BIBLICAL BRIEFS 130
The reference underpinning your question is the dramatic conversion of Saul, of which we read in Acts 9. Saul was a very religious man and impeccable in his conduct in life, well-grounded in theology, full of zeal for God (Phil 3:5-6). But in spite of all this, he did not have a living personal relationship with God, but merely a religiosity. Another good example is Apollos: “He was an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord… “(Acts 18:24-25), BUT:” He had never heard the rest of the story! “(LB). The world, also our churches, bristle with people who think they are saved, simply because they have the knowledge of Jesus Christ’s plan of redemption. Let’s just briefly recapitulate the way of salvation: If you hear God’s call, and you respond, you walk (out of choice) away from the kingdom of the world (1John 5:19). The place of meeting is the cross of Jesus and the salvation He offers. Your conviction of sin and loss without Jesus (“without hope and without God” – Eph. 2:12) permit you to accept this sacrifice. The Bible calls it conversion. John 1:12 – “But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” Therefore, if Rom. 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…”, the rest of the passage that follows is being utilised to explain how the cross and the Word of God function interactively: “For, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how shall they preach unless they have been sent..? Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:13-15a & 17). The Word of God, the Bible, has a specific value as seed (Luke 8:11) to those whose soil is receptive – it is those “who seize the Word and hold on no matter what, sticking to it until there’s a harvest “(Luke 8:15, MSG). Remember – at this stage, the spirit has not yet been made alive, because rebirth has not yet taken place. Therefore, it is essential that the cross and the Word function interactively in order to make known the truth of salvation, so that “the word of God can work in you who believe” (1Thes. 2:13). By hearing, adopting and getting to know the “word of the truth of the gospel” (Col. 1:5), it is bringing forth fruit (Col. 1:6), because “the word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit …” (Heb. 4:12). You are then saved, but not yet born again, and thus not filled with the Spirit of God. The Word of God makes it possible that this believer (who only operates in the soul dimension) could be guided to begin to gain access to the spirit dimension, because the Word penetrates the separation between soul and spirit! How wonderful it is how God designed this! Therefore, as 1Pet. 2:2 states clearly, they must “desire the pure milk of the word like new-born babes, so that you [they] may grow thereby”. However, God’s unfolding plan of salvation does not end here, and the next step is rebirth, about which we have already written in previous Biblical Briefs. Only through rebirth you are able to enter the kingdom of God (John 3: 3 & 5). Back to Saul – he had to be snatched to repentance from his religiousness in a dramatic way. As a symbolical gesture, God then changed his name (= identity) from Saul to Paul. But not everybody has such a day and date of repentance, although some have many such dates! Some believers were brought up to serve the Lord (for example, Samuel and Timothy), and in this way they established a relationship with God, and therefore did not need a dramatic conversion. But – they must all be born again through baptism with water and baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Dr Tom Gouws
