The Road Before the Road
A look at Paul’s conversion experience and how God drew the apostle to Jesus
Salvation should never cease to amaze us. Everyone’s story is different, and each one should lead us to praise God for His indescribable gift of grace. The apostle Paul’s salvation experience was unique and fascinating in every sense. But it contained a larger message that should resonate with us even today.
Paul (also called Saul), a zealous Jew and Pharisee, persecuted Christians until the day he was traveling to Damascus in search of Jewish believers in Jesus to “bring them bound to Jerusalem,” presumably to kill them (Acts 9:2).
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” (vv. 3–6).
That day on the Damascus road, Paul was brought face to face with the crucified, resurrected Christ. The men with him heard a voice but saw no one. When Paul rose from the ground, he was blind for three days and was led by the hand into Damascus.
Not many people have such dramatic conversion experiences. His questions “Who are You?” and “What do You want me to do?” pinpoint the moment he believed. The truth changed his life for eternity, and the proof of this change was his wholehearted obedience to the very One whom he previously scorned.
Kicking Against the Goads
No one can become a believer, Jesus said, “unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (Jn. 6:44). Although we don’t know exactly how the Father drew Paul, Jesus provided some insight when He said, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 9:5).
Animals such as cattle, sheep, or goats often need to be prodded along with a goad—a sharp, pointed staff. A young animal soon learns that kicking against the goad proves futile and painful. Perhaps in the zealous Pharisee’s life, God’s “goad” was at work moving Saul toward the Savior.
Due to his age as a contemporary of Jesus, it is possible Saul witnessed some of Jesus’ miracles and teachings. Although he probably dismissed them, as did the other Pharisees, perhaps they lingered in his mind and prodded Saul as he kicked against them.
He certainly was affected by the tragic stoning of a Jewish believer in Jesus named Stephen, whose powerful preaching enraged the elders and scribes in Jerusalem. Saul and the others witnessed the unwavering faith of this courageous man:
He [Stephen], 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!” (7:55–56).
The crowd stoned him to death under the watchful, approving eye of a young Saul (vv. 57–59). Yet, “all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel” (6:15).
In my many years in the ministry, I’ve often had people tell me about something that impacted them for Christ before they became believers—something they couldn’t forget no matter how hard they tried. Stephen’s death apparently fell into that category for Paul, who later confessed his guilt to an angry mob in Jerusalem:
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” (22:17–21).
Though Stephen’s message had infuriated Saul when he heard it, the truth of it became like a goad that prodded him along the road to salvation. God was at work in Saul’s life long before Saul was on the road to Damascus. He was preparing the soil of Saul’s heart so that the truth of Jesus Christ and the gospel would take root.
Damascus and Beyond
In Damascus lived a believer named Ananias to whom God gave a daunting mission:
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” (9:10–12).
Like the other apostles who later heard about Saul, Ananias was fearful and hesitant: “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem” (v. 13). Yet, God assured Ananias that Saul’s conversion was genuine and that He had a divine plan for him, calling Paul “a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” (v. 15).
God’s work is both trustworthy and faithful. Ananias obeyed, went to where Saul was staying, and laid hands on his new brother in Christ.
When Saul reached Jerusalem, “he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple” (v. 26). It was Barnabas who stepped up, came alongside Paul, and reassured the other apostles that Saul’s conversion was real (v. 27).
Unquestionably, Saul’s salvation was one of the greatest events in church history. The apostle Paul went on to plant churches, mentor young believers, and record God’s Word. Yet, there is a larger message we must not forget: Every salvation experience is a miracle of God’s grace. Paul would later write how undeserving he was of such a gift, and we are as undeserving as he. It is important to remember that salvation is a work of God; and without the drawing of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 6:44), we could not be saved.
Though we may be involved in planting the seeds of the gospel and watering them, only God gives the increase (1 Cor. 3:6). God uses whom and what He will to draw us to Himself—even sharp, painful goads.
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