Here is Saul. He seems to be a changed man.
It is possible for somebody to go through a phase where they become very serious, and they seem to understand a lot, and they seem to be different, and they are not quite like they were before, and it startles you. But it could be they not saved. This is what always used to be called natural convictions, a natural work of reformation, and they are not really saved. Well then what was missing? If Saul wasn't saved what was missing? And the passage we come on to next study shows us. Two factors are picked out. He never repented; he never repented through his life. In chapter 15 he stands before Samuel after he has sinned dreadfully, and even made a sacrifice, and he says, ‘I have sinned.’ But it wasn't repentance and Samuel saw through it and rejected it, and God also rejected it.