How Saul Got Saved

Acts 22

6 “As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

8 “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.

“And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene,^[c^] the one you are persecuting.’ 9 The people with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice speaking to me.

10 “I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’

“And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do.’

11 “I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions. 12 A man named Ananias lived there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus. 13 He came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very moment I could see him!

14 “Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak. 15 For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard. 16 What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’”

Many people try to tell the story of the conversion of Saul of Tsarsus. They claim that he was saved on the road to Damascus, but that is NOT what he says. When giving his testimony, Saul, now known as Paul, tells people that on the road, his instructions were: “get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do.” So, what was he told to do after he went into Damascus? Well, Ananias said: “What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.” THAT, my friends is the true story of how Saul got saved...straight from the mouth of the one who experienced that salvation!