Acts 8:3

But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Here we find the introduction of Saul into the New Testament in Acts 3.

Acts 13:9

But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

Here we discover Paul’s new identity in Acts 13. What is significant in Saul’s conversion that we can learn about ourselves?

Galatians 1:17-18 English Standard Version

17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.

Paul was not immediately accepted in his new identity. He waited for three years to make his approach to Peter and the counsel in Jerusalem. We have no record of the time he spent away from the ministry he was about to lead in the gentiles. It might be that Saul had to find himself in this new identity. His conversion was one of the most dramatic of any in the bible.

We become a new creation in Christ and we should not expect to embrace this new identity without understanding what has really changed and what remains unchanged. None of us should have to expect the same troubles that Sual found, but some of things are very similar.

Acts 23:12

A Plot to Kill Paul

When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

Associates from a former life will no longer trust us. They might not try and kill us, but trust has been lost. Breaking off contact with our past may not always be an option for us. Sometimes they are family members, work associates, maybe even life long friends. We must accept that they need to see we have changed, not for our sake but for theirs.

Philippians 3:4-7 English Standard Version

4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Paul had to let go of what he was to become what Christ needed. Letting go for him was not easy because he was so entrenched in that former life. He thought with all his heart that he was right in his beliefs, so much so that he persecuted anyone that did not agree.

Things have not changed that much since his time. There are many who threaten and even carry out violence because they are entrenched in hatred. All we have to do is watch the news to see it being played out daily.

What we believe drives behavior. Do we hate or do we love? How we express what is in our hearts is either going to be a reflection of our current condition and we that are in Christ change daily. Paul changed instantly and little by little. Paul had his moments of being over zealous in his new life which was a hangover from his former life.

Acts 15:36-41 English Standard Version

Paul and Barnabas Separate

36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Paul seems to be intolerant of John Mark’s reluctance to continue on in a journey that the young man had begun. His attitude caused a division in the ministry. Barnabas took his cousin under his wing while Paul chose Silas who was an unproven commodity but commended by others.

Was Paul impatient with John Mark or did he lose trust in the lad? Either way John Mark did not measure up to the standards which Paul determined was needed to move forward in the furtherance of the gospel. His intolerance did not stop there.

Galatians 2:11

Paul Opposes Peter

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.