08/16/2026 Weekly Bible Lesson: Pharisee to Christian

Saul, also known as the apostle Paul, was an Old Testament scholar. In fact, he was a Pharisee. The Bible tells us he studied under the rabbi Gamaliel, who was very highly respected (Acts 22:3). For a time in his life, Saul was a persecutor of the church. Acts 8:1 tells us that Saul was in hearty agreement with putting Stephen to death. Saul was always very sincere and zealous for God. When he persecuted the church, he thought he was doing the right thing. Scripture records that he went house to house to find Christians and throw them in prison, and sometimes even put them to death. Before Saul met Jesus, he was a fierce enemy and persecutor of the church.

Now let’s talk about Ananias. We learn about Ananias in Acts 9:10-19. Ananias was a Christian man, and the Lord gave him a daunting task. Can you imagine being Ananias here? The Lord told him in a vision, “Here’s what you are going to do today: Go over to Straight Street, knock on the door of Judas’s house, and ask to see Saul.” You can almost hear Ananias’s voice shaking in verse 13. He was probably thinking, Are you sure about that, Lord? You want me to go see Saul? Ananias had heard all about Saul and how much harm he caused to the church. Ananias knew that when Saul found a Christian, they either wound up in prison or dead! God reassured Ananias in verse 15, repeating the charge to go and talk to Saul. To his credit, Ananias obeyed God! He did exactly what God asked him to. He went to the house, found Saul, healed him of his blindness, and baptized Him into Christ! Saul became a Christian, having been baptized into Christ that day because of Ananias’s obedience to God!

Now that we’ve covered our two main characters, let’s turn our attention to Acts 22. Here in Acts 22, Saul has been arrested in Jerusalem. The crowd gathered there was really angry with him, but Saul used this as an opportunity to share his testimony with them. Saul was going to tell them about what happened to Him on the road to Damascus and about his conversion that followed a few days later.

The account in Acts 22 is similar to what we read in Acts 9, because Saul was retelling the crowd about how he met Jesus on the Damascus Road and then about his conversion. The book of Acts actually records this account a third time in Acts 26. It’s noteworthy that Acts records Saul’s conversion three different times. Two times, we see Saul using it to share the gospel: here to the crowd in Acts 22 and to King Agrippa in Acts 26. This serves as a great example for us in using our own conversion story in our efforts to share the gospel with others. When our conversion story aligns with what the Bible says we must do to be saved, that brings credibility to our testimony and assurance to our salvation! The pattern for conversion in the book of Acts is belief in the gospel message, repentance of our sins, confessing Christ as Lord, and baptism into Christ.

Discussion Questions:

In Acts 22:10, Saul asks Jesus, “What shall I do, Lord?” Jesus responds, telling Saul to get up and go to Damascus, and there he would be told all that had been appointed for him to do. Why do you think God chose to send Saul to Ananias instead of healing and teaching Saul completely on His own?

As we study the various conversion accounts in Acts, we learn that God always uses Christians to share the gospel message. Occasionally, when an individual is asked about their conversion story, he will say that God appeared to him, spoke audibly to him, and saved him. It is noteworthy that if ever there were a time for us to find a biblical example of Jesus appearing to someone and making him a Christian, this was the time, but it did not happen that way.

Similarly, some claim that Saul was saved on the Damascus Road. However, Saul’s sins were not washed away until later when he was baptized (see Acts 22:16).

Remember, when Saul was persecuting the church, He thought he was doing what God wanted. He was sincere. What does this show us about the relationship between sincerity and truth? Sometimes people say, as long as you are sincere, any religion is fine and will get you to heaven. The truth is, you can be sincerely wrong.

Multiple times in Acts, we see Saul use his personal testimony to share the gospel with people. Have you been able to use your conversion story to share the gospel with someone? Do you find that method to be effective today?

Ananias was hesitant to go talk to Saul because he knew Saul was a persecutor of the church. What are some examples of things today that make us hesitant to initiate a gospel conversation with someone?