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Paul,
the Apostle of the Nations
Paul, the name so familiar to us, was previously known as Saul.
He was from Tarsus in Cilicia
(Act.22:3) where his family was prominent enough for him to have Roman
citizenship, a very sought-after privilege of the time (Act.22:25-29).
He was an Israelite by birth, a dyed-in-the-wool Hebrew out of the faithful
tribe of Benjamin, and a member of the Pharisees (Phil.3:4-6) which was the
strictest sect in Judaism. Being a fervent Jew, he had come to live in Jerusalem
to study Judaism more thoroughly, learning under Gamaliel (Act.22:3), a
very wise and prominent rabbi (Act.5:34-39). Here, his natural zeal for God
and His Law was nurtured, and he progressed more rapidly than his peers and
contemporaries in the knowledge of the law and the traditions (Gal.1:14).
He was qualified to cast his vote in the Sanhedrin (Act.26:10).
We first read of him as a young man in Act.7:58 at the execution of
Stephen, where he endorsed the execution and had charge of the outer
garments of those participating in the stoning. This active involvement
seems to have triggered his 'righteous' hatred for the fledgling ecclesia
which he considered to be an heretical sect misleading Jews and drawing
them away from the traditional teachings of Moses. He initiated and led
virulent campaigns against these 'heretics', feverishly seeking them out
and apprehending them, casting them into jails and even voting for the
death penalty to be administered (Act.22:4,5; 26:9-11).
Paul was acting in accord with his wisdom, in accord with his religious background
and upbringing, and in accord with his unenlightened and unbridled zeal. He
was convinced he knew what had to be done to protect the 'pristine purity'
of the Mosaic Law. In his own eyes he was acting in a righteous way, even
dedicating his time and efforts to helping God to rid the world of evil and
despicable heretics who were subverting His chosen people from His law and
the accepted traditions of Judaism. He was a sincere and fervent defender
'of the faith once given'. He must have felt he was 'adding value' to his
own righteousness.
The fact was that he was blind to Who and What God really is, to His
righteousness, and to His operations and schedules. What he had been going
through from birth was just one phase of God's dealings with him. Much more
was still in store for the years ahead. And, now, in the profundity of his
understanding of the Mosaic system and at the zenith of his vigour in
persecuting the ecclesia, he was to encounter his initiation to a new
experience under God's control.
Struck down and blinded on his way to Damascus,
he was brought into realisation of the enormity of his error in going
against Jesus. God opened his mind and hence no argument came from him, no
proof was required! He just believed the Lord. He was given a special
commission, assigned a special service, which would entail suffering and
privations. But many years would go by before he would be ready to put it
into operation.
Act.9:15,16 … he is a choice instrument of Mine,
to bear My name before both the nations
and kings, besides the sons of Israel,
16 for
I shall be intimating to him
how much he must be suffering for My name's
sake
Act.22:21 ...He said to me, `Go! For I shall be
delegating you afar to the nations.'
Act.26:15-18 Now I say, `Who art Thou, Lord?'
Now the Lord said, `I am Jesus, Whom you are
persecuting.
16 But
rise and stand on your feet, for I was seen by you for this,
to fix upon you before for a deputy and a
witness
both of what you have perceived and that in
which I will be seen by you,
17
extricating you from the people
and from the nations, to whom I am
commissioning you,
18 to
open their eyes, to turn them about from darkness to light
and from the authority of Satan to God,
for them to get a pardon of sins and an
allotment
among those who have been hallowed by faith
that is in Me.'
Paul was not one for half-measures. Having been given the truth and the
right direction, he marshaled all his energies and all his faculties,
bringing them to bear on the tasks ahead. As soon as he could, he began
preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. The people who
heard him, recognising him as the ferocious persecutor of believers in
Jesus, were shocked by the abrupt about-face! The Jews were thrown into
consternation and confusion when He began announcing that this Jesus is the
Son of God and the Christ, that He was their Messiah as promised in
Scripture (Act.9:20-22).
The Jews were not about to let this renegade, this turncoat from their
ranks, get away with it. They planned his assassination but, getting wind
of their intentions Paul, with the aid of some believers, escaped to Jerusalem
(Act.9:23-25).
When he tried to fellowship with the believers in Jerusalem,
they would not accept him for they were understandably afraid of him and
were suspicious of his motives. Barnabas, who had become a believer in the
early days of the ecclesia, and who had come to know of Paul's activity
among the synagogues of Damascus, mediated on his behalf and introduced him
into fellowship with the apostles (Act.9:26,27).
Once again, his fearless preaching in the name of the Lord Jesus
aroused the wrath of the Jews. And once again he had to be whisked away
from intended assassination and escorted by the brethren to his own city, Tarsus
(Act.9:28-30).
Some time later Barnabas sought him out and brought him to Antioch
where they preached and fellowshipped with the believers there for a whole
year. Barnabas and Saul were delegated to carry relief to the believers in Judaea
to alleviate a foretold famine, which occurred during the reign of Claudius
(Act.11:25-30). They returned to Antioch
when they had discharged their service (Act.12:25).
All this time then, beginning with his preaching in Damascus,
Paul had been carrying out that aspect of his commission which was directed
to 'the sons of Israel'
(Act.9:15). The time was now right for another aspect, quite different from
what he had been carrying out, to be initiated.
At a notable gathering of believers in Antioch, God made it clear that
Barnabas and Saul were to be 'severed' from the others for a special
mission. This word, sever, from the Greek aphorizö, means a
cutting away from, with nothing left attached. It was explicitly clear that
all the others, among whom they had been ministering and with whom they had
been fellowshipping up to that moment, were to be excluded from this
commission to Barnabas and Saul. It was to be their commission,
exclusively.
Act.13:2,3 Now, at their ministering to the Lord and
fasting, the holy spirit said,
"Sever, by all means, to Me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them."
3 Then,
fasting and praying and placing their hands on them, they dismiss them.
Rom.1:1
Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle,
severed for the evangel of God
Gal.1:15,16 Now, when it delights God,
Who severs me from my mother's womb
and calls me through His grace,
16 to
unveil His Son in me that I may be evangelizing Him among the nations,
This separation for this special commission did not terminate the ministry
of Barnabas and Saul among the people of Israel.
Whichever city they travelled to they first preached in the synagogues.
When their message to the Jews and proselytes there was rejected, they
turned to their ministry among the nations - for which they had been
severed.
Act.13:44-46 Now on the coming sabbath
almost the entire city was gathered to hear
the word of the Lord.
45 Yet
the Jews, perceiving the throngs, are filled with jealousy,
and they contradicted the things spoken by
Paul, blaspheming.
46
Being bold, both Paul and Barnabas, say,
"To you first was it necessary
that the word of God be spoken.
Yet, since, in fact, you are thrusting it
away,
and are judging yourselves not worthy of
eonian life,
lo! we are turning to the nations.
Act.18:4-6 Now he argued in the synagogue on
every sabbath
and persuaded both Jews and Greeks….
5 …
Paul was pressed in the word, certifying to the Jews that Jesus is the
Christ.
6 Now
at their resisting and blaspheming,
shaking out his garments, he said to them,
"Your blood be on your head! Clear am
I! From now on I shall go to the nations."
Act.28:26-28 …`Go to this people and say,
"In hearing, you will be hearing, and
may by no means be understanding,
And observing, you will be observing, and
may by no means be perceiving,"
27 For
stoutened is the heart of this people,
And with their ears heavily they
hear,
And with their eyes they
squint,
Lest at some time they may be perceiving
with their eyes,
And with their ears should be
hearing,
And with their heart may be
understanding,
And should be turning about, And I shall be
healing them.'
28 Let
it be known to you, then,
that to the nations was dispatched this
salvation of God, and they will hear."
At his confrontation with Elymas the magician, who is a fitting figure for
obstinate and spiritually blind Judaism, Scripture refers to the apostle,
for the first time, as Paul, and never again as Saul.
Act.13:9 Now Saul, who is also Paul,
being filled with holy spirit, …
Two derivations of this name have surfaced and both are quite interesting.
One is that the name comes from the Latin word which means
"little" and is in contrast to his haughty, self-righteous,
attitude prior to conversion.
The other derivation is from the Greek, the language of the NT autographs,
derived from the root "pau" which suggests an interval or
a cessation. It is significant that in this administration God has suspended
dealing with Israel
as a nation (Act.28:25-28). Scripture is clear that God will resume
dealing with them as His People at the "time of the end"
(Rom.11:25-32; Dan.12:1). Here is, therefore, a significant interval or
"pause" in God's operations with Israel.
During this time He deals with individuals, out of Israel
and out of the Gentiles, without distinction (Gal.5:6; 6:15; 1Cor.12:13).
Paul's commission, then, is relevant to this interval or pause period in
God's dealings with Israel
as a nation.
It is also significant that, in the previous administration, God dealt with
His people Israel
in Law and Grace. And in the dispensation that will follow the present
administration He will deal with them in Law and Grace, too (Jas.2:24)! In
this present administration, however, He deals with those whom He calls in absolute
Grace (Eph.2:1-10)! He expects us to cease trying to establish our own
righteousness and to joyfully accept His gift of righteousness because of
Christ's faith (Rom.3:21-23; 10:1-17; Phil.3:7-10)!
An interval! A pause! A cessation! How very significant! It is a temporary
suspension designed for a special phase of God's purpose.
All his letters begin with this identification, Paul. It is his
'call-sign' to believers, those of today especially, distinguishing his
message from other messages in Scripture, revealing to them the things
that are of consequence for their understanding and spiritual development.
Paul is the apostle of the nations; his ministry is to the Uncircumcision.
This claim he painstakingly repeats for emphasis in his letters including
this one to the Roman believers.
Rom.1:5 Jesus Christ, our Lord,
through Whom we obtained grace and
apostleship
for faith-obedience among all the nations,
for His name's sake,
Rom.11:13 Now to you am I saying, to the
nations,
in as much as, indeed, then, I am the apostle
of the nations,…
Rom.15:15-19 ...more daringly do I write to you, in
part, as prompting you,
because of the grace being given to me from
God,
for me to be the minister of Christ Jesus
for the nations,
acting as a priest of the evangel of God,
that the approach present of the nations may
be becoming well received,
having been hallowed by holy spirit.
I have, then, a boast in Christ Jesus, in
that which is toward God.
For I am not daring to speak any of what Christ
does not effect through me
for the obedience of the nations, in word and work,
in the power of signs and miracles, in the
power of God's spirit,
1Tim.2:7 for which I was appointed a herald
and an apostle
(I am telling the truth, I am not lying),
a teacher of the nations in knowledge and
truth.
Gal.2:7,8 I have been entrusted with the
evangel of the Uncircumcision,
according as Peter of the Circumcision
(for He Who operates in Peter for the
apostleship of the Circumcision
operates in me also for the nations),
Gal.5:2-6 Lo! I, Paul, am saying to you
that if you should be circumcising, Christ
will benefit you nothing.
Now I am attesting again to every man who is
circumcising,
that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
Exempted from Christ were you who are being
justified in law.
You fall out of grace.
For we, in spirit, are awaiting the
expectation of righteousness by faith. For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision is
availing anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith, operating through love.
Eph.3:1-3 On this behalf I, Paul,
the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you, the
nations-- since you surely hear
of the administration of the grace of God
that is given to me for you,
for by revelation the secret is made known
to me…
Eph.3:5-8 …in spirit the nations are to
be
joint enjoyers of an allotment,
and a joint body,
and joint partakers of the promise in Christ
Jesus,
through the evangel of which I became the
dispenser,
in accord with the gratuity of the grace of
God,
which is granted to me in accord with His
powerful operation.
To me, less than the least of all saints,
was granted this grace:
to bring the evangel of the untraceable
riches of Christ to the nations,
Col.1:23-27 … the expectation of the evangel which you
hear
which is being heralded in the entire
creation which is under heaven
of which I, Paul, became the dispenser.
I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for you,
and am filling up in my flesh, in His stead,
the deficiencies of the afflictions of
Christ,
for His body, which is the ecclesia of which
I became a dispenser,
in accord with the administration of God,
which is granted to me for you, to
complete the word of God--
the secret which has been concealed from the
eons and from the generations,
yet now was made manifest to His saints, to
whom God wills to make known
what are the glorious riches of this secret among
the nations,
which is: Christ among you, the expectation
of glory--
Therefore, it has to be through his writings that we of the nations
must learn of our place in God's plans and schedules, and also of the
privileges and the accountability associated with them. If we take God's
statements seriously, it will not do to go to the writings of the others
such as John and James to find instructions directed to us. Of course, we
can learn much from these other writings, too. Our comprehension of the
scope and the power of our standing with God through Christ will be that
much poorer if we do not, for they provide a contrasting backdrop which
emphasises the surpassing grandeur of the revelation through Paul.
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November 2003
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