Paul; A Man God Used

In my last post, we looked at Saul in his early years. Saul made it his business to try and crush the newly formed church or “the way” as it was called. He was relentless in his attack against Jesus Christ and any who followed Him. But as we saw at the end, Jesus had other plans for him. Let us look further now.

¹ Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. Acts 13:1-3

Here, we have the commissioning of Saul (Paul). Clearly Christ had called Saul on the road to Damascus, but now He has called him in front of witnesses (in the Old Testament, two or more witnesses were required). Now we will look at just a few of the things that Saul, now called Paul, did (Saul was his Hebrew name and Paul is his gentile name as he is an apostle to the gentiles).

Jews were forbidden to eat with, or go into the homes of gentiles; this defiled them. A Pharisee or other teacher of the Law especially would not be in the  presense of anything unclean. Paul was a Pharisee, yet he gladly chose to go to the gentiles to preach and teach.

Paul was beaten, stoned, whipped, slapped, and imprisoned numerous times, yet he considered it a reward to be abused for the name of Christ.

Paul is the author of more of the New Testament than any other author.

Knowing what awaited him, Paul returned to Jerusalem where he was beaten and sent to Rome where he would die in prison.

While in prison, Paul continued writing letters and ministering to all those with whom he came in contact.

Many of the most quoted passages of scripture are from the writings of Paul.

¹⁰ As it is written: “ There is none righteous, no, not one; ¹¹ There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. –Romans 3:10-11 (from Ps 14:1-3)

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, -Romans 3:23

⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. –Romans 5:8

¹⁹ For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
²⁰ Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, ²¹ so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. –Romans 5:19-21

 ¹ What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. –Romans 6:1-4

¹⁴ For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. –Romans 6:14

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 6:23

 ¹ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. –Romans 8:1

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. –Romans 8:18

²⁴ For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. –Romans 8:24-25

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. –Romans 8:26

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. –Romans 8:28

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? –Romans 8:31-32

⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. –Romans 10:9

¹⁷ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. –Romans 10:17

This is a short list. As we can clearly see, these are just from the first ten chapters of the book of Romans. Could God have used someone else? Certainly. God chose to use Paul for His reasons. I believe that because of Paul’s treacherous past, he was a willing vessel. Paul knew what forgiveness of sins was all about. He stated that he was chief among sinners. I think his past actions never left his memory, and thus, he truly understood and appreciated what the blood of Christ meant for him. He wanted to share the grace which had been shown to him with others.

I can confidently state that it does not matter what our past, Jesus loves us and He has a plan for our lives. No sin is greater than the love of Christ. If you are struggling with the weight of past sin in your life, give it to Jesus today. Who knows, you may be another Paul?