May 14, 2006

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

Lessons From the Life of Saul of Tarsus

 

Introduction

 

We know more about Saul of Tarsus, later Paul the apostle, than any other Biblical writer.  He stamped more of his personality on his writings than any other writer.  He wrote more of the New Testament than any other.  If Hebrews is counted, Paul wrote fourteen of the twenty-seven books (letters) of the NT.  Some have said that Paul ranks second only to Jesus in promoting New Testament Christianity from the first century till today.

 

I want to review his life briefly and draw some important lessons that we can learn from the life of this remarkable man.  Who was Saul/Paul?  Why is he so loved and appreciated two thousand years after his life and death?  There are two major parts to his life that were very different from one another.  The first part of his life was lived as a devoted Pharisee, a Hebrew of Hebrews (Phil. 3:5); the second part was lived as a devoted Christian missionary.  This is an over-simplification, of course.  He was not just a Jew who was converted to Christianity.  Many experienced that in the first century and afterwards.  By God’s own design, it should have been a natural process to receive the Messiah when He came.  But with Saul of Tarsus, it was a radical transformation of life.  He was not just a Jew, but a Pharisee among the Jews.

 

This conversion of Saul was not from being a bad, sinful person to a spiritual person.  Saul in character and heart was always the same, before and after his conversion. He said before the Jewish Counsel in Jerusalem, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”  (Acts 23:1.)  This is a remarkable insight into the heart of Saul.  He led persecutions against Christians, but He thought he was doing the will of God all the while. 

 

Early Life and Education

 

Saul was born and raised in Tarsus of Cilicia, described in the Bible as “no mean city.”  (Acts 21:39.)  This means that it was different from Nazareth where Jesus was born.  Nazareth was a despised village (John 1:46); Tarsus was a significant city.  The citizens of Tarsus sought after culture and learning.  They often left the city for education elsewhere and rarely returned, as it was with Saul.  Cilicia was located north of Palestine and north of Antioch of Syria.

 

Paul said that he was a Roman, not by payment of money, but he was born a Roman.  (Acts 22:25-26.) This means that his father or grand-father had obtained Roman citizenship by some service rendered to Rome.  Saul learned the trade of making tents from his father.  It may have been that this business was deemed important to the Roman army.

 

As a young man, his father sent Saul to study at the feet of Gamaliel in Jerusalem.  (Acts 22:3.)  Saul received the best religious training available among the Pharisees in that day.  This rabbi is the same one who cautioned the Jewish counsel concerning the apostles in Acts 5.  His expressions of tolerance and liberality were rare among the Pharisees.  Young Saul did not accept this spirit of tolerance.  If it is wrong, it is wrong.  Christians should be stoned; the Law taught it.  Paul wrote that he exceeded his own teachers in zeal for the Law.  (Gal. 1:14.)

 

Zeal Against Christ & Christians

 

Paul wrote that evidence of his zeal was his persecution of the Church.  (Phil. 3:6.)  He wasted the church of God.  (Gal. 1:13.)  He persecuted the Way unto death.  (Acts 22:4.)  As a Pharisee, he was devoted to the Law of Moses and his teachers, family and his own study led him to reject Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Messiah.  You can imagine in their classroom under Gamaliel that they perhaps had a long list of reasons why Jesus of Nazareth could not possibly be the right person, the one promised in Scripture.

 

There were two things going on in the heart of Saul of Tarsus: 1) An academic decision whether Jesus is the Messiah, and 2) something more personal and easier to overlook.  The first mistake led Saul to lead a mad campaign against Christians and destroy their lives.  But this mistake was caused, in large measure, due to a more fundamental problem among the Pharisees.  It was the very thing that distinguished them from other Jews.  Pharisees were known for trusting in themselves that they were righteous; that one could be righteous by keeping the Law of Moses.  (Luke 18:9, Phil. 3:6.)  We have all heard of the “perfect storm” and the “perfect crime.”  Well, with Saul of Tarsus, a man with strong convictions, a heart devoted to God, a brilliant mind, and a wrong-headed approach to Scripture, we have the “perfect religious experience.”

 

On the Road to Damascus

 

Saul with a band of fellow Pharisees was traveling on the road to Damascus to apprehend Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial.  All it would take is one simple but unexpected thing to happen for Saul’s whole life to collapse.  What if Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah and had been raised from the dead?  What if He appeared to Saul personally?  Well, he did just that.  Saul fell to the ground.

 

What could he do?  Deny that it happened?  There were witnesses with him.  His own honesty could not permit him to deny it.  That was the problem with Saul; he was an honest man who always maintained a good conscience before God.  I am pointing that out because not everyone is like that.  He went into the city of Damascus, obeyed the Gospel and starting preaching the Gospel.  He went from Saul the persecutor to Paul the persecuted.  His fellow Pharisees are the very ones who persecuted him unto death.  Saul died in Rome; Jews provoked the action just as they did against Jesus; the Romans carried out the deed.  Paul was beheaded for preaching the Christ.  Saul was probably born in the first decade of the first century and was killed in the sixth decade.  What a remarkable life!  How much we can learn from his life’s story.  Here are some of the great lessons.

 

#1: The Spiritual Conflict Finally Resolved

 

We mentioned earlier that there were two parts to the story of the Pharisees’ rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.  They probably had a long list of rehearsed reasons why Jesus should not be accepted as the Messiah.  But they really had one more reason not found on their list.  This is one was the real problem that all the Pharisees had.  Saul was honest enough to face up to it, but many were not so honest of heart.  This reason is found in Paul’s discussion to the Romans about justification.  (Romans 9:30-33.)

 

There was a stumblingstone and rock of offence that was laid in Zion.  The stone over which Gamaliel, Saul, and so many others stumbled was this—if you can obtain righteousness before God by keeping the Law, then why do you need the Righteous Branch of David.  We really do not need a Messiah after all, at least, not to save us.  We may need one to free us from the Roman yoke, but not for salvation.

 

Romans 7 describes the tension Saul felt in his life.  The Pharisees went around boasting and claiming that everything was okay in their lives spiritually, but deep down inside they knew it was not.  By the Law no man could be justified before God.  Saul later confessed his inward struggle and threw himself upon the Christ for redemption.  “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”  (Rom. 8:1.)  The Law made known the sin problem that all men have.

 

As an apostle, Paul faced other forms and variations of Pharisaism.  Jewish Christians wanted to compel the Gentile believers to be circumcised and keep the Law in addition to following Jesus Christ.  Paul called this “another gospel which is not another.”  (Gal. 1:6-9.)  The problem with this message was that it disguised the effort to smuggle in the Law while rejecting the grace of God and the death of Jesus.  This message talked about Jesus as the Messiah, but still maintained the Law as the foundation for salvation.  Paul wrote, “If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the Law.”  (Gal. 3:21.)

 

These two examples—Romans 9 and Galatians 1—should warn us that any effort today to justify ourselves by good works, perfect obedience, or perfect knowledge, or the keeping of any law system cannot justify us before God.  What justifies is a fervent faith in the Lord.  We should trust Him and not ourselves.  (Luke 18:9.)  The spiritual conflict can be resolved only by trusting in Jesus our Lord and not in ourselves.

 

#2: The Need for a Good Conscience Before God

 

Jesus knew Saul of Tarsus.  Even though he was a mad persecutor of Christians, Jesus knew something that many others did not see.  Underneath all that hardness beat the heart of a man who would follow his conscience and do what was right.  He obeyed the Gospel and followed Jesus even though that meant leaving his family, Gamaliel and the Pharisees behind.  He counted it all but lost for what he gained in Jesus Christ.  Are you willing to forsake your pride and stop trusting in your own righteousness?

 

There have been many negative sermons preached about the role of the conscience; many more negative ones than positive ones.  The Bible speaks of having a good conscience before God and men.  (1 Peter 3:15-16.)  Deacons should keep the mystery of the Faith in a pure conscience.  (1 Tim. 3:9.)  It speaks at length about how the conscience is cleansed, not by the blood of animals, but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  (Heb. 9:9.)  The end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.  (1 Tim. 1:5.)  No one can have a good conscience while despising others and trusting self.

 

#3:  Jesus Arose from the Dead

 

The story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus is compelling evidence for the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  Lord Lyttelton and Gilbert West were infidels and set out to prove the biblical message to be false.  Lord Lyttelton chose the conversion of Saul and his friend, Gilbert West, chose the resurrection of Jesus for their special studies to disprove Christianity.  Both men convinced themselves from their respective studies that Christianity was true and not something to be ridiculed as they thought.  (For Lyttelton’s essay, see Saul: From Persecutor to Persecuted, James D. Bales, 1975.)

 

The account of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus is powerful for the following reasons:

 

1)     What did Saul have to gain by his so-called conversion, if it were false?  He lost everything—his reputation and standing among Pharisees.  He said that he counted all that but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.

2)     Saul was so convinced of his views as a Pharisee.  He was very intelligent and thoughtful.  What could have possibly turned him to the very thing that he despised?

3)     Was Saul hallucinating or temporarily irrational on the road to Damascus?  There is no evidence of such.  His life afterwards and writings reveal a very thoughtful and careful analysis of redemption in Christ Jesus.

4)     The only possible explanation is that Saul saw the risen Christ on the Damascus Road.  The account is given in three places—Acts 9, 22, and 26.