careful attention. Acts 9:7 says the companions heard a voice without seeing anyone. Acts 22:9 says they saw the light but did not hear the voice of the One speaking to Saul. I understand them to have perceived the sound without comprehending the message. Seeing the light without seeing a person is not itself a discrepancy.
Both hearing passages use akouo, which can describe hearing and can also include understanding what is heard. The Greek noun translated “voice” has different grammatical endings in the two verses. Those endings do not establish a rule that one always means sound and the other always means comprehension. I take the distinction from the accounts read together: the companions witnessed the event, while Saul received the intelligible message addressed to him.
Acts 9 describes the men standing speechless, while Acts 26 says everyone fell to the ground. Luke’s account and Paul’s testimony may refer to successive moments, with the men falling when the light appeared and standing afterward in stunned silence. We are not told exactly when each man stood again. I offer this as a reasonable way to understand the accounts together, while recognizing that neither records every movement.
Grace Turned the Persecutor Into a Public Witness
After food restored his strength, Saul stayed with the Damascus disciples and began preaching that Jesus is the Son of God. His listeners knew that he had come to arrest the people who called on Jesus’ name. By confessing Christ in the synagogues, Saul made his changed allegiance known among the very people who expected him to suppress the faith.
Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ. Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him. But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket. And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. And he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists, but they attempted to kill him. When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him out to Tarsus. Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.
Acts 9:20-31
Saul’s preaching went beyond describing the light he had seen. He argued that Jesus was the Christ, drawing on the Scriptures he had known while opposing Him. When opponents plotted to kill Saul, the disciples helped him escape by lowering him in a basket through the city wall.
When Saul reached Jerusalem, the disciples were afraid of him and did not believe he had become one of them. His conversion had not erased their knowledge of what he had done. Barnabas helped them receive him by bringing Saul to the apostles and telling them about the Lord’s appearance and Saul’s bold preaching in Damascus. The church had a truthful witness to the change in a man they had good reason to fear.
Once received among the Jerusalem believers, Saul spoke boldly in the Lord’s name and disputed with the Hellenists, the Greek-speaking Jews. When they too attempted to kill him, the brothers took him to Caesarea and sent him to Tarsus. Acts then describes the churches in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoying peace as they were strengthened and grew. Saul, who had spread fear among them, was no longer leading the persecution.
The suffering Saul faced in Damascus and Jerusalem would continue throughout his ministry. He endured beatings and imprisonment, survived stoning and shipwreck, and went through hunger and sleeplessness. The study on the life of the apostle Paul follows those years of service. None of his suffering paid for what he had done to the church. He endured it as a servant of the Lord he had once opposed, rather than as a man trying to atone for his past.
Barnabas’ help also shows how the church could welcome Saul without pretending there had been no reason to fear him. The believers had testimony they could examine, and his conduct continued to demonstrate his new allegiance. They could receive him as a brother while trust grew through faithful conduct. Someone who has injured others should not use forgiveness to demand that they dismiss their fears.
Not everyone is called to Paul’s office or comes to faith through circumstances as dramatic as his. Some people turn to Christ much more quietly, but they trust the same risen Savior and receive new life from Him. When we tell someone how we came to faith, we need to explain whom we now trust and what He has done, without suggesting that a person must reproduce our circumstances to be saved.
Paul Was Called as an Apostle, Not Renamed by Jesus
Galatians 1 fills in the years between the Damascus encounter and Saul’s first visit to Jerusalem as a believer, taking us back into the period Acts condenses under its reference to many days. Paul explains that he went to Arabia and returned to Damascus. His visit to Peter in Jerusalem came after three years.
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.) Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God in me.
Galatians 1:11-24
Paul recounts those years to establish that he received his gospel from Jesus Christ, rather than borrowing it from Jerusalem’s leaders. His first visit to Jerusalem after three years does not mean he spent all that time in Arabia. He tells us neither where in Arabia he stayed nor how long he remained there. He also does not describe a private three-year course of instruction designed to duplicate the Twelve’s time with Jesus.
The risen Lord revealed the gospel to Paul and gave him apostolic authority. Paul could still study Scripture, live among disciples, and work with fellow servants without depending on them as the source of his gospel. Receiving revelation from Christ did not remove his need for fellowship or prevent him from learning within the church.
People often say that Jesus renamed Saul Paul on the Damascus road, but Acts records no such renaming. Luke continues calling him Saul after his conversion. Even when the Holy Spirit set him apart with Barnabas for the work beginning at Antioch, He used the name Saul.
Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
Acts 13:1-12
Luke explains the two names in Acts 13:9: “Saul, who also is called Paul.” As a Jewish man with Roman citizenship, Saul could bear both a Semitic name and a Roman name. Luke begins using Paul during this mission into Gentile settings, but he records no renaming by Jesus. Nor does he say that Saul took a new name because he met Sergius Paulus.
His apostleship did come directly from Jesus Christ. An apostle is a sent representative. Although the New Testament sometimes uses that word for other messengers, Paul’s apostleship carried authority given directly by the risen Jesus, who appeared to him and commissioned his witness. Later, the Antioch church obeyed the Holy Spirit by sending him and Barnabas to do work God had already assigned. The church recognized his calling; it did not create his apostolic authority by a vote.
Peter, James, and John recognized Paul’s gospel, and God used him to write inspired Scripture. He was a true apostle, although he was distinct from the Twelve. We do not need to dismiss Matthias’ appointment as a mistake to explain Paul’s calling. In his own account, Paul distinguishes Christ’s appearance to him from the earlier resurrection appearances.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
1 Corinthians 15:3-11
Paul described himself as one born out of due time, and he called himself unworthy to be an apostle because he had persecuted the church. He could admit that guilt without treating Christ’s forgiveness as incomplete or denying the authority Christ had given him. His labor grew out of grace, and he gave God the credit for it instead of claiming that his service had compensated for the suffering he caused.
Paul’s Conversion Keeps Christ and His Gospel at the Center
Paul described his earlier conduct as blasphemy, persecution, and insolence. His statement that he acted ignorantly in unbelief explained his condition; it did not declare him innocent.
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. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Paul’s life gave other sinners an example of Christ’s longsuffering, His patience toward people who have sinned against Him. If Saul had needed a respectable past before he could be saved, his persecution of the church would have left him without hope. Instead, he received mercy and came to faith. Paul describes this as an encouragement to others who will believe in Christ for everlasting life, which rules out treating the passage as a promise of salvation regardless of faith.
Knowing that Christ saved Saul gives me reason to hope for a sinner’s salvation without assuming that he will accept the offer. No one is beyond Christ’s ability to save, but people can resist His genuine grace. His patience with Saul should encourage us to repent and believe, rather than presume that we can keep postponing our response. The study on God’s grace considers both His freely given mercy and the change it brings to a believer’s life.
The gospel also changed how Saul understood the Law and the Prophets. Before Damascus, he knew those Scriptures but rejected the Messiah they foretold. Afterward, he used them to show that Jesus is the Christ. Their promises and covenants, together with their teaching about sacrifices and kingship, helped explain the suffering and resurrection of the Messiah. He could recognize this fulfillment without abandoning Israel’s actual history or reducing it to an allegory.
Paul continued to teach about Israel, its fathers, and God’s covenants with the nation because fulfillment in Christ did not cancel those promises. Some still await fulfillment, and I would not use Paul’s teaching about Jesus to set them aside. The God who acted in Israel’s history is the One who sent the promised Son.
Through his inspired New Testament writings, Paul taught churches how God’s promises are fulfilled in Christ and how believers should live. I believe he also wrote Hebrews, bringing his writings to fourteen books. Their final authority rests on divine inspiration rather than on the identity of the human author.
Across those writings, the message remained Christ crucified and risen. As the study on the gospel explains, Paul proclaimed that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose bodily on the third day. The One who appeared to Saul had already given His life for sinners and risen from the dead. His identity and finished work explain why Saul’s conversion offers hope to other guilty people.
Jesus is the eternal, uncreated Son, fully God and fully man, born of a virgin and entirely without sin. The value of His atoning sacrifice rests on His perfection and His willingness to give Himself to be slain for us. Wicked men inflicted real bodily torture and killed Him, while He willingly offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice, shedding His blood and dying for our sins. That sacrifice was complete before His burial and bodily resurrection. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit acted in unity in our salvation, with no rupture of fellowship between Them.
Salvation is in Christ’s blood and is received by grace through faith. No amount of missionary labor could undo Saul’s persecution or pay for his sins. In repentance we turn from rebellion, and through faith we rest in Christ for salvation. The good works that follow grow from the new life He gives; they neither earn salvation nor keep us saved.
Christ died for the whole world, and His offer of salvation is genuine even though people can resist His grace and reject Him. Everyone who repents and believes is forgiven and justified, declared righteous before God. The believer is born again, and the Holy Spirit dwells within him and seals him in eternal security. That assurance gives no permission for lawlessness, and merely calling ourselves Christians does not mean we have been born again. Real life in Christ produces obedience, though believers have not reached sinless perfection.
Saul’s confidence in his religious training makes me examine where I place my own confidence. Knowledge of Scripture and sincere effort could not give him spiritual life while he opposed its Author. Once he trusted Christ, his response became visible: he prayed, welcomed Ananias, was baptized, joined the disciples, and confessed the Lord publicly. These actions followed the grace he had received without adding anything to the Savior’s completed work.
For someone who has injured others, a changed life should include honest confession and restitution where possible. Forgiveness does not turn the wrong into something good, and rebuilding trust may take time. We can acknowledge the harm truthfully while remaining confident that Christ really forgives those who believe in Him. Paul’s example helps us speak honestly about both guilt and pardon, so our testimony directs people to the Lord who saves.
My Final Thoughts
The risen Jesus stopped a man whose religious zeal had turned him against the Lord he thought he served. He forgave Saul without concealing his guilt and gave him a new allegiance, a place among the disciples, and work to do. Sincerity and credentials could not save him, and later service could not earn what he received by grace.
Saul’s conversion gives me reason to hope for people whose past seems to rule out change. We should neither minimize their wrongdoing nor treat it as greater than Christ’s mercy. Whatever circumstances bring someone to faith, the Savior remains the center of the testimony and the One our lives should continue to confess.
The man whose letters teach us the gospel of grace once dragged Christians from their homes and sent them to prison. When I read Paul’s life, I need to remember those people as well as the work Christ later entrusted to him. His conversion did not make his violence less wicked. It shows how fully Jesus can forgive a sinner and call that forgiven man to serve Him.
Saul Before Damascus
Paul was a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia and brought up in Jerusalem, where he trained under Gamaliel. He was also a Roman citizen by birth, as Acts 22:28 records. Years after his conversion, he described his education and former zeal while defending himself before a Jerusalem crowd.
“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.”
Acts 22:3, NKJV
He understood their zeal because he had once shared it. His training had made him knowledgeable and disciplined, but it had not made his opposition to Jesus right. A person can be scrupulous about religious observance and still resist the Lord he claims to honor. I need to test what I believe against Scripture instead of assuming that sincerity or a respected teacher makes my convictions true.
Christ would later use Paul’s knowledge of Scripture, familiarity with the Greek-speaking world, and legal standing as a Roman citizen. None of those advantages made him an apostle or removed his guilt. As he served Christ, he could draw on that background, but he still had to acknowledge his persecution as sin for which he needed forgiveness.
Acts 7-9 shows how violent Saul’s opposition had become. He approved of Stephen’s death and guarded the clothes of those who killed him. He then pursued believers in their homes.
As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
Acts 8:3, NKJV
Luke’s description “made havoc” translates lumainomai, a word that can mean to ravage or devastate. Saul was not limiting himself to debates with public teachers; he entered homes and dragged men and women to prison. The households he harmed were real, and understanding his later forgiveness should never require us to minimize what he did to them.
Saul was traveling to Damascus with authority to arrest more believers when the risen Jesus confronted him. He was still pursuing the church, intent on bringing its members bound to Jerusalem, when a light from heaven stopped his journey.
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.”
Acts 9:4-5, NKJV
Jesus asked, “Why are you persecuting Me?” Saul had attacked His followers, but the Lord spoke of those attacks as persecution of Himself. That helps explain Paul’s later teaching about the church as Christ’s body in 1 Corinthians 12. As their Head, Christ identifies Himself with His people in their suffering.
By calling him “Saul, Saul,” Jesus confronted the man responsible for these arrests while giving him an opportunity to respond. Saul discovered that the Jesus he opposed was alive. He answered the Lord and entered Damascus blind, led by the hand of his companions. For three days he could not see and neither ate nor drank. The Lord spoke to Ananias, a disciple in Damascus, and told him that Saul was praying.
Ananias knew Saul’s reputation and reminded the Lord of the harm he had done and the authority he now carried. The Lord answered by explaining the work He intended to give him.
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.”
Acts 9:15-16, NKJV
The calling included Gentiles and kings, as well as Israel, but it also included suffering for Christ’s name. The Lord was giving Saul a ministry, with no promise that usefulness would make his life comfortable. Ananias obeyed, entered the house, and addressed him as a brother. Saul received his sight, was baptized as a believer, and began preaching that Jesus is the Son of God.
Later, when Saul came to Jerusalem, the disciples were afraid and did not believe he had become a disciple. Barnabas brought him to the apostles and explained both his encounter with the Lord and his bold preaching at Damascus. He offered credible testimony about a changed man. The believers were not being asked to disregard Saul’s history merely because he now claimed to follow Christ.
I need to distinguish God’s forgiveness from the trust of people whom a repentant sinner has harmed. God forgives the sinner who repents and believes, but the damage remains real, and those who were hurt may need time and evidence before they can trust that person again. Barnabas helped the church recognize Saul’s change through truthful testimony. A forgiven person should be willing to walk honestly before others, rather than demand that a claim of repentance immediately restore their trust.
The Apostle and the Gospel of Grace
An apostle is a commissioned representative, someone sent with a message and authority. Scripture can use the term broadly for a messenger, but Paul’s commission came directly from the risen Christ. He had seen the Lord and received the gospel through His revelation. Paul explained that source of his authority in Galatians 1-2.
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:11-12, NKJV
That did not make him an isolated preacher accountable to no one. Other apostles recognized his ministry, churches commended him for missionary work, and fellow believers traveled and served with him. He reported what God had done when he returned from a journey. Yet the gospel itself had not been supplied by a committee or fashioned to suit his audience. Christ had entrusted it to him.
Paul’s message concerned what Jesus had actually done to save sinners.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4, NKJV
Jesus is the eternal Son who became fully man without ceasing to be fully God. He lived without sin and willingly gave Himself to be slain as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Wicked human beings tortured and crucified Him; His blood was truly shed, and His death accomplished our redemption before His burial and bodily resurrection. Paul proclaimed these events as the basis of our salvation, not as religious language for becoming more hopeful or improving ourselves.
The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus. The Father and Son remained united in the saving work Christ willingly accomplished. Jesus gave Himself for the sins of the whole world, so God’s offer of forgiveness is genuine for every person. A sinner can resist His grace and reject Him, but everyone who repents and believes in the Lord Jesus is forgiven and born again. The study on The Gospel examines that message more fully.
Paul could never compensate for persecuting the church by becoming an impressive missionary. Neither his later achievements nor his suffering could cancel his guilt. He needed the Savior he preached, which is why his teaching about justification by faith is so closely connected with his own life.
In Romans 3-5, Paul explains how a sinner can stand righteous before God. The Greek word dikaioō, used for justification, carries the sense here of declaring someone righteous. God declares the believer righteous on the basis of Christ’s blood and death. He does not dismiss the evil of sin or accept us because we have done enough good to cancel our wrongdoing. Christ has dealt with sin, and His bodily resurrection confirms the sufficiency of His saving work.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1, NKJV
Paul announced that same forgiveness during his first missionary journey, preaching in Antioch of Pisidia.
Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Acts 13:38-39, NKJV
Faith receives Christ’s gift rather than earning it, and repentance does not purchase salvation either. We turn from rebellion and entrust ourselves to the Savior who has provided what we cannot secure. Law-keeping, family heritage, and religious rituals give us no claim to justification. Good works follow as the fruit of new birth; they neither earn salvation nor keep us saved. Our peace with God rests in Christ, even while our obedience still needs correction and growth.
Paul believed before being baptized, and he taught baptism as an obedient public identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. The water does not produce regeneration, complete justification, or seal salvation. Christ saves, and the believer is baptized because he now belongs to Him.
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
1 Corinthians 1:17, NKJV
Paul distinguishes preaching the gospel from performing baptisms. I cannot reconcile that distinction with the claim that baptism itself causes salvation. Nor can I use salvation by grace to excuse ignoring a command Christ gave. Baptism declares the believer’s union with Christ and the new life we are called to live in obedience to Him. Baptism in the Bible considers those passages in more detail.
In Ephesians 1-2, Paul explains God’s saving grace and the life of those He makes new. The Holy Spirit indwells every genuine believer and seals him as belonging to God.
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Ephesians 1:13, NKJV
The Spirit is a divine Person, not an impersonal force. He gives new life and makes obedience possible. His seal provides assurance, and He does not abandon a true believer, even though believers are warned not to grieve Him. Our security rests on Christ’s accomplished work and the Spirit who remains with us.
That assurance gives no permission for lawlessness. Growth can be uneven, and believers still struggle with sin, but a profession of faith without evidence of new life is not sufficient reason to call someone regenerate, or born again. Paul directs us to Christ for assurance while calling us to take our conduct seriously. Love for one another and obedience to Christ should characterize people who have received grace. Church discipline also belongs under Christ’s authority, as a congregation addresses sin among its members. None of these responsibilities earns the salvation He gives.
Mission, Churches, and Hard Roads
Before the missionary journeys of Acts 13-20, Saul had been sent to Tarsus when threats forced him to leave Jerusalem. Barnabas later brought him from there to Antioch in Syria, where they taught the congregation together for a year. Jewish and Gentile believers worshiped Christ there, and the church became the sending congregation for their first recorded missionary journey. The Holy Spirit called Barnabas and Saul to the work, and the believers prayed and fasted before laying hands on them and sending them out.
They traveled first to Cyprus, where Luke calls him “Saul, who also is called Paul” in Acts 13:9. Jesus had not changed his name at conversion; Luke still called him Saul after the Damascus road. Saul was his Hebrew name, and Paul his Roman name. Luke’s use of Paul becomes prominent as the account follows his work among Gentiles.
From Cyprus they traveled into Asia Minor, preaching in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Antioch in Pisidia was a different city from the church’s home in Syria. They preached in synagogues, reasoning from the Scriptures, and brought the message to Gentiles as well. Opposition drove them from some cities, but they returned to strengthen the disciples and appoint elders. They were establishing churches whose believers needed continuing instruction and care.
The growth of Gentile churches brought a dispute to Jerusalem in Acts 15. Some insisted that Gentile believers had to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be saved. Peter testified that God had purified their hearts by faith, and Paul and Barnabas reported His work among them. The apostles and elders rejected law-keeping as a condition of salvation. Gentiles did not have to become Jews to be justified, though they were instructed to turn from idolatrous practices and live in holiness and fellowship.
Paul’s second major journey began after a sharp disagreement with Barnabas about taking John Mark. They separated over that decision, with Barnabas taking Mark while Paul traveled with Silas. Timothy later joined Paul’s team, and the gospel work continued despite the painful break between coworkers.
The Holy Spirit directed Paul and his companions into Macedonia, where they preached in Philippi and Lydia, a businesswoman, believed. Paul and Silas were also beaten and imprisoned there. After an earthquake shook the prison, they spoke the Lord’s word to the jailer and his household. The confinement that restricted their movements gave them an opportunity to bring Christ’s message to the man responsible for guarding them.
The journey continued through Thessalonica and Berea, then Athens and Corinth. The synagogue hearers at Berea already knew Scripture and examined it to test what Paul taught. In Athens, he addressed people unfamiliar with that background, explaining the Creator’s authority before announcing resurrection and judgment. Some mocked, while others believed. He took account of what his hearers understood without changing the gospel to obtain the response he wanted.
During his third major journey, Paul spent an extended period teaching in Ephesus. A silversmith named Demetrius warned fellow craftsmen that people turning from idols threatened their trade in shrines of Artemis, called Diana in the NKJV. Their anger led to a riot. Their religion was tied to their income, so conversion affected more than what someone believed privately. It changed what people were willing to worship and support with their money.
On his return route, Paul called the Ephesian elders to meet him at Miletus. He warned that false teachers would threaten the church, including men who would arise from among the leaders themselves. He reminded the elders that he had warned them through tears, and he entrusted them to God and the word of His grace. His concern continued beyond the time he had spent preaching in Ephesus. The believers still needed shepherds who would guard the truth and care for them.
Paul was preparing to go to Jerusalem, knowing that chains and afflictions awaited him. He explained why he would continue.
But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 20:24, NKJV
He was not pursuing danger to display courage. He intended to complete the ministry Christ had given him, even when comfort and safety could not be preserved. I need to remember that when I admire Paul’s boldness. God has not called all of us to follow his route, but obedience to Christ cannot depend on avoiding every costly consequence.
At Jerusalem, a hostile crowd seized Paul in the temple, and Roman soldiers intervened. He asked the commander for permission to address the people.
But Paul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people.”
Acts 21:39, NKJV
That request identified Paul as a Jew from Tarsus. When he later faced an unlawful scourging, he invoked his Roman citizenship to object to the mistreatment. Using his legal rights did not replace his dependence on Christ. During his confinement, he spoke before the Jewish council and the governors Felix and Festus. He appealed to Caesar during the hearing before Festus and afterward testified before King Agrippa while awaiting the journey to Rome. His appeal provided a lawful route there, where he would continue bearing witness to Christ.
The voyage included a shipwreck, but Paul reached Rome under guard. Hardship had repeatedly brought him before people he might not otherwise have met. He had been stoned at Lystra, beaten and imprisoned elsewhere, and subjected to slander and lengthy confinement. Those who opposed him remained responsible for their wrongdoing, while the Lord used even those circumstances to make the gospel known.
Paul’s Letters and Care for the Church
Paul’s letters bring the doctrine he preached into the lives of churches and individuals. The Corinthians needed correction about division and disorder; the Galatians needed to reject teaching that made law-keeping a condition of acceptance. Romans explained God’s righteousness in the gospel. These congregations could not separate what they believed about Christ from how they treated one another or understood salvation.
Ephesians addresses life in the church and home as well as spiritual warfare. Philippians teaches joy in Christ amid suffering, while the Thessalonian letters address grief and questions about His return. Timothy and Titus received instructions for guarding doctrine and ordering church life. Paul applied Christ’s authority to marriage, giving, spiritual gifts, discipline, and leadership because the Lord’s claim extended into how people actually lived.
Paul also asked for practical help: in 2 Timothy 4:11 he told Timothy to bring Mark because he was useful for ministry. Paul had refused to take him on the second journey, but his request shows that he was now willing to receive Mark’s help.
Peter recognized the wisdom God had given Paul and spoke about his letters.
as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things.
2 Peter 3:15-16, NKJV
In the rest of verse 16, Peter warns that unstable people twist Paul’s writings as they do the other Scriptures. I cannot treat those letters as optional commentary while claiming to honor Jesus’ words. The Lord who taught during His earthly ministry also appointed apostles and gave inspired Scripture through them. Paul served Christ’s authority; he did not establish a competing religion of his own.
The instructions to Timothy and Titus therefore continue to guide the church. Paul gave qualifications for elders and deacons, required sound teaching, and told Titus to appoint qualified elders. I understand those offices and the church’s authoritative teaching leadership to belong to biblically qualified men. Every believer is valuable to Christ and gifted to serve Him, but we must exercise those gifts within the order He has given. I cannot dismiss that order as outdated cultural material when it comes to us through His apostle.
Qualified leaders are responsible to teach truth, resist false doctrine, and help the congregation live in holiness and love. The position calls a man to serve people for whom Christ died; it gives him no claim to superiority and cannot make him deserving of salvation.
Unlike Romans and Galatians, Hebrews does not name its writer at the beginning. I believe Paul wrote it, taking the internal clues and early testimony together. Hebrews 13:23 mentions Timothy, and the closing word of grace also fits Paul’s circle of ministry. Its sustained reasoning from the Old Testament and exaltation of Christ agree with the apostle’s teaching.
Early testimony associated Hebrews with Paul, though opinions differed about its composition. Eusebius records Clement of Alexandria’s view that Paul wrote it and Luke translated it. That is a historical explanation to weigh, not a process the book itself describes. The early papyrus manuscript P46 includes Hebrews among Paul’s letters, directly after Romans. The distinctive style of Hebrews may reflect help from a secretary or translator, as well as its form as a written sermon.
I find the combined evidence persuasive for Paul, without making Hebrews’ authority depend on that conclusion. It is Scripture because God inspired it. A fuller examination of the evidence is available in Who Wrote Hebrews?
Suffering and Finishing the Race
Luke closes Acts with Paul under guard in Rome, receiving visitors and still teaching about Christ.
preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.
Acts 28:31, NKJV
He was watched by a soldier, yet people could come to hear him. He reasoned about Jesus from the Law and the Prophets, with some believing and others refusing. He could not control their response, but he could keep speaking faithfully. Imprisonment had restricted his movements without putting an end to his ministry.
Acts does not narrate Paul’s death. In 2 Timothy 4, writing near the end of his life, he faced that prospect directly. People had deserted him, and opponents had done him harm, but he said the Lord had stood with him and strengthened him so the message could be proclaimed.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7, NKJV
He looked back on a finished race and ahead to the crown the righteous Judge would give. His confidence rested in the risen Lord even as he faced death and acknowledged that people had deserted him. The grace that forgave him had also taught him to endure. His suffering had not paid for his salvation, and it did not prove that he had missed God’s will.
Saul’s religious training could not make his persecution right, and his grievous past did not make him beyond mercy when he repented. I need to remember both when I consider whom God can save. The people he harmed were real, but Christ forgave him and taught him to spend his life serving those he once opposed. His later faithfulness points to the Lord’s mercy without erasing Paul’s responsibility to obey.
My Final Thoughts
I do not want to admire Paul’s endurance while forgetting the grace he needed. Neither sincerity before his conversion nor service afterward could earn his acceptance with God. Christ saved him and entrusted him with the gospel, then sustained him through years of costly obedience. If we have received that mercy, we have reason to keep obeying when doing so is difficult. We are serving the Lord who forgave us, and He has not abandoned us.
