Reference: Paul
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The distinguished "apostle of the Gentiles;" also called SAUL, a Hebrew name. He is first called Paul in Ac 13:12; and as some think, assumed this Roman name according to a common custom of Jews in foreign lands, or in honor of Sergius Paulus, Ac 13:7, his friend and an early convert. Both names however may have belonged to him in childhood. He was born at Tarsus in Cilicia, and inherited from his father the privileges of a Roman citizen. His parents belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, and brought up their son as "a Hebrew of the Hebrews," Php 3:5. Tarsus was highly distinguished for learning and culture, and the opportunities for improvement it afforded were no doubt diligently improved by Paul. At a suitable age he was sent to Jerusalem to complete his education in the school of Gamaliel, the most distinguished and right-minded of the Rabbis of that age. It does not appear that he was in Jerusalem during the ministry of Christ; and it was perhaps after his return to Tarsus that he learned the art of tent-making, in accordance with a general practice among the Jews, and their maxim, "He that does not teach his son a useful handicraft, teaches him to steal," Ac 18:3; 20:34; 2Th 3:8.
We next find him at Jerusalem, apparently about thirty years of age, high in the confidence of the leading men of the nation. He had profited by the instructions of Gamaliel, and became learned in the law; yielding himself to the strictest discipline of the sect of the Pharisees, he had become a fierce defender of Judaism and a bitter enemy of Christianity, Ac 8:3; 26:9-11. After his miraculous conversion, of which we have three accounts, Ac 9:22,26, Christ was all in all to him. It was Christ who revealed himself to his soul at Damascus, Ac 26:15; 1Co 15:8; to Christ he gave his whole heart, and soul, mind, might, and strength; and thenceforth, living or dying, he was "the servant of Jesus Christ." He devoted all the powers of his ardent and energetic mind to the defense and propagation of the gospel of Christ, more particularly among the Gentiles. His views of the pure and lofty spirit of Christianity, in its worship and in its practical influence, appear to have been peculiarly clear and strong; and the opposition which he was thus led to make to the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish worship, exposed him everywhere to the hatred and malice of his countrymen. On their accusation, he was at length put in confinement by the Roman officers and after being detained for two years or more at Caesarea, he was sent to Rome for trial, having himself appealed to the emperor. There is less certainty in respect to the accounts, which are given of Paul afterwards by the early ecclesiastical writers. Still it was a very generally received opinion in the earlier centuries, that the apostle was acquitted and discharged from his imprisonment at the end of two years; and that he afterwards returned to Rome, where he was again imprisoned and put to death by Nero.
Paul appears to have possessed all the learning which was then current among the Jews, and also to have been acquainted with Greek literature; as appears from his mastery of the Greek language, his frequent discussions with their philosophers, and his quotations from their poets-Aratus, Ac 17:28; Meander, 1Co 15:33; and Epimenides, Tit 1:12. Probably, however a learned Greek education cannot with propriety be ascribed to him. But the most striking trait in his character is his enlarged view of the universal design and the spiritual nature of the religion of Christ, and of its purifying and ennobling influence upon the heart and character of those who sincerely profess it. From the Savior himself he had caught the flame of universal love, and the idea of salvation for all mankind, Ga 1:12. Most of the other apostles and teachers appear to have clung to Judaism, to the rites, ceremonies, and dogmas of the religion in which they had been educated, and to have regarded Christianity as intended to be engrafted upon the ancient stock, which was yet to remain as the trunk to support the new branches. Paul seems to have been among the first to rise above this narrow view, and to regard Christianity in its light, as a universal religion. While others were for Judaizing all those who embraced the new religion by imposing on them the yoke of Mosaic observances, it was Paul's endeavor to break down the middle wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles, and show them that they were all "one in Christ." To this end all his labors tended; and, ardent in the pursuit of this great object, he did not hesitate to censure the time-serving Peter, and to expose his own life in resisting the prejudices of is countrymen. Indeed, his five years' imprisonment as Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Rome arose chiefly from this cause.
These various journeys of St. Paul, many of them made on foot, should be studied through on a map; in connection with the inspired narrative, in Acts, and with his own pathetic description of his labors, 2Co 11:23-29, wherein nevertheless the half is not told. When we review the many regions he traversed and evangelized, the converts he gathered, and the churches he founded, the toils, perils, and trials he endured, the miracles he wrought, and the revelations he received, the discourses, orations, and letters in which he so ably defends and unfolds Christianity, the immeasurable good which God by him accomplished, his heroic life, and his martyr death, he appears to us the most extraordinary of men.
The character of Paul is most fully portrayed in his epistles, by which, as Chrysostom says he, "still lives in the mouths of men throughout the whole world. By them, not only is own converts, but all the faithful even unto this day, yea, and all the saints who are yet to be born until Christ's coming again, both have been and shall be blessed." In them we observe the transforming and elevating power of grace in one originally turbulent and passionate-making him a model of many and Christian excellence; fearless and firm, yet considerate, courteous, and gentle; magnanimous, patriotic, and self-sacrificing; rich in all noble sentiments and affections.
EPISTLES OF PAUL. -There are fourteen epistles in the New Testament usually ascribed to Paul, beginning with that to the Romans, and ending with that to the Hebrews. Of these the first thirteen have never been contested; as to the latter, many good men have doubted whether Paul was the author, although the current of criticism is in favor of this opinion. These epistles, in which the principles of Christianity are developed for all periods, characters, and circumstances, are among the most important of the primitive documents of the Christian religion, even apart from their inspired character; and although they seem to have been written without special premeditation, and have reference mostly to transient circumstances and temporary relations, yet they everywhere bear the stamp of the great and original mind of the apostle, as purified, elevated, and sustained by the influences of the Holy Spirit.
It is worthy of mention here, that an expression of Peter respecting "our beloved brother Paul" is often a little misunderstood. The words "in which" in 2Pe 3:16, are erroneously applied to the "epistles" of Paul; and not to "these things" immediately preceding, that is, the subjects of which Peter was writing, as the Greek shows they should be. Peter finds no fault, either with Paul, or with the doctrines of revelation.
The arrangement of Hug is somewhat different; and some critics who find evidence that Paul was released from his first imprisonment and lived until the spring of A. D. 68, assign the epistles Hebrews, 1Timothy, Titus, and 2Timothy to the last year of his life. See TIMOTHY.
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But Saul attempted to destroy the church; entering every house, and dragging men and women, he delivered them up to prison.
But Saul increased the more in strength, and confuted the Jews that dwelt in Damascus, proving that this is the Christ.
And having come to Jerusalem, he attempted to associate with the disciples: and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.
and he was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, who was a man of intelligence. This man called for Barnabas and Saul, and expressed an earnest wish to hear the word of God.
Then the proconsul, seeing what was done, believed, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.
For in him we live, and move, and have our being: as also some of your own poets have said: For we his offspring are.
and because he was of the same trade, he made his home with them, and worked: for by trade they were tent-makers.
You yourselves know that these hands have ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me.
I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus the Nazarene. And this I did in Jerusalem; and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests: and when they were put to death, I gave my vote against them. read more. And I punished them often in every synagogue, and compelled them to speak impiously; and, being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? He replied, I am Jesus, whom you persecute.
Be not deceived: Evil communications corrupt good manners.
Are they ministers of Christ? (I say it foolishly,) I am above them. In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. From the Jews, five times I received forty stripes, save one; read more. three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three- times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I spent in the deep. In journeying s often, in perils from rivers, in perils from robbers, in perils from my own race, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the desert, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and in toil, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness: besides those things which come upon me from other sources, I have a daily concourse of troubles my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I am not incensed?
for neither did I receive it from man, nor was it taught me, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
circumcised the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as it respects law, a Pharisee;
One of themselves, a prophet of their own, has said: The Cretans are always liars, evil wild beasts, lazy gluttons.
as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.
Easton
Saul (q.v.) was born about the same time as our Lord. His circumcision-name was Saul, and probably the name Paul was also given to him in infancy "for use in the Gentile world," as "Saul" would be his Hebrew home-name. He was a native of Tarsus, the capi
Tarsus was also the seat of a famous university, higher in reputation even than the universities of Athens and Alexandria, the only others that then existed. Here Saul was born, and here he spent his youth, doubtless enjoying the best education his native city could afford. His father was of the straitest sect of the Jews, a Pharisee, of the tribe of Benjamin, of pure and unmixed Jewish blood (Ac 23:6; Php 3:5). We learn nothing regarding his mother; but there is reason to conclude that she was a pious woman, and that, like-minded with her husband, she exercised all a mother influence in moulding the character of her son, so that he could afterwards speak of himself as being, from his youth up, "touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Php 3:6).
We read of his sister and his sister's son (Ac 23:16), and of other relatives (Ro 16:7,11-12). Though a Jew, his father was a Roman citizen. How he obtained this privilege we are not informed. "It might be bought, or won by distinguished service to the state, or acquired in several other ways; at all events, his son was freeborn. It was a valuable privilege, and one that was to prove of great use to Paul, although not in the way in which his father might have been expected to desire him to make use of it." Perhaps the most natural career for the youth to follow was that of a merchant. "But it was decided that...he should go to college and become a rabbi, that is, a minister, a teacher, and a lawyer all in one."
According to Jewish custom, however, he learned a trade before entering on the more direct preparation for the sacred profession. The trade he acquired was the making of tents from goats' hair cloth, a trade which was one of the commonest in Tarsus.
His preliminary education having been completed, Saul was sent, when about thirteen years of age probably, to the great Jewish school of sacred learning at Jerusalem as a student of the law. Here he became a pupil of the celebrated rabbi Gamaliel, and here he spent many years in an elaborate study of the Scriptures and of the many questions concerning them with which the rabbis exercised themselves. During these years of diligent study he lived "in all good conscience," unstained by the vices of that great city.
After the period of his student-life expired, he probably left Jerusalem for Tarsus, where he may have been engaged in connection with some synagogue for some years. But we find him back again at Jerusalem very soon after the death of our Lord. Here he now learned the particulars regarding the crucifixion, and the rise of the new sect of the "Nazarenes."
For some two years after Pentecost, Christianity was quietly spreading its influence in Jerusalem. At length Stephen, one of the seven deacons, gave forth more public and aggressive testimony that Jesus was the Messiah, and this led to much excitement among the Jews and much disputation in their synagogues. Persecution arose against Stephen and the followers of Christ generally, in which Saul of Tarsus took a prominent part. He was at this time probably a member of the great Sanhedrin, and became the active leader in the furious persecution by which the rulers then sought to exterminate Christianity.
But the object of this persecution also failed. "They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." The anger of the persecutor was thereby kindled into a fiercer flame. Hearing that fugitives had taken refuge in Damascus, he obtained from the chief priest letters authorizing him to proceed thither on his persecuting career. This was a long journey of about 130 miles, which would occupy perhaps six days, during which, with his few attendants, he steadily went onward, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter." But the crisis of his life was at hand. He had reached the last stage of his journey, and was within sight of Damascus. As he and his companions rode on, suddenly at mid-day a brilliant light shone round them, and Saul was laid prostrate in terror on the ground, a voice sounding in his ears, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" The risen Saviour was there, clothed in the vesture of his glorified humanity. In answer to the anxious inquiry of the stricken persecutor, "Who art thou, Lord?" he said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest" (Ac 9:5; 22:8; 26:15).
This was the moment of his conversion, the most solemn in all his life. Blinded by the dazzling light (Ac 9:8), his companions led him into the city, where, absorbed in deep thought for three days, he neither ate nor drank (Ac 9:11). Ananias, a disciple living in Damascus, was informed by a vision of the change that had happened to Saul, and was sent to him to open his eyes and admit him by baptism into the Christian church (Ac 9:11-16). The whole purpose of his life was now permanently changed.
Illustration: Scene of Paul's Journeys and of the Early Churches
Immediately after his conversion he retired into the solitudes of Arabia (Ga 1:17), perhaps of "Sinai in Arabia," for the purpose, probably, of devout study and meditation on the marvellous revelation that had been made to him. "A veil of thick darkness hangs over this visit to Arabia. Of the scenes among which he moved, of the thoughts and occupations which engaged him while there, of all the circumstances of a crisis which must have shaped the whole tenor of his after-life, absolutely nothing is known. 'Immediately,' says St. Paul, 'I went away into Arabia.' The historian passes over the incident (comp. Ac 9:23; 1Ki 11:38-39). It is a mysterious pause, a moment of suspense, in the apostle's history, a breathless calm, which ushers in the tumultuous storm of his active missionary life." Coming back, after three years, to Damascus, he began to preach the gospel "boldly in the name of Jesus" (Ac 9:27), but was soon obliged to flee (Ac 9:25; 2Co 11:33) from the Jews and betake himself to Jerusalem. Here he tarried for three weeks, but was again forced to flee (Ac 9:28-29) from persecution. He now returned to his native Tarsus (Ga 1:21), where, for probably about three years, we lose sight of him. The time had not yet come for his entering on his great life-work of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles.
At length the city of Antioch, the capital of Syria, became the scene of great Christian activity. There the gospel gained a firm footing, and the cause of Christ prospered. Barnabas (q.v.), who had been sent from Jerusalem to superintend the work at Antioch, found it too much for him, and remembering Saul, he set out to Tarsus to seek for him. He readily responded to the call thus addressed to him, and came down to Antioch, which for "a whole year" became the scene of his labours, which were crowned with great success. The disciples now, for the first time, were called "Christians" (Ac 11:26).
The church at Antioch now proposed to send out missionaries to the Gentiles, and Saul and Barnabas, with John Mark as their attendant, were chosen for this work. This was a great epoch in the history of the church. Now the disciples began to give effect to the Master's command: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
The three missionaries went forth on the first missionary tour. They sailed from Seleucia, the seaport of Antioch, across to Cyprus, some 80 miles to the south-west. Here at Paphos, Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsul, was converted, and now Saul took the lead, and was ever afterwards called Paul. The missionaries now crossed to the mainland, and then proceeded 6 or 7 miles up the river Cestrus to Perga (Ac 13:13), where John Mark deserted the work and returned to Jerusalem. The two then proceeded about 100 miles inland, passing through Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia. The towns mentioned in this tour are the Pisidian Antioch, where Paul delivered his first address of which we have any record (Ac 13:16-51; comp. Ac 10:30-43), Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. They returned by the same r
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He answered: "Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said: I am Jesus, whom you persecute.
And Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one; but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
And the Lord said to him: Arise, and go into the street that is called Straight, and in quire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus: for behold, he is praying;
And the Lord said to him: Arise, and go into the street that is called Straight, and in quire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus: for behold, he is praying; and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias, coming in and laying his hand on him, that he may receive his sight. read more. But Ananias answered: Lord, I have heard from many of this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all that call upon thy name. But the Lord said to him: Go; for he is a vessel chosen by me to bear my name before nations and kings, and the sons of Israel. For I will show him what great things he must suffer for my name.
And, after many days had passed, the Jews determined to kill him.
But the disciples took him by night, and let him down through the vail in a basket,
But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and told them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had boldly preached in Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he was with them in Jerusalem, coming in and going out; and, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, read more. he conversed and reasoned with the Hellenists; but they under took to kill him.
And Cornelius replied: Four days ago, I was fasting till this hour; and, at the ninth hour, I was praying in my house; and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said: Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your deeds of charity are remembered before God. read more. Send, therefore, to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is surnamed Peter: he lodges in the house of Simon a tanner, by the sea; who, when he comes, will speak to you. Therefore, I immediately sent to you; and you have done well in coming. Now, there fore, we are all here present before God, to hear all things that are given in charge to you by God. And Peter opened his mouth, and said: In truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but, in every nation, he that fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. The word which he sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, (he is Lord of all,) that word, you know, which was published through the whole of Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the immersion that John preached; how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit, and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil; for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did, both in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew by hanging him on a tree. Him God raised up the third day, and caused him to appear, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were be fore appointed by God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him, after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that this is he who has been appointed by God as the judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear testimony, that whoever believes on him shall receive remission of sins through his name.
and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came to pass, that they met together in the church for a whole year, and taught a great multitude; and the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
And Paul and his companions put to sea from Paphos, and went to Perga in Pamphylia. But John withdrew from them, and returned to Jerusalem.
Then Paul arose, and waving his hand, said: Men of Israel, and you who fear God, give audience. The God of this people chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they sojourned in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm he brought them out from it. read more. And for about forty years, he cherished them in the wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land among them by lot. And after that he gave them judges, for about four hundred and fifty years, till Samuel the prophet. And afterward they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; to whom he gave this testimony: I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart, who will do all my will. From the posterity of this man, God, according to his promise, raised up for Israel a Savior, Jesus; John having first preached, before his coming, the immersion of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his course, he said: Who do you suppose that I am? I am not he; but behold, there is coming after me one, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose. Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, be cause they did not know him, nor the words of the prophets, which are read every sabbath-day, have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause of death, yet they demanded of Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulcher. But God raised him. from the dead. And he was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people. And we preach to you good news concerning the promise made to our fathers, that God has fulfilled the same to us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. But that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: I will give you the sure mercies of David. For which reason he says also in another Psalm: Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. For David, after serving the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption. But he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Be it known to you, therefore, brethren, that through this man is preached to you the remission of sins: and by him, every one that believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Take heed, therefore, lest that which is spoken in the prophets come upon you: Behold, you despisers, and wonder, and perish. For I work a work in your days, a work which you will not believe, though one fully declare it to you. And as they were departing from the synagogue, they were requested to speak these things to them on the next sabbath. Now, after the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them, and persuaded them to continue faithful to the grace of God. And on the next sabbath-day, almost the whole city met together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spoke against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and reviling. But Paul and Barnabas, speaking boldly, said: It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first: but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo! we turn to tho Gentiles. For thus has the Lord given us commandment: I have placed thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be for salvation to the most distant part of the earth. When the Gentiles heard this they rejoiced, and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were determined to obtain eternal life, believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout the whole of that region. But the Jews in cited the devout and influential women, and the first men of the city, and raised a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their borders. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and went to Iconium.
When they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia,
But having passed by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And, during the night, a vision appeared to Paul. A certain man of Macedonia stood and besought him, saying: Come over to Macedonia and help us.
Accordingly, he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and devout persons, and in the market daily, with those who chanced to meet him. And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers disputed with him; and some said: What can this babbler possibly wish to say? Others said: He seems to be a proclaimer of strange demons: for he preached to them Jesus and the Resurrection. read more. And they took him, and brought him to Mars hill, saying: Are we able to understand what this new teaching is, which is announced by you? For you bring some strange things to our ears: we wish to understand then what these things mean. For all the Athenians and resident strangers have leisure for nothing else than to tell or to hear some new thing. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars hill, and said: Men of Athens, I perceive that in all respects your reverence for demons excels that of other men. For as I was passing through, and looking attentively at the objects of your worship, I dis covered also an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore you ignorantly worship, him I make known to you. God, who made the world, and all things that are in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands; nor is he ministered to by the hands of men, as if he needed any thing: for he himself gives to all life, and breath, and all things: and he has made from one blood every nation of men, that they might dwell on all the face of the earth, having marked out their appointed times, and the bounds of their dwelling: that they might seek for God, if perhaps they would feel after him, and find him, although, indeed, he is not far from every one of us. For in him we live, and move, and have our being: as also some of your own poets have said: For we his offspring are. Therefore, being the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhood is like gold, or silver, or stone, sculptured by art and the device of man. Yet the times of this ignorance God overlooked; but now, he commands all men everywhere to repent: because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world, in righteousness, by the man whom he has chosen, giving to all assurance of this, by having raised him from the dead.
And though they besought him to remain with them a longer time, he did not consent, but took leave of them, saying: I must, by all means, keep this coming feast in Jerusalem: but I will return to you, if God be willing. And he sailed from Ephesus, read more. and having landed at Caesarea, and gone up and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. And having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.
And when he had gone through those regions, and had exhorted them with many words, he came into Greece.
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
And I answered, Who art thou Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you persecute.
But when Paul perceived that one part belonged to the Sadducees, and the other to the Pharisees, he cried out, in the Sanhedrin: Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; for the hope of the resurrection of the dead am I judged.
But the son of Paul's sister heard of the plot, and he went and entered the fortress, and told Paul.
If, however, I be an offender, and have done any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die. But if the things of which these men accuse me are nothing, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? He replied, I am Jesus, whom you persecute.
And when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging; to whom, from morning till evening;, he earnestly testified, and set forth the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses, and from the prophets.
And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all that came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, with all boldness and without hinderance.
by the power of signs and wonders by the power of the Holy Spirit. So that from Jerusalem, and round about as far as Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of the Christ;
Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are noted among the apostles, who, also, were in Christ before me.
Salute Herodion, my kinsman. Salute those of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labored in the Lord. Salute Persis the beloved, who labored much in the Lord.
And when I came to Troas to preach the gospel of the Christ, and a door was opened to me in the Lord,
nor did I go up to Jerusalem, to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and then returned to Damascus.
You know that through weakness of the flesh I preached the gospel to you at the first:
You know that through weakness of the flesh I preached the gospel to you at the first: and my trial, which was in my flesh, you did not despise or loathe; but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.
so that my bonds which are for Christ have become known to be such in all the palace, and in all other places;
circumcised the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as it respects law, a Pharisee; as it respects zeal, persecuting the church; as it respects righteousness which is by law, blameless.
Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner, salutes you, and so does Marcus the nephew of Barnabas, concerning whom you received commandments; if he come to you, receive him;
Fausets
(See ACTS.) The leading facts of his life which appear in that history, subsidiary to its design of sketching the great epochs in the commencement and development of Christ's kingdom, are: his conversion (Acts 9), his labours at Antioch (Acts 11), his first missionary journey (Acts 13; 14), the visit to Jerusalem at the council on circumcision (Acts 15), introduction of the gospel to Europe at Philippi (Acts 16),: visit to Athens (Acts 17), to Corinth (Acts 18), stay at Ephesus (Acts 19), parting address to the Ephesian elders at Miletus (Acts 20), apprehension at Jerusalem, imprisonment at Casesarea, and voyage to Rome (Acts 21-27). Though of purest Hebrew blood (Php 3:5), "circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, (bearing the name of the eminent man of that tribe, king Saul), an Hebrew of the Hebrew," yet his birthplace was the Gentile Tarsus. (Ac 21:39, "I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city.") His father, as himself, was a Pharisee (Ac 23:6). Tarsus was celebrated as a school of Greek literature (Strabo, Geogr. 1:14).
Here he acquired that knowledge of Greek authors and philosophy which qualified him for dealing with learned Gentiles and appealing to their own writers (Ac 17:18-28. Aratus; 1Co 15:33, Menander; Tit 1:12, Epimenides). Here too he learned the Cilician trade of making tents of the goats' hair cloth called "cilicium" (Ac 18:3); not that his father was in straitened circumstances, but Jewish custom required each child, however wealthy the parents might be, to learn a trade. He possessed the Roman citizenship from birth (Ac 22:28), and hence, when he commenced ministering among Gentiles, he preferred to be known by his Roman name Paul rather than by his Hebrew name Saul. His main education (probably after passing his first 12 years at Tarsus, Ac 26:4-5, "among his own nation." Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, Sinaiticus manuscripts read "and" before "at Jerusalem") was at Jerusalem "at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers" (Ac 22:3). (See GAMALIEL.)
Thus the three elements of the world's culture met in him: Roman citizenship, Grecian culture, Hebrew religion. Gamaliel had counseled toleration (Ac 5:34-39); but his teaching of strict pharisaic legalism produced in Saul's ardent spirit persecuting zeal against opponents, "concerning zeal persecuting the church" (Php 3:6). Among the synagogue disputants with Stephen were men "of Cilcia" (Ac 6:9), probably including Saul; at all events it was at his feet, while be was yet "a young man," that the witnesses, stoning the martyr, laid down their clothes (Ac 6:9; 7:58; De 17:7). "Saul was consenting unto his death" (Acts 6; 7); but we can hardly doubt that his better feelings must have had some misgiving in witnessing Stephen's countenance beaming as an angel's, and in hearing his loving prayer for his murderers. But stern bigotry stifled all such doubts by increased zeal; "he made havock of (elumaineto, 'ravaged as a wild beast') the church, entering into the houses (severally, or worship rooms), and haling men and women committed them to prison" (Ac 8:3).
But God's grace arrested Paul in his career of blind fanaticism; "I obtained mercy upon, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief" (1Ti 1:12-16). His ignorance was culpable, for he might have known if he had sought aright; but it was less guilty than sinning against light and knowledge. There is a wide difference between mistaken zeal for the law and willful striving against God's Spirit. His ignorance gave him no claim on, but put him within the range of, God's mercy (Lu 23:34; Ac 3:17; Ro 10:2). The positive ground of mercy is solely God's compassion (Tit 3:5). We have three accounts of his conversion, one by Luke (Acts 9), the others by himself (Acts 22; 26), mutually supplementing one another. Following the adherents of "the (Christian) way ... unto strange cities," and "breathing out threatenings and slaughter," he was on his journey to Damascus with authoritative letters from the high priest empowering him to arrest and bring to Jerusalem all such, trusting doubtless that the pagan governor would not interpose in their behalf.
At midday a light shone upon him and his company, exceeding the brightness of the sun; he and all with him fell to the earth (Ac 26:14; in Ac 9:7 "stood speechless," namely, they soon rose, and when he at length rose they were standing speechless with wonder), "hearing" the sound of a "voice," but not understanding (compare 1Co 14:2 margin) the articulate speech which Paul heard (Ac 22:9, "they heard not the voice of Him that spoke") in Hebrew (Ac 26:14), "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" (in the person of My brethren, Mt 25:40). "It is hard for thee to kick against the goads" (not in Ac 9:5 the Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, Alexandrinus manuscripts, but only in Ac 26:14), which, as in the case of oxen being driven, only makes the goad pierce the deeper (Mt 21:44; Pr 8:36). Saul trembling (as the jailer afterward before him, Ac 16:30-31) said, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" the usual question at first awakening (Lu 3:10), but here with the additional sense of unreserved surrender of himself to the Lord's guidance (Isa 6:1-8).
The Lord might act directly, but He chooses to employ ministerial instruments; such was Ananias whom He sent to Saul, after he had been three days without sight and neither eating nor drinking, in the house of Judas (probably a Christian to whose house he had himself led, rather than to his former co-religionists). Ananias, whom he would have seized for prison and death, is the instrument of giving him light and life. God had prepared Ananias for his visitor by announcing the one sure mark of his conversion, "behold he prayeth" (Ro 8:15). Ananias had heard of him as a notorious persecutor, but obeyed the Lord's direction. In Ac 26:16-18 Paul condenses in one account, and connects with Christ's first appearing, subsequent revelations of Jesus to him as to the purpose of his call;" to make thee a minister and witness of these things ... delivering thee from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee." Like Jonah, the outcast runaway, when penitent, was made the messenger of repentance to guilty Nineveh.
The time of his call was just when the gospel was being opened to the Gentiles by Peter (Acts 10). An apostle, severed from legalism, and determined unbelief by an extraordinary revulsion, was better fitted for carrying forward the work among unbelieving Gentiles, which had been begun by the apostle of the circumcision. He who was the most learned and at the same time humblest (Eph 3:8; 1Co 15:9) of the apostles was the one whose pen was most used in the New Testament Scriptures. He"saw" the Lord in actual person (Ac 9:17; 22:14; 23:11; 26:16; 1Co 15:8; 9:1), which was a necessary qualification for apostleship, so as to be witness of the resurrection. The light that flashed on his eyes was the sign of the spiritual light that broke in upon his soul; and Jesus' words to him (Ac 26:18), "to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light" (which commission was symbolized in the opening of his own eyes through Ananias, Ac 9:17-18), are by undesigned coincidence reproduced naturally in his epistles (Col 1:12-14; 2Co 4:4; Eph 1:18, contrast Eph 4:18; 6:12).
He calls himself "the one untimely born" in the family of the apostles (1Co 15:8). Such a child, though born alive, is yet not of proper size and scarcely worthy of the name of man; so Paul calls himself" least of the apostles, not meet to be called an apostle" (compare 1Pe 1:3). He says, God's "choice" (Ac 9:15; 22:14), "separating me (in contrast to his having been once a "Pharisee", from pharash, i.e. a separatist, but now 'separated' unto something infinitely higher) from my mother's womb (therefore without any merit of mine), and calling me by His grace (which carried into effect His 'good pleasure,' eudokia), revealed His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the pagan," independent of Mosaic ceremonialism (Ga 1:11-20). Ananias, being "a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews there," was the suitable instrum
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If, then, your right eye ensnare you, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be thrown into hell.
But when he saw the wind strong, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying: Lord, save me.
and will deliver him to the Gentiles to deride, and to scourge, and to crucify: and on the third day he shall rise again.
And he that falls upon this stone shall be dashed to pieces; but him on whom it shall fall, it will make like chaff for the wind.
Then he said to his servants: The marriage feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.
And the King will answer and say to them: Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.
And the multitudes asked him, saying: What, then, shall we do?
And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And dividing his clothing into parts, they cast lots.
And the "WORD became flesh, and tabernacled among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and of truth.
And from his fullness have we all received, even grace for grace;
You worship you know not what; we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews.
If, then, I, your Lord and your Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
Then Pilate again entered the governor's palace, and called Jesus, and said to him: Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him: Do you say this of yourself, or did others speak to you of me? read more. Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Your own nation, and the chief priests have delivered you to me; what have you done? Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not hence. Then Pilate said to him: You are a king, then? Jesus answered; You say that I am a king. For this purpose was I born, and for this purpose I came into the world, that I might testify to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, hears my voice.
After this Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying: If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Every one that makes himself a king, speaks against Caesar
And leaping up, he stood and walked, and went with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God.
And now, brethren, I know that through ignorance you did this, as did also your rulers.
But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison by night, and brought them out, and said:
Then arose a certain man in the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people; and he commanded them to put the apostles out for a little while, and said to them: Men of Israel, consider well with yourselves what you are about to do to these men. read more. For before these days Theudas arose, declaring himself to be some great one; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves; and he was slain; and all, as many as believed him, were scattered and brought to naught. After this man, Judas the Galilean arose, in the days of the enrollment, and drew over many people after him; and he was destroyed, and all, as many as believed him, were scattered. And now I say to you, keep away from these men, and let them alone; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to an end; but if it is of God, you can not bring it to an end: and take heed, lest you be found fighting also against God.
Then there arose some who be longed to the synagogue called the synagogue of the Freedmen, and some of the Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and of those who were from Cilicia and Asia, and they disputed with Stephen.
Then there arose some who be longed to the synagogue called the synagogue of the Freedmen, and some of the Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and of those who were from Cilicia and Asia, and they disputed with Stephen.
At which time Moses was born; and he was exceedingly beautiful, and was nursed three months in his father's house.
And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
and drove him out of the city, and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul.
But Saul attempted to destroy the church; entering every house, and dragging men and women, he delivered them up to prison.
He answered: "Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said: I am Jesus, whom you persecute.
The men who journeyed with him stood amazed; for they heard a voice, but saw no one.
But the Lord said to him: Go; for he is a vessel chosen by me to bear my name before nations and kings, and the sons of Israel.
And Ananias went, and entered the house, and laying his hands on him, said: Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
And Ananias went, and entered the house, and laying his hands on him, said: Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he instantly received his sight; and he arose, and was immersed.
and immediately he preached Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the Sou of God. And all that heard him were astonished, and said: Is not this he who destroyed in Jerusalem those that call on this name, and who has come hither for this purpose, that he might carry them bound to the chief priests? read more. But Saul increased the more in strength, and confuted the Jews that dwelt in Damascus, proving that this is the Christ. And, after many days had passed, the Jews determined to kill him.
And having come to Jerusalem, he attempted to associate with the disciples: and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.
And having come to Jerusalem, he attempted to associate with the disciples: and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and told them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had boldly preached in Damascus in the name of Jesus. read more. And he was with them in Jerusalem, coming in and going out; and, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, he conversed and reasoned with the Hellenists; but they under took to kill him.
he conversed and reasoned with the Hellenists; but they under took to kill him. And when the brethren learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him out to Tarsus.
And when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who were of the circumcision contended with him, saying: You went in to uncircumcised men, and ate with them. read more. And Peter began, and laid the matter before them in order, saying: I was in the city of Joppa, praying; and, while in a trance, I saw a vision, some vessel like a great sheet, descending, let down from heaven by the four corners; and it came even to me. When I had looked attentively into it, I observed and saw four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts and creeping things and birds of the air. And I heard a voice saying to me, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But I said, By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth. But the voice answered me a second time from heaven, What God has cleansed, you must not call common. This was done the third time, and all was drawn up again into heaven. And behold, three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea, immediately came to the house where I was. And the Spirit commanded me to go with them without hesitation. And these six brethren accompanied me. And we entered the man's house: and he told us how he had seen an angel in his house, standing and saying to him, Send to Joppa and call for Simon, who is surnamed Peter; he will tell you words by which you and all your house shall be saved. And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, as he said, John immersed in water, but you shall be immersed in the Holy Spirit. If, then, God gave them the like gift that he gave to us who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I, that I could withstand God?
But some of them were men of Cyprus and Gyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.
And the report concerning them came to the ears of the church that was in Jerusalem; and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he had come, and had seen the grace of God, he rejoiced; and he exhorted them all to remain, with purpose of heart, faithful to the Lord. read more. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great multitude was added to the Lord. And Barnabas went to Tarsus, to seek for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came to pass, that they met together in the church for a whole year, and taught a great multitude; and the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. In those days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them, named Agabus, rose and made known, by the Spirit, that a great famine was about to come on the whole habitable land; which took place in the days of Claudius. And every one of the disciples determined, as he had the means, to send relief to the brethren that dwelt in Judea; which also they did; and they sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
which also they did; and they sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
When Herod was about to bring him out, on that night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and the keepers before the doors were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison. And he gently struck Peter on the side, and awoke him, saying: Arise quickly; and his chains fell from his hands. read more. And the angel said to him: Gird your self, and bind on your sandals; and he did so. And he said to him: Throw your mantle around you, and follow me. And he went out, and followed him; and he knew not that what was done by the angel was real, but thought that he saw a vision. And when they had passed through the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord. And they went out, and passed on through one street; and the angel immediately departed from him.
And Barnabas and Saul, after they had fulfilled their ministry, returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, whose surname was Mark.
And Barnabas and Saul, after they had fulfilled their ministry, returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, whose surname was Mark.
Therefore, they continued a long time, and spoke boldly in the Lord, who gave testimony to the word of his grace, by granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
said, with a loud voice: Stand erect upon your feet. And he leaped and walked.
And after there had been much disputing, Peter arose, and said to them: Brethren, you know that, at the beginning, God made choice among us, that, by my mouth, the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. And God, who knows the heart, became a witness for them, by giving them the Holy Spirit, as he gave it also to us; read more. and he made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why do you put God to the proof, by placing a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers, nor we ourselves, were able to bear? But we believe that we shall be saved, even as they, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And he came to Derbe and Lystra; and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess, who was a believer; but his father was a Greek. A good report was given of him by the brethren in Lystra and Iconium. read more. This man Paul wished to go with him: and he took him and circumcised him, on account of the Jews that were in those places: for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
When they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia, and had come to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit did not permit them.
After he had seen the vision, we immediately endeavored to go into Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
and, having brought them out, he said: Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you and your house shall be saved.
But the unbelieving Jews, taking with them some evil men, who were loungers about the markets, and collecting a mob, set the city in an uproar; and having assaulted the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people.
And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers disputed with him; and some said: What can this babbler possibly wish to say? Others said: He seems to be a proclaimer of strange demons: for he preached to them Jesus and the Resurrection. And they took him, and brought him to Mars hill, saying: Are we able to understand what this new teaching is, which is announced by you? read more. For you bring some strange things to our ears: we wish to understand then what these things mean. For all the Athenians and resident strangers have leisure for nothing else than to tell or to hear some new thing. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars hill, and said: Men of Athens, I perceive that in all respects your reverence for demons excels that of other men. For as I was passing through, and looking attentively at the objects of your worship, I dis covered also an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore you ignorantly worship, him I make known to you. God, who made the world, and all things that are in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands;
God, who made the world, and all things that are in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands;
God, who made the world, and all things that are in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands; nor is he ministered to by the hands of men, as if he needed any thing: for he himself gives to all life, and breath, and all things:
nor is he ministered to by the hands of men, as if he needed any thing: for he himself gives to all life, and breath, and all things: and he has made from one blood every nation of men, that they might dwell on all the face of the earth, having marked out their appointed times, and the bounds of their dwelling:
and he has made from one blood every nation of men, that they might dwell on all the face of the earth, having marked out their appointed times, and the bounds of their dwelling: that they might seek for God, if perhaps they would feel after him, and find him, although, indeed, he is not far from every one of us.
that they might seek for God, if perhaps they would feel after him, and find him, although, indeed, he is not far from every one of us. For in him we live, and move, and have our being: as also some of your own poets have said: For we his offspring are.
For in him we live, and move, and have our being: as also some of your own poets have said: For we his offspring are. Therefore, being the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhood is like gold, or silver, or stone, sculptured by art and the device of man.
because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world, in righteousness, by the man whom he has chosen, giving to all assurance of this, by having raised him from the dead.
and because he was of the same trade, he made his home with them, and worked: for by trade they were tent-makers.
But Paul replied: I am a Jew of Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of no unknown city; and I beseech you, permit me to speak to the people.
I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, yet educated in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, and instructed according to the strict discipline of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, as you all are this day.
They who were with me saw the light, and were afraid, but did not understand the voice of him who spoke to me.
And as I could not see for the glory of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus.
And he said, The God of our fathers has chosen you, that you should know his will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of his mouth;
And he said, The God of our fathers has chosen you, that you should know his will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of his mouth;
And it came to pass, after I had returned to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance,
And it came to pass, after I had returned to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance, and saw him saying to me, Make haste, and depart quickly from Jerusalem, for they will not receive your testimony concerning me.
and saw him saying to me, Make haste, and depart quickly from Jerusalem, for they will not receive your testimony concerning me.
and saw him saying to me, Make haste, and depart quickly from Jerusalem, for they will not receive your testimony concerning me. And I said, Lord, they themselves know that I threw into prison, and scourged, in every synagogue, those who believed on thee;
And the officer answered: With a great Bum did I purchase this citizenship. And Paul replied: But I was born a citizen.
But when Paul perceived that one part belonged to the Sadducees, and the other to the Pharisees, he cried out, in the Sanhedrin: Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; for the hope of the resurrection of the dead am I judged.
And on the following night, the Lord stood by him, and said: Take courage; for as you have testified of me in Jerusalem, so must you testify also in Rome.
My course of life from my youth, which, from the beginning, was among my own nation in Jerusalem, know all the Jews; who, knowing me from the first, could testify, if they would, that, according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.
And when we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking to me, and saying, in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
And when we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking to me, and saying, in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
And when we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking to me, and saying, in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
But arise, and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness of the things which you have seen, and of those in which I will appear to you,
But arise, and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness of the things which you have seen, and of those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom now I send you, read more. in order to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance among the sanctified, by faith in me.
in order to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance among the sanctified, by faith in me.
whom God has set forth as a propitiatory sacrifice, through faith in his blood, in order to manifest his righteousness, in passing by the sins that were formerly committed through the forbearance of God;
whom God has set forth as a propitiatory sacrifice, through faith in his blood, in order to manifest his righteousness, in passing by the sins that were formerly committed through the forbearance of God;
For you have not again received the spirit of bondage, that you may fear; but you have received the spirit of adoption, by which we cry, Abba, Father.
For I testify for them, that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
But what says it? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart; that is, the word of faith which we preach; that if you will confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord, and will believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.
Him that is weak in the faith, receive kindly, but not to judge his reasonings. One believes that he may eat all things; another, who is weak, eats herbs. read more. Let not him that eats, despise him that eats not; and let not him that eats not, judge him that eats: for God has received him. Who are you that judge another man's servant? To his own master he stands or falls; indeed, he shall stand, for God is able to make him stand. One man thinks that one day is better than another; another thinks that every day is alike. Let each be fully assured in his own mind. He that regards the day, to the Lord he regards it; and he that does not regard the day, to the Lord he does not regard it. He that eats, eats to the Lord; for he gives God thanks: and he that eats not, to the Lord he eats not, and gives God thanks. For no one lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.
Let us, therefore, no longer judge one another: but rather decide to put no stumbling-block or snare in your brother's way. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself; but if any one thinks that any thing is unclean, to him it is unclean. read more. But if your brother is grieved on account of your food, you no longer walk according to love. Do not, with your food, destroy him, for whom Christ died. Therefore, let not that which is your good be evil spoken of. For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves the Christ in these things is acceptable to God, and approved by men. Therefore, let us seek those things which belong to peace, and those which tend to mutual edification. Destroy not the work of God on account of food. All meats, indeed, are clean; but meat is an evil to that man who, by eating, causes another to stumble. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor to do any thing by which your brother stumbles, or is ensnared, or is made weak. Have you faith? Have it to yourself before God. Blessed is he who condemns not himself in that which he approves. But he that doubts is condemned, if he eat, because he eats not with faith. Every thing that is not of faith, is sin.
to the weak I became like one who was weak, that I might gain the weak: I have become all things to all men, that I may, by all means, save some.
But I say, that the things which the Gen tiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God. I do not wish you to be partakers with demons.
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: That the Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was delivered up, took bread;
For he that speaks in an unknown tongue, speaks not to men, but to God; for no one understands him: but yet in spirit he speaks mysteries.
For I delivered to you among the first things, that which I also received: That Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures;
Last of all, he was seen by me also, as one untimely born.
Be not deceived: Evil communications corrupt good manners.
For his letters, says one, are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his style of speech contemptible.
Are they ministers of Christ? (I say it foolishly,) I am above them. In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. From the Jews, five times I received forty stripes, save one; read more. three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three- times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I spent in the deep. In journeying s often, in perils from rivers, in perils from robbers, in perils from my own race, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the desert, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and in toil, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness: besides those things which come upon me from other sources, I have a daily concourse of troubles my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I am not incensed? If I must boast, I will boast in my infirmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for ever, knows that I do not lie. In Damascus, the governor under Aretas the king, guarded the city of the Damascenes, desiring to apprehend me:
In Damascus, the governor under Aretas the king, guarded the city of the Damascenes, desiring to apprehend me: and through a window I was let down in a basket through the wall, and es caped his hands.
To boast is not suitable for me; I will come to visions and revelations from the Lord. -
And, lest I should be too much exalted by the excellence of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I might not be too much exalted. With regard to this, I three times entreated the Lord that it might leave me; read more. and he said to me: My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I boast in my infirmities, that the power of the Christ may abide upon me. For this reason, I take pleasure in infirmities, in outrages, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.
Truly, the signs of an apostle were worked among you in all patience, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, unless in this that I did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong. read more. Behold, I am ready the third time to come to you, and I will not burden you: for I seek not yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up treasure for the parents, but the parents for the children. I, indeed, will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. Be it so, indeed; I did not burden you; but being crafty, I caught you by deceit. Did I overreach you by any of those whom I sent to you? I exhorted Titus, and with him sent the brother. Did Titus overreach you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps? Do you think again that we offer you a defense of ourselves? We speak all these things before God in Christ, beloved, for your edification. For I fear, lest when I come I shall find you not, such as I wish, and I shall be found by you not such as you wish: lest there shall be contentions, envies, excitements, strife, evil speaking, whisperings, party spirit, disorderly conduct: lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn over many of those who have already sinned, and have not repented of the uncleanness and lewdness and wantonness which they have committed.
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which is preached by me, is not according to man: for neither did I receive it from man, nor was it taught me, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. read more. For you have heard of my former mode of life in Judaism, that I greatly persecuted the church of God, and laid it waste; and I surpassed in Judaism many of my own age and nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the tradition of my fathers.
and I surpassed in Judaism many of my own age and nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the tradition of my fathers. But when God, who chose me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, was pleased
But when God, who chose me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Sou in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I at once declined all conference with flesh and blood:
to reveal his Sou in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I at once declined all conference with flesh and blood: nor did I go up to Jerusalem, to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and then returned to Damascus.
nor did I go up to Jerusalem, to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and then returned to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem, in order to become personally acquainted with Peter; and I remained with him fifteen days:
Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem, in order to become personally acquainted with Peter; and I remained with him fifteen days:
Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem, in order to become personally acquainted with Peter; and I remained with him fifteen days:
Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem, in order to become personally acquainted with Peter; and I remained with him fifteen days: but of the apostles I saw no other, but James the brother of the Lord.
but of the apostles I saw no other, but James the brother of the Lord. With respect to the things which I now write to you, behold, before God I lie not. read more. Then, I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia: but I was not known, in person, to the churches of Judea which are in Christ.
And I went up because of a revelation, and communicated to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who are of reputation, lest, by any means, I should run or had run in vain.
And I went up because of a revelation, and communicated to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who are of reputation, lest, by any means, I should run or had run in vain. But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. I acted thus indeed on account of false brethren, stealthily brought in, who stole in to spy out our freedom, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage,
I acted thus indeed on account of false brethren, stealthily brought in, who stole in to spy out our freedom, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage, to whom we yielded in submission, not even for an hour, in order that the truth of the gospel might remain with you. read more. But from those who were supposed to be something; (what they were is a matter of no importance to me: God does not accept the person of man;) they, indeed, who were supposed to be something, communicated no additional truth to me; but; on the other hand, seeing that I was intrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision, as Peter was with that of the circumcision, (for he who gave efficiency to Peter, for the apostleship of the circumcision, gave efficiency to me also, as an apostle for the Gentiles,) and knowing the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, but they to the circumcision,
Are you so thoughtless? After having begun in Spirit, do you make an end in flesh?
You know that through weakness of the flesh I preached the gospel to you at the first:
Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not understand the law?
These things are allegorized: for these women are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai that brings forth for bondage, which is Hagar. For Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in bondage with her children.
For Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in bondage with her children.
You that are justified by law, have withdrawn from Christ: you have fallen from grace.
But, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why am I yet persecuted? Then, the offense of the cross has ceased.
You see how long a letter I have written to you with my own hand.
For not even do those very men, who are circumcised, keep the law: but they wish you to be circumcised, that they may boast in your flesh.
that, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the glorious riches of his inheritance in the saints,
to me, who am by far the least of all the saints, has this grace been given, that I might preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of the Christ,
darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
giving thanks to our God and Father always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
for our conflict is not with flesh and blood, but with the principalities, with the authorities, with the rulers of the darkness of this world, with the wicked spirits in the heavenly regions.
circumcised the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as it respects law, a Pharisee; as it respects zeal, persecuting the church; as it respects righteousness which is by law, blameless.
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at length your care for me has revived again; in this, indeed, you had me in mind, but you lacked opportunity.
Now you Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church contributed to me so that I kept an account of giving and receiving, but you only. For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent once and again to aid me in my need.
But I have all, and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus your gifts, a sweet odor, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.
giving thanks to the Father, who has made us fit for a portion of the inheritance of the saints in light: who has delivered us from the authority of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, read more. in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins;
that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
For they themselves declare concerning us what kind of entrance we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God,
For they themselves declare concerning us what kind of entrance we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, even Jesus, whom he raised from the dead, and who delivers us from the coming wrath.
and to wait for his Son from heaven, even Jesus, whom he raised from the dead, and who delivers us from the coming wrath.
But having suffered before, and having been outraged, as you know, in Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in the midst of great peril.
But having suffered before, and having been outraged, as you know, in Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in the midst of great peril.
For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for, laboring night and day, that we might not be burdensome to any one of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, in how holy and just and blameless a manner we conducted our selves among you that believe,
that you should walk in a manner worthy of God, who has called you to his own kingdom and glory.
For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea which are in Christ Jesus; for you, also, have suffered the same things from your own countrymen, that they have suffered from the Jews,
and that you earnestly endeavor to live quietly, and that you attend to your own business, and work with your own hands, as we commanded you; in order that you may walk with propriety toward those who are without, and may have need of nothing.
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me power, because he counted me faithful, and put me into the ministry; me, I say, who before was a reviler and a persecutor and an overbearing man. But I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief: read more. and the grace of our Lord was very abundant with faith, and love which is in Christ Jesus. Assuredly true and worthy of all acceptation is this saying: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. But for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all long-suffering, for an example to those who might afterward believe on him in order to life eternal.
Those who sin rebuke before all, that the rest also may fear.
I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, after the custom of my forefathers, that, without ceasing, I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day,
One of themselves, a prophet of their own, has said: The Cretans are always liars, evil wild beasts, lazy gluttons.
not by works of righteousness which we had done, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
For you have not come to a mountain that may be touched, and that burns with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, has, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, regenerated us for a living hope
and count the long-suffering of our Lord, salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, has written to you;
THAT which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the Word of life;
Morish
This apostle was of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of pure descent, born at Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, a fact which gave to him the privilege of Roman citizenship. He was a disciple of Gamaliel and a strict Pharisee. He is first introduced to us as a young man, by name SAUL, at whose feet the witnesses who stoned Stephen laid their clothes. He became afterwards a violent persecutor of the saints, both of men and women, acting with great zeal, thinking he was doing God's service. His conversion as the effect of the Lord appearing to him was unique, and he was so completely changed that he became at once as bold for Christ as before he had been a persecutor of Christ in the persons of His saints. He immediately preached in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. This was the distinctive point of his testimony. As the Jews sought his life at Damascus, he departed into Arabia, where doubtless he had deep exercise of heart and learnt more of the Lord.
After three years he went up to see Peter at Jerusalem, where he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. The Jews again seeking his life, he was conducted to Caesarea, and sent to Tarsus, his native place. From thence he was fetched by Barnabas to go to Antioch, where the gospel had been effectual, and there they both laboured. After having, in company with Barnabas, taken supplies to Jerusalem (his second visit), on occasion of a dearth, he commenced his first missionary journey to Cyprus and Asia Minor. He and Barnabas returned to Antioch, where he remained 'a long time.' On a dispute arising as to Gentile converts being circumcised, he went with Barnabas to Jerusalem concerning that question, and returned to Antioch. This city had become a sort of centre of the activity of the Spirit. Being far from Jerusalem it was less influenced by Judaising tendencies, though communion with the saints there was maintained.
Asia Minor, Macedonia and Greece were the sphere of Paul's second missionary journey. Having differed from Barnabas, because the latter wished to take John with them (who had left them on the first journey), Paul selected Silas for his companion, and departed with the full fellowship of the brethren. During part of this journey Timothy was one of the company. He abode a year and a half at Corinth, where he wrote the two EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS. He now visited Jerusalem at the feast, and returned to Antioch. He took his third missionary journey through Galatia and Phrygia. When he visited Ephesus he separated the disciples from the synagogue, and they met in the school of Tyrannus. At Ephesus he wrote the FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, and probably the EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. After the tumult raised by Demetrius he went to Macedonia, and there wrote the SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. He again visited Corinth and wrote the EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.
The Jews seeking his life, Paul went through Macedonia, sailed from Philippi, and preached at Troas. At Miletus he gave a solemn parting address to the elders of Ephesus, and took his leave of the disciples at Tyre, where he was cautioned not to go to Jerusalem. At Caesarea also he was warned of what awaited him at Jerusalem, but he avowed that he was ready not only to be bound, but also to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.
Paul arrived at Jerusalem just before Pentecost. In order to prove himself a good Jew he was advised by the brethren to associate himself with four men who had a vow on them, and to be at charges with them. But while carrying this out he was seized by some Asiatic Jews, and beaten, but was rescued by Lysias, the Roman chief captain. After appearing before the council, and again being rescued by him, he was for safety sent off by night to Caesarea. There his cause was heard by Felix, who kept him prisoner, hoping to be bribed to release him. Two years later, when superseded by Festus, Felix, to please the Jews, left Paul in bonds. On appearing before Festus, to save himself from being sent to Jerusalem, there being a plot to waylay and murder him, Paul appealed to the emperor. His case having been heard by Agrippa and Festus, he was finally remitted to Rome. The ship, however, was wrecked at Malta, where they wintered, all on board having been saved.
On his arrival at Rome, Paul sent for the chief men of the Jews and preached to them: some of them believed, though the majority rejected God's grace (thus fulfilling Isa 6:9-10), which should henceforth go to the Gentiles. He, though still a prisoner, abode two years in his own hired house. There he wrote the EPISTLES TO THE COLOSSIANS, the EPHESIANS, the PHILIPPIANS, and also to PHILEMON.
The history of Paul is thus far given in the Acts of the Apostles, but there are intimations in the later epistles that after the two years at Rome he was liberated. His movements from that time are not definitely recorded; apparently he visited Ephesus and Macedonia, 1Ti 1:3; wrote the FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY; visited Crete, Tit 1:5; and Nicopolis, Tit 3:12; wrote the EPISTLE TO TITUS (the early writers say that he went to Spain, which we know he desired to do, Ro 15:24,28); visited Troas and Miletus, 2Ti 4:13,20; wrote the EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS; and when a prisoner at Rome the second time, wrote the SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY, when expecting his death. Early writers say that he was beheaded with the sword, which is probable, as he was a Roman citizen.
Paul received his commission directly from Christ who appeared to him in glory, and this source of his apostleship he carefully insists on in the Epistle to the Galatians. New light as to the church in its heavenly character came out by Paul, who was God's special apostle for that purpose. To him was revealed the truth that the assembly was the body of Christ, and the doctrine of new creation in Christ Jesus, in which evidently there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. This caused great persecution from the Jews and from Judaising teachers, who could not readily give up the law, nor endure the thought of Gentiles having an equal place with themselves. This Paul insisted on: it was his mission as apostle to the Gentiles. To Paul also was committed what he calls "my gospel:" this was 'the gospel of the glory' (Christ in glory who put away the Christian's sins being presented in it as the last Adam, the Son of God). 2Co 4:4. It not only brings salvation, great as that is, but it separates the believer from earth, and conforms him to Christ as He is in glory.
Paul was an eminent and faithful servant of Christ. As such he was content to be nothing, that Christ might be glorified. To the Thessalonians he was gentle 'as a nurse cherisheth her children.' 1Th 2:7. He was severe however to the Corinthians when they were allowing sin in their midst, and to them he had to assert his apostolic authority when traducers were seeking to nullify his influence among them. To the Galatians he was still more severe: they were in danger of being shipwrecked as to faith by false Judaising teachers, who were undermining the truth of the gospel.
In the epistles we get a few glimpses of the inner life of Paul. After having been caught up into the third heavens, he prayed for the removal of the thorn in the flesh which had been given him lest he should be puffed up, and was told that Christ's grace was sufficient for him, he could say, "most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.'' 2Co 12:9-10. He also could say, "To me to live is Christ;" and "This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus." Php 3:13-14. As a martyr he reached that goal. The catalogue he gives of his privations and sufferings in 2Co 11:23-28 discloses the fact that but a small part of his gigantic labours is recounted in the Acts of the Apostles.
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when I make my journey into Spain, I hope, in passing through, to see you, and to be conducted by you on my journey thither, after I am first partly satisfied with your company.
When, therefore, I shall have performed this, and have delivered to them this fruit, I will go by you into Spain.
whose unbelieving minds the god of this age has darkened, so that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine to them.
Are they ministers of Christ? (I say it foolishly,) I am above them. In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. From the Jews, five times I received forty stripes, save one; read more. three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three- times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I spent in the deep. In journeying s often, in perils from rivers, in perils from robbers, in perils from my own race, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the desert, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and in toil, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness: besides those things which come upon me from other sources, I have a daily concourse of troubles my anxiety for all the churches.
and he said to me: My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I boast in my infirmities, that the power of the Christ may abide upon me. For this reason, I take pleasure in infirmities, in outrages, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong.
Brethren, I do not conclude that I have already laid hold: but one thing I do; forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forward to those which are before, I press toward the goal, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
But we were gentle among you. As a nurse nourishes her children,
As, on going into Macedonia, I besought you to remain in Ephesus, that you might charge some that they teach no other thing,
When you come, bring the cloak that I left in Troas with Car pus, and the books, especially the parchments.
Erastus remained at Corinth. I left Trophimus sick at Miletus.
I left you in Crete for this purpose, that you might set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I commanded you:
When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, hasten to come to me at Nicopolis; for I have determined to spend the winter there.
Smith
(small, little). Nearly all the original materials for the life St. Paul are contained in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Pauline epistles. Paul was born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia. (It is not improbable that he was born between A.D. 0 and A.D. 5.) Up to the time of his going forth as an avowed preacher of Christ to the Gentiles, the apostle was known by the name of Saul. This was the Jewish name which he received from his Jewish parents. But though a Hebrew of the Hebrews, he was born in a Gentile city. Of his parents we know nothing, except that his father was of the tribe of Benjamin,
and a Pharisee,
that Paul had acquired by some means the Roman franchise ("I was free born,")
and that he was settled in Tarsus. At Tarsus he must have learned to use the Greek language with freedom and mastery in both speaking and writing. At Tarsus also he learned that trade of "tent-maker,"
at which he afterward occasionally wrought with his own hands. There was a goat's-hair cloth called cilicium manufactured in Cilicia, and largely used for tents, Saul's trade was probably that of making tents of this hair cloth. When St. Paul makes his defence before his countrymen at Jerusalem,
... he tells them that, though born in Tarsus he had been "brought up" in Jerusalem. He must therefore, have been yet a boy when was removed, in all probability for the sake of his education, to the holy city of his fathers. He learned, he says, at the feet of Gamaliel." He who was to resist so stoutly the usurpations of the law had for his teacher one of the most eminent of all the doctors of the law. Saul was yet "a young man,"
when the Church experienced that sudden expansion which was connected with the ordaining of the seven appointed to serve tables, and with the special power and inspiration of Stephen. Among those who disputed with Stephen were some "of them of Cilicia." We naturally think of Saul as having been one of these, when we find him afterward keeping the clothes of those suborned witnesses who, according to the law,
De 17:7
were the first to cast stones at Stephen. "Saul," says the sacred writer significantly "was consenting unto his death." Saul's conversion. A.D. 37.--The persecutor was to be converted. Having undertaken to follow up the believers "unto strange cities." Saul naturally turned his thoughts to Damascus. What befell him as he journeyed thither is related in detail three times in the Acts, first by the historian in his own person, then in the two addresses made by St. Paul at Jerusalem and before Agrippa. St. Luke's statement is to be read in
where, however, the words "it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks," included in the English version, ought to be omitted (as is done in the Revised Version). The sudden light from heaven; the voice of Jesus speaking with authority to his persecutor; Saul struck to the ground, blinded, overcome; the three-days suspense; the coming of Ananias as a messenger of the Lord and Saul's baptism, --these were the leading features at the great event, and in these we must look for the chief significance of the conversion. It was in Damascus that he was received into the church by Ananias, and here to the astonishment of all his hearers, he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, declaring him to be the Son of God. The narrative in the Acts tells us simply that he was occupied in this work, with increasing vigor, for "many days," up to the time when imminent danger drove him from Damascus. From the Epistle to the Galatians,
we learn that the many days were at least a good part of "three years," A.D. 37-40, and that Saul, not thinking it necessary to procure authority to teach from the apostles that were before him, went after his conversion to Arabia, and returned from thence to us. We know nothing whatever of this visit to Arabia; but upon his departure from Damascus we are again on a historical ground, and have the double evidence of St. Luke in the Acts of the apostle in his Second Epistle the Corinthians. According to the former, the Jews lay in wait for Saul, intending to kill him, and watched the gates of the city that he might not escape from them. Knowing this, the disciples took him by night and let him down in a basket from the wall. Having escaped from Damascus, Saul betook himself to Jerusalem (A.D. 40), and there "assayed to join himself to the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and believed not he was a disciple." Barnabas' introduction removed the fears of the apostles, and Saul "was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem." But it is not strange that the former persecutor was soon singled out from the other believers as the object of a murderous hostility. He was,therefore, again urged to flee; and by way of Caesarea betook himself to his native city, Tarsus. Barnabas was sent on a special mission to Antioch. As the work grew under his hands, he felt the need of help, went himself to Tarsus to seek Saul, and succeeded in bringing him to Antioch. There they labored together unremittingly for a whole year." All this time Saul was subordinate to Barnabas. Antioch was in constant communication with Cilicia, with Cyprus, with all the neighboring countries. The Church was pregnant with a great movement, and time of her delivery was at hand. Something of direct expectation seems to be implied in what is said of the leaders of the Church at Antioch, that they were "ministering to the Lord and fasting," when the Holy Ghost spoke to them: "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." Everything was done with orderly gravity in the sending forth of the two missionaries. Their brethren after fasting and prayer, laid their hands on them, and so they departed. The first missionary journey. A.D. 45-49. --As soon as Barnabas and Saul reached Cyprus they began to "announce the word of God," but at first they delivered their message in the synagogues of the Jews only. When they had gone through the island, from Salamis to Paphos, they were called upon to explain their doctrine to an eminent Gentile, Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, who was converted. Saul's name was now changed to Paul, and he began to take precedence of Barnabas. From Paphos "Paul and his company" set sail for the mainland, and arrived at Perga in Pamphylia. Here the heart of their companion John failed him, and he returned to Jerusalem. From Perga they travelled on to a place obscure in secular history, but most memorable in the history of the Kingdom of Christ --Antioch in Pisidia. Rejected by the Jews, they became bold and outspoken, and turned from them to the Gentiles. At Antioch now, as in every city afterward, the unbelieving Jews used their influence with their own adherents among the Gentiles to persuade the authorities or the populace to persecute the apostles and to drive them from the place. Paul and Barnabas now travelled on to Iconium where the occurrences at Antioch were repeated, and from thence to the Lycaonian country which contained the cities Lystra and Derbe. Here they had to deal with uncivilized heathen. At Lystra the healing of a cripple took place. Thereupon these pagans took the apostles for gods, calling Barnabas, who was of the more imposing presence, Jupiter, and Paul, who was the chief speaker, Mercurius. Although the people of Lystra had been so ready to worship Paul and Barnabas, the repulse of their idolatrous instincts appears to have provoked them, and they allowed themselves to be persuaded into hostility be Jews who came from Antioch and Iconium, so that they attacked Paul with stones, and thought they had killed him. He recovered, however as the disciples were standing around him, and went again into the city. The next day he left it with Barnabas, and went to Derbe, and thence they returned once more to Lystra, and so to Iconium and Antioch. In order to establish the churches after their departure they solemnly appointed "elders" in every city. Then they came down to the coast, and from Attalia, they sailed; home to Antioch in Syria, where they related the successes which had been granted to them, and
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He replied, A hundred baths of oil. And he said to him, Take back your note, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
and drove him out of the city, and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul.
And one of them, named Agabus, rose and made known, by the Spirit, that a great famine was about to come on the whole habitable land; which took place in the days of Claudius.
And certain men came down from Judea, and taught the brethren, saying: Unless you be circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you can not be saved. Therefore, after Paul and Barnabas had no little dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain others from among them, should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. read more. Being, therefore, con ducted on their journey by the church, they passed through Phenicia and Samaria, making known the conversion of the Gentiles; and they gave great joy to all the brethren. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church, and the apostles and elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the Pharisees, who believed, arose, saying, that it was necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together to deliberate about this matter. And after there had been much disputing, Peter arose, and said to them: Brethren, you know that, at the beginning, God made choice among us, that, by my mouth, the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. And God, who knows the heart, became a witness for them, by giving them the Holy Spirit, as he gave it also to us; and he made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why do you put God to the proof, by placing a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers, nor we ourselves, were able to bear? But we believe that we shall be saved, even as they, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then all the multitude kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul, while they made known what signs and wonders God had done by them among the Gentiles. And after they were silent, James answered and said: Brethren, hear me; Simeon has declared how God, at the first, did visit the Gentiles, in order to take out from among them a people for his name. And with this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and build again the tabernacle of David which has fallen down; and I will build again its ruins, and I will set it up; that the rest of men may seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name has been called, says the Lord, who does all these things. Known to God from eternity are all bis works. For these reasons, my judgment is, that we give no trouble to those who, from among the Gentiles, have turned to God; but that we write to them to abstain from pollutions of idols, and from lewdness, and from what is strangled, and from blood. For, from ancient times, Moses has, in every city, those who preach him, being read in the synagogue every sabbath-day. Then it pleased the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to send to Antioch, with Paul and Barnabas, chosen men from among themselves; Judas, who was surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren; and they wrote by their hands as follows: The apostles, and the elders, and the brethren, to the brethren of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greeting: Inasmuch as we have heard that certain persons went out from us and troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, That you must be circumcised, and keep the law, to whom we gave no commandment, it has seemed good to us, having come together with one mind, to send chosen men to you, with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have en dangered their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent, therefore, Judas and Silas, who will tell you the same things in word. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: That you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from lewdness; from which if you keep yourselves carefully, you will do well. Farewell.
Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching, with many others, the word of the Lord. And, after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let us return, and visit our brethren in every city in which we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do. read more. And Barnabas determined to take with him John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul did not think it proper to take with them him who had departed from them from Pamphylia, and did not go with them to the work. There was, therefore, a sharp contention, so that they separated from each other: and Barnabas took Mark, and sailed to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas, and departed, having been commended to the grace of God by the brethren.
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bonds were loosed. And the jailer, being aroused from sleep, and seeing the doors of the prison open, drew his sword, and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had fled. read more. But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying: Do yourself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and trembling, he fell down before Paul and Silas; and, having brought them out, he said: Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you and your house shall be saved. And they spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all that were in his house. And he took them at that hour of the night, and washed the blood from their stripes; and he was immersed, himself and all his, immediately. And he brought them into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced, believing in God, with all his house.
After these things, Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;
and because he was of the same trade, he made his home with them, and worked: for by trade they were tent-makers.
saying: This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law. But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallic said to the Jews: If it were a matter of in justice, or of wicked mischief, Jews, I would, with reason, bear with you:
And Paul, having remained many days longer, took leave of the brethren, and sailed to Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his head in Cenchrea; for he had a vow.
And having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.
And when he had gone through those regions, and had exhorted them with many words, he came into Greece. And having remained there three months, he determined to return through Macedonia, because a plot had been laid for him by the Jews, as he was about to sail to Syria.
And when they had come to him, he said to them: You know, from the first day on which I came into Asia, how I have been with you during the whole time, serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind, and with tears, and with trials, which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; read more. and that I have kept back nothing that was profitable, but have preached to you, and taught you both publicly, and from house to house, bearing full testimony both to Jews and to Greeks, of the repentance that leads to God, and of the faith that leads to our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going, bound in spirit, to Jerusalem, not knowing what shall befall me there, except that in every city the Holy Spirit testifies to me, saying, That bonds and afflictions await me. But I esteem this a matter of no importance, nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry that I have received from the Lord Jesus, to bear full testimony to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. For this reason I solemnly affirm to you this day, that I am clean from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore, take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, that you be shepherds to the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that, after my departure, rapacious wolves will enter in among you, who will not spare the flock; and men will arise from among yourselves, speaking perverse things, that they may draw off disciples after them. Therefore watch, remembering that for three years, by day and by night, I ceased not to warn every one of you with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace; to Him who is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all the sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands have ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me. In all things I have taught you by ex ample, that by thus laboring, you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus; for he himself said, It is more blessed to give, than to receive.
And when we came to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
And some in the multitude cried out one thing, and some an other. But not being able to obtain any certain knowledge on account of the tumult, he commanded him. to be led into the fortress. And when he was on the steps, it happened that he was carried by the soldiers, on account of the violence of the multitude. read more. For the greater part of the people followed, crying out: Away with him! But as Paul was about to be led into the fortress, he said to the officer: May I speak to you? He replied: Do you understand Greek? Are you not that Egyptian, who, before these days, made an insurrection, and led out into the wilderness four thousand men of the Assassins? But Paul replied: I am a Jew of Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of no unknown city; and I beseech you, permit me to speak to the people. And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing upon the steps, waved his hand to the people. And when there was great silence, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying:
Brethren and fathers, hear my defense, which I now make before you.
And as they were crying out, and tossing off their clothes, and throwing dust into the air,
But when Paul perceived that one part belonged to the Sadducees, and the other to the Pharisees, he cried out, in the Sanhedrin: Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; for the hope of the resurrection of the dead am I judged.
by the power of signs and wonders by the power of the Holy Spirit. So that from Jerusalem, and round about as far as Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of the Christ;
My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
and all the brethren that are with me, to the churches of Galatia:
nor did I go up to Jerusalem, to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and then returned to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem, in order to become personally acquainted with Peter; and I remained with him fifteen days:
You know that through weakness of the flesh I preached the gospel to you at the first: and my trial, which was in my flesh, you did not despise or loathe; but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. read more. How great, then, was your blessedness! For I testify for you, that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes, and have given them to me.
in which I suffer evil, as an evil-doer, even to bonds: but the word of God is not bound.
Watsons
PAUL was born at Tarsus, the principal city of Cilicia, and was by birth both a Jew and a citizen of Rome, Ac 21:39; 22:25. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, and of the sect of the Pharisees, Php 3:5. In his youth he appears to have been taught the art of tent making, Ac 18:3; but we must remember that among the Jews of those days a liberal education was often, accompanied by instruction in some mechanical trade. It is probable that St. Paul laid the foundation of those literary attainments, for which he was so eminent in the future part of his life, at his native city of Tarsus; and he afterward studied the law of Moses, and the traditions of the elders, at Jerusalem, under Gamaliel, a celebrated rabbi, Ac 22:4. St. Paul is not mentioned in the Gospels; nor is it known whether he ever heard our Saviour preach, or saw him perform any miracle. His name first occurs in the account given in the Acts of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, A.D. 34, to which he is said to have consented, Ac 8:1: he is upon that occasion called a young man; but we are no where informed what was then his precise age. The death of St. Stephen was followed by a severe persecution of the church at Jerusalem, and St. Paul became distinguished among its enemies by his activity and violence, Ac 8:3. Not contented with displaying his hatred to the Gospel in Judea, he obtained authority from the high priest to go to Damascus, and to bring back with him bound any Christians whom he might find in that city. As he was upon his journey thither, A.D. 35, his miraculous conversion took place, the circumstances of which are recorded in Acts ix, and are frequently alluded to in his epistles, 1Co 15:9; Ga 1:13; 1Ti 1:12-13.
Soon after St. Paul was baptized at Damascus, he went into Arabia; but we are not informed how long he remained there. He returned to Damascus; and being supernaturally qualified to be a preacher of the Gospel, he immediately entered upon his ministry in that city. The boldness and success with which he enforced the truths of Christianity so irritated the unbelieving Jews, that they resolved to put him to death, Ac 9:23; but, this design being known, the disciples conveyed him privately out of Damascus, and he went to Jerusalem, A.D. 38. The Christians of Jerusalem, remembering St. Paul's former hostility to the Gospel, and having no authentic account of any change in his sentiments or conduct, at first refused to receive him; but being assured by Barnabas of St. Paul's real conversion, and of his exertions at Damascus, they acknowledged him as a disciple, Ac 9:27. He remained only fifteen days among them, Ga 1:18; and he saw none of the Apostles except St. Peter and St. James. It is probable that the other Apostles were at this time absent from Jerusalem, exercising their ministry at different places. The zeal with which St. Paul preached at Jerusalem had the same effect as at Damascus: he became so obnoxious to the Hellenistic Jews, that they began to consider how they might kill him, Ac 9:29; which when the brethren knew, they thought it right that he should leave the city. They accompanied him to Caesarea, and thence he went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, where he preached the faith which once he destroyed, Ga 1:21,23.
Hitherto the preaching of St. Paul, as well as of the other Apostles and teachers, had been confined to the Jews; but the conversion of Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, A.D. 40, having convinced all the Apostles that "to the Gentiles, also, God had granted repentance unto life," St. Paul was soon after conducted by Barnabas from Tarsus, which had probably been the principal place of his residence since he left Jerusalem, and they both began to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles at Antioch, A.D. 42, Ac 11:25. Their preaching was attended with great success. The first Gentile church was now established at Antioch; and in that city, and at this time, the disciples were first called Christians, Ac 11:26. When these two Apostles had been thus employed about a year, a prophet called Agabus predicted an approaching famine, which would affect the whole land of Judea. Upon the prospect of this calamity, the Christians of Antioch made a contribution for their brethren in Judea, and sent the money to the elders at Jerusalem by St. Paul and Barnabas, A.D. 44, Ac 11:28, &c. This famine happened soon after in the fourth or fifth year of the Emperor Claudius. It is supposed that St. Paul had the vision, mentioned in Ac 22:17, while he was now at Jerusalem this second time after his conversion.
St. Paul and Barnabas, having executed their commission, returned to Antioch; and soon after their arrival in that city they were separated, by the express direction of the Holy Ghost, from the other Christian teachers and prophets, for the purpose of carrying the glad tidings of the Gospel to the Gentiles of various countries, Ac 13:1. Thus divinely appointed to this important office, they set out from Antioch, A.D. 45, and preached the Gospel successively at Salamis and Paphos, two cities of the isle of Cyprus, at Perga in Pamphylia, Antioch in Pisidia, and at Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, three cities of Lycaonia. They returned to Antioch in Syria, A.D. 47, nearly by the same route. This first apostolical journey of St. Paul, in which he was accompanied and assisted by Barnabas, is supposed to have occupied about two years; and in the course of it many, both Jews and Gentiles, were converted to the Gospel.
Paul and Barnabas continued at Antioch a considerable time; and while they were there, a dispute arose between them and some Jewish Christians of Judea. These men asserted, that the Gentile converts could not obtain salvation through the Gospel, unless they were circumcised; Paul and Barnabas maintained the contrary opinion, Ac 15:1-2. This dispute was carried on for some time with great earnestness; and it being a question in which not only the present but all future Gentile converts were concerned, it was thought right that St. Paul and Barnabas, with some others, should go up to Jerusalem to consult the Apostles and elders concerning it. They passed through Phenicia and Samaria, and upon their arrival at Jerusalem, A.D. 49, a council was assembled for the purpose of discussing this important point, Ga 2:1. St. Peter and St. James the less were present, and delivered their sentiments, which coincided with those of St. Paul and Barnabas; and after much deliberation it was agreed, that neither circumcision, nor conformity to any part of the ritual law of Moses, was necessary in Gentile converts; but that it should be recommended to them to abstain from certain specified things prohibited by that law, lest their indulgence in them should give offence to their brethren of the circumcision, who were still very zealous for the observance of the ceremonial part of their ancient religion. This decision, which was declared to have the sanction of the Holy Ghost, was communicated to the Gentile Christians of Syria and Cilicia, by a letter written in the name of the Apostles, elders, and whole church at Jerusalem, and conveyed by Judas and Silas, who accompanied St. Paul and Barnabas to Antioch for that purpose.
St. Paul, having preached a short time at Antioch, proposed to Barnabas that they should visit the churches which they had founded in different cities, Ac 15:36. Barnabas readily consented; but while they were preparing for the journey, there arose a disagreement between them, which ended in their separation. In consequence of this dispute with Barnabas, St. Paul chose Silas for his companion, and they set out together from Antioch, A.D. 50. They travelled through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches, and then came to Derbe and Lystra, Acts 16. Thence they went through Phrygia and Galatia; and, being desirous of going into Asia Propria, or the Proconsular Asia, they were forbidden by the Holy Ghost. They therefore went into Mysia; and, not being permitted by the Holy Ghost to go into Bithynia as they had intended, they went to Troas. While St. Paul was there, a vision appeared to him in the night: "There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Ma
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And at that time there was a great persecution against the church that was in Jerusalem; and they were all dispersed throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
But Saul attempted to destroy the church; entering every house, and dragging men and women, he delivered them up to prison.
And Saul, still breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the chief priest,
And, after many days had passed, the Jews determined to kill him.
But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and told them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had boldly preached in Damascus in the name of Jesus.
he conversed and reasoned with the Hellenists; but they under took to kill him.
And Barnabas went to Tarsus, to seek for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came to pass, that they met together in the church for a whole year, and taught a great multitude; and the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
And one of them, named Agabus, rose and made known, by the Spirit, that a great famine was about to come on the whole habitable land; which took place in the days of Claudius.
Now there were certain prophets and teachers in the church that was at Antioch; Barnabas, and Simeon, who is called Niger, and Lucius of Gyrene, and Manaen, who was brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
And certain men came down from Judea, and taught the brethren, saying: Unless you be circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you can not be saved. Therefore, after Paul and Barnabas had no little dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain others from among them, should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.
And, after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let us return, and visit our brethren in every city in which we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do.
and because he was of the same trade, he made his home with them, and worked: for by trade they were tent-makers.
But Paul replied: I am a Jew of Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of no unknown city; and I beseech you, permit me to speak to the people.
And I persecuted this way to the death, binding and delivering into prison both men and women,
And it came to pass, after I had returned to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance,
But Paul said to the centurion who stood by, as he caused him to be bent forward to the straps: Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?
For this reason, God delivered them over to vile passions: for their females exchanged their natural use for that which is against nature: and in like manner also the males, leaving the natural use of the females, burned in their lusts one toward another, males with males practicing infamous lewdness, and receiving in them selves the due reward of their error. read more. And as they refused to acknowledge God, God delivered them up to an undiscerning mind, to do detestable things; as they were filled with all unrighteousness, lewdness, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, contention, deceit, malignity; whisperers, evil-speakers, haters of God, insolent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents; without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful; who, acknowledging the judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do them, but approve those who practice them.
you, then, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say that a man should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob temples? read more. You who make your boast in the law, do you, by transgressing the law, dishonor God? For the name of God is reviled among the Gentiles, on account of you, as it is written.
For those whom he foreknew, he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren: and those whom he predestinated he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of an gels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. read more. And though I give all my goods to feed the poor, and though I deliver up my body to be burned, and have not love, I am profited nothing. Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love boasts not; is not vain, does nothing unbecoming, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil, rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but whether there be gifts of prophecy, they shall have an end; or tongues, they shall cease; or knowledge, it shall have an end. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part shall have an end.
For I am the least of the apostles, and I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
And when I came to Troas to preach the gospel of the Christ, and a door was opened to me in the Lord, I had no rest in. my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but I took leave of them, and went into Macedonia.
We make known to you, brethren, God's gracious gift, which has been given in the churches of Macedonia;
I exhorted Titus, and with him sent the brother. Did Titus overreach you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?
For you have heard of my former mode of life in Judaism, that I greatly persecuted the church of God, and laid it waste;
Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem, in order to become personally acquainted with Peter; and I remained with him fifteen days:
They had heard only that he who formerly persecuted us was now preaching the faith which he once destroyed.
Then, fourteen years after, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and I took Titus also with me.
There is one body and one Spirit, even as you have been called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one immersion; read more. one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in you all. But grace has been given to each one of us, according to the measure of the gift of the Christ.
But lewdness, and all manner of uncleanness, or covetousness, let them not be named among you, as it becomes saints; nor obscene language, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not becoming; but rather the cheerful words of. a thankful heart. read more. For you know this, that no lewd nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with vain words: for on account of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
circumcised the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as it respects law, a Pharisee;
All the saints salute you, especially those who are of Caesar's household.
I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your condition, and comfort your hearts; I have sent him with Onesimus, my faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known all things that are done here. read more. Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner, salutes you, and so does Marcus the nephew of Barnabas, concerning whom you received commandments; if he come to you, receive him; Jesus also, who is called Justus, salutes you: these are of the circumcision: and these only are my fellow-workers for the kingdom of God, who have been a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you; he always strives earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
One of themselves, a prophet of their own, has said: The Cretans are always liars, evil wild beasts, lazy gluttons. This testimony is true; wherefore rebuke them severely, that they may be sound in the faith,
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and authorities, to obey rulers, to be ready for every good work, to revile no one, not to be contentious, but gentle, showing all meekness to all men. read more. For we ourselves also were formerly foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one an other.
For we ourselves also were formerly foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one an other. But when the kindness and philanthropy of God our Savior appeared, he saved us,
But when the kindness and philanthropy of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not by works of righteousness which we had done, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit,