How Did Ananias Heal Paul?

This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment, we are in Acts chapter 22, and Dave, we will pick up with Verse 12. Acts:22:12And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,
See All...: “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.” Now Dave, we were talking about powers earlier, talking about yogis and so on, here we have this prophet, a devout man, healing Saul.
Dave:
Yeah, let’s go back just a little bit and let us, in case we have some new listeners, Saul has been arrested. First of all, he was set upon by a mob, so they were going to kill him.
Tom:
Again, for our audience, Saul was the name of Paul prior to him becoming a Christian.
Dave:
Right, he’s come back to pay his respects to his people, back to Jerusalem, and he’s purified himself and taken a vow. This is Jewish, we don’t do it as Gentiles, but it was perfectly legitimate for him, and he’s trying to show them—they have been saying that he is going around all over the world telling people not to worship God, not to believe in the God of the Old Testament, and so forth, as the only scriptures that they had. And to show that that’s a lie he’s trying to demonstrate that, but they see him there and someone had seen him with some Greeks in another place, in Asia, and they assume now that he brought Greeks into the temple, at least that’s what they say, which was forbidden. And so they have just grabbed him and they are starting to beat him, they are going to kill him. And wind of this riot comes to the governor and to the centurion here, and he comes charging out with the troops, they don’t want a riot in Jerusalem, that could lead to something even bigger, maybe an uprising. So, they bound Saul at that time, Paul is telling about this. The soldiers are taking him away, and he gets up on the steps of the palace, and he asked the soldier in charge, Would you mind allowing me to address these people? and he’s speaking to him in Greek, and he says, Oh, you know Greek? He’s an educated man, so he consents, and now here we have his talk. He’s telling them what happened, that he hated the Christians, he had them killed, he had them arrested, and he’s on his way to Damascus with authority from the chief priest to arrest any Christians. He’s going to search out the Christians in Damascus and arrest them and bring them back bound to Jerusalem. Suddenly, we got this light brighter than the noon day sun, and the voice: “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” and so forth. “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus.” And he is stricken blind and he’s led into Damascus, and he sees a vision of a man coming to him, and anyway—Now, this is where we pick it up, and this Ananias, well, Saul knows a man named Ananias is going to come. And Ananias, when the angel tells him, he says, Wait a minute, this guy Saul, I’ve heard of him, he’s been arresting us, and so forth. So, that’s where he’s picking it up, and he comes and he says—you notice that, he’s talking to Jews now, he’s speaking to them in Hebrew, having a good report of all the Jews which dwells there. It’s not some heretic who’s condemning Jews. He stands before me and he says: Brother Saul, receive thy sight, and the same hour—it means right then—I looked upon him and I was healed.
Tom:
So Paul is indicating that this man had the power of God for those who, this mob, he’s explaining that to them.
Dave:
Pretty hard to deny it.
Tom:
Verse 14: “And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.” Referring to Jesus. “For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.”
Dave:
Well, it’s just the grace of God, because Saul of Tarsus hated the Christians, but he was sincere, he really thought that he was right. But he was willing to know the truth, and that’s the tragedy of most people. Tom, I can say it without hesitation, most people, by far the vast majority do not want to know the truth, it’s a tragedy. Don’t insult my religion—Well, I was born a Catholic, I’ll die a Catholic—I was raised a Muslim, and I’ll stick with that, that’s my heritage. Well, but could I give you some facts? Don’t confuse with facts, my mind is made up! That is really pretty much the way that it is, but Saul of Tarsus—God knew his heart, he had a real zeal for God. hen he saw the truth, he was willing to change. So, he’s already believed in Jesus, he’s already said, Lord, what will you have me to do? I’m Jesus. He believes in Jesus, Jesus is Lord, and he says: “Thou shalt be a witness unto all men what thou hast seen and heard.” So, he’s a chosen vessel in the Lord’s hands. He’s going to be the greatest apostle, he’s going to write most of the New Testament, and he’s an amazing man, and he was one who could say, “Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ.” He says that twice in the New Testament.
Tom:
Verse 16, “And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Well now, Dave, is this baptismal regeneration here?
Dave:
No, he’s not going to get saved through baptism, he has already been called Brother Saul, so he’s a born again Christian in the family of God. That’s what happens, anybody out there that doesn’t understand this, Jesus said, You must be born again. The first time you came into this world you became a child of your earthly parents. But to become a child of God, obviously, you have to be born into the family of God by the Spirit of God, and that comes about through faith in Christ, believing that Christ died for your sins, that He’s God who became a man, didn’t cease to be God, that He died for your sins, so, baptism is for believers. You remember, back in Chapter 8, the Ethiopian asked Phillip, What would hinder me from being baptized? Phillip said: If you believe with all your heart you may. That does away with infant baptism. Tom, you were baptized as a baby in the Catholic church, and Lutherans do the same thing. No, you must believe with all your heart. Now, Paul, well he’s going to be Paul, he’s Saul at this point, he believes, he knows, and now, be baptized, baptism is for believers. It’s because Christ said to his disciples, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature and then baptize them. When they come to faith in me, then you baptize them. It doesn’t save anyone, it’s in obedience to Christ, and it identifies you with the followers of Jesus. And Tom, I’ve been in countries where—well, you’ve been to Israel, the same thing would be true there—it’s one thing to kind of secretly say you’re a believer, but when you are publicly baptized, Wow! that’s when your family says, That’s the end. That’s when you are really cut off. So, washing away, wash away your sins? No, his sins have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, Christ has paid the penalty, but this is making a clean break. You have opposed the Christians, now show them that you are one of them. You came here to show the Jews that you’re still one of them. Show the Christians that you really and truly have your faith in Christ as your Savior.
Tom:
So, that phrase you would take to mean, Dave, that he was killing them, he was persecuting them, there was a sin against them. So could it mean that, demonstrate to them, you know, the offenses that you had against them, you’ve turned completely from them.
Dave:
Well, it’s the only meaning there could be, Tom, because we know you don’t get saved by baptism. Paul himself says, in 1 Corinthians Chapter 1, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, I don’t even know who I baptized. That’s pretty clear evidence that baptism has nothing to do with the gospel, or with salvation, it’s not part of the gospel. So, let’s get done with this and show them, Wash your sins away here in these waters of baptism, but it’s not saying anyone can get saved by being baptized, or that the waters of baptism wash anyone’s sins away. I’ve think we’ve explained what he’s talking about.