Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” Acts 9:21

Clearly there was confusion among those who knew Paul. “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name [Jesus] in Jerusalem?” This is like knowing someone you care about who is a drunkard and who has been that way for several years. You leave for a two-week holiday. When you come back, you find to your amazement that your friend is stone sober and has been that way for the last two weeks. It turns out that on the Sunday you left, your friend went to a church service and gave his or her life to God and accepted the salvation of HIS Son Jesus.

No counseling trips, no trips to Alcoholics Anonymous, no family trips to alcoholic support groups. The family’s solution never developed in that manner. Instead, in an instant of time, a sheer moment in your friend’s heart, your friend’s life was forever changed. This is the stuff talked about when we use the word miracle in Christianity. Yet, for God, it is routine stuff when we give our hearts to HIM. Isn’t this what Saul experienced on the road to Damascus? Didn’t Saul have a change of heart?

“But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.” Acts 9:22

The Apostle Paul is a good example of what true repentance is really all about. Paul is a man who persecuted and sought to put into prison and to destroy the early believers of the church of Jesus Christ. These people were called Christians because they had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior and had repented of their sins unto God. In the process they were led through, they gave God their whole hearts. For them it meant, that through Christ, they would forever change their behavior in this earthly existence. They had a new perspective. One that now included eternal life and for these new believers, there simply was no turning back to any prior human-only type of behaviors. Commitment meant that there were no alternatives for the rest of their life. Why? Simply because they now belonged to God the FATHER.

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