Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:3-4, ESV)
Some people are just too evil to be saved. Oh, we may not actually say those words, but sometimes our actions (or lack of action) imply those inner thoughts. How could God ever reach someone so sinful, so evil, and fill them with His spirit? Impossible!
I once met a very sweet, godly lady who shared that no one had invited her and her husband to church because they were “just too sinful to be saved.” But, by God’s mercy, there she stood—transformed into a new creation in Christ. Listening to her story, I wondered how often we consciously or unconsciously judge a person as beyond salvation. Their life is just too messed up for God to change them.
SAUL, THE MAN FROM TARSUS
Saul, the man we now know as the apostle Paul, was such a man. He is first mentioned in Acts 7 as he stood watching the stoning of Stephen. “. . . And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And Saul approved of his execution” (Acts 7:58 and 8:1, ESV).
Saul, or Paul as we know him, was a well-educated and devout Jew. He described himself as “a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day” (Acts 22:3, ESV).After the death of Stephen, Saul became ruthless in his zeal to destroy this new sect of Jesus followers.
“But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” (Acts 8:3, ESV)
THE CHURCH SCATTERS
As the persecution increased, the church began to scatter—taking the gospel with them. But Saul was not content to see them leave Jerusalem. “Yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord,” he followed them to Damascus (Acts 9). He burned with zeal to eradicate the church. Nothing seemed able to stop him.
Saul would not give up his pursuit of the church—and God would not give up His pursuit of Saul. God loves us with an everlasting love, regardless of our sinful past. His love will always reach for those still floundering in the depths of sin. His mercy extends to all who will come.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ . . . For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:4-5 and 8, ESV)
God did not give up on Saul. He knew that same determination Saul showed in persecuting the church could be redirected into a determination to take this gospel to the uttermost parts of the world. God had a work for him to do.
GOD’S MERCY IS ENOUGH
Satan may tell you that you have been too sinful to receive God’s mercy and forgiveness, but you haven’t. If God pursued Saul, a fierce persecutor of His people, God will also pursue you. His love is never-ending. The Lord has a plan for your life, and it’s a good plan.
MY PRAYER: Lord, help me to never judge another as being too sinful and beyond Your mercy. Your purpose in coming to earth was to seek and save the lost. You are not willing that any should perish. Help me to share Your message of love and forgiveness to all those who desperately need Your salvation.
Devotion by Mary Loudermilk
Comments are closed.