Did Saul of Tarsus have to clean up his life before God would save him?

Les explains that Saul was the first man he would have zapped off the scene, but instead God saved him. It was not after Saul had done a lot of begging and crusading or said he had to straighten up his life. He was yet breathing slaughter and threatenings against believers. God did not zap him with death; He zapped him with eternal life and confronted him: “Why persecutest thou me?” Saul looked into that heavenly light and asked, “Who art thou, Lord?” Jesus answered, “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.” The man was transformed in a moment. Later his religiosity faded away, the law came alive, he realized he was a sinner, and the grace of God overwhelmed him. Les compares this to Israel at the Red Sea: they were hopeless, with the Egyptian army behind them and the sea in front, and God did not tell them to build bridges or find something that would float. He said, “Stand still,” meaning there was nothing they could do, and God’s mercy opened the Red Sea. That is salvation.