Acts Theology 44: Satan to God

Acts 26:18 records Jesus commissioning Paul "to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." This is what Paul understood his mission to be: opening eyes, turning people from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, and giving them forgiveness and an inheritance.
The language used in Acts 26:18, speaking of being sent "to open their eyes... from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God," helps clarify the meaning of 2 Corinthians 4:4, which states that "the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel." While some might interpret "the god of this world" in 2 Corinthians 4:4 as God, drawing on Isaiah 6 where God blinds people's eyes, the Acts passage suggests Paul has Satan in mind as the one blinding unbelievers' minds. This mission to proclaim light to both Jews and Gentiles echoes Isaiah 49:6, where the servant is made "a light for the nations, that [God's] salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
This "light" that Paul is commissioned to bring is not personal enlightenment or self-discovery, but rather a specific revelation: the gospel. It is the news that Jesus suffered and was the first to rise from the dead. This specific understanding of "light" is directly tied to the gospel and the Old Testament program of God gathering his people, including the nations, into his family.
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