Apostles Commission and Saul's Conversion. Saturday 24th September - Saturday 8th October

The main focus of the first term's study is going to be Philippians, however before we do that, we need to understand who it was written by and why it was written.

Whilst Jesus was on Earth, he had people that followed Him who were called His disciples. After his death and resurrection, He ascended into heaven and at that time, gave His disciples a Commission to spread the good news about Him throughout the world. From this point, believers in Jesus were known as "Apostles," which were essentially the first "Christians."

Check out Matthew 28 v 16 - 20 and Mark 16 v 15 - 20 to read about this Commission.

The person who is known to be the greatest of the Apostles was called Paul and he wrote letters like Philippians to various churches, teaching them how to be good followers of Christ, living the way God wants them to. Churhes today still use these letters as a source of guidance and we can also use them at Interface to understand how we should interact with each other and build our lives strong in Christ.


But who was Paul? Were did he come from? When did he write all these letters? The first two studies intend to look at these questions, so that when we look at Philippians, we can understand why it was written the way it was.




Read Acts 9 v 1 - 31



Many Christians fled Jerusalem when persecuation began after Stephen's death, seeking refuge in other countries. Saul tracked them down, even travelling 150 miles to Damascus in Syria to bring Christians back in chains to Jeruslaem. But as he neared the ancient city, he discovered that God had other plans for him.

Paul was originally called Saul, but after his conversion he adpoted the name Paul.

Read Acts 13 v 9

Commentaries

Outline of the passage:

http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Acts/Pauls-Conversion-Early

Verse by verse thoughts on what the passage is telling us:

(taken from Life Application Bible NIV)

v2 Saul (later called Paul) was so zealous for his Jewish beliefs that he began a persecuation campaign against anyone who believed in Christ. Why would the Jews in Jeruslaem was to persecute Christians as far away as Damascus? There are several possibilities: (1) to seize the Christians who had fled. (2) to prevent the spread ofChristianity to other major cities. (3) to keep the Christians from causing any trouble with Rome, (4) to advance Saul's career and build his reputation as a true Pharisee, zealous for the law. (5) to unify the factions of Judaism by giving them a common enemy.

v2 - 5 As Saul travelled to Damascus, pursuing Christians, he was confronted by the risen Christ and brought face to face with the truth of the gospel. Sometimes God breaks into a life in a spectacular manner, and sometimes conversion is a quiet experience. Beware of people who insist that you must have a particular type of conversion experience. The right way to come to faith in Jesus is whatever way God brings you.

v3 - 5 Paul refers to this experience as the start of his new life in Christ (1Corinthians 9:1, 15:8, Galatians 1:15, 16). At the centre of this wonderful experience was Jesus Christ. Paul did not see a vision, he saw the risen Christ Himself (9:17). Paul acknowledged Jesus as Lord, confessed his own sin, surrendered his life to Christ, and resolved to obey him. True conversion comes from a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and leads to a new life in relationship with him.

v5 Saul thought he was pursuing heretics, but he was persecuting Jesus Himself. Anyone who persecutes believers today is also guilty of persecuting Jesus (see Matthew 25:40, 45), because believers are the body of Christ on earth.

v13, 14 "Not him, Lord; that's impossible. He could never become a Christian!" In essence, that's what Ananias said when God told him of Saul's conversion. After all, Saul had persued believers to the death. Despite these understandable feelings, Anaias obeyed God and ministered to Saul. We must not limit God - he can do anything. We must obey and follow God's leading, even when he leads us to different people and places.

v15, 16 Faith in Christ brings great blessings but often great suffering too. Paul would suffer for his faith (see 2 Corithians 11:23 - 27) God calls us to commitment, not to comfort. He promises to be with us through suffering and hardship, not to spare us from them.

v17 Ananais found Saul, as he had been instructed, and greeted him as "Brother Saul". Ananais feared this meeting, because Saul had come to Damascus to capture the believers and take them as prisoners to Jerulsalem (9:2). But in obedience to the Holy Spirit, Ananias greeted Saul lovingly. It is not always easy to show love to others, especially when we are afraid of them or doubt their motives. Nevertheless, we must follow Jesus' command (John 13:34) and Ananais's example, showing love and acceptance to other believers.

v17, 18 Although there is no mention of a special filling of the Holy Spirit for Saul, his changed life and subsequent accamplishments bear strong witness to the Holy Spirit's presence and power in his life. Evidently, the Holy Spirit filled Saul when he received his sight and was baptised.

v20 Immediately after receiving his sight and spending some time with the believers in Damascus, Saul went to the synagogue to tell the Jews about Jesus Christ. Some Christians counsel new believers to wait until they are thoroughly grounded in their faith before attempting to share the gospel. Saul took time alone to learn about Jesus, before beginning his worldwide ministry, but he did not wait to witness. Although we should not rush into a ministry unprepared, we do not need to wait before telling others what has happened to us.

v21, 22 Saul's arguments were powerful because he was a brilliant scholar. But what was more convincing was his changed life. People knew what he was taught was real because they could see the evidence in the way he lived. It is important to know what the bible teaches us and how to defend the faith, but your words should be backed up with a changed life.

v22 - 26 At least three years elapsed between these verses. After time alone, Saul returned to Damascus and then went to Jerusalem.

v26, 27 It is difficult to change your reputation and Saul had a terrible reputation with the Christians. But Barnabas, a Jewish convert, became the bridge between Saul and the apostles. New Christians (especially those with tarnished reputations) need sponsors, people who will come alongside, encourage, teach and introduce them to other believers. Find ways that you can become a Barnabas to new believers.

v29, 30 In these short sentences we can see two characteristics of Paul, even as a new believer in Christ. He was bold, and he stirred up controversy. These would characterise Paul's ministry for the rest of his life.

Deeper discussion of the passage:

http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Acts/Pauls-Conversion

http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Acts/Pauls-Witness-Damascus

What some of the words mean:

Heretic - a person that maintains beliefs contrary to the teachings of the church.

Persecuted - to oppress or harass with ill treatment, because of race, religion, gender or beliefs.

Scholar - a learned person.