Why did God save Paul even though he persecuted the church?
God saved Paul by grace alone, not because he deserved or earned it, despite his persecution of the church. Saul of Tarsus was already on God's mind in eternity past, separated from his mother's womb and called by grace according to God's preordained plan to reveal His Son in him.
Les explains that Paul had been steeped in the tradition of the fathers and was the persecutor who hated Jesus of Nazareth with a passion. Yet God saw fit to save that man, not because he deserved it or earned it, but because of grace. Paul says God had separated him from his mother's womb, meaning Saul of Tarsus was already on the mind of God in eternity past. At the appropriate time, his mother conceived, and the baby in her womb was part of God's preordained plan. God formed him in the womb, brought him to birth, and called him by His grace. God's purpose was to reveal His Son in Paul—the resurrected, crucified, and risen Christ.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,