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Paul's Profile
No person, apart from Jesus
himself, shaped the history of Christianity like the apostle Paul. Even before
he was a believer, his actions were significant. His frenzied persecution of
Christians following Stephen's death got the church started in obeying Christ's
final command to take the gospel worldwide. Paul's personal encounter with Jesus
changed his life. He never lost his fierce intensity, but from then on it was
channeled for the gospel.
Paul was very religious. His training under Gamaliel was the
finest available. His intentions and efforts were sincere. He was a good
Pharisee, who knew the Bible and sincerely believed that this Christian movement
was dangerous to Judaism. Thus Paul hated the Christian faith and persecuted
Christians without mercy.
Paul got permission to travel to Damascus to capture
Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem. But God stopped him in his hurried
tracks on the Damascus road. Paul personally met Jesus Christ, and his life was
never again the same.
Until Paul's conversion, little had been done about carrying
the gospel to non-Jews. Philip had preached in Samaria and to an Ethiopian man;
Cornelius, a Gentile, was converted under Peter, and in Antioch in Syria, some
Greeks had joined the believers. When Barnabas was sent from Jerusalem to check
on this situation, he went to Tarsus to find Paul and bring him to Antioch, and
together they worked among the believers there. They were then sent on a
missionary journey, the first of three Paul would take, that would carry the
gospel across the Roman empire.
The thorny issue of whether Gentiles believers had to obey
Jewish laws before they could become Christians caused many problems in the
early church. Paul worked hard to convince the Jews that Gentiles were
acceptable to God, but he spent even more time convincing the Gentiles that they
were acceptable to God. The lives Paul touched were changed and challenged by
meeting Christ through him.
God did not waste any part of Paul - his background, his
training, his citizenship, his mind, or even his weaknesses. Are you willing to
let God do the same for you? You will never know all he can do with you until
you allow him to have all that you are!
Paul's Strengths and Accomplishments
1. Transformed by God from a persecutor of
Christians to a preacher for Christ
2. Preached for Christ throughout the Roman empire on three missionary journeys
3. Wrote letters to various churches, which became part of the New Testament
4. Was never afraid to face an issue head-on and deal with it
5. Was sensitive to God's leading and, despite his strong personality, always
did as God directed
6. Is often called the apostle to the Gentiles
Paul's Weaknesses and Mistakes
1. Witnessed and approved of Stephen's stoning
2. Set out to destroy Christianity by persecuting Christians
Lessons from Paul's Life
1. The Good News is that forgiveness and eternal
life are a gift of God's grace received through faith in Christ and available to
all people
2. Obedience results from a relationship with God, but obedience will never
create or earn that relationship
3. Real freedom doesn't come until we no longer have to prove our freedom
4. God does not waste our time - he will use our past and present so we may
serve him with our future
Paul's Vital Statistics
1. Where: Born in Tarsus, but became a world
traveler for Christ
2. Occupation: Trained as a Pharisee, learned the tentmaking trade, served as a
missionary
3. Contemporaries: Gamaliel, Stephen, the apostles, Luke, Barnabas, Timothy
Key Verses
"For to me, to live is Christ and to die gain. If
I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what
shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and
be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I
remain in the body" (Philippians 1:21-24).
Paul's story is told in Acts 7:58-28:31 and
through his New Testament letters.
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