Try to picture this: a famous, outspoken atheist steps onto a stage, a room full of supporters waiting for him to dismantle Christianity—and his first words are, “Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Repent and trust Him.” The shock would be almost impossible to describe.
That’s the kind of whiplash Acts 9 gives us when Saul of Tarsus—known for hunting Christians—suddenly starts preaching Christ. Luke says, “All those who heard him were astonished” (Acts 9:21). Not mildly surprised. Astonished in a way that feels unreal, even frightening. People are basically asking, “Who are you, and what have you done with Saul?”
And that question is exactly the point. Because when Jesus changes someone, He doesn’t just adjust their opinions—He makes them new.
# A new man with a new purpose
After meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul walks into two gatherings on back-to-back days that show how total his transformation is. First, he enters the synagogue—the place where everyone expects him to denounce Christians—and he announces that “Jesus is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20). Then, the next day, he’s with the believers, not to arrest them, but to worship with them. Imagine him looking into the eyes of people who may have lost homes, freedom, even family members because of him—and humbly asking forgiveness. That’s not image management. That’s a miracle.
Paul later describes it like this: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). That’s what we’re watching in Acts 9:19–31—new creation life in real time.
But God doesn’t just give Saul a new heart. He gives him a new calling. Jesus tells Ananias, “This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name… I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:15–16). Saul’s life will be marked by two things: speaking and suffering.
# Speaking the name of Jesus
Notice how quickly Saul starts. “At once he began to preach” (Acts 9:20). No long delay. No spiritual procrastination. Once he knows Jesus is real, he can’t keep it quiet.
And his message isn’t vague spirituality. It’s Jesus—front and center. Saul “proved that Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 9:22), laying the Old Testament Scriptures alongside the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and showing how they match perfectly.
That’s a helpful check for us. When you talk about your faith—whether with friends, children, coworkers, or fellow believers—how much of it is actually about Jesus? It’s easy to orbit the topics around Him: church life, ethics, culture, arguments, frustrations, even “my story.” But the gospel is not ultimately a debate to win; it’s a Person to proclaim. As Paul would later say, “We preach Christ crucified.”
Saul also grows “more and more powerful” (Acts 9:22)—not in ego, but in spiritual effectiveness. The Holy Spirit loves to spotlight Jesus. If you feel weak or awkward in witness, you’re not disqualified—you’re exactly the kind of person who needs to lean on the Spirit and ask Him to make Christ beautiful through your words.
# Suffering for the name of Jesus
Almost immediately, Saul’s new loyalty comes with a price. Twice in this passage, people plot to kill him (Acts 9:23–25, 29–30). The persecutor becomes the persecuted.
Most of us won’t face what Paul faced, but we shouldn’t pretend following Jesus is cost-free. Are you prepared to be misunderstood? To lose social ease? To be quietly sidelined? To be thought “too serious” about faith? Carrying Jesus’ name into the world will eventually bring friction. And yet Paul could say, “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7–8). Not because suffering is fun, but because Jesus is worth it.
# The hope hiding in Saul’s story
Acts 9 ends with Saul leaving Jerusalem again—once with authority to arrest Christians, now with a greater mandate from Christ to bless the world. And it leaves us with a question that can change how we pray: Who is your “Saul”? The person you assume will never believe. The hardened skeptic. The hostile voice. The one who seems too far gone.
Stephen, as he was being killed, prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And Saul was right there. (See Acts 7:60.) Who knows how much that prayer mattered?
No one is beyond the reach of sovereign grace. So keep speaking the name of Jesus. And keep praying—especially for the last person you think God would ever save.
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