The Apostle Paul was being held in prison for sharing the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the people. At this time he was standing before King Agrippa giving his defense against all the accusations of the Jews (select Jews, I presume). And so he shared his testimony of how he (Saul) was a Pharisee who persecuted Christians, but how Jesus Christ visited him in a vision on the road to Damascus where Saul intended to persecute and perhaps have put to death even more followers of Jesus Christ (of The Way).

Acts 26:12-20 NKJV

12“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. 14And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

16But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

19“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

Born with Sin Natures

We are all born into this world with sin natures, in the image of Adam, the first man created by God, and the first man to sin against God. And we all have a past. We have all sinned against God in some way or another. And so we all come up short of being acceptable and approved by God in our sins. So God the Father sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth to be born as a baby to a human mother (a virgin), but conceived of the Holy Spirit. So Jesus was not born with a sin nature as the rest of us were.

Saved by God’s Grace

And the ultimate purpose of Jesus coming to this earth and taking on humanity, but without sin, was that one day he would be crucified on a cross for our sins, although he had done no wrong, so that, by faith in him, we will now deny self, die to sin daily, and walk in obedience to his commands, all in the power of God and by the grace of God and not of human flesh. But Jesus didn’t stay dead. God raised him from the dead so by faith in him we will live in him, and him in us, so that we will follow him wherever he leads us.

But this faith is not of our own doing, not of the flesh. This faith, which is required for salvation from sin and eternal life with God, comes from God, and it is gifted to us by God, and it is persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to and of God’s requirement that we now deny self, die to sin, and obey our Lord’s commands, in practice. And this faith involves us doing the good works of God which he prepared in advance that we should do them, in his power.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Acts 26:18; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Hebrews 12:1-2; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:24]

Persecuting Jesus

So, we have all persecuted Jesus in one way or another. Not all of us in the same way in which Saul/Paul did before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, but by our sins we did. For, how Paul treated the Lord’s followers was, in essence, him persecuting Jesus. And we persecute Jesus when we choose sin, because we are all created by Him. But especially we do this if we are disciples of Christ who return to our sins after we have been cleansed by his blood, and at any time in our lives we end up denying him as Lord.

But the good news is that we can be revived, and we can be renewed in the Spirit via genuine biblical repentance. And God may, even after all the bad that we did previously, renew us in him, and even give us a new call, and a new assignment, which we do not deserve. But because of his grace, he may give us a second chance to be the people of God he wants us to be in going where he sends us and in saying to the people all that our Lord gives us to say to them, under his direction, and empowered of the Holy Spirit.

Open Their Eyes

Whether you are believing in Jesus Christ for the first time ever, or you are being revived of the Spirit after a time of falling away, your eyes need to be opened to the truth of your spiritual condition, of how you got there, and of what the only solution is for you to be delivered from sin and to now walk faithfully in obedience to the Lord in holy living. And what it all comes down to is a changed heart and mind resulting in a change of behavior, by the grace of God, repenting (turning from) all sin, and now following Jesus with your life in obedience and in faithful service to him from this point forward.

And then, you can be used of God to be one of his ministers and witnesses who take the message of the gospel of Christ to the people of the world, not because we are deserving of it, but because of the love and grace of God in delivering us out of sin and giving us a new start down the path now leading to heaven instead of to hell. For we cannot help others to turn from darkness and to walk in the light of truth and righteousness if we are not first there ourselves. So, we who are sharing with the people the gospel as taught by Jesus Christ himself, need to be obedient to our Lord in all respects.

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23). And this is what we must be teaching others in order to open their blinded eyes.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Open My Eyes, That I May See

By Clara H. Scott, 1895

Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.

Open my ears, that I may hear
Voices of truth Thou sendest clear;
And while the wave notes fall on my ear,
Everything false will disappear.

Open my mind, that I may read
More of Thy love in word and deed;
What shall I fear while yet Thou dost lead?
Only for light from Thee I plead.

Open my mouth, and let me bear
Gladly the warm truth everywhere;
Open my heart and let me prepare
Love with Thy children thus to share.

Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready, my God, Thy will to see.
Open my heart, illumine me, Spirit divine!

So Blinded Eyes May See
An Original Work / June 1, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love