Main Verse: Acts 9

Good morning

            For past five writings I have written about entering Covenant with the Lord as our first responsibility. The Apostle Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin and the likely replacement for the aging Gamaliel the leading doctor of Jewish Law, so he had a bright future ahead of him. Paul was an expert in Jewish law and had a thorough understanding of Torah (Acts 22:3-21). Life was good in Jerusalem, for the Sanhedrin anyway, until that pesky nobody Jesus and his cousin John showed up preaching this, “Good News” and “Baptism of Repentance;” after Jesus was executed, over 500 people rose from the ashes to carry on the message with people being added every day (Acts 2-5). Until Paul’s unplanned meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul strictly adhered to the Pharisees’ party line. The Pharisees, just like the Sadducees, as you might remember, had refused the Gospel and did not acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah (Srawley, 1910); in essence, Paul and the Sanhedrin had a form of godliness but denied the power of the Resurrected Christ (2 Timothy 3:1-9). After Paul’s conversion, the same Torah that the Sanhedrin used to destroy “The Way” was used by Paul to prove Jesus’ credibility as the Messiah (Acts 17:1-4). Remember Paul was on a mission to arrest followers of the Way and bring them to Jerusalem for disposition but the Lord had different plans which changed Saul irrevocably (Acts 9:1-30).

            It is not uncommon to for the people in the Christian churches who claim the Bible is the Word of God but, like Paul, have never committed their lives to the Lord much less entered into Covenant with the Lord (Acts 2:43-47). When we are content with our relationship, we become stagnate in our relationship with the Lord and, we become like Issachar slave to every whim of populous beliefs (Genesis 49:14-15). Before his death, Jesus spoke emphatically about the coming of the Holy Spirit who would convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8); the Holy Spirit convicts the world through lives of those who have committed to the Lord’s Covenant are new creatures in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:11-19). So, we are left with two choices, go the way of the world or seek the Lord and the power of His might in the time of His favor which, is today (Hebrews 3:12-15, Hebrews 4:6-7). I encourage you today to take a good look at your relationship with the Lord to see where you stand and by whose judgment you stand (Acts 4:14-22).

I.H.S.

MK

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