The Conversion Of Saul

Saul started for Damascus, breathing fire,
Hoping to find Jesus-believers there;
He arrived, led, and with a new desire---
To teach the gospel of Christ ev’rywhere!
He saw Jesus, and became a new man,
A believer, the last apostle, saved;
Reversed course entire; witnessing began;
Freed from sin’s wages; forever unslaved!
With boldness he began Jesus to preach;
He who sought to kill those who loved that name;
Now the Jews plotted his life to breach;
Teacher to the apostles Saul became!
Saul was no ordinary, common Jew;
He and the Spirit made all doctrines true!

“He [Saul] went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether man or woman, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from hearven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’ “ (Acts 9:1-6) [Brackets added]

Evidently the experience was significant enough for Saul that he instantly believed in Jesus. The bright light blinded him for three days. In Damascus he was taken to the home of a believer. Another, one Ananias, was told by God to go to him and lay his hands on him to cure his blindness. At first Ananias was afraid to go, but Jesus told him that Saul was to be His apostle to the Gentiles (all non-Jews) and to Israel.

The fledgling movement that is known today as Christianity was in need at that time of a man like Saul---a Pharisee, with extensive knowledge of Mosaic law; with his brilliance and wisdom. The apostles and most disciples were poor, uneducated, and confused by the intricacies of the new (not really new; this was God’s plan from the beginning of time; but it was different from the covenant He had made with Moses) plan of salvation. There was strong pressure from Jewish believers (which were most of them at the time) to require all non-Jews to be circumcised and to do other traditional requirements of Judaism. It was Saul (later known as Paul) who was strong enough to circumvent these mistaken beliefs. They were called “Judaizers” and the threat cropped up over and over. Paul wrote half of the New Testament of the Bible, established churches all over the eastern Mediteranean region, and taught them how to function.

Of course, the Jews now hated Saul(Paul) for his turnabout and planned to kill him in Damascus and Jerusalem. In the course of time they succeeded in having him arrested and imprisoned by the Romans. In 64 A. D. he was beheaded in a time of great persecution by the emperor Nero in Rome. He is buried where he was killed---at St. Paul’s Basilica in Rome, about two miles from the Vatican.