Acts 9:15-19a - He is a chosen instrument

9:15,16

While there is a conversation between God and Ananias, there is no change in the command. “Go! This man is my chosen instrument”. When talking earlier about Paul I mentioned Prov 3:5. We all need to heed the instructions in that verse. Our understanding is strictly limited, and God does things, and has already planned things, that we know nothing of.God was fully aware of who Saul was, and, of course, knew what He had already done to Saul. Now He tells Ananias what His purpose for Saul is. Saul was God’s chosen instrument to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles and the people of Israel. Then He adds that He will show Saul how much he must suffer for the sake of God’s name. This is not a very encouraging message to take, unless it actually was from the Lord. Ananias had to have faith in order to carry out this command.

9:17-19a

Ananias did have faith, and set out to implement the command. So Ananias went to the house where Saul was, placed his hands upon him and prayed for him. Notice also that he says somethings that were not mentioned in the previous couple of verses, in particular the part about being filled with the Holy Spirit. Either Ananias worked out that this must be part of the deal, or else the report in verses 15 and 16 is just a brief summary of the interaction between Ananias and the Lord. Whatever the case, Saul was healed and then got baptised. Imagine the faith that Ananias needed to have. Notice also that here we have an “ordinary” disciple (though, of course, he was in many ways extraordinary) praying for an apostle to receive the Holy Spirit. This just adds one or two more questions to the cessationists’ arguments. Saul had been weakened by his experiences and his fasting (v9).