The apostle Paul wrote, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. The gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding His Son, who as to His human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:1-4).
When Saul was on the way to Damascus to take Christians as prisoners back to Jerusalem for prosecution, the Lord caused a light from heaven to flash around him. Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:4-6).
After Saul was led into Damascus the Lord told Ananias to go and lay hands on Saul to restore his sight. Ananias didn’t want to do this because he knew that Saul had been persecuting the Christians. But the Lord said, “Go! This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name” (Acts 9:15-16). Saul’s mission for God begins.
The English words “set apart” in Romans 1:1, that are used to translate the Greek word “aphorizo” does not fully explain what this Greek word means. This Greek word literally means “off-horizoned” and we get our English word “horizon” from the Greek word “horizo.” The “ap” in front of this Greek word has the meaning of “off,” like being set off by a boundary or separated and severed from, or a reversal in direction.
Every pilot knows what it is like to lose your sense of direction or attitude at sometime during their flying career. I can remember when I accidentally flew into a fog bank in a 235 Pawnee; the only ground I could see was almost straight down. I put the right wing tip as close to the ground as I dared and made a 180-degree right turn and flew out of the fog bank. Fortunately, or maybe I should say, “by the grace of God” there were no obstacles in my way as I made that low turn out of that fogbank. That new horizon of sunlight was a welcome sight. I was so frightened, and my knees were shaking so bad, that it was hard to land the plane.
Saul (Paul) had been living in a religious fogbank, and he couldn’t see the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Saul had been taught by the great teacher Gamaliel and became a Pharisee. Paul said that he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and concerning the law, he was perfect, which meant that he was a leader and teacher of other Pharisees and lived his life according to the laws, rules and traditions that were taught by the Scribes and Pharisees. Saul had consented to the stoning of Stephen to death, and as far as he was concerned, all of these men and women following the man Jesus Christ must be put in jail, prosecuted and put to death. But now Jesus showed Saul a new way of life, a new horizon to look at; his life was now going to go another direction from that which he had been traveling all of his life.
Now Saul’s life had been completely changed by a revelation of God’s grace through His Son, Jesus Christ. His outlook on life was no longer based on keeping all of the laws of the Old Testament and the traditions of the Pharisees; he now looked at the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Saul (Paul) became the apostle to the Gentiles and he spread the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout a large part of the known world at that time. All because God had reached down, touched his life, opened his eyes and given him a new horizon to look at, and an opportunity to be a witness for Jesus Christ. Paul’s total vision of life was radically changed when God opened his eyes to the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
While Paul was in a Roman prison he wrote, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1). Whatever happens, good, bad or ugly, we are to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. I am not going to be foolish enough to tell you that this is always easy to do. We are to be living witnesses for the gospel of Jesus Christ in every arena of life that we live in. It is easy for all of us to get caught up into the customs and traditions of this world and forget about how much the Lord has done for us.
My question to you is this: After you have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and been baptized, has your life changed? Do you have a new horizon and outlook on life? Are you now living a life that is pleasing to God? Are you now a living witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ? Just before Paul was put to death he wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” 2 Timothy 4:7). When you grow old, and your life on this earth is coming to an end, can you look back on your life and say that you have kept the faith? Have you pressed on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus?