Faithful Friday: Paul the Apostle

By Ian Wilson (G)

The most prolific writer of the New Testament was probably born sometime around 4 BC to a devout Jewish family in Tarsus, present-day Turkey. His story is one of redemption and the incredible grace of God. Nothing is known of his formative years, other than he was trained by Gamaliel, one of the most learned rabbis of the time. Paul described himself as “Hebrew of the Hebrews” in his letter to the Philippian church (Philippians 3:5). Thus he became a lawyer, and it is indicated that he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish supreme court. 

Before his experience on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, Paul was an ardent prosecutor of the Christian church. Filled with zeal for the law, Paul did not hesitate to send many early believers to their deaths. He was even present for the death of the first martyr, St. Stephen (Acts 7:58). However, Paul’s life changed entirely when he met a very unusual man: Jesus Christ. 

In Acts 9, we read of Paul’s encounter with the risen and ascended Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus. Christ had a special mission for Paul, but He needed Paul to be humbled before he could be of any use to God’s plan. Christ told Paul that it was Him that he was persecuting, and struck him with blindness. He was then instructed to meet with a Christian named Ananais in the city of Damascus. Though hesitant at first, the Lord informed Ananias that Paul’s faith was genuine, and that he had a special mission.

Ananias told Paul about what Jesus had told him, and laid his hands on him. Immediately, Paul received the Holy Spirit and his blindness left him. He was then baptized, and empowered to preach the Gospel to the gentiles. 

Paul then spent three years in Arabia and Damascus, before returning to Jerusalem to acquaint himself with the other Apostles there. After this meeting, Paul went on the first of his missionary journeys. As a tent-maker by trade, Paul was able to travel with some light tools and set up shop anywhere he wanted. This gave him the freedom to travel throughout the Mediterranean region, and spread the Gospel. 

Throughout his life and ministry, Paul wrote a total of 13 letters to the churches he and the other Apostles had started; a massive amount of the New Testament is of Pauline origin. As an expert in law, theology, and the arts of rhetoric, combined with the leading of the Holy Spirit, Paul illuminated the Scriptures for his audience, making clear that Christ is the Messiah, that He has fulfilled the requirements of the Law, and saved us from bondage to sin AND the Old Testament law. With clarity and elegance, Paul passed the doctrines of the Christian faith down to us, that we may be saved. 

Through many arrests, beatings, shipwrecks and other trials, Paul endured undaunted, courageously sharing the Gospel to the nations. Eventually he was arrested for the last time, and brought before the Emperor for trial. He was sentenced to death and beheaded, sometime in the late 60s AD. 

May we, like Paul, endure trials with grace, and share the Gospel without fear.