Acts 9:19-22 Saul's First Witness for Christ

Acts 9:19-22 Saul begins to preach Christ. The Jews who heard Saul preaching Jesus were amazed at his abrupt change of heart, and equally amazed that he was able to use the Old Testament scriptures so eloquently to prove that Jesus was the promised Messiah. In fact, like Stephen, his intellectual antagonists were unable to cope with his arguments. One has to suspect that he quickly found that they were no more persuaded by intellectual arguments and logic than he had been. Conversion is more a matter of the heart than the head. They may not have been able to counter his arguments, but they weren't going to change their minds based on logic alone.

          This human attribute of choosing to adhere to a position which one knows is logically indefensible is a characteristic of God's initial plan. It derives from our deeply held conviction that logic and evidence are not everything, that there are other things that transcend logic, and trump it, so to speak. Unfortunately, until we are converted, we use this ability to choose sin, just as Adam chose to eat the forbidden fruit. But the redemption of this attribute enables us to persevere in faith, when such perseverance promises to bring us nothing but trials and heartache, because the spiritual truly does transcend the physical.

          Is there a truth here that might unlock the conversion of the hard-headed? If anything, there is a need to acknowledge that for each person, there is something at the apex of their value system, and for most people, it is not logic and evidence. Whatever that thing is, in order to replace it with Jesus, that persons's summum bonum must be in some way defaced or destroyed. If it is a good thing, it must be subordinated to Him, shown that He transcends every good thing because He created all things. If it is not a good thing, it must be destroyed. If it is a value-neutral thing, it must be redeemed so that its attributes reflect Christ. In many cases, we cannot on our own do anything to bring this about in the life of another, but pray that God will intervene supernaturally. And make sure that whoever we are praying for recognizes what is going on. A person whose highest value has been destroyed will fall into despair unless they understand that Someone greater is standing at the door, knocking, offering them eternal life.