What happened to Saul of Tarsus when he recognized Jesus on the Damascus road?
On the Damascus road, when Saul recognized he was dealing with the ascended Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One, he died. He was crucified in the Old Adam, and immediately he became a new man, a new creation, showing believers have two forces within.
Les explains that Paul did not die on a Roman cross; if he died a martyr’s death, it was by beheading. So the crucifixion Paul speaks of was not physical. On the road to Damascus, the Lord spoke to him and literally knocked him to the ground. The moment Saul of Tarsus recognized he was dealing with the Ascended Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One, Saul died. Les says he was crucified in the Old Adam, and immediately he became a new man, a new creation. This is Paul’s whole thrust of teaching: now as believers we have two forces working within us. God reckons Old Adam is absolutely dead, but in experience he is still there. Les notes he doesn’t mind Satan’s attacks half as much as the attacks of his Old Adam. Old Adam pops thoughts into our mind, catches us in moments of weakness, and constantly confronts us to go the direction of the Old Adamic nature. Opposite it is the new nature, energized by the Holy Spirit.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.