“It pleased God, who... called me by His grace” —Gal. 1:15.
THE sovereignty of God in salvation comes out vividly in the conversion of Saul. It is certain that he was not seeking after Christ, but Christ was seeking him, and after an undefined period, in which the persecutor’s conscience had been exercised by the “goads,” the Lord suddenly manifested Himself, though not in such a way as to compel Saul to become a Christian against his will. But He brought such pressure to bear upon that will that there was an immediate surrender, and Saul took the place of a repentant, submissive believer, seeking for further light upon the path he was to tread. He might have done despite to the Spirit of grace as others did (Heb. 10:29), and resisted the Holy Ghost, as did the opponents of Stephen (Acts 7:51), but instead he bowed in brokenness of spirit before Jesus and confessed Him as Lord.
“O GOD of grace, our Father,
We bless Thy holy name,
We who enjoy Thy favor,
Made holy, without blame;
In love, which sought and found us,
And brought us nigh to Thee,
And won the rest of glory.
Our heavenly home shall be.
Thy deep eternal counsel
Chose us in Christ the Son
Before the earth’s foundation,
Or sin had yet begun;
That we might all the nearness
Of the beloved know,
And brought to Thee as children
Our children’s praises flow.”
—G. W. Frazer.