No, Paul was βa blasphemerβ (I Tim. 1:13) who, as a strict, Law-abiding Pharisee (Acts 26:5), would never blaspheme the Father, but was among those who blasphemed the Spirit when they stoned Stephen (Acts 7:51-8:1). This rendered him ineligible for salvation under the kingdom program, for the Lord had warned, βhim that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgivenβ (Luke 12:10).
How then could God save Saul? Well, remember that the Lord had warned, βwhosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to comeβ (Matt. 12:32). The nation of Israel blasphemed the Spirit in the world that the Lord spoke of as βthis worldβ when they rejected Stephen, a man filled with the Spirit (Acts 7:55). βThe world to comeβ is defined in Hebrews 2:5 as the kingdom, the βworldβ which God will βput in subjectionβ under Christ, where people will fully know βthe powers of the world to comeβ (Heb. 6:5) that they only tasted at Pentecost.
Since blasphemy against the Spirit was unforgivable in both those worlds, we know Saul was saved under the program of a whole new world, the dispensation of grace, βthis worldβ in which we live (Eph. 1:21), βthis present worldβ in which we are to walk and please God (Titus 2:12). source
