Free Custom «Refutation Essay» Essay Paper

Before his conversion, Paul’s name was soul. His conversion is found in The Acts of the Apostles in the 9^th chapter, which is a letter written by him. The conversion is always seen as a miracle, because Paul was never a follower of Jesus and he even persecuted the early Christians yet he ended up being a preacher of the word of Jesus that he opposed and persecuted (Acts 9:4-5 KJV). 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecuting me?  5 And he said, who art thou, Lord?  And the Lord said I am Jesus whom you persecute:  it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.  The conversion occurred after Jesus crucifixion. This event is described as supernatural in its nature.

Refutation Essay: Extreme Makeover

Firstly, the speaker talks of Saul being on his way to kill a group of followers of Jesus; this is not true for we are told the main purpose of him going for the letter was to imprison the disciples of the Lord (Acts 9:2 KJV) And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. This clearly shows that he went to take the letter not to kill the people he met, but to captivate and imprison them.

Secondly, the writer talks about God having a great plan for Saul, and says that God was going to use him in a great and mighty way, transforming him into one of the greatest apostles, yet we know and it is written that the main purpose of Saul’s calling was to carry the Lord’s name to the gentiles and their kings, and also before the people of Israel. He was also to be shown how he was to suffer for the Lord’s name (Acts 9:15-16). The writer’s statement becomes a fallacy for he fails to consider the main reason for Saul’s calling.

Thirdly, saying that Saul had an amazing day on his way to Damascus will be totally misguided. This is because the encounter he had was a hard one. It is written that he fell to the ground and he could not see. This just tells you that the encounter was a rough one and he also did not eat or drink anything for three days. This can’t be termed as an amazing situation, because he lost his strength and we are told after taking some food he regained his strength (Acts 9:19), showing that his health had deteriorated for he had not eaten for three days. This is enough to tell us that Saul had a rough encounter on his way to Damascus.

Then the writer is saying that when you have an encounter with Jesus, you change and you continue to change; this is not true for it is written when one gives his life to Jesus, the old is gone and he becomes a new person (2Corinthians 5:17). This shows that once a person changes, it is a one-time decision and he cannot go on changing, yet he has already changed, what he does is grow in faith, but not change, because what he believed that will always remain the same.

I don’t think the writer is saying that Jesus can pour more of himself to us is right, as  he remains the same yesterday, today and forever more (Hebrews 13:18). This shows that Jesus is unchangeable; and He cannot pour more of him to us, we should leave for him and learn to know him more, but he will always be the same forever. Based on this, I don’t think there is more of Jesus.

The writer’s definition of salvation is not right. He says it is accepting by faith the Gift of forgiveness that Jesus is offering to us, while it still remains for one to be saved. He has to confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord and to believe that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9), and not just accept by faith the gift of forgiveness.

One has to leave sin behind. If he comes to Jesus, the writer will tell us that one doesn’t have to quit this. I cannot stand, as it is written we were slaves to sin, but when we become saved, we become slaves to obedience.