For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. 14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus (NKJV).
What a story Paul has to tell. He went from “persecutor,” including the approving of Stephen’s death, to a “bondservant of Christ. Paul is an Archetype of conversion. Please note Paul’s reference to “Judaism” as in contrast to “Israel.” He understood that God was redeeming Israel the Nation, not Judaism the religion. Many that practiced Judaism converted to Christ and became part of the “redeemed” Israel nation, called the church. Not a replacement of Israel, but the redemption of the nation. Those making up Judaism had one generation or Forty Years to receive their Messiah King. At the end of the Forty Years, God judged those Jews who rejected Christ. The judgment was the fulfillment of Christ’s word to that generation. The destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the entire religious system rejected by Christ. God did this through Titus, the Roman Captain, used to bring God’s judgment upon the apostate nation. Those Jews who did not die were scattered among the nations. The judgment was the “Sign of the Kingdom” and Christ’s eternal reign.
Paul, who was known as Saul, noted how he had advanced in Judaism beyond many of his contemporaries. Saul was zealous for the traditions in which he had been schooled. He knew nothing about a personal relationship with God—immersed in the teaching of Judaism. I am sorry to say that many Christians are more committed to the traditions of their particular denomination than they are to the body of Christ as a whole. Among many, Pharisaism, which leads to legalism, is alive and well even in our day.
“But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace.” I love the word “but” in this context. “But God.” The whole world system became separated from God and His great plan. There have been many throughout history, like Saul of Tarsus, who became zealous for their traditions of a religious system. But God intervened and “revealed Jesus” to them.
Revelation is the means that God uses to draw us to Himself. Sometimes it is through tragedy, sometimes through a profound emptiness, and sometimes it is through a supernatural encounter, as in Saul’s case. I love to hear the stories people have regarding their salvation encounter with the King of Glory.
Regardless of what your personal experience might have been, it is always through grace. Paul speaks to God as the one who “separated him from his mother’s womb.” Even at birth, God had a plan for Saul, whose name was also Paul. God’s foreknowledge and His sovereignty over our lives are some of the great mysteries of the kingdom of God.
Notice how Paul puts God at the very forefront of the beginning of his life. We are God’s creation. Please know that none of us are an accident. When we came to birth, a great potential entered the world. Yes, in every man and woman, the sinful nature must be addressed. The Adam nature of a “living soul” has the great need of conversion to the “Last Adam,” who is a “life-giving Spirit.” Only God sees the future and knows how we will choose and yield to His Resurrected life-giving and life-transforming power in the Holy Spirit.
To begin with, God is the one who gives us life. It is because of God’s design we live; it is God’s air we breathe, it is God’s amazing order that causes the soul and body to function, and it is God’s love that draws us from death in trespasses and sin to a regenerated life in Christ Jesus the Lord. As verse 15 states, “and called me through His grace.” Life is a gift that allows us to enter into eternal life through Christ. That eternal life is a call through grace or favor or gift from God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul continues in the same sentence, “to reveal His Son in me.” Let me say here, revealing His Son in us is God’s will in every called person that is chosen to be a revelation of “Christ in us the hope of glory” (see Colossians 1:29). Everything that the Lord gives to us is rooted in this foundation of Christ revealed in the believer.
For Paul, it was the grace given to him that he should “preach Jesus Christ among the Gentiles.” Every believer is called to bear witness of Christ’s resurrection life through the surrender of their natural life to Christ, confessing the sin nature and the need for Christ’s cleansing blood to be applied to their life, for the remission of sins and His resurrection life to raise them from the dead to eternal life.
For Paul, he did not go and confer with “flesh and blood.” For Paul, his conversion by revelation was between him and Christ alone. He did not make a journey to Jerusalem to meet with the apostles of the Lamb who had come before him. He first went back to Arabia and then returned to Damascus. This time with a whole different vision and assignment!
It was three years later that Paul went to Jerusalem. He then met with Peter and stayed with him for fifteen days. The only other two apostles he met were James and John.
Why is what Paul is addressing important? Foundation and beginnings are always crucial because they set a course for our life. To know that God was mindful of us before we knew Him is of major importance to our ability to receive His love and to enter into the security of His love as He reveals Himself to us. Self-acceptance is vital to the healthy formation of an individual’s natural life. It is a “basic” foundation area from birth to adulthood. Many persons are born into very insecure environments within unhealthy family structures. Unhealthy community environments are also damaging to the formation of healthy self-acceptance.
We all begin with a sinful nature, but if raised in basically healthy environments; it is easier to accept our sin condition and our need for the graciousness of God’s love and acceptance through Christ. Often, self-rejection, the rejection of others, and the “fear” of rejection block an ability to embrace Christ’s great sacrifice of love. Many are hindered by not feeling worthy because of a shame based view of themselves. It is hard for the shamed based person to receive the reality of “God so loved the world.”
Paul indeed had an acceptance of himself before his encounter with Christ on the Damascus Road. He was most likely overconfident in his knowledge of scripture and his role among the Sanhedrin. When he met the living Christ in a way others have not, he was completely undone. It took another three years for Paul to have new security, not based upon his evaluation of himself, but God’s abundant grace and full acceptance through Christ. Paul’s conversion was instant, but his preparation for God’s call in Christ was a much slower process. God had to rid Paul of everything that enforced self-assurance and bring him to a place of full and utter dependence upon the heavenly Father and His Only Begotten Son.
Paul came to the place of accepting the “new self.” That new self is the “New Man” or Christ in him, the hope of glory. God desires to work the same work in us as His children. It begins with the “new birth” but takes time to deal with the old self and forming Christ in us. The greater the call, the deeper the work that is required in preparing us for God’s eternal purpose worked out through our life.
As I look back on my 76 years of life, I have a much greater appreciation for the way the Lord led me in my initial salvation and my preparation for the work that He had designed to accomplish in my service to our Great King. I can now see the path that He required of me and why He required it in contrast to others. Early in my development, the Lord directed me to prepare contrary to the formal preparation necessary for acceptance in ministry. The Spirit of the Lord spoke to me to change the direction that I had set through Bible College and Seminary. He said I am going to take you in a different direction. I had no idea of what He was saying. Eight years later, the Lord opened the door to teach in an “Accredited Bible College.” I had not been to Bible College. I was recommended by a seasoned minister for the assignment. God showed up, and over the next seven years, I was fully received as a teacher of many courses in the school. Through the school, the Lord opened the door to pastor a local church. The school and the church and some heavy trials and tribulations prepared me for the larger call of God on my life.
In God’s timing, He allowed me to earn a BA in Theology and a Masters in Biblical Studies. He has poured out such amazing grace throughout my life. I have traveled the world ministering the Gospel of Christ’s Kingdom. The Lord has given me much favor in releasing His love in the body of Christ through His amazing grace.
As Paul experienced, God is in charge of our separation from our mother’s womb. He is in charge of the calling upon our life. Expect rejection by some: challenges and even troubles from unbelieving folks. Receive the favor of God even in difficult times. Let the supernatural life of Christ be your portion in the Holy Spirit. Paul is our example, follow his example, even as Paul followed Christ to the end of his life on this earth?