I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
Paul once held a sincere conviction that duty required him to oppose Jesus of Nazareth. That conviction drove him to hunt, imprison, punish, compel, and vote to kill the followers of Jesus at Jerusalem and in distant cities. The one he opposed was in truth the promised Messiah and divine Son of God, the Redeemer of the world who fulfilled prophecy and triumphed over death. His sincerity was sincerity in ignorance and did not excuse his unbelief, showing that conscience alone is not a safe guide unless instructed by God's plain command and the Scriptures. Jesus arrested him by heavenly glory on the road to Damascus and made him a new, penitent believer and witness, a warning because the same misguided zeal still leads opposers to attack God's people and law while thinking they serve God.
Paul's Former Opposition
“I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” records Paul's own account of his former sincere conviction that he was under obligation to oppose Jesus of Nazareth and to destroy His followers. He sincerely believed he was right, yet his belief was mistaken, for it was sincerity in ignorance and great deception. That conviction drove him to persecute Jesus' followers with zeal at Jerusalem and beyond. He imprisoned them, punished them in the synagogues, tried to compel them to blaspheme, bound them and delivered them to death, hunted them from city to city, voted for their execution, and supported putting them to death.
His hostility was stubborn unbelief rooted in failure to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah. He despised and hated Jesus and sought to destroy His followers. He persecuted Christ's church because he thought faith in Jesus made God's law, sacrificial service, and circumcision ineffective. Though he had the prophecies pointing to the Messiah, he chose the opinions of men and the sayings of the rabbis over the counsel of God, and in his own wisdom knew not God nor Jesus Christ whom God had sent. In resisting truth his mind saw everything in a perverted light, fastened in the enemy's toils, following a false conscience into causing suffering and death, and his course put him on Satan's side.
The statement belongs to his defense before King Agrippa, where he had opportunity to explain his faith. His account of that change became part of his testimony about Jesus before kings and governors, and before princes and nobles to whom the gospel for which he was imprisoned was brought. That speech before Agrippa is a model of dignified courtesy and persuasive eloquence, showing that Christian courtesy can be shown even when addressing rulers. The Jesus he had opposed is in fact the world's Redeemer, the Messiah of prophecy, and the divine Son of God. Of Him Moses and the prophets wrote, declaring that the Messiah would appear as a man among men, and every specification they outlined was fulfilled in the life of Jesus, who to redeem a lost world endured the cross despising the shame and ascended to heaven triumphant over death and the grave.
Sincerity, Conversion, and Warning
Saul of Tarsus was sincere when he thought he ought to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth and persecute His church, yet he was greatly deceived, for his sincerity was sincerity in ignorance. His unbelief was honest with no pretense, but he had no moral right to it, and neither his sincere state of mind nor his sincerity alone relieved him of responsibility or decided how he stood before God. A man can be conscientiously wrong as well as conscientiously right, so conscience alone is not a safe guide and cannot take the place of a plain Thus saith the Lord. Conscience must be well-instructed and good, not biased and warped by preconceived opinions, not dead and seared, since consciences do not all harmonize, and this requires seeking the counsel of God and searching the Scriptures with a humble, prayerful spirit in order to weigh every point of truth and watch its tendency and its fruit.
Jesus arrested him in his course by a heavenly vision on the road to Damascus, a revelation of divine glory with Jesus enthroned that showed him on whose side he was working. At first that revelation filled him with unspeakable terror, but afterward it became the greatest consolation. Transforming mercy made him a new man, a penitent, sincere and fervent believer who accepted Christ's words, turned from his former course, counted what had been gain to him as loss for Christ, and witnessed that Jesus is the risen Christ in obedience to the heavenly commission to preach repentance and faith. The revelation of Christ thus exposed his error that faith in Jesus made God's law, sacrificial service, and circumcision ineffective, and showed him that Jesus is the world's Redeemer. Even long afterward he did not treat that unbelief with indifference or plead that his error of judgment was excusable.
The same spirit still moves opposers of truth, who with great zeal attack God's people and God's holy law with deception and crookedness while holding as truth the lies they have accepted and fully believing they are doing God service. People who oppose the truth may likewise sincerely believe they are doing God's work. Therefore they should be met with patience, meekness, and long-suffering rather than denunciation.
Paul once held a sincere conviction that duty required him to oppose Jesus of Nazareth. That conviction drove him to hunt, imprison, punish, compel, and vote to kill the followers of Jesus at Jerusalem and in distant cities. The one he opposed was in truth the promised Messiah and divine Son of God, the Redeemer of the world who fulfilled prophecy and triumphed over death. His sincerity was sincerity in ignorance and did not excuse his unbelief, showing that conscience alone is not a safe guide unless instructed by God's plain command and the Scriptures. Jesus arrested him by heavenly glory on the road to Damascus and made him a new, penitent believer and witness, a warning because the same misguided zeal still leads opposers to attack God's people and law while thinking they serve God.
Paul's Former Opposition
“I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” records Paul's own account of his former sincere conviction that he was under obligation to oppose Jesus of Nazareth and to destroy His followers. He sincerely believed he was right, yet his belief was mistaken, for it was sincerity in ignorance and great deception. That conviction drove him to persecute Jesus' followers with zeal at Jerusalem and beyond. He imprisoned them, punished them in the synagogues, tried to compel them to blaspheme, bound them and delivered them to death, hunted them from city to city, voted for their execution, and supported putting them to death.
His hostility was stubborn unbelief rooted in failure to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah. He despised and hated Jesus and sought to destroy His followers. He persecuted Christ's church because he thought faith in Jesus made God's law, sacrificial service, and circumcision ineffective. Though he had the prophecies pointing to the Messiah, he chose the opinions of men and the sayings of the rabbis over the counsel of God, and in his own wisdom knew not God nor Jesus Christ whom God had sent. In resisting truth his mind saw everything in a perverted light, fastened in the enemy's toils, following a false conscience into causing suffering and death, and his course put him on Satan's side.
The statement belongs to his defense before King Agrippa, where he had opportunity to explain his faith. His account of that change became part of his testimony about Jesus before kings and governors, and before princes and nobles to whom the gospel for which he was imprisoned was brought. That speech before Agrippa is a model of dignified courtesy and persuasive eloquence, showing that Christian courtesy can be shown even when addressing rulers. The Jesus he had opposed is in fact the world's Redeemer, the Messiah of prophecy, and the divine Son of God. Of Him Moses and the prophets wrote, declaring that the Messiah would appear as a man among men, and every specification they outlined was fulfilled in the life of Jesus, who to redeem a lost world endured the cross despising the shame and ascended to heaven triumphant over death and the grave.
Sincerity, Conversion, and Warning
Saul of Tarsus was sincere when he thought he ought to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth and persecute His church, yet he was greatly deceived, for his sincerity was sincerity in ignorance. His unbelief was honest with no pretense, but he had no moral right to it, and neither his sincere state of mind nor his sincerity alone relieved him of responsibility or decided how he stood before God. A man can be conscientiously wrong as well as conscientiously right, so conscience alone is not a safe guide and cannot take the place of a plain Thus saith the Lord. Conscience must be well-instructed and good, not biased and warped by preconceived opinions, not dead and seared, since consciences do not all harmonize, and this requires seeking the counsel of God and searching the Scriptures with a humble, prayerful spirit in order to weigh every point of truth and watch its tendency and its fruit.
Jesus arrested him in his course by a heavenly vision on the road to Damascus, a revelation of divine glory with Jesus enthroned that showed him on whose side he was working. At first that revelation filled him with unspeakable terror, but afterward it became the greatest consolation. Transforming mercy made him a new man, a penitent, sincere and fervent believer who accepted Christ's words, turned from his former course, counted what had been gain to him as loss for Christ, and witnessed that Jesus is the risen Christ in obedience to the heavenly commission to preach repentance and faith. The revelation of Christ thus exposed his error that faith in Jesus made God's law, sacrificial service, and circumcision ineffective, and showed him that Jesus is the world's Redeemer. Even long afterward he did not treat that unbelief with indifference or plead that his error of judgment was excusable.
The same spirit still moves opposers of truth, who with great zeal attack God's people and God's holy law with deception and crookedness while holding as truth the lies they have accepted and fully believing they are doing God service. People who oppose the truth may likewise sincerely believe they are doing God's work. Therefore they should be met with patience, meekness, and long-suffering rather than denunciation.