Saul, First King of Israel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Saul, First King of Israel - Essay Example Following Elwell (1991, p. 54) Saul understand a new fact interpreted the Cross. Christians are Christians and speak with conviction of the immense meaning of the Cross solely because another fact has come into the picture, a fact which reverses the apparent meaning of the Cross and enables the believer to see its real place in God's redemptive work. Saul the persecutor of the church illustrates the difference. Before his conversion he knew that Jesus had been crucified, and he took it to prove that Jesus has been disowned by God and rightly rejected by Jewish leaders. Once converted, he saw in the Cross a quite different meaning; in the light of the Resurrection it had a positive and central place in a message that claimed the faith of men ( I Cor. 2:2). But it had that place and meaning only because the Resurrection supplied the interpreting fact that gave the Cross its true place in the Christian message. The Bible mentions this event as "Saul, who is also called Paul" (Acts 13:9). It is possible to say that a new name means a new life for this person. It means a new destiny and mentality. It is important to note the role of the human mind in the guidance of the Spirit. The Spirit comes into a life, the mind must abdicate.