Yes — God's treatment of Saul of Tarsus is a display of pure grace: instead of destroying a rebellious persecutor, God saved him.
Saul of Tarsus was a religious zealot — Les calls him a raging bull — who hated Jesus of Nazareth and was on his way to Damascus to arrest more believers. From a human viewpoint, he deserved to be destroyed or severely punished. Yet instead of zapping him, God saved him and called him by His grace, making him the apostle to the Gentiles. Les Feldick calls the salvation of Saul of Tarsus the epitome of the pouring out of God's grace on a sinful man.
Acts 9:4 — This verse records the exact moment God interrupted Saul of Tarsus — showing that grace, not judgment, was God's response to his rebellion.
Galatians 1:15 — Paul's own explanation that God called him by His grace is the clearest scriptural summary of why God treated Saul as He did.
Acts 9 opens with Saul 'yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord,' going to the high priest for letters to Damascus so that he could bind any followers of the Way and bring them to Jerusalem (Acts 9:1-2). On the road, God did not repay him according to his anger. Saul fell to the earth and heard a voice saying, 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?' When he asked, 'Who art thou, Lord?' the Lord answered, 'I am Jesus whom thou persecutest' (Acts 9:4-5). The Scripture does not record any plea, repentance, or good work by Saul before that moment. Paul later wrote of God's grace in his own life: 'But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen' (Galatians 1:15-16). The biblical account thus shows God taking the initiative to save a hostile persecutor — by grace, not because of anything Saul had done.
Les portrays Saul of Tarsus as a 'religious zealot' — a 'raging bull' trying to stamp out anyone connected with Jesus of Nazareth. He says from a human viewpoint Saul deserved to be zapped or severely punished, and he jokes that Saul would be the first man he would have removed had he been God. But God did the opposite: instead of destroying Saul, He saved him. That, Les says, is grace. Les defines grace as 'that attribute of God whereby he in his love and mercy pours out on sons of Adam the opportunity for eternal life if they'll just believe.' He calls the salvation of Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road the 'most perfect picture of the grace of God in all of Scripture' and 'the epitome, the very high point of the pouring out of God's grace on a sinful man.' Saul was energized by Satan, and yet God's grace rose to the occasion. Les emphasizes that Saul did not deserve it, work for it, or do anything for it. He was still breathing slaughter and threatenings against believers when God knocked him off his horse and confronted him with 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?' God didn't zap him with death — He zapped him with eternal life. Les applies this to every believer: we are in the same category with the Apostle Paul, total undone creatures with nothing to offer but a call for mercy and grace. God saved Saul by grace for a purpose — to reveal His Son in him and send him to the Gentiles with the gospel of grace.
Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus with the intent of arresting followers of Christ, Jews, and bringing them bound back to Jerusalem to be put in prison or put to death. Les describes him as a religious zealot and a raging bull who hated the name of Jesus of Nazareth and persecuted those who had faith in Jesus — he had already committed many to prison and voted to have others put to death. Scripture records that Saul was 'yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord' when he went to the high priest for letters to Damascus. This is the exact moment grace met him.
Les asks his listeners what they would have done had they been in God's position — and answers honestly that most of us would have zapped Saul or at least punished him severely. God, however, saved him. Les explains that the Sovereign God could easily have removed Saul of Tarsus, leaving him nothing but a memory, but 'God's grace rises to the occasion.' While Saul was still breathing out threats, God knocked him off his horse and said, 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?' — and instead of zapping him with death, God zapped him with eternal life.
Les defines grace as 'that attribute of God whereby he in his love and mercy pours out on sons of Adam the opportunity for eternal life if they'll just believe.' He calls the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus 'probably the most perfect picture of the grace of God in all of Scripture.' Saul didn't deserve it, didn't work for it, and didn't do anything for it — God simply saved him by grace when Saul responded, 'Lord, what would you have me to do?'
Les says every believer has to find himself in the same place as Saul of Tarsus — a total undone creature with nothing to offer except a call for the mercy and grace of God, believing everything that needed to be done was accomplished at the cross. Just as Saul was saved without doing anything on his part, we are 'in that same category with the Apostle Paul'; we are saved without ever doing anything on our part. And just as God called Saul by grace to reveal His Son in him and to preach Him among the Gentiles, so God's saving grace is the model for how everyone comes to faith.
Saul the Raging Bull, Saved Instead of Zapped
Les pictures Saul of Tarsus as a raging bull stamping out anyone connected to Jesus of Nazareth, then asks what we would have done with him — zapped him. Instead, God saved him, and that is grace.
Grace Defined; Saul the Perfect Picture
Les defines grace as God pouring out love and mercy on the sons of Adam, and he calls Saul's Damascus road experience the most perfect picture of the grace of God in all of Scripture.
Saved by Grace Without Working for It
Saul deserved prison or death for what he was doing to believers, yet God saved him by grace — he didn't deserve it, work for it, or do anything for it — and that is where every believer must find himself.
Grace Rises to the Occasion
The Sovereign God could have removed Saul entirely, but His grace rose to the occasion; Les calls this the high point of God's grace poured out on a sinful, Satan-energized man.
Knocked Off His Horse by Grace
Saul was the man who most deserved to be zapped, yet God knocked him off his horse with a gracious question — 'why persecutest thou me?' — showing that we are saved the same way, without doing anything.
Zapped With Eternal Life Instead of Death
While Saul was still breathing slaughter and threatenings, God didn't zap him with death — He zapped him with eternal life, confronting him as Jesus and transforming him in a moment.
Called by Grace to Preach to the Gentiles
Les uses Galatians 1 to show that God called the undeserving Saul by His grace, revealing His Son in him, to preach the gospel of grace among the Gentiles.
Epitome of Grace When Israel Fell
After Israel rejected and crucified Christ and proved they would not believe, God raised up the rebel Saul and saved him by grace — the epitome of grace — sending him far hence to the Gentiles.
Acts 9:1: And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Saul's violent intent against believers frames the dramatic grace of God.
Acts 9:2: And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
Saul was en route to arrest believers — the very moment grace intercepted him.
Acts 9:4: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
God's first word to Saul is not judgment but a call that leads to his salvation.
Acts 9:5: And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Saul's confrontation with Jesus is what transformed the persecutor in a moment.
Galatians 1:15: But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,
Paul's own testimony that his calling was by God's grace, not by merit.
Galatians 1:16: To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
The purpose of that grace: reveal Christ in Saul and send him to the Gentiles.
No. Les Feldick emphasizes that Saul didn't deserve it, didn't work for it, and didn't do anything for it. If anybody didn't deserve God's grace, Saul of Tarsus didn't — yet God called him by His grace anyway.
No. Les points out that Saul did not suddenly come to himself and repent. He was on his way to Damascus to carry out his dirty work when God knocked him off his horse and confronted him — that was grace.
God called Saul by grace to reveal His Son in him and to preach the gospel of grace among the Gentiles. Les notes this is almost a total reverse of the Old Testament pattern.
Yes. Les refers to him as Saul of Tarsus and as Paul interchangeably — describing Paul as the epitome of a sinner saved by grace.
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