Why Did Christ Appear to Saul of Tarsus

WHY DID CHRIST APPEAR TO SAUL OF TARSUS

By:  Randy Kea

Why did Jesus appear to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:1-22?

There are several vital lessons that we can learn from the three accounts of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9, 22, 26).  Remember, Luke records his conversion in Acts 9 and Saul (Paul) presents these facts in his own preaching later in Acts 22 and 26.

Please note these crucial points:

1)  A person can be genuine, sincere, honest, and conscientious and yet be religiously wrong.  Even while opposing the cause of Christ, Paul (Saul) had these qualities.  “I have lived in all good             conscience before God until this day” (Acts 23:1; also 24:16).

2)  A person can honestly “think” that he is serving God and yet be in error.  “I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 26:9).

3)  A person can have great “zeal” with reference to his religious convictions and yet be in opposition to Christ (Philippians 3:6).

4)  A person can learn religious teaching at the feet of a renowned religious teacher and yet be in error and in need of change.  “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in                    Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day” (Acts                22:3).

5)  The Book of Acts is a book of conversions.  It records how people become Christians.  From Acts 2 to Acts 28, the conditions of becoming a Christian do not alter.  In each case, they heard the          gospel, believed the gospel and obeyed the gospel.  This involved preaching, hearing, believing, repentance, and water baptism for the remission of sins.  Not all of these details are recorded            in each case (Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-47; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:36-38; 8:5-13; 26-39; 18:8; 22:16, etc.)

6)  To answer our original question, Jesus did not appear to Saul (Paul) to save him or to tell him that he was already saved, but to qualify him to be His apostle.  To be an apostle, you had to be a        witness of the resurrected Christ (Acts 1:21-26).  Hear Paul’s own explanation of the Lord’s appearance to him, “And I said, Who are thou, Lord?  And He said, I am Jesus who thou                            persecutest.  But rise and stand upon thy feet; for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those          things in that which I will appear unto thee” (Acts 26:15-16).  Saul was saved just like everyone else.  The preacher came to him and said, “And now why tarriest thou?  Arise, and be                        baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).  Notice he didn’t say “keep praying and wait for Jesus to come and tell you you’re saved.”  He commanded              him to obey the gospel just like everyone else.  Jesus had previously told him to go to the city to await these gospel instructions (Acts 9:1-6).

7)  Those claiming present-day appearances from the Lord, either to tell them what to do to be saved or to tell them they are saved, stand in direct conflict with Paul’s claim that “last of all he was        seen of me” (I Corinthians 15:8).

People who believe the Bible will always be found “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:5).