I want to spend a few weeks this month in the book of Acts for Wednesday’s Word, because PTM just completed recording a year-long 5-Minute Bible Studies season on the same book. We’ve started posting these episodes every Monday and will continue to do so throughout 2026 and into 2027.

One of the elements of the book of Acts that I love most is that God chooses to use the most unlikely, unqualified messengers to spread his gospel. This is a constant theme throughout the Old and New Testament, but it’s so particularly evident in the rise of the ministries of Peter and Paul.

I wrote last week about Peter's transformation in Acts 4, and today I want to highlight the beginning of Paul’s ministry in Acts 9. Although at this point in the story, he still goes by Saul.

“But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord …” (9:1)

Okay, I have to stop right away. “Breathing threats and murder…” What a description! This is a rage-filled, destruction-bent man, almost like a dragon breathing fire and consuming everything in his flight path.

This is not a picture of a man who is searching. Saul is not a seeker, open, soft-hearted to the things of God. He is not looking to change, not interested in transformation. He was heading to crush the church of Jesus Christ, and then, “Suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.” (9:3)

This is the power and operation of rescuing grace.

What is the definition of rescue? “To free from confinement, danger, or evil.” Other synonyms include “save” and “deliver,” and real-life illustrations include being rescued by police, fire, paramedics, or the military.

Why, or when, does someone need to be rescued? Because the person is unable to rescue themselves. The person is unable to free themselves from the danger they find themselves in, whether that be trapped inside a building engulfed in flames, a life-threatening medical emergency, or a terrifying hostage situation.

Saul was trapped by the evil in his own heart. He didn’t know, he didn’t have any desire to change, and he had no ability to free himself. Saul had to be rescued from himself. And that’s when rescuing grace intervened.

You and I are just like Saul, now Paul. We need to be rescued from ourselves: our rebellion, foolishness, and lostness; not first from the evil and idols and danger of the outside world, but from the evil and idolatry and selfishness in our own hearts.

But rescuing grace doesn’t just operate in a “one-and-done” manner. Rescued Saul became Paul, who would give his life to the proclamation of the gospel and later write, “Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Romans 6:22).

In the same way that Peter denied Christ and later preached the gospel in Acts 4, I just marvel at how Saul was breathing threats and murder and then wrote the book of Romans. Only rescuing grace!!!

But there’s more. Rescuing grace at first frees you, and then actually enslaves you again. Rescuing grace offers you the most wonderful, heart-satisfying, life-changing, and hope-producing slavery. God doesn’t set you free, because he knows you wouldn’t be free. The sad reality is that it doesn’t take much to enslave us again to a person or a thing that begins to function as our replacement messiah; you and I would quickly enslave ourselves once again!

The Rescuer makes us his slaves. He who can grant life enslaves our lives to him. His absolute rulership over every area of our lives is not a deadening law but a life-giving grace.

He really does know how short-lived our resolve tends to be. He really understands our wandering eyes and our oft-disloyal hearts. He commands our allegiance so that we will not serve other masters.

He is freeing us from our slavery to what is not true and cannot deliver. He is rescuing us from serving what will never give us life. He is protecting us from chasing after hope where hope will never be found.

Are you freely living in the rescuing grace of being enslaved to Christ? God’s call to be a slave is itself a grace. He is actively rescuing you from you.

Being a slave of God doesn’t restrict your life; it protects the life that only he can give.

A Prayer for Today: Lord God, I want to live in the true freedom that is slavery to you. I have served and chased after other masters too often, and I need your grace to rescue me and draw me into a life surrendered and submitted to you. Thank you for actively rescuing me from myself and loving me enough to never leave me alone. You are my good and loving Master and because I know your character, I can trust your will and activity in my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conversation Prompts for Children

  • What does it mean to be a slave? Why can slavery be a bad thing? Do you think slavery can ever be a good thing? Why or why not?
  • What do you think it means that God rescues us from slavery? Slavery to what?
  • If we are rescued from slavery by God through Jesus, what might still be a danger for us as human beings? How does God protect us by making us his slaves?

Reflection Questions

1. After God rescues and frees someone from the slavery of sin, why do you think it’s necessary for that person to be enslaved again? And why is that a good thing?

2. The Lord is actively rescuing you from you. What do you think that means, and why is being rescued from yourself such an important part of living the Christian life?

3. Personally, what are the things or people that have enslaved you in the past? How did those things or people impact your life in negative ways?

4. In what ways are you seeing God actively change you more and more into the image of Jesus? Who or what is he using to do that in your life?