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When was Paul
saved?
When Do You Think That Paul Was Saved, On The Road To
Damascus Where He Met Jesus And Called Him Lord, And Was Sent, Or When Ananias Laid
His Hands On Him And His Scales Fell Off And He Received The Holy Spirit. I Believe To Be
An Apostle He Had To See The Resurrected Saviour, But I Also Believe That After Pentecost
Every Believer Receives The Holy Spirit At Salvation. Which Place Was He Saved?
Acts 9:1-17 says, "And Saul, yet breathing
out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high
priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of
this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as
he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light
from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom
thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling
and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto
him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men
which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul
arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by
the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and
neither did eat nor drink. And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias;
and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight,
and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he
prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand
on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many
of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath
authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto
him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles,
and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must suffer
for my name's sake. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his
hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in
the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled
with the Holy Ghost."
You will notice that Saul
called Jesus Lord, before he even knew to whom he was speaking. "...and
suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art
thou, Lord?" So that statement was certainly not one of accepting the Lord Jesus
Christ as his Savior.
There was a time when I
thought Saul's second statement (when he knew to whom he was speaking, Jesus, and then
calls Him, Lord) was his point of conversion, "And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom
thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling
and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto
him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."
Although the gospel was not explained here (the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ), it was something of which Saul already knew, because he had faced Christians who
preached it. In regard to the resurrection, it was something which Saul now knew to be a
fact, because he was being spoken to by the risen Lord Jesus Christ at that very moment.
And then there is the statement by Ananias, when he said, "Brother Saul..."
Normally, that would be a statement reserved only for fellow Christians, but we must also
taken into account that Jews were brothers in the flesh. Later, Paul himself would
write in Romans 9:1-5, "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also
bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in
my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my
kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the
adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of
God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the
flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen."
It is very possible that
Saul was saved right there on the Damascus Road, but there are some striking parallels
between Saul and Cornelius' conversions, that would seem to indicate that Saul was not
saved until Ananias spoke the Word to him.
Acts 10:1-6 says,
"There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called
the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his
house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision
evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying
unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord?
And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: He
lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: HE SHALL TELL THEE WHAT
THOU OUGHTEST TO DO." That last statement is similar to what Saul was told in Acts
9:3-6, "And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round
about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto
him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord
said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the
pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the
Lord said unto him, ARISE, AND GO INTO THE CITY, AND IT SHALL BE TOLD THEE WHAT
THOU MUST DO."
Cornelius was not saved
when he saw the vision, but later, when he was given the gospel by Peter. Acts 10:38-48
goes on to say, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with
power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for
God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the
Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third
day, and showed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of
God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he
commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of
God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that
through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter
yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of
the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that
on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak
with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these
should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded
them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain
days."
And so it is also very possible
that Saul was not actually saved until he actually heard from the preacher to whom God
wanted him to listen. Acts 22:1-16 says, "Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my
defence which I make now unto you. (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew
tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) I am verily a man which am a
Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of
Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and
was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death,
binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear
me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the
brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for
to be punished. And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto
Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I
fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom
thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but
they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And
the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all
things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could not see for the glory of that
light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one
Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which
dwelt there, Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy
sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, The God of our fathers hath
chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear
the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen
and heard. And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and WASH AWAY THY SINS,
CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD." That last statement is probably the strongest
indication that Saul was not yet saved. Why would you tell someone, "...wash away thy
sins, calling on the name of the Lord," if that person was already saved? You would
not say that to a saved person, but to a lost person who was contemplating making a
decision.
Why did not God give each
man (Cornelius and Saul) the gospel in their respective visions? Why make them go to, or
wait for, a preacher to give them the gospel? A lot of that may have had to do with their
future growth and respect for the local church. If both of these very influential men had
gotten saved apart from the local church, and the leaders that God had ordained, would
they have ever been faithful to the church, or would they have been loners out on their
own? Remember, it is God that ordained the local church. Matthew 16:18 says, "And I
say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

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