What’s going on?
Most of the time when people think of “Acts” they think of “Paul.” I know I do. I think it is all about Paul’s journeys to plant churches all over the ancient world. There definitely is much about Paul and he takes a primary role in the second half of the book. However, it has really hit me as we have studied along that we are two months into our study of Acts before Saul gets converted. And that is not to mention the 6 months we spent in Part one of Luke’s work!
Think about all that has happened thus far in Luke and then in the first 8 chapters of Acts. All this leads to the dramatic telling of Paul’s conversion in our chapter this week.
Background on Saul
The bulk of this chapter is about the conversion of Saul. Have we seen Saul come up before in Luke’s narrative? We have! And we can see something about Saul by this. After the stoning of Stephen, Saul is there approving of the execution (8:1). He seems to be a leader in the Anti-Jesus movement within Jerusalem.
What verbs does Luke use to describe what Saul was doing in 8:3?
Now Saul shows up again in the beginning of Chapter 9. What strikes you about Luke’s description of Saul and his actions in Acts 9:1-3?
The Way
In Acts 9:2, the followers of Jesus are referred to as “belonging to the Way”. What does this name say about the early church?
How does “belonging to the Way” seem different than how our culture thinks of “Christians?
Saul’s Conversion
Read about Saul’s dramatic conversion experience in 9:3-9. What strikes you personally the most about this conversion?
How is it like your experience of conversion? Different?
From verses 9 and 11 we can gather that Paul was fasting and praying. Paul’s conversion was not just mental assent to some facts, but changed his life. John Stott comments:
“Not that he had never fasted and prayed before… But now through Jesus and his
cross Saul had been reconciled to God, and consequently enjoyed a new and
immediate access to the Father… What was the content of his prayers? We can
guess that he prayed for the forgiveness of all his sins, especially his selfrighteousness…
for wisdom to know what God wanted him to do now… No doubt
also his prayers included worship, as he poured out his soul in praise that God
should have had mercy on him.”
– John Stott, The Message of Acts, p.175
Gospel to the Gentiles
In Acts 9:15, Jesus tells Ananias that Saul is going to be his instrument to bring the gospel to the gentiles. This is key to understanding the storyline. Answer each of these questions and follow the logic:
What was Jesus’ mandate to the church in Acts 1:8?
Where did all of the ministry take place in Acts 1-7?
Where were the followers of Christ scattered to after the stoning of Stephen (8:1)?
Which part of 1:8 commission has not yet come to fruition?
If you had to take a wild guess, what role do you think Saul will play in all this?
Implication
How would you narrate your conversion experience? Write it down and tell it to somebody else. No, really. Do it! Take the space below or in your journal. Just as Luke narrates Paul’s experience of entering the redeemed community through the Redeemer, you narrate your own experience?
Now that you wrote it out. Do two things.
1. Reflect on what you learn about God’s grace to you through this.
2. Tell someone else the story. It can be someone who doesn’t know the first thing about Jesus or it can be someone in your missional community.