The Story of Paul - Part 3

The Special Representative: About the Apostle Paul’s special assignment. Part 3.

The Bible mentions Saul/Paul for the first time in Acts 7:58: “And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.”

The Lord didn’t call Paul without reason; He’d appointed him to his role from the womb (Gal 1:15-16). And so, God gave him access to new revelations and developments in redemptive history. Yet beyond that, Paul was very suited for practical reasons.

He belonged to three different social circles: First, he was a Roman citizen from Tarsus in Cilicia, and as such, he enjoyed both prestige and protection, as well as greater ease of travel (Acts 9:11; 16:37-38; 22:25-28). For this reason, he was also familiar with Hellenistic culture. Second, Paul was a true Jew from the tribe of Benjamin (Rom 11:1). He came from a diasporic Jewish community in Tarsus. And third, he grew up in Jerusalem and studied at the feet of the famed Gamaliel (Acts 22:3-4).

He had two names from the beginning: a Jewish one (Saul) and a Greek one (Paul) (Acts 13:9). As he worked as a Jew and a non-believer in Jesus, and later at the beginning of his ministry among the Jews after his conversion, he was called Saul. When he was sent into the world as an Apostle, he only used the name Paul (which probably opened more doors abroad). Therefore, it’s incorrect to say that Saul was converted into Paul. He’d had both names from the beginning, and used both in service of Jesus.

We see how the Lord can use everything for His purposes and put anything into His service. He also created an ideal ministry for you. He gave you gifts. Your education, origin, character … everything should serve Him and His cause. Your surroundings are your mission field; you are in precisely the right place, and you were created for it. We should therefore not complain but carry out our ministry with joy.

Someone once wrote: “The bee lives less than 40 days, visits at least 1,000 flowers, and produces less than a teaspoon of honey. For us, it’s just a teaspoon of honey, but for the bee, it’s a lifetime! Thank you, bees.”

“But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him” (1 Cor 12:18).

C. H. Spurgeon said: “If two angels were sent out of Heaven and one was to preach in this pulpit and the other to sweep a muddy crossing, they would not mind which they did. So long as God gave them their work, they would feel an equal pleasure and an equal honor in doing it whatever it might be.”

Take a large hospital, for example. It isn’t just the surgeons that are important, but also the management, the nurses, the ambulance drivers, the kitchen staff, and the cleaning staff. It’s only by working together and ensuring that everyone fulfills their task, that the hospital can guarantee it is running properly and the patients are receiving the help they need. The whole system runs through the efforts of many different individuals.

Before Paul’s Conversion

We read the following about Saul/Paul in Acts 8:1-3: “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.”

Saul pursued the followers of the Son of David as relentlessly as he had pursued David. I would like to glean three things from this passage:

1. We can assume that Saul was the fruit of Stephen’s prayer: “And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:60).

In this, Stephen was very much like the Lord Jesus as He prayed for His enemies on the Cross. Jesus also taught: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matt 5:44). Additionally, it’s possible that Saul’s two relatives who believed in Jesus before he did (Rom 16:7) had been praying for him.

Saul’s conversion shows that God answers prayer and is capable of all things. We see the power inherent in prayer. Prayer is stronger and more effective than weapons could ever be. God is on the side of prayers in accordance with His will. Prayer plays a large role in God’s kingdom, and Paul later became a gifted pray-er himself.

We’re justified in praying for our enemies, families, circle of friends, and for all fellow human beings. We shouldn’t give up on praying for anyone.

2. It’s also interesting that, because of the believers’ dispersal, the Apostles remained in Jerusalem, but the others “were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1). But the Apostles were the ones who had been given the task of going into all the world and making disciples of the nations (Matt 28:19). Why didn’t they? The tide of redemptive history was turning. Paul would undertake this assignment. I’m of the personal opinion that the Apostle’s mission will still be fulfilled in the Messianic Kingdom.

3. Before his conversion, Paul was a hard-nosed man who refused to bend under any circumstances: “As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3).

After his conversion, he shared numerous personal testimonies, both of the persecution he had been guilty of and the persecution he endured. He had tried to ruin the Church, and he later became its strongest builder. He went from being the most aggressive hater to the most devoted lover. The Lord can turn people’s lives completely upside down!

The Lord Jesus can do what no re-education camp can do, what the best upbringing cannot achieve, and what the best schools and psychotherapists cannot do. Therefore, let’s count on God’s power in faith.

Paul’s Conversion

We read of Paul’s conversion in Acts 9:3: “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven.”

This vision on the road to Damascus is believed to have happened around 34 AD. Paul didn’t describe this event as his conversion, but summarized everything that happened using the term “revelation” (Gal 1:12). This doesn’t mean that a conversion didn’t occur (Acts 22:16 records that he was prompted to call on the name of the Lord), but it was a special revelation that appointed him as an Apostle.

His calling—his encounter with Jesus—happened suddenly, mysteriously, and with no warning. He was led out of the darkness into the light. That could be an illustration of the Church; it was also suddenly and mysteriously called. It was also led out of darkness into light, and has a special role in God’s plan of salvation that hadn’t previously been known. This new body (or physical congregation) needed a special Apostle with a special function.

Additionally, Paul’s conversion is an illustration of Israel’s future conversion. The Lord was revealed to him from heaven, and he was directly confronted with the glory of Jesus. The one who had denied Jesus was called to preach His Gospel among the nations. He had been blind; the scales fell from his eyes, and he could now see. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and became a blessing to the nations of the world. Israel will experience all of this in the future.

The Lord Himself reached Paul directly. No one served as His conduit by preaching to him. Ananias only acted as an assistant, instructed by the Lord. By the time he arrived, Paul had already been confronted with the message and the Lord Himself. His conversion and calling more or less coincided. Conversion is always accompanied by a calling, even if in our case it is not comparable to that of a Paul. Thus, his immediate question was, “What shall I do, LORD?”

In Romans 1:1 he writes, “Paul … called to be an apostle…,” and in verse 7, “To all … beloved of God, called to be saints.” Are we aware that we have not only been converted but also called? We are in God’s service. He is our Lord. Our life belongs to Him completely, and He is in control of it. We should be governed by the question, “What do you want me to do, Lord?”

Paul’s calling, and later his letters, show that a church on Jewish soil is deprived of further development. God gave a new route. Therefore, from Acts 12 onward, the Jewish Apostles begin to step back, leaving the field to Paul.

In Acts 10, something new was occurring with Cornelius’ conversion and the renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That’s why Paul opposed any Judaizers in the Church—but without denying Israel’s future (Acts 15). The Church to which he was called and which he served wasn’t Judaism’s heir, but rather an entirely new body of Jews and Gentiles. The Church was integrated into the believing part of Judaism, and the believing part of the Jewish remnant continued within the Church. When taken together, those parts have formed the body of Christ since then: something completely new, which Ephesians 3 also refers to as a mystery.

Paul’s basic message is one of God’s abundant grace, which is grasped by faith and not works.

Paul’s Special Calling

“But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16).

Paul was called to take the Gospel to the nations, to kings, and to Israelites among the nations. That is why he always visited the synagogues first (cf. Acts 13:14; 14:1; 17:10; 22:17, 21; 23:11; 26:17-18). Paul stood before governors Felix and Festus (Acts 23–24), before King Agrippa (Acts 24–26), and before the Emperor in Rome (Acts 25:10ff.).

But why did God call a special Apostle in addition to the others? The other Apostles already had this assignment, so why didn’t the Lord use one of them? What about Andrew, Thomas, Philip, etc.? It begs the question of whether something special is going on. Did something change in redemptive history? Did something unexpected happen? Was something inserted that hadn’t previously been revealed? We can see from the explanations in the New Testament that this actually happened.

So, what was it that hadn’t previously been revealed? That the nations would become co-heirs, fellow members of the same body, joint shareholders in a Church that was purely Jewish in origin. And Paul was called and appointed to service as a steward of this joint fellowship from the Gentile world (Eph 3:2, 5-7). That is why the so-called Apostles to the Jews continued to work among the Jewish congregations, while Paul was responsible for the nations. He was even told to leave Jerusalem (Acts 22:18). When taken together, these apostolic tasks serve the whole of the Church and complement each other, although the work domains remained divided (Gal 2:9).

During the time Paul was spreading the Gospel among the nations, miracles took a back seat. In the Letter to the Hebrews, miracles are limited to the apostolic time and are already being described in the past tense. Hebrews is one of the later letters, from ca. 67 AD: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” (Heb 2:3-4).

Paul was called to suffering. That is also the destiny of the Church. Paul suffered for the additional revelations he received. He suffered at the hands of the Jewish people, the nations, brothers who turned against him and turned their backs on him, and natural events. He also endured physical suffering. His letters contain words such as: distress, fear, blows, hardships, fasting, struggle, toil, dangers, persecution, sadness, nakedness, suffering, tears, turmoil, weakness, despair… “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ … we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life” (2 Cor 1:5, 8).

It is often the case that we Christians don’t understand suffering, and suffer from the very fact that we’re suffering at all. But it’s part of being a Christian and spreading the Gospel. “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Tim 1:8). “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim 2:3).