Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God…
Summary: Paul is a uniquely qualified emissary for the Lord’s Gospel message.
Paul didn’t choose to be an apostle. In fact, when he woke up on the morning of the day he met Jesus, the last thing on his mind was being an apostle. His goal that day was to continue his journey to Damascus so he could hunt down and imprison more Christians.
Up until that day, Paul had been Christians’ worst nightmare. Since the day that he stood by watching over the coats of those who stoned Stephen (Acts 7:54-60), Paul’s passion for purifying the world of this upstart religion had been unquenchable. It wasn’t until Jesus blinded him with his presence and announced who he was that Paul relented (Acts 9:1-9).
After three days of being blind, when Paul had arrived in Damascus, God sent Ananias to go to Paul and open his eyes. After receiving the Holy Spirit and being baptized, Paul immediately began to proclaim Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Acts 9:10-19). Ever since, Paul’s passion for the Old Covenant was now being poured into the New.
Because Paul was relentless in preaching the Gospel and starting churches throughout the known world, he was considered an apostle. Because he had been called into the service of the faith by Jesus Christ personally, Paul was considered an apostle on the order of the original eleven apostles who had been chosen by Jesus. (The twelfth, Judas, was the one who betrayed Jesus.)
Paul’s credentials as an apostle are rather unique:
“If any other man thinks that he has confidence in the flesh, I yet more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the assembly; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless.” (Philippians 3:4-6)
His energy and commitment to the Gospel were unwavering. Because of all this, and because it was through the will of God to call him to the ministry, Paul’s letters have been treasured as “gospel” from the very first days of the church.
Application: Pay attention to what Paul has written.
Food for Thought: Do Paul’s letters represent his own thoughts, or are they God’s words? How do we know?
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