Saul was changed. When God moves upon a person they are changed. They are transformed into something different than what they were. He was changed into another man. After his encounter with God, he was different.

When a caterpillar enters into a cocoon and then later comes out, He is a different creature when he comes out than he was when he went in. An encounter with God is much the same. You become different.

We see through the scripture lives changed through encounters with God.

Abraham - Genesis 17

God appeared to Abraham and made a covenant with him. He changed his name from Abram to Abraham, meaning father of many nations. From that time Abraham was a different man. He was a man with a purpose - a man with a promise from God - a man going somewhere.

Jacob - Genesis 32

God appeared to Jacob. Jacob left home a cowardly, conniving man. On his way back, he encountered God and God changed him. Jacob wrestled with the angel of God all night and the angel injured him - made him limp. Through this encounter, Jacob was changed. He no longer tried to run away from his problems, but prayed his way through them. God changed his name to Israel, because he now had power with God.

Isaiah - Is 6:1-7

Isaiah saw the Lord and realized his sinful state. That's what an encounter with the Almighty God will do - it will make us see our own smallness next to his greatness. When you enter into the presence of perfect holiness, you tremble with fear because of your own unholiness. You fear, as Is did, that you may be consumed. But God touched the coals of the altar to his lips and cleansed him. Then he appointed him to spread God's Word to the nation.

When you encounter God you will come away with purpose - with a mission and a commission from God.

Peter - Matthew 16

Jesus stopped calling him Simon, meaning hearer, and started calling him Peter, meaning rock. Peter was changed form an impetuous and timid man to a steady and bold disciple.

Paul - Acts 9

On the Damascus Road, Paul was stricken from his horse by a vision of Jesus. He was never the same after that. He was changed from a religious bigot, persecuting the church, to a true man of God, spreading the gospel of salvation. He went from a hard exacting legalist to a man of compassion, with a heart for God and for sinners.

Jesus said, "Ye must be born again…". He was talking about a change of heart. Remember Saul received a new heart.

Jer 24:7 God promised to give men a heart to know him.

Eze 11:19 God promised to give us a new spirit - a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone - that is, a heart of compassion - a heart of love. He repeats that in 36:26.

1 Cor 5:17 says a man in Christ is a new creature. Old things are past. All your sin. All your failures. All your heartaches. It's all taken away. Sin is forgiven. Your heart is cleansed. You are changed. All things become new. When you are born again, you are remade in the image of God.

Now admittedly, it takes time for a man to change. But in the spirit you are changed instantly. One moment you are a sinner bound for hell. The next moment, as God's grace through Jesus Christ applies to your life, you are the righteousness of God in Christ. There is a changed that takes place in the spiritual realm. The first thing that happens is that God forgives your sin and sees you differently. God sees you through the filter of Christ's blood, and that blood covers your sin. At the same time, he changes your heart and your motives become different. When Christ moves in and takes over you begin moving in a different direction. You begin moving toward God instead of away from Him. You begin thinking in terms of righteousness instead of unrighteousness. Then that change begins to move outward and change the way you act - the way you talk - the way you think. He transforms you from the inside out.

The problem with religion is that it tries to change you from the outside in. It applies rules to live by so that you will change and please God. Christ, on the other hand, changes you on the inside first. Your heart changes and your actions will follow, for "out of the heart proceed murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies…". So God starts where it counts. He changes your heart, and you become "another man".

Rom 6:6-8 - the old man dead, free from sin, live with him

Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us to put off the old man, be renewed, and put on the new man. This is speaking of Christian growth. We are changed - from glory to glory.

A man in Christ is a new creature. Have you been changed? Are you different than you used to be? I don't mean a little different. Of course, we all grow; we all change to some degree. But I'm talking about a change from night to day - from darkness to light. I'm talking about a radical change. Something more radical than the wildest political fanatic has ever conceived of. I'm talking about a heavenly heart transplant. God will change you. He will remake you in His image - to be like him.

His purpose is that we be (Rom 8.29) "…conformed to the image of his son…