When I read the books that Paul wrote I am amazed at this man’s courage to spread the gospel to the gentiles. Actually I am amazed at the man himself. Who is the Apostle Paul and where did he come from?
Saul later known as Paul was raised in Tarsus. He was a Pharisee and was also a Roman citizen - a fact that afforded him a privileged legal status with respect to laws, property, and governance. Paul was a head of his class in learning Judaism and abiding by it. Before his conversion, Paul, then known as Saul, was a "zealous" Pharisees who "intensely persecuted" the followers of Jesus. He hated “The movement” which later transformed into Christianity. Paul used to hunt down and imprison Christians and even at times watched and participated in the deaths of many followers of Jesus.
Later when Saul was on the road to Damascus he was spoken to by God saying “Saul why are you persecuting me?” and Saul said “Lord who is talking to me?” Jesus spoke to Saul and renamed him Paul and spoke to his heart and Paul was transformed right there on the road to Damascus. Paul was now a Christian called by God to spread the gospel to the gentiles. That was his mission.
What interests me most about this man was where he came from and who he ended up to be. Paul never met any of the apostles at that time but was learned by the Holy Spirit. Later he met the apostles. Paul’s mission was to go out to the gentiles and bring them the good news. This task wasn’t an easy one. Paul was imprisoned more than once for his boldness in spreading the gospel and the Pharisees and Sadducees were appalled at Paul’s transformation. Paul was flogged, beaten, shipwrecked, starved, and imprisoned. But he kept going until everyone knew who this new Paul was. He was a true believer in Christianity and he was on a mission to win over as many souls as he could for Christ. If he was preaching to the Jews he was a Jew, if he was preaching to the gentile, he became like them. To the poor he was poor. He spoke the gospel in easy terms that any man could understand. But Paul knew that the gospel was foolishness to those who didn’t believe.
What was amazing in Paul’s epistles was that at the beginning of each book he would say, “Grace and peace to you from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ”. What does “grace” actually mean? It’s “God’s riches at Christ’s expense” and after you have the grace of Christ then comes peace. Paul wanted all believers to understand this and this is why he always started out his epistles in this way.
He was a man of grit and steel. He was a man that was content being well fed or hungry, being imprisoned or free. This man lived in the spirit and even in his greatest despair he always glorified God. How can this be? The crown of life will surely be awaiting him in heaven. There’s a lot to learn from this man and I can’t wait to meet Paul when I go to heaven and ask him how in the world he glorified God in extreme adverse conditions.
