{"id":21878,"date":"2023-01-05T17:43:56","date_gmt":"2023-01-05T17:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=21878"},"modified":"2023-01-05T17:46:55","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T17:46:55","slug":"new-testament-conversions-no-5-the-conversion-of-saul-of-tarsus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=21878","title":{"rendered":"New Testament Conversions (No. 5)\u2014The Conversion of Saul of Tarsus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Views: 3<\/p><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">[<strong>Note: <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our <strong>Brief Articles-1<\/strong> page.]<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>A man named Saul is introduced to us as a co-conspirator in the murder of Stephen and a hater of Christ and Christians (Acts 7:58; 8:3). His zeal was so great in persecuting the saints that he asked for authority to travel 13.5 miles north to Damascus to arrest and persecute Christians there (Acts 9:1\u20132). As he and his companions approached that ancient city, he was startled by a light out of Heaven, brighter than the noonday sun which was shining (Acts 26:13). A voice asked, \u201cSaul, Saul, why persecutes thou me?\u201d Saul did not know who was speaking to him, so he asked, \u201cWho art thou, Lord?\u201d Jesus identified himself to Saul and told him to go into Damascus where he would be told what he <strong>must<\/strong> do (Acts 9:6). Saul, blinded by the light, was led into the city by his companions and was three days without sight, during which he would neither eat nor drink doubtless due to his distress over his persecution of the Son of God, in whom he now believed (Acts 9:8\u20139).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In a vision, the Lord instructed Ananias, a Christian in Damascus, to go to Saul, restore his sight, and tell him the plans Jesus had for him to be a great evangelist (Acts 9:10\u201315). Ananias, reluctant at first because of Saul\u2019s fierce reputation, sought out Saul, restored his sight, delivered the message concerning Saul\u2019s future work and told him he must be baptized to be cleansed of his sins (Acts 22:16), which command he obeyed (Acts 9:19\u201322). He later became the legendary apostle, Paul.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Please observe the following truths in Saul\u2019s case:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">As in the case of the Ethiopian and Philip (Acts 8:26\u201340), miracles brought these men together, but Ananias, not the Lord directly, told Saul how to be saved (Acts 22:16). With the completion of the New Testament at the close of the first century, such miraculous activity was no longer necessary and no longer occurs (1 Cor. 13:8\u201313).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">What did Saul do to be saved? It is evident that he <strong>believed<\/strong> in Jesus as God\u2019s Son when the Lord identified Himself to him, else he would not have obeyed Jesus\u2019 command to go into the city and await further instructions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">It is also obvious that Saul was very <strong>penitent<\/strong>. This explains why he refused to eat or drink for three days\u2014he was so distressed over his terrible sins he had no appetite.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Ananias first restored Saul\u2019s sight, then told him of the work the Lord had planned for him and what he had yet to do to be saved\u2014&#8221;\u2026arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins\u2026\u201d (Acts 22:16). Notice that Saul was not saved when he <strong>believed<\/strong>on the Lord, unless one can be saved without his sins being forgiven. He <strong>believed<\/strong> when the Lord identified Himself, but still he needed his sins washed away three days later. Saul was not saved at the point of <strong>repentance,<\/strong> for he had demonstrated his penitence for three days when Ananias told him he needed his sins washed away<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The Lord told Saul he would be told what he <strong>must do <\/strong>when he entered the city (Acts 9:6). The only command Ananias gave Saul was, \u201cArise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins\u201d (Acts 22:16). Those who vainly argue that baptism is not necessary to salvation, and is merely an optional act could wish that this verse did not appear in the Gospel. It plainly teaches that baptism is a \u201c<strong>must<\/strong>\u201d and that one\u2019s sins are still upon him <strong>until he is baptized<\/strong>, or it doesn\u2019t teach anything.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The argument that such a position equals a doctrine of \u201cwater salvation\u201d is utterly baseless. If it does, then the Holy Spirit is guilty of the doctrine, because He is the author of it. Neither this verse nor any other teaches that water washes away sins. Only the precious blood of Jesus does that (Rev. 1:5; 1 Pet. 1:18\u201319, etc.). However, this verse teaches us <strong>when<\/strong> our sins are washed away in the blood of Jesus\u2014unmistakably, when we are scripturally baptized.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">This is a matter we dare not be mistaken about. Please study this issue carefully.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 10pt;\">[<strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0I wrote this article for, and it was published in the \u201cBible Thoughts\u201d Column for the <em>Hood County News<\/em>, Granbury, Texas, September 17, 1978.]<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>Attribution:<\/strong> From <em>thescripturecache.com<\/em>; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Views: 3[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles-1 page.] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A man named Saul is introduced to us as a co-conspirator in the murder of Stephen and a hater of Christ and Christians (Acts 7:58; 8:3). His zeal was so&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"easywp-readmore\"><a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=21878\">Continue Reading&#8230;<span class=\"easywp-sr-only\">  New Testament Conversions (No. 5)\u2014The Conversion of Saul of Tarsus<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,74,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baptism","category-conversion","category-plan-of","wpcat-37-id","wpcat-74-id","wpcat-40-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21879,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21878\/revisions\/21879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}