How was Paul saved on the road to Damascus?
Paul was saved by grace when the ascended, glorified Lord—not Jesus of Nazareth in His earthly ministry, but the crucified, buried, and resurrected Lord from heaven—stopped him outside Damascus. The Lord then took him into the desert and revealed the Gospel: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day.
Les explains that Paul’s salvation on the Damascus road was by grace, despite his being a religious renegade Jew. The ascended, glorified Lord—not Jesus of Nazareth in His earthly ministry, but the crucified, buried, and resurrected Lord from heaven—stopped him outside the city of Damascus and saved him. Then the Lord took Paul into the desert and revealed to him this Gospel: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Les notes this was all pre-planned before anything was created: God would create man, man would sin and need a Savior and Redeemer. God set everything in motion, brought about Christ’s earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection, and brought Him back into heaven, from which He revealed these things Paul calls the Secrets or Mysteries, whose core is the Gospel that Christ died for our sins.