After his conversion ‘Saul’ was called ‘Paul’, which is the Greek version of it. Paul never forgot what the grace of God really means, for the had tasted it by his personal experience, the deep and strong love of God. His conversion was absolutely miraculous and unexpected! Who could have ever thought, that this violent young Pharisee that left Jerusalem with a devilish mission, hungry to make a name for himself by destroying the disciples of the Lord, was actually days away from a transforming conversion? But it happened as I mentioned, the light of Jesus’s glory blinded him and brought him down to the ground, but unbeknown to Saul, Jesus was already preparing one of his disciples to go and help him out of his fall, for in the heart of Jesus Saul of Tarsus was already Paul the apostle to the Gentiles, that is actually what he said to Ananias as he commissioned him to go and pray for his recovery: ‘In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision ‘Ananias!’ ‘Yes Lord’ he answered. The Lord told him. ‘Go to house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for He is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him and restore his sight,’… Jesus said to Ananias: ‘This man is a chosen instrument to carry my name before the gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel! I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.’ Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit. immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again, He got up and was baptised, and after taking some food, he regained his strength!’ (Acts 9: 10-19) 

I have read this portion of Holy Scriptures many times, I have now typed them and as I did, I was touched by the loving and careful commutation between Jesus and Ananias, and this man’s reaction, for after he testified to the Lord that he knew the reason for Saul’s journey to Damascus, he went straight away to meet this man, and without prejudice, He called Him, ‘Brother Saul’!, and ministered to him, laid his hands on Him, and so Saul was not only saved but he was healed as well! He was thanbaptised and is to this very day, by his epistles a testimony to the Lord’s unlimited forgiveness and grace to those He saves, this Saul never forgot! How could he, the lion became a lamb, and humbly and faithfully spread the Lord’s Gospel of love.

After his conversion Paul started immediately to preach in the synagogues of Damascus and its regions that Jesus Christ was the Lord and Messiah and fearlessly proclaimed that Jesus is the Son of God, the Lord and Messiah. The Jews wanted badly to kill him and watched at the gate of the city to apprehend him but some of his Christians got him out safely in a basket by night. He fled from Damascus to Jerusalem and after few days Barnabas introduced him to the disciples, but there also, after two weeks he had to flee for his life, and went back to his home town, and stayed in Arabia for ten years. There Jesus appeared to him few times and taught him all he needed to know about the Gospel, which he received and preached faithfully, and expounded it as no other man could, and to these days, his writings are still the clearest Christian doctrine and remain the solid foundation of divine truths, a treasureto the Church of Christ. 

Many years later, writing to the Galatians Paul says: ‘For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles. I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those that were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.’ (Galatians 1: 13-17) Today, there are still many traditions, many faiths, many false prophets, but where, by the moving of the Holy Spirit, the light of the Gospel happens to shine, they disappear, for the light is always stronger than darkness. It is right to mention here, that it was the epistle to the Galatians that shone in the heart of Martin Luther, and sparked off the Reformation, the waves of which, like those of a mighty ocean, are still reviving the dead and shining in the domains of darkness and will do so till Jesus returns. Praise the Lord!