The Great Reversal: From Persecutor to Preacher Text: Acts 22:12-16
Introduction: The Divine Mugging
We come now to the very heart of Paul's defense before the enraged mob in Jerusalem. He has been recounting his testimony, the story of his dramatic and violent conversion on the road to Damascus. This is not some abstract theological treatise; it is a personal account of a divine mugging. Saul of Tarsus, the arch-persecutor, breathing out threats and slaughter against the Church, was stopped dead in his tracks by the resurrected Christ. He was on his way to Damascus to hunt down Christians, but on that road, the great Hunter of men hunted him down.
This story is central to the book of Acts, and it is central to our understanding of the gospel. It demonstrates that salvation is a unilateral, sovereign act of God. Saul was not seeking God. He was not "on a journey." He was a man filled with murderous rage against the people of God, and he was knocked off his high horse by a light from heaven. This is the pattern of all true conversion. God takes the initiative. He invades. He apprehends us. As Paul would later write, he was apprehended by Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:12).
What we have in our text today is the aftermath of that collision. Blinded by the light, Saul has been led into Damascus. For three days he has been without sight, without food, without water, stewing in the implications of what has just happened to him. The man who thought he was the great defender of the faith has just discovered he was fighting against God Himself. And now, God sends a messenger to pick up the pieces, to explain the inexplicable, and to formally bring this shattered man into the covenant community. This is not just a story about Paul; it is a story about the nature of God's grace, the meaning of baptism, and the call to witness.
The Text
Now a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing near, said to me, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ And at that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. Now why do you delay? Rise up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.
(Acts 22:12-16 LSB)
The Credible Messenger (v. 12-13)
We begin with the man God sends to Saul.
"Now a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing near, said to me, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ And at that very hour I regained my sight and saw him." (Acts 22:12-13)
Notice how Paul describes Ananias to this Jewish crowd. He is not just "a Christian." He is "a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews." This is a strategic and crucial detail. Paul is making the point that the man who brought him into the Christian faith was no lawless renegade. He was a faithful, observant Jew, respected by the Jewish community. This undermines the charge that Christianity is a rejection of the Old Testament. No, the first Christians were the fulfillment of it. Ananias was a Jew who understood that the promises made to Abraham and Moses had found their ultimate yes in Jesus the Messiah.
God's choice of Ananias is a lesson in itself. God could have sent an angel. He could have spoken from heaven again. But He uses ordinary men. He delights in using human instruments to accomplish His purposes. He sends a man who, as we learn in Acts 9, was initially terrified to go. But he obeyed. And his obedience is a beautiful picture of the church's role. We are sent to those whom God has blinded with His glory, to speak words of healing and welcome.
Ananias's first words are astonishing. "Brother Saul." Brother? This is the man who came to Damascus to arrest and kill men like Ananias. By all human standards, Saul is the enemy. But in the economy of grace, the persecutor has become a brother. Ananias doesn't see an enemy to be feared; he sees a brother to be embraced. This is the radical, counter-intuitive nature of the gospel. It creates kinship where there was only hostility. And with that word of acceptance, he speaks a word of power: "Regain your sight!" The healing is immediate. The physical blindness is removed, a sign that the far greater spiritual blindness has also been cured.
The Divine Commission (v. 14-15)
With Saul's sight restored, Ananias delivers the divine message, explaining what has happened and what is to come.
"And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.'" (Acts 22:14-15)
Again, notice the careful, covenantal language. "The God of our fathers." This is not some new, foreign deity. This is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Paul is being brought into the long line of God's covenant history. His conversion is not a break with his heritage but the true fulfillment of it. God has "appointed" him. The Greek word here means to choose, to select beforehand. This was not an accident. Saul's conversion was part of God's eternal plan. He was a chosen instrument.
And what was he chosen for? Three things. First, "to know His will." This is the essence of salvation. It is to be brought out of ignorance and rebellion into a true knowledge of God's purpose. Second, "to see the Righteous One." This is a title for the Messiah. Stephen used it right before he was martyred, with Saul's approval (Acts 7:52). Now, Saul himself has seen that same Righteous One, Jesus, in His glory. Third, "to hear a voice from His mouth." Saul's commission is not based on hearsay or second-hand information. He is a direct recipient of divine revelation. He has seen and heard the risen Lord.
These three qualifications lead to his one great task: "For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard." A witness is not someone who shares his opinions or feelings. A witness is someone who testifies to what he has seen and heard. He reports the facts. Paul's authority as an apostle rested on this direct, personal encounter with the resurrected Christ. His mission was to simply tell the world what happened on that road. This is our mission as well. We are to be witnesses to the historical reality of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Urgent Response (v. 16)
Ananias concludes with an urgent command, a call to action that seals Saul's entry into the new covenant.
"Now why do you delay? Rise up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name." (Acts 22:16)
This verse is a powder keg of theological truth, and it is frequently misunderstood. "Why do you delay?" There is an urgency to obedience. Once the truth is known, procrastination is sin. The command is twofold: "be baptized" and "wash away your sins." Now, we must be very careful here. Our friends in the Campbellite tradition will point to this verse and say, "See? Baptism is what washes away your sins." They argue for baptismal regeneration, the idea that the physical act of being in the water is what saves you.
But that is a profound misreading of this text and the entire New Testament. The key to understanding this verse is the final phrase: "calling on His name." The washing away of sins is instrumentally linked to the calling on His name, which is an expression of faith. The two verbs "be baptized" and "wash away" are both tied to the participle "calling." Think of it this way: baptism is the visible sign and seal of an invisible reality. The washing that happens in the water is a picture of the washing that happens in the heart by faith.
When does the forgiveness of sins actually occur? It occurs at the moment of faith, the moment you "call on His name." As Paul will later write, "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). Baptism is the public, covenantal ceremony where that reality is officially declared and ratified. It is the wedding ring, not the wedding vow. The ring doesn't make you married, but a married man had better wear his ring. Baptism doesn't save you, but a saved man had better get baptized, and quickly. It is the uniform of a soldier, the jersey of a player. It is the visible sign that you have been united to Christ in His death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-4).
So, Ananias is telling Saul to publicly identify with the Christ he now believes in. He is to go down into the waters of baptism, and in that act, he is to "call on His name," professing his faith. As he does so, the water becomes a potent sign of the blood of Christ that has already, by faith, washed his sins away. The sign and the thing signified are brought together in one powerful, covenantal act. To separate faith from baptism is a mistake. But to confuse them, making the physical act the cause of salvation, is a far greater one.
Conclusion: No Delay
The story of Saul's conversion is the story of the gospel in miniature. It is a story of sovereign grace invading the life of a violent enemy and transforming him into a willing servant. It is a story of a credible messenger who, in obedience, welcomes a new brother into the family of God. And it is a story of an urgent response.
The question Ananias asks Saul still echoes down to us today: "Now why do you delay?" Perhaps you are here today and God, by His Spirit, has arrested you. He has shown you your sin. He has revealed to you the glory and righteousness of His Son, Jesus. You know His will. You have heard His voice in the Scriptures. You believe. What is the next step? The next step is to obey.
Do not delay. Do not put it off. Do not try to clean yourself up first. The command is to rise up and be baptized, calling on His name. It is to publicly identify with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. It is to put on the uniform. This is not a work you do to earn salvation; it is the first act of grateful obedience that flows from a salvation already received by faith. It is the moment you stand up before God, men, and devils and declare which side you are on. It is the moment you publicly have your sins washed away, not by the water, but by the one to whom the water points, calling on His name. Why would you delay?