No one is beyond God’s saving grace. Anyone, even the ayatollah of Iran or the most heart-hardened criminal, can come to know Christ as Savior and Lord, the Son of God. God can change anyone’s life.
Saul (later known as Paul) was a wild animal, zealous for God and ruthless against “those heretics who follow Jesus.” He had done much evil against the saints of the Lord, according to Ananias, one eyewitness. Saul was Jewish, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. He oversaw and approved of Stephen’s execution and he ravaged the church, entering all the houses and dragging off men and women and committing them to prison. He breathed murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord and was on his way to Damascus to find men or women following Jesus, so he could bring them bound to Jerusalem. This guy was definitely no friend of Jesus or the church, and he was the last guy you’d ever expect to follow Christ. Do you know anyone like this?
But look what happened! In Acts chapter 9, as Saul was on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” He did so, and three days later he was filled with the Holy Spirit and baptized. Are you kidding me? No way!
But it was true. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues of Damascus, saying, “Jesus is the Son of God.” No one else could believe it, either. Everyone asked, “Isn’t this the guy who made havoc in Jerusalem against all the Christians? Isn’t he here to arrest them?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. Then he went to Jerusalem and tried to join the church, and again everyone was afraid of him, because they did not believe that he was a disciple. But another eyewitness, Barnabas, confirmed what had happened to him. Saul continued to preach boldly in the name of the Lord, speaking and disputing against the Jews, so much so that they now tried to kill him. God has no problem turning the tables on a person like that.
It has been said that Saul’s conversion is the second most important event in history, the first being Christ’s death and resurrection. It is certainly a most unlikely conversion. It shows that no one is beyond God’s reach. Who do you know that is lost, an enemy of Jesus? Who do you think will never come to Christ as Lord and Savior, the Son of God? Keep in prayer. There is hope for anyone who is lost. God can change anyone’s life.