13 For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased 16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came before me, but I went into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

It’s always encouraging hearing someone’s testimony about how God saved them and brought them to faith in Jesus. Whether it’s dramatic or ordinary, at the heart of every person’s story is the grace of God to an undeserving rebel. Paul’s conversion story is as dramatic as they come, but it was one of pure grace. It was all God’s initiative (if you’re hazy on the details, take a few minutes to read Acts 9:1-31).

But Paul’s conversion was also very different to yours and mine. The risen Lord Jesus appeared to him in glory, personally and directly, and set him aside for a unique task: to “preach Him among the Gentiles.” Paul’s conversion was also his appointment as Apostle to the Gentiles.

The reason Paul tells that story here is, again, to defend himself against the false teachers in Galatia. They were accusing Paul of teaching a muddled gospel that he heard second-hand. But Paul reminds them of what they already knew – that Paul received the gospel from Jesus himself on the road to Damascus.

But the way Paul describes how he came to understand the gospel is striking. He says God “was pleased to reveal His Son in me.” Paul didn’t just receive information, or a message, idea or truth. He received a Person. He came to see that God’s entire plan for the world is focused on his Son – and as Paul accepted that truth, he began to know Jesus personally.

That’s another way in which Paul’s conversion story is like every believer’s story. Whether you heard the gospel through your parents, a friend, Scripture classes, or just from reading the Bible, when you believed it, you didn’t just receive information. You received Christ himself. In fact, God not only reveals Christ to us; as Christ dwells in us, God starts to form us into little reflections of his Son. And that means that as you go about your life – at work or school or with your neighbours – and as you seek to share something about Jesus with them, God will do something beautiful: He will show them Jesus in you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.