(2) Bible researchers place the date of birth of Apostle Paul close to the period of the birth of Christ. His parents named him Saul. He was born in the noteworthy city of Tarsus in Cilicia which was a part of the Roman Empire (Acts 21: 39). River Cydnus flowed through this city. Since trade flourishes in the
cities established on the banks of the rivers, Tarsus was a prosperous trading city. Many are aware about the ancient universities of Athens and Alexandria which were very popular. Especially, many know about the famous library in Alexandria. But then, many do not know that Tarsus was also acclaimed for its university which in its time was as popular as the ones in Athens and Alexandria. Therefore only, Paul calls Tarsus as “no insignificant city” (Acts 21: 39). Paul must have benefitted from the excellent educational facilities of his city. Probably due to this education, in the later days, compared to the other apostles, Paul speaks of “things hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16). Saul’s father was a Pharisee (Acts 23:6). We understand that he had a sister and her son could have travelled with Paul in his gospel journeys (Acts 23:16). For the youth of the city of Tarsus, trading must have been the natural profession. But Saul chose otherwise. He went to Jerusalem and trained under the famous teacher of law, Gamaliel to become a Pharisee (Acts 22:3). Once, when the Jews were demanding the death of Apostles, this same Gamaliel had stood up and spoken (Acts 5: 33, 34). He said that many had come before Christ proclaiming to be the Messiah, but after sometime their followers had scattered; Similar fate would befall the apostles of Jesus if he were a false Messiah and hence the Jews should ignore them; but, if Christ was indeed the Messiah then nothing could be done to subdue his followers or their popularity. So, he suggested that either way the men be left alone (Acts 5: 34-39). It is obvious from this that he had the ability to make unemotional, unbiased and well-thought out decisions. We can see this influence in Paul as well who later on, though a Jew and that too a Pharisee, was able to objectively explain boldly and beautifully that Christ fulfilled the law and abolished it. It is well-known that God used Paul tremendously for the spreading of the gospel. But, Paul was in fact used by God for the gospel work even when he was Saul. How so?
(3) Before Jesus was taken up to heaven, he told his disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them; and they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth ( Acts 1:8 ). The gospel plan of Jesus was to begin with Jerusalem, go on to Judea and Samaria and then to all of the world. Seems like a simple plan. Not so simple, when faced only with prospects of suppression and persecution from the hands of the Jews and also the Roman Empire. However, we are able to see from the book of Acts that Jesus himself guided this plan perfectly. After the day of Pentecost, for quite sometime the church grew only around Jerusalem. All the apotles were in Jerusalem. Let us see whom Jesus chose to take the gospel to Judea–Samaria: “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him (Stephen) to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles…Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:1-4). The persecution that came on the church of Jerusalem due to Saul was the very reason why the gospel was carried to Judea–Samaria. For some time peace reigned in Judea–Samaria and the church continued to grow (Acts 9:31). Step 2 of the gospel plan was accomplished. So, how did Jesus’ plan of the gospel spreading to the ends of the earth come about? That was also because of the very same persecution caused by Saul. Some of the scattered began preaching the gospel to the Greeks (Acts 11:19, 20). In those days, the Greek language flourished in the world just like English flourishes today. It was the language of the educated and the cultured. For the same reason only, the New Testament Manuscripts are in Greek. Therefore, the moment the gospel reached the Greeks it began to spread very fast.
(4) Thus, God used Paul, even as Saul, for the purpose of the gospel. May be because of this, Paul says that he had been set apart even from his mother’s womb for the gospel (Galatians 1:15). After Saul became Paul, God chose him to carry the gospel to the Gentile lands (Acts 9:15, 13: 2, 3). Moreover, the indirect effect of Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles should not be neglected. It was only through the ministry of Paul that the other disciples were convinced that the Gentiles had been unconditionally accepted by God in Christ Jesus without the need to abide to any kind of Jewish law (Acts 15; Galatians 2:1-17). So, they too with great encouragement went all over the world, preaching the gospel. There is a history that Thomas preached in India. Recently, archaeologists have discovered that the gospel had reached even China in the first century itself. Just before he ascended to heaven, Jesus promised to his disciples that he would be with them till the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). True to his words, we can see how beautifully Jesus is guiding the Church and the gospel work! If persecution had never come on the Jerusalem church, the church might not have spread to other places. Therefore, when our church or we ourselves are persecuted; we need to know that the God who keeps account of even a single hair on our head, wouldn’t have permitted this persecution without a good purpose, and therefore we need not be discouraged (Luke 21:18). We should instead be encouraged.
(5) On his way to Damascus, Saul got the vision of Christ and transformed into a believer. After that, his life changed upside down. His transformation was such that the man who had brutally persucted the church is now called by many as the greatest apostle of Christ. It is indeed necessary for us too to do works like him. But, when we say works, many are confused what works. Most Christians think that work means not sinning and character building. This is wrong. When the entire world is becoming more and more sinful, it is truly difficult to live a sinless life and to have a good character. But let us think about this. If Adam and Eve had never sinned, would God have rewarded them with heavenly positions? No. No one has ever had the right to sin. Sinning is an offence. Death was the punishment given to that offence. If an offence is not committed, then there would be no punishment. That’s all. Therefore, no one can be given Christ-like glories for living sinless and for having good character. It is our duty to fight against sin, not something to be proud about. Ministry of God is an entirely different matter.
(6) If so, what is the work we need to do? Doesn’t James state that faith without works is dead (James 2: 17). What is this work? We are able to understand this with the examples James employs which are of typical in nature. The work that did not make the faith of the prostitute Rahab dead, was not a sin-relieving work or character building, instead, James says that when she saved the Israelite messengers, it was an assurance of her faith in God (James 2: 25). If captured, she could have been condemned to death for conspiring against her country, but because of her faith in God, she helped the Israelites without fear. She knew that God had given Jericho for destruction. We must remember that through Christ, God has given up this second world for destruction, and, even as we live here, our work of faith is to proclaim about the good news of the Kingdom of God. Rahab lived within Jericho but worked against it by doing a work pleasing to God and that established her faith in Him. Even so, we too who live in a Jericho, Satan’s world, should work against it by proclaiming the coming Kingdom and establish our faith in Him. Did James cite Abraham’s character bulding efforts as the works that confirmed his faith? No. He had the faith that God as promised would multiply his descendants and thus was ready to offer up for sacrifice his only living descendant, the only one in hand, Isaac on the altar (James 2:21). We have the faith that God would give us an everlasting life and other glories. But to establish that faith in everlasting life, we need to sacrifice our present life, our only life in hand really, for the ministry of God’s work (See Grace – Blossom 10:December 2008, para 6). Paul did this: “Are they servants of Christ?–I speak as if insane–I more so; in far more labours… danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes… three times I was shipwrecked… frequent journeys… dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers … and hardship… without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11: 23-28). To show that he is a servant of Christ , Paul speaks only about his work related to the proclamation of the gospel and the struggles while working for the growth of the church. If character building had been the call of the church, then Paul needn’t have travelled so extensively and suffered severely. Reflect. In fact, he invites us to do the same work: “Therefore do not be ashamed … but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:8; Romans 1:15, 16; 15: 16, 20). Suffering for the gospel is the calling of the church. That is the work Paul did. That is what we are expected to do. Spreading the truth. In order to do gospel work sucessfully, we can explore Paul’s life and experiences and pick up clues and lessons.
(7) The first attribute that most people will recall at the mention of Paul’s name is his zeal for God. He was unwilling to compromise the truth even to the smallest degree, in any situation. Once, Peter fearing the Jews, withdrew from the Gentiles to have his food (Galatians 2:12). Amongst the apostles, Peter being an elder was more honoured than Paul. In spite of that, seeing that his actions were “not straightforward about the truth of the gospel”, Paul aggressively rebuked Peter (Galatians 2:14). Peter’s importance or his honour didn’t blunt Paul’s zeal for the gospel. It is with this same zeal that Christ drove away the businessmen from the temple. (John 2:16,17). When we initially come into the truth, this same zeal is seen in us. We would have a great desire to search the Bible and grow in the truth and only in the truth. But, gradually, this grows cold. When anyone, be it an elder or an elderly brother, speaks to us individually or in a church or at a conference, we need to search the scriptures carefully and see if his message is in tune with it. Even if there is a slight deviation from the scriptures it is necessary to bring attention to it in an appropriate way. Some of those who listened to Paul’s public rebuke of Peter must have thought poorly of him. It is certain that when we point out a mistake, there will be people who will think badly of us. But, we should not stray away from truth and become people-pleasers. Peter did not mistake Paul, instead, he was appreciative of him (2 Peter 3: 15, 16). We too, when criticised, must not treat our critics as enemies, instead, weigh each criticism carefully and accept it, if it is right. Such a kind of healthy atmosphere needs to prevail amongst the new creations.
(8) We need to possess the same zeal that Paul and Christ had for God, but at the same time, we should avoid the zeal that Saul had. Saul persecuted the church only because of his intense devotion to God. In fact, it was a fulfilment of Christ’s prophesy to his disciples that people who kill them would think that they were offering an service to God ( John 16:2). But, Saul’s zeal for God was not based on knowledge (Romans 10:2). And, we too need to ensure that our zeal is based on knowledge. If the pride of knowing everything ensnares us, we might fail to perceive our own faults. One of Daniel’s prophecy states that in the end time ‘knowledge will increase’ and truly, in these last days the light of truth is brightening (Daniel 12:4). Especially, new archaeological excavations and historical findings are greatly increasing our understanding of Biblical prophecies. If we are not willing to keep studying the Bible with an open mind, then we might not be able to grow further and further in the truth. Hence, our conclusions must be drawn after examining each thing carefully with reason and an open mind. A blind zeal is not an ideal devotion to God. We need to exhibit the zeal that Paul displayed and avoid that of Saul.
– to be continued –