2 Peter 3:14-18
Paul's Words are Scripture
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Acts 9:1-31
Saul's Conversion
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.
26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews,[a] but they tried to kill him.30 When the believers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
St. Peter writes to believers and dear friends and says, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and be at peace with Jesus...Bear in mind that our LORD's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him...Paul writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters...His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction...Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position and in believing in Jesus...But grow in the grace and knowledge of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ...To Him be glory both now and forever!...Amen...
So things had now changed for St. Paul...The Old Testament was alive...The Christ had now came...The Scripture was alive because of the Messiah...Paul had met Jesus...The Scripture Words were clearer now that the One who was to come had actually come...Paul was alive and writing the Bible in his different epistles...Sometimes Paul was hard to understand...If those who knew Saul or Paul we expecting to hear from Saul to be the same old version and sermons from him, they would be wrong...All those who heard Paul after he met Jesus were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name?...And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”...Yet, despite of this quick change and conversion, Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah...Saul/Paul was always still dedicated to God...In the past, he had read the Bible in a certain way...And now it had evolved for him...In the past, for Paul to read the Bible was more like it was set in stone...But that had now changed...Jesus had risen and was alive...The Bible at this point in Paul's life was not like it used to be...Paul had seen the Light, and this Light was Jesus...Paul, now had seen the Messiah on the road to Damascus...Jesus had come and had talked to him, so that he would be the Apostle of the Gentiles...Jesus was in his life and Paul had a relationship with Him now...Jesus had risen from death, and now as Paul went around and preached the Bible, it was more like clay in a potter's hand...If others who knew him were expecting Paul to read the Bible like he had in the past, that had past...For Paul, now that Jesus has come, the Bible was more like clay to him to be molded and shaped...Jesus was now a part of the Bible...And the letters he was writing were coming Scripture, his epistles were becoming a part of the Bible...