“Boiling Over!”

"And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison." (Acts 8:1-3 ESV)

Chapters 8 through 9:31 introduce a young Pharisee Named Saul of Tarsus. This young man was the son of a Pharisee and grew up totally immersed in the Torah and the Law. He lived and breathed God’s Word and was surpassing his contemporary Pharisees. We gather a great deal of information about this young man from the letters that Paul himself wrote to the churches to which he ministered.

We know he was from the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the eighth day, and a Hebrew of Hebrews. At a young age, Paul was sent from his hometown of Tarsus (southeastern corner of Turkey) to live and be taught by the great Rabbi and member of the Sanhedrin, Gamaliel, in the Holy city of Jerusalem. This was a big deal; this indoctrination of Saul into the Torah, the Writings, and the Prophets shaped his understanding of God’s grace. Paul knew that from the foundation of the world, God had planned to send forth a Messiah (a Savior) to bring all who would come to Him everlasting life. This knowledge of what we call the Old Testament is what made Saul (who became the Apostle Paul) so dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Grace to everyone, to the Jew first and also to the Gentiles.

If I had to describe Saul, it would be “zealous”. The Greek word is “ze’los” and means literally to “boil over”; it’s used to describe a “burning emotion”. This was Saul’s attitude against the church and then for God’s Kingdom. Paul was always “boiling over”; when he knew something, he committed to it 100%, there was no middle ground for Saul, or as we know him better, Paul. This man was utterly devoted to God and His Word. The problem he faced was that initially, he did not realize that Jesus was “The Word” of God (John 1:1). Once he met Jesus face-to-face, his zeal, which had been directed against God’s church, was now turned toward furthering God’s church.

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is nothing but incredible. We see a man who was totally committed to destroying the Church, who had one purpose in his life, and that was to rid the world of this cult called Christians. But once he came face-to-face with Jesus, his life could never be the same. Once he understood who Jesus was and that Jesus sought him out, not the other way around, and that it was God who extended His grace to Saul, Saul’s life was changed. Once we understand this, I think it makes what Paul said to the church in Rome that much clearer, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8). Paul could say these words with every confidence because he knew them to be personally true.

God saved him and everyone while we were still in our sins. How wonderful, it makes our hearts swell, or maybe even “boil over” when we remember exactly what God has done for us. “While we were still sinners Christ died for us...", may we never forget this life-changing truth. This is our motivation for serving our risen Savior. We can’t serve Him to pay Him back, we can’t serve Him to earn His good favor or to impress Him. He has already proven His love for every one of us. “…While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

There are so many lessons to learn from how God used this “boiling over” man to get the message of His saving grace out to an unbelieving world. There have been entire books written on the conversion of Saul. But this one thing I know, God wants to use each of us, just the way He created us, to get His words of salvation out to a world that is dying in its sin.

Not many of us have a “boiling over” type of personality; we are not all like Paul. But we all can remember how it is that we have everlasting life, and we can serve Him with love in our hearts, and be ready to be used by Him just the way He made us.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"