No conversion in sacred history is given so much attention as that of St. Paul. Besides the many references to it, we find three detailed accounts of it in the book of Acts. As Saul of Tarsus, the learned Pharisee, he had led his nation and the world in rebellion against God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Luke says: “As for Saul, he made havock of the church” (Acts 8:3). The believers at Damascus feared Saul’s presence among them, saying: “Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem?” (Acts 9:21). Paul himself later testified: “Many of the saints did I shut up in prison…and when they were put to death, I gave my voice [vote] against them” (Acts 26:10). “…beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it [laid it waste]” (Gal.1:13).

There must have been an important reason why God saved this rebel leader. Clearly it was that He might make Paul, not only the herald, but the living example of “the exceeding riches of His grace” to sinners. Paul himself said:

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord…for…putting me into the ministry; who was before A BLASPHEMER, AND A PERSECUTOR, AND INJURIOUS: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. AND THE GRACE OF OUR LORD WAS EXCEEDING ABUNDANT….This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that CHRIST JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS, OF WHOM I AM CHIEF. HOWBEIT FOR THIS CAUSE I OBTAINED MERCY, THAT IN ME FIRST JESUS CHRIST MIGHT SHOW FORTH ALL LONGSUFFERING, FOR A PATTERN TO THEM WHICH SHOULD HEREAFTER BELIEVE ON HIM TO LIFE EVERLASTING” (1 Tim.1:12-16).

The place of the Word in the life of the believer is settled once and for all in the inspired record of one of our Lord’s visits to the home of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42).

Commentaries on this passage generally point out that both Mary and Martha had their good points! This, of course, is true, but if we limit ourselves to this observation we rob the account of its intended lesson, for our Lord did not commend both sisters for their “good points.” He reproved Martha and commended and defended Mary with regard to one particular matter.

What, exactly, was Mary commended for? How often she has been portrayed as an example to us to spend more time with the Lord in prayer! But this is missing the point of the passage. Mary was not praying; she “sat at Jesus’ feet, and HEARD HIS WORD.” She just sat there, drinking in all He had to say. This was “the one essential thing” which Mary had “chosen” and which our Lord said was not to be “taken away from her.” Thus, while prayer and testimony and good works all have their importance in the life of the believer, hearing God’s Word is “the one essential thing” above all others. Indeed, let this “one thing” be given its rightful place and all the rest will follow naturally.

It is granted, of course, that we must study the Word prayerfully and with open heart, or it will have disastrous, rather than beneficial results, but this only goes to place still further emphasis upon the supreme importance of the Word of God, which we seek, by sincere and prayerful study, to understand and obey.

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:13).

Most careful commentaries of the Bible make it clear that the words “after that,” in the above passage, actually have an immediate result in view. Upon hearing (or heeding) we believed, and upon believing we were sealed with the Spirit.

What is perhaps even more important to note, is the fact that upon believing “the gospel of… salvation,” we are “sealed with” the “Holy Spirit,” not “by” the Spirit. There is a difference between the two, which can be simply illustrated.

Here is a housewife, let us say, who is “putting up” jam or preserves and sealing each jar with wax. Now, the jars are being sealed by the woman, but she is sealing them with wax. Thus the Holy Spirit does not merely cause believers to be sealed and made secure. Rather He Himself is the Seal that keeps us eternally secure as God’s beloved children. We are sealed, not “by the Spirit,” but “with the Spirit,” — the Spirit Himself the Seal!

It is wonderful indeed to know that before the bar of God, the simplest believer in Christ has been fully justified (Acts 13:38,39). But this is a court action, a matter of law and justice. Besides this, the Spirit, who first brought the sinner under conviction, now gives him life — eternal life. This is why Rom. 8:2 tells us that “the law of the Spirit, [that] of life in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Thank God for the Spirit, who convicts, regenerates and seals every believer in Christ!

Have you ever noticed that the Apostle Paul never speaks of his love for Christ? Rather he keeps talking about Christ’s wonderful love to him. Neither does he exhort us to love Christ, but keeps telling us how Christ loved — and loves, us. This is consistent with the message specially committed to him: “The Gospel of the Grace of God” (Acts 20:24).

The Law said: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God” (Matt. 22:37). This is the very essence of the law. And we should love God, but the law cannot produce love, so God comes to us in grace and say: “I love you“. This is why Paul’s epistles are so filled with “the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:29).

The fact that God deals with us in grace does not mean that believers should not, or do not, love Him. The very opposite is true, for love begets love. It is when men come to know the love of Christ that their hearts respond to him in love.

Peter, like Paul, had once been a strict observer of the Law, but had since come to know the love of Christ in growing measure. The result: A deep love for Christ and the overflowing joy that accompanies such love. This is why we find in 1 Peter 1:8 those touching words that naturally overflow from the heart and lips of one who has come to know the love of Christ: “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory”.

Yes, knowing and loving Christ does indeed bring inexpressible joy, but we cannot love him by trying. We must accept His love for us in faith so that our hearts may naturally respond.

For many years this writer, along with the mass of religious people, supposed that the Bible phrase “grace and peace be unto you” was simply a beautiful, spiritual salutation. Thank God we have come to learn that it is much more than a salutation. It is an official proclamation.

Every single one of the epistles signed by St. Paul opens with the declaration: “Grace be unto you and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” This was the theme of the message which he, as a duly appointed ambassador, had been sent to proclaim.

To appreciate this fully we must remember that God had declared in prophecy that He would reply to the world’s rejection of Christ with judgment. Psa. 110:1 pictures the Father saying to the Son: “Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.” Psa. 2:5 declares: “Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.”

After the crucifixion and ascension of Christ it seemed that all was ready for the judgment to fall. As the signs of Pentecost appeared Peter declared: “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16) and it did indeed look as if the rejected Lord was about to return to “judge and make war,” as Rev. 19:11 puts it. But now, instead of judgment and war, St. Paul proclaims grace and peace. Does this not indicate that in grace God interrupted the prophetic program to bring in the present dispensation under which God’s ambassadors proclaim with Paul:

“But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin hath reigned… so might grace reign” (Rom. 5:20,21).

Indeed, Paul the former persecutor was himself the living demonstration of God’s grace to a Christ-rejecting world. In I Tim. 1:15,16 he declares:

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

“Howbeit, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting.”

“Either his uncle… or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him, or, if he be able, he may redeem himself” (Lev. 25:49).

Under Old Testament law one who had failed in business could sell himself, or be sold, into slavery, his master paying off his debts in lieu of salary. The slave could be redeemed, however, by his uncle or any near relative who could afford to pay off his debts, or, says our passage: “if he be able, he may redeem himself.”

“If he be able”! Significant qualification, for what bankrupt slave was ever able to redeem himself!

In this way God would teach us an important lesson about salvation from sin. All of us have failed in business, as it were. We have amassed a huge debt of sin against God and our fellowmen, and have become morally and spiritually bankrupt.

We have many who are “nigh of kin” to us, but they are unable to redeem us because they themselves are bankrupt sinners. There is One, however, who has an infinite store of righteousness with which to pay our debt and redeem us. Indeed, He did pay the penalty for all our sins when He, the Holy One, died in shame and disgrace as a sinner on Calvary’s cross.

He, the Lord Jesus Christ, is our blessed Kinsman Redeemer, for as Adam’s children “are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same” (Heb. 2:14) that He might redeem Jew and Gentile; “made [for] a little [while] lower than the angels for the suffering of death …that He by the grace of God, should taste death for every man” (Heb. 2:9).

There are many, alas, who will not face up to their condition. They somehow think that they can still redeem themselves. To them God says: “Do it, if you are able!” To the rich young ruler who asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life,” the Lord said “You know the law… this do, and you will live.”

But who of us has perfectly kept the law of God? Who of us is not a repeated law-breaker in the sight of God? Who is able to redeem himself? Why not then turn from self to Christ, our rich Kinsman Redeemer, “In whom we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).

“…the gospel… is come unto you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth” (Col. 1:5,6).

How wonderful to see the gospel of the grace of God do its work! Paul had never even seen the Colossians. He had only sent missionaries to them from Ephesus with the good news of the grace of God, but this had produced amazing results.

Wherever the gospel of the grace of God is preached in its purity it produces results. No one hearing that message can go away the same. Either he will consider it utter foolishness and be hardened by it, or he will see its vital importance and be softened by it. Ultimately he will either be eternally condemned, or eternally saved and justified by his response to that message.

“The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (I Cor. 1:18).

“Christ crucified… unto them which are called… the power of God and the wisdom of God”
(I Cor. 1:23,24).

“The power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth” (Rom. 1:16).

Mark well: it is “the gospel of the grace of God,” the “preaching of the cross,” that produces such results. The law of Moses never did, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,” God sent His Son to accomplish for us (Rom. 8:3,4). This is why Paul proclaimed, at Antioch of Pisidia:

“Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38,39).

God’s message to us is a message of love, proclaiming to even the vilest sinner that he may be “justified freely by [God’s] grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).

In Thessalonica Paul reasoned out of the Scriptures for three sabbath days with men who were unwilling to be convinced (Acts 17:1-9). The bigotry of these Thessalonians not only kept them in spiritual darkness, but it moved them to bitter opposition to the truth, so that they persecuted Paul and Silas and even followed them to Berea, stirring people up against them.

Bigotry has the same effect today. Let us never close our minds so as to keep error out, for in doing so we will only shut new light out and close old errors in. Moreover, it is but a small step from shutting out new light from God’s Word to engaging in bitter opposition against it.

The Athenians went to the other extreme. They lost interest in what was old and clamored only to hear new things (Acts 17:21). Yet when Paul came to them with the good news of the gospel of grace, some “mocked” while others, more polite, said: “We will hear thee again of this matter,” and turned away (Verse 32).

The Athenian spirit too is still rife today. Many are constantly giving up the old and looking for something new, sure that the latest fashions, the latest statistics and the latest advice must be best. This is why the New Evangelicalism has gained so many followers in our day.

Significantly, the story of the noble Bereans falls between those of the Thessalonians and the Athenians in our Bibles. These Bereans possessed true spiritual greatness. They gave man’s word respectful consideration, whether old or new, but then subjected it to careful examination in the light of the Word of God. They received Paul’s word, we read, with open minds, and then “searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Verse 11). For this God called them “noble.” They were the spiritual aristocracy of their day.

May God help us to be neither “Thessalonians” nor “Athenians,” but true Bereans. If we follow men we drift on a sea of human speculation, for men disagree on the most vital issues. Only as we stand on the infallible, unchangeable Word of God can we be sure that we have the truth.

Many religious people take the Lord Jesus Christ as their pattern in life. They call Him “The Great Example”. When problems arise, they ask themselves: “What would Jesus do?” They seek salvation by “walking in His steps”.

While our Lord’s moral and spiritual virtues are indeed worthy of emulation, there were many details in His conduct which we should not imitate. For example, none of us would be in a position to pronounce upon the religious hypocrites of our day the bitter woes which our Lord pronounced upon the Pharisees of His day — simply because we all have so much of the Pharisee in us.

Certainly we cannot be saved by “following Christ,” or striving to live as He did. His perfect holiness would only emphasize our unrighteousness and condemn us. He came to save us, not by His life, but by His death. “CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS” (ICor.15:3), and sinners are “reconciled to God by the deathof His Son” (Rom.5:10).

But God has given us a pattern for salvation. It is none other than the Apostle Paul, the chief of sinners saved by grace. Hear what he says by divine inspiration:

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, THAT CHRIST JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS, of whom I am chief” (ITim.1:15).

Paul, as Saul of Tarsus, remember, had led his nation and the world in rebellion against God and His Christ. He was “exceedingly mad” against the disciples of Christ and “breathed threatening and slaughter” against them. Why then, did God save him? He goes on to tell us in the next verse:

“Howbeit [but] for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, FOR A PATTERN to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting” (Ver.16).

The moral: Take your stand with Paul. Admit you are a sinner and his Saviour will save you too.