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 was laying waste the church, entering into the houses, and arresting men and women, he committed them to prison.
And Saul continued to be the more filled up with dynamite, and he was confounding the Jews dwelling in Damascus, proving that Jesus is the Christ.
And arriving in Jerusalem, he was endeavoring to join himself to the disciples: and all were afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.
who was with Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, an intelligent man. He, having called Barnabas and Saul, sought to hear the word of God;
Then the deputy, seeing that which took place, believed; being delighted with the teaching of the Lord.
For in him we live and move and have our being, as indeed certain ones of your own poets have said, For we are truly his offspring.
and because they were of the same craft, abode with them, and they labored: for they were tentmakers by trade.
you yourselves know, that these hands did minister to my necessities, and those along with me.
Moreover indeed, I thought to myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus the Nazarene: which I did also in Jerusalem, and shut up many of the saints in prison; and having received authority from the chief priests, and they being slain, I gave my vote against them; read more. and throughout all the synagogues, frequently punishing them, I compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceeding mad against them, I was persecuting them even also unto foreign cities.
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou art persecuting.
Be not deceived: Evil communications corrupt good manners.
Are they the ministers of Christ? (I speak as a mad man,) I am more; in labors more abundantly, in stripes more abundantly, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often; from the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one, read more. thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice was I shipwrecked, a day and a night I spent in the deep. Often in journeys, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own race, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in labor and in toil, in vigils often, in hunger and in thirst, in fastings often, in cold and in nakedness. Besides all these, that which comes upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I do not burn?
for I did not receive it from man, neither was I taught it, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
in circumcision the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
A certain one of them, their own prophet, said, The Cretans are all liars, evil beasts, slow stomachs.
as also in all his epistles, speaking in the same concerning these things; in which there are some things hard to understand, which the unlearned and unestablished wrest, as they also do 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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And He said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
And Saul arose from the ground; and his eyes being open, he saw nothing: but leading him by the hand, they led him into Damascus;
And the Lord said to him, Arising, go to the street which is called Straight, and seek a Tarsean, by name Saul, in the house of Judas; for, behold, he is praying,
And the Lord said to him, Arising, go to the street which is called Straight, and seek a Tarsean, by name Saul, in the house of Judas; for, behold, he is praying, and he saw a man, Ananias by name, coming in, and putting his hands on him, in order that he may look up. read more. And Ananias responded, Lord I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints in Jerusalem: and he here has authority from the chief priests to bind all those calling on thy name. And the Lord said to him, Go: because he is a vessel of election to me, to bear my name both before the Gentiles, and kings, and sons of Israel: for I will show him how many things it behooves him to suffer for my name's sake.
And when many days were being filled up, the Jews issued a verdict to kill him:
and his disciples taking him, let him down through the wall in the night, lowering him in a basket.
But Barnabas taking him, led him to the apostles, and related to them how he saw the Lord on the way, and that He spoke to him, and how he preached boldly in Damascus in the name of Jesus. And he was with them going in and coming out in Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord; read more. and he was speaking and arguing against the Hellenists, and they undertook to kill him.
And Cornelius said, From the fourth day until this hour, indeed the ninth, I was praying in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in shining apparel, and says, Cornelius, thy prayer has been heard, and thine alms have been remembered before God. read more. Therefore send to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon the tanner by the sea. Then I immediately sent for thee; and thou hast done well being present. Now therefore we are all present before God, to hear all things which have been commanded thee of the Lord. And Peter, opening his mouth, said, In truth I apprehend that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation the one fearing him, and working righteousness, is acceptable to him; the word which he sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ: he is Lord of all. This word you know, which was throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; Jesus, the one from Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost and power: who went about doing good, and healing all oppressed by the devil: because God is with Him. And we are witnesses in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they even slew, hanging him on the wood. God raised him on the third day, and gave him to be made manifest; not to all the people, but to the witnesses having been chosen of God, to us, who ate and drank along with him after He arose from the dead: and He commanded us to preach to the people, and to witness that He is the One ordained of God the Judge of the living and the dead. And to Him give all the prophets witness, that every one believing on him receives the remission of sins through His name.
And it happened unto them, a whole year indeed they assembled in the church, and taught a great multitude: and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
And those around Paul having sailed from Paphos, came into Perge of Pamphylia: and John having departed from them returned to Jerusalem.
And Paul, rising up, and beckoning with his hand said; Israelitish men, and those fearing God, hear. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people during their sojourn in the land of Egypt, and with a strong arm led them out of it; read more. and when he supported them about the time of forty years in the wilderness, and having destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them the inheritance of the land about four hundred and fifty years. And after these things he gave them judges, till Samuel the prophet. And then they asked for a king: and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, forty years; and having deposed him, he raised up to them David for a king; to whom witnessing he also said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man according to my own heart, who will do all my wishes. From whose seed according to the promise he led forth Jesus, the Savior, to Israel: and John having preached the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel, before the face of his coming. And when John fulfilled his course, he said, What do you consider me to be? I am not he: but, behold, there comes one after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to loose. Men, brethren, sons of the race of Abraham, and those among you fearing God, unto us the word of this salvation was sent. For those dwelling in Jerusalem, and the rulers, having rejected him, condemning him, have fulfilled the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath; and having found no cause of death, asked Pilate that he should be executed; and when they perfected all the things which had been written concerning him, taking him down from the cross, placed him in a sepulchre. And God raised him from the dead; who appeared to those coming up with him to Jerusalem from Galilee many days, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we preach unto you the promise, which was made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this unto our children, raising up Jesus, as in the second Psalm it has been written, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And because he raised him up from the dead, no longer about to return to corruption, He has thus said, I will give unto you the faithful mercies of David. Therefore He also says in another place, Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. For David, indeed having served his own generation according to the will of God, went to sleep, and did see corruption: but he, whom God raised up, did not see corruption. Then let it be known unto you, men brethren, that through this one remission of sins is preached: and in him every one believing is justified from all things from which ye were not able to be justified by the law of Moses. Then beware, lest the word which has been spoken by the prophets may come upon you; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and vanish away: because I work a work in your days, a work which you may not believe, though one may proclaim it to you. And they going out, they continued to entreat them that these words should be spoken to them on the next Sabbath. And the synagogue having been adjourned, many of the Jews and pious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking with them, continued to persuade them to abide in the grace of God. And on the following Sabbath almost all the city came together to hear the word of the Lord. And the Jews seeing the multitudes, were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the word spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. And Paul and Barnabas speaking boldly, said, It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you: since you have rejected it, and judge yourselves not worthy of eternal life, behold we now turn to the Gentiles. For thus the Lord has commanded us, I have placed thee for a light of the Gentiles, that thou shalt be for salvation unto the extremity of the earth. And the Gentiles hearing, rejoiced, and glorified the word of the Lord: and so many as had been ordained unto eternal life believed: and the word of the Lord was carried throughout all the country. And the Jews stirred up the noble godly women, and the first men of the city, and they raised a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their borders. And having cast off the dust from their feet against them, they came into Iconium.
And they traveled through Phrygia and the Galatian country, being prohibited by the Holy Ghost from speaking the word in Asia.
and having come through Mysia they descended into Troas. And a vision was seen by Paul during the night: Some Macedonian man was standing and entreating him and saying, Having come over into Macedonia, help us.
Then indeed he spoke to the Jews, and to the worshipers in the synagogue, and to those incidentally meeting him every day in the forum. And certain ones of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers interviewed him, and some continued to say, What would this babbler wish to say? and others said, He seems to be the propagator of strange divinities: because he was preaching the gospel of Jesus, and the resurrection. read more. And taking him, they led him to the Areopagus, saying; Are we able to know what is this new teaching, spoken by thee? For you bring certain strange things to our hearing: therefore we desire to know what these things wish to be. But all the Athenians and itinerant strangers were accustomed to devote their time to nothing else, than to tell something new, or to hear something. And Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said, Athenian men, I perceive that in all things you are very religious. For going through, and seeing your devotions, I also found an altar on which it was superscribed, To THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore I now preach unto you Him whom you are ignorantly worshiping. God having made the world and all things which are in it, being himself Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is he worshiped by human hands, as if needing something, Himself having given life, and breath, and all things to all; and of (one) man he created every nation of men to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, having determined their predestinated times, and the boundaries of their habitation; that they should seek God, if perhaps indeed they might feel after him, and find him, though not being far from each one of you. For in him we live and move and have our being, as indeed certain ones of your own poets have said, For we are truly his offspring. Then being the offspring of God, we ought not to think that divinity is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, the invention of art and the device of man. Then indeed God winking at the times of ignorance, now commands all men everywhere to repent: as He has appointed a day, in which he is about to judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; giving faith to all, having raised Him from the dead.
And they asking him to remain a longer time, he did not consent; but having bidden them adieu; and saying, I will return unto you again, God willing; he embarked from Ephesus; read more. and having come into Caesarea, having gone up, and saluted the church, he came down to Antioch; having spent some time, he went from them, traveling consecutively through the Galatian country and Phrygia, confirming all the disciples.
And having come through those regions, and exhorted them with much speaking, he came into Greece;
And having sent from Miletus into Ephesus, he called for the elders of the church.
And I responded, Who art thou, Lord? And He said to me, I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom thou art persecuting.
And Paul knowing that one part of them belongs to the Sadducees, and another to the Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men, brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of the Pharisees: concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead I am judged.
And the son of Paul's sister, having heard of ambuscade, coming and entering into the castle, reported it to Paul.
and ascertaining that he is from Cilicia, said, I will hear thee, when thy accusers may also be present, having commanded that he should be kept in Herod's judgment hall.
If therefore I indeed am guilty of unrighteousness, and have done anything worthy of death, I do not ask not to die: but if nothing of these things of which they accuse me is true, no man is able to gratify them (by my death): I appeal unto Caesar.
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou art persecuting.
And having appointed a day with him, many came to him into his hired house, to whom witnessing he expounded the kingdom of God, indeed persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses, and the prophets, from morning unto evening.
And he spent a whole biennium in his own hired house, and received all those coming to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things concerning the Lord Jesus, with all boldness, uninterruptedly.
in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem, and around about even unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ;
Salute Andronicus and Junias, my kinsman and my fellow-soldiers, who are celebrated among the apostles, who were also in Christ before me.
Salute Herodian my kinsman. Salute those from the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. Salute Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who are laboring in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord.
And having come into Troas, for the gospel of Christ, and there being a door opened unto me in the Lord,
neither did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the pretorian army, and to all the rest;
in circumcision the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; in reference to zeal, persecuting the church, according to righteousness which was in the law being blameless.
Aristarchus my fellow-soldier salutes you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas concerning whom you received commandments; if he may 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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And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not that thy whole body may go away into hell.
And seeing the wind strong, became alarmed; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me.
and they will deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, and scourge, and crucify Him: and on the third day He will rise.
OMITTED TEXT
Then he says to his servants, The wedding is ready, but those having been invited were not worthy.
was naked, and ye clothed me: was sick, and ye visited me: was in prison, and ye came unto me.
And the King responding will say unto them, Truly I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did these things to one of the least of these my brethren, you did them unto me.
And the multitudes asked him, saying; What then shall we do?
And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. And dividing His garments, they were casting the lots.
The Word was made flesh, and tented among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten with the Father), full of grace and truth.
because He was my Creator. And of His fullness we all received grace upon grace.
You worship, you know not what: we worship that which we know: because salvation is of the Jews.
If then I, your Lord and Master, washed your feet, you ought also to wash the feet of one another.
Then Pilate came again into the judgment hall, and asked Jesus, and said to Him, Art thou the King of the Jews? Jesus responded, Do you speak this of yourself, or did others tell you concerning me? read more. Pilate responded, Whether am I a Jew? thine own nation and the chief priests delivered thee to me: what hast thou done? Jesus responded, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight for me, in order that I might not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from thence. Then Pilate said to Him, Then, art thou not a king? Jesus responded, Thou says that I am king. Unto this I was born, and unto this I have come into the world, in order that I may bear witness to the truth. Every one being of the truth hears my voice.
After this Pilate still sought to release Him: but the Jews continued to cry out, saying, If you release Him, you are not the friend of Caesar: every one making himself king speaks against Caesar.
And leaping out, he stood, and continued to walk around, and came into the temple with them, walking around and leaping, and praising God.
And now, brethren, I know that you did it through ignorance, as did your rulers also;
And the angel of the Lord, having opened the doors of the prison during the night, and leading them out said,
But a certain Pharisee, Gamaliel by name, a teacher of the law, honorable to all the people, rising in the sanhedrim command them to put the men out for a short time, and he said to them; Israelitish men, take heed to yourselves in reference to these men what you are about to do. read more. For before these days Theudas arose, saying that he was somebody, to whom a number of men, about four hundred, adhered, who were slain, and all, so many as confided in him, were dispersed, and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean arose, in the days of the enrollment, and led the people after him; he also perished, and all, so many as confided in him, were scattered abroad. And I now say this to you: Stand aloof from these men, and let them alone; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught; but if it be of God, you will not be able to destroy them, lest perchance you may also be found fighting against God.
And certain ones of the synagogues, called Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up disputing with Stephen,
And certain ones of the synagogues, called Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up disputing with Stephen,
During which time Moses was born, and was beautiful to God; who was kept three months in the house of his father.
And Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and was mighty in his words and works.
and casting him out from the city, they began to stone him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man, called Saul:
But Saul was laying waste the church, entering into the houses, and arresting men and women, he committed them to prison.
And He said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
And the men journeying along with him stood speechless, indeed hearing the voice, but seeing no one.
And the Lord said to him, Go: because he is a vessel of election to me, to bear my name both before the Gentiles, and kings, and sons of Israel:
And Ananias departed, and came into the house: and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, Jesus, that appeared to you in the way in which thou didst come, hath sent me, that thou mayest look up, and he filled with the Holy Ghost.
And Ananias departed, and came into the house: and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, Jesus, that appeared to you in the way in which thou didst come, hath sent me, that thou mayest look up, and he filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as scales: and he looked up; and having stood up, was baptized,
and immediately he was preaching Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. And all those hearing were astonished, and continued to say, Is not this the one laying waste those calling on this name in Jerusalem? and has come hither for this, that he may lead them bound to the chief priests. read more. And Saul continued to be the more filled up with dynamite, and he was confounding the Jews dwelling in Damascus, proving that Jesus is the Christ. And when many days were being filled up, the Jews issued a verdict to kill him:
And arriving in Jerusalem, he was endeavoring to join himself to the disciples: and all were afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.
And arriving in Jerusalem, he was endeavoring to join himself to the disciples: and all were afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas taking him, led him to the apostles, and related to them how he saw the Lord on the way, and that He spoke to him, and how he preached boldly in Damascus in the name of Jesus. read more. And he was with them going in and coming out in Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord; and he was speaking and arguing against the Hellenists, and they undertook to kill him.
and he was speaking and arguing against the Hellenists, and they undertook to kill him. And the brethren, taking cognizance, led him to Caesarea, and sent him away to Tarsus.
And when Peter went tip to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision interviewed him, say that, You went in unto men having uncircumcision, and ate with them. read more. And Peter beginning expounded unto them consecutively, saying, I was praying in the city Joppa: and I saw a vision in an ecstasy, A certain vessel, like a great sheet, descending from the heaven, sitting down by four rope ends; and came even unto me: into which looking, I was investigating, and I saw quadrupeds of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and the birds of the heaven. And I also heard a voice saying to me, Arising, Peter; slay and eat. And I said, By no means, Lord: because nothing unconsecrated or unclean has ever entered into my mouth. And a voice a second time was heard from heaven, Whatsoever things God has cleansed, consider thou not unconsecrated. And this took place three times: and all things were again taken up into the heaven. And, behold, immediately three men were standing at the house in which we were, having been sent to me from Cornelius. And the Spirit said to me, to go with them, doubting nothing. And these six brethren went along with me, and we entered into the house of the man. And he proclaimed to us how he saw an angel standing in his house, and saying, Send to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is called Peter; who will speak words to you, by which you and your whole family may be saved. And when I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, as He said, John indeed baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Since then God gave unto them the equal gift, as also unto us, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ; who was I, to be able to resist God?
And of them there were certain Cyprian and Cyrenean men, who, having come into Antioch, were speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus.
And the word was heard in the ears of the church in Jerusalem concerning them: and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. Who, coming, and seeing the grace of God, rejoiced, and continued to exhort all, with purpose of heart to abide with the Lord: read more. because he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and faith. And a great multitude was added to the Lord. And he went away to Tarsus, to hunt up Saul: and having found him, led him to Antioch. And it happened unto them, a whole year indeed they assembled in the church, and taught a great multitude: and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. And during those days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them by name Agabus, standing up, signified through the Spirit that there is about to be a great famine throughout the whole world: which took place under the reign of Claudius. And they determined that each one of them should send to the ministry to the brethren dwelling in Judea, as each one of the disciples was prosperous; and this they did, sending to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
and this they did, sending to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
But when Herod was about to lead him forth, and Peter was sleeping that night between two soldiers, and bound with two chains; and the guards were keeping guard before the door. And, behold, the angel of the Lord stood over him, and a light shone in the house; and having touched the side of Peter, he raised him up, saying; Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. read more. And the angel said to him, Gird thyself, and put on thy sandals. And he thus did. And he says to him, Throw thy cloak about thee, and follow me. And having come out, he was following; and did not know that it is true which was done by the angel; but he was thinking that he saw a vision. And having come through the first guard and the second, they came to the iron gate leading into the city; which opened to them of its own accord: and having come out, they came on to the first street; and the angel immediately departed from him.
And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, having filled their ministry, taking with them John, called Mark.
And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, having filled their ministry, taking with them John, called Mark.
Then indeed preaching boldly in behalf of the Lord, witnessing to the word of His grace, giving signs and wonders to be wrought by their hands, they spent much time.
said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and continued to walk around.
And there being much disputation, Peter, having arisen, said to them, Men, brethren, you know that from ancient days God chose among you, that the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel through my mouth, and believe. And God, who knows the heart, witnessed to them, giving to them the Holy Ghost, as also to us; read more. and made no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But through the grace of our Lord Jesus, we believe that we are saved, in the same manner in which they are also.
And he arrived into Derbe and Lystra. And, behold, a certain disciple was there, by name Timothy, the son of a faithful Jewish woman, and a Greek father, who was of good report by the brethren in Lystra and Iconium. read more. Paul wished him to go out with him; and having taken him circumcised him on account of the Jews who were in those places: for they all knew his father that he was a Greek.
And they traveled through Phrygia and the Galatian country, being prohibited by the Holy Ghost from speaking the word in Asia. And having come opposite Mysia, they were endeavoring to go on into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them;
And when he saw the vision, we immediately sought to depart into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
and leading them out said, Sirs, what does it behoove me to do in order that I may be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou and thy household shall be saved.
But the Jews giving away to jealousy, and receiving to themselves certain wicked men of those around the forum, and raising a mob, continued to put the city in an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they were seeking to lead them out to the people:
And certain ones of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers interviewed him, and some continued to say, What would this babbler wish to say? and others said, He seems to be the propagator of strange divinities: because he was preaching the gospel of Jesus, and the resurrection. And taking him, they led him to the Areopagus, saying; Are we able to know what is this new teaching, spoken by thee? read more. For you bring certain strange things to our hearing: therefore we desire to know what these things wish to be. But all the Athenians and itinerant strangers were accustomed to devote their time to nothing else, than to tell something new, or to hear something. And Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said, Athenian men, I perceive that in all things you are very religious. For going through, and seeing your devotions, I also found an altar on which it was superscribed, To THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore I now preach unto you Him whom you are ignorantly worshiping. God having made the world and all things which are in it, being himself Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
God having made the world and all things which are in it, being himself Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
God having made the world and all things which are in it, being himself Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is he worshiped by human hands, as if needing something, Himself having given life, and breath, and all things to all;
neither is he worshiped by human hands, as if needing something, Himself having given life, and breath, and all things to all; and of (one) man he created every nation of men to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, having determined their predestinated times, and the boundaries of their habitation;
and of (one) man he created every nation of men to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, having determined their predestinated times, and the boundaries of their habitation; that they should seek God, if perhaps indeed they might feel after him, and find him, though not being far from each one of you.
that they should seek God, if perhaps indeed they might feel after him, and find him, though not being far from each one of you. For in him we live and move and have our being, as indeed certain ones of your own poets have said, For we are truly his offspring.
For in him we live and move and have our being, as indeed certain ones of your own poets have said, For we are truly his offspring. Then being the offspring of God, we ought not to think that divinity is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, the invention of art and the device of man.
as He has appointed a day, in which he is about to judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; giving faith to all, having raised Him from the dead.
and because they were of the same craft, abode with them, and they labored: for they were tentmakers by trade.
And he says, I am Jewish man, having been born in Tarsus of Cilicia, having been brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the accuracy of patristic law, being a zealot of God, as you all are this day;
And those being along with me saw the light indeed, but heard not the voice of the one speaking to me.
And when I did not see on account of the glory of that light, and being led by the hand by those journeying with me, I came into Damascus.
And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee to know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice from His mouth;
And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee to know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice from His mouth;
And it happened unto me, having returned into Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, I was in an ecstasy;
And it happened unto me, having returned into Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, I was in an ecstasy; and I saw Him speaking to me, Hasten, and depart quickly out of Jerusalem, because they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
and I saw Him speaking to me, Hasten, and depart quickly out of Jerusalem, because they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
and I saw Him speaking to me, Hasten, and depart quickly out of Jerusalem, because they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. And I said, Lord, they know that I was imprisoning and binding those believing on thee throughout the synagogue;
And the chiliarch responded, With a great sum obtained I this citizenship. And Paul said, But I was indeed born (a Roman citizen).
And Paul knowing that one part of them belongs to the Sadducees, and another to the Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men, brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of the Pharisees: concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead I am judged.
And on the following night, the Lord standing over him, said, Take courage: for as thou hast testified to the things concerning me in Jerusalem, so it behooveth thee also to testify to me in Rome.
Moreover indeed all the Jews know my life from my youth; being from the beginning in my nation and in Jerusalem, knowing me originally, if they may be willing to testify, that according to the most rigid sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
and we all having fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against goads.
and we all having fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against goads.
and we all having fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against goads.
But rise up, and stand upon thy feet: for unto this have I appeared unto thee, to make thee a minister and a martyr both of those things which thou hast seen, and of which I will appear unto thee;
But rise up, and stand upon thy feet: for unto this have I appeared unto thee, to make thee a minister and a martyr both of those things which thou hast seen, and of which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, read more. to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God, in order that they may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God, in order that they may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
whom God sent forth an expiation through faith in his blood, unto the manifestation of His righteousness through the remission of the sins which are passed,
whom God sent forth an expiation through faith in his blood, unto the manifestation of His righteousness through the remission of the sins which are passed,
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but you received the Spirit of adoption, in which we cry; Father, Father.
For I testify to them, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to perfect knowledge;
But what says it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach. That if you may confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and may believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved:
But receive to yourselves him who is weak in faith, not into disputations of doubtful matters. One indeed believes he is to eat all things: another who is weak, vegetables. read more. Let not the one eating snub the one not eating. Let not the one not eating judge the one eating; for God received him. Who art thou judging another man's servant? to his own master he stands or falls: but he shall stand; for God is able to make him stand. For one indeed judges a day above a day: another judges every day (alike); let each one be fully persuaded in his own mind. The one regarding the day, regards it to the Lord: the one eating, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and the one not eating, eats not to the Lord, and gives thanks to God. For no one of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself:
Then let us no longer judge one another: but rather judge this, not to place before a brother an offence for a stumblingblock. I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: except to him who considers it unclean, to him it is unclean. read more. But if your brother is grieved on account of your meat, you are no longer walking in divine love. Do not by your meat destroy him for whom Christ died. Let not your good be blasphemed. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. For in this the one serving Christ is acceptable to God, and approved unto men. Then therefore we pursue the things belonging to peace, and edification towards one another. Do not destroy the work of God on account of meat. All things are pure; but it is evil to the man who eats with offence: it is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything by which your brother stumbles. The faith which you have, have it with yourself before God. Happy is the one not judging himself in that which he approves: but if he may eat doubting, he has been condemned, because it is not of faith; but every thing which is not of faith is sin.
To the weak I became as weak, that I may gain the weak. I became all things to all men, that I may indeed save some.
But those things which they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God. But I do not wish you to be the communicants of demons.
For I received this from the Lord, which I have also delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the night in which he was betrayed, took bread,
For the one speaking with a tongue speaks not to men, but to God; for no one hears him; but he speaks mysteries in the spirit:
For I delivered unto you in the first place that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
But last of all he was seen by me, as one born out of due time.
Be not deceived: Evil communications corrupt good manners.
Because they say, His letters are indeed weighty and powerful; but the presence of his body is weak, and his speech contemptible.
Are they the ministers of Christ? (I speak as a mad man,) I am more; in labors more abundantly, in stripes more abundantly, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often; from the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one, read more. thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice was I shipwrecked, a day and a night I spent in the deep. Often in journeys, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own race, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in labor and in toil, in vigils often, in hunger and in thirst, in fastings often, in cold and in nakedness. Besides all these, that which comes upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I do not burn? But if it behooves me to glory, I will glory in those things appertaining to my infirmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one being blessed forever, knows that I lie not. In Damascus Areta the governor of the king, guarded the city of the Damascenes, to arrest me:
In Damascus Areta the governor of the king, guarded the city of the Damascenes, to arrest me: and through a window was I let down in a basket by the wall, and escaped his hands.
It behooves me to glory, indeed it is not profitable, I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
And that I may not be exalted by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given unto me in the flesh, the messenger of Satan that he may buffet me, in order that I may not be exalted. Three times I called on the Lord concerning this, that it may depart from me. read more. And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most delightfully I will glory the more in my infirmities, in order that the power of Christ may abide on me. Therefore I delight in infirmities, in insults, in difficulties, in persecutions, and in tight places, for Christ's sake: for when I am without strength, then I am dynamite.
For indeed the signs of the apostleship are wrought in me in all patience, in miracles and in wonders and in dynamites. For what is that in which you are inferior to other churches, except that I did not burden you? forgive me this wrong. read more. Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not spare: for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up treasures for the parents, but the parents for the children, But I will most delightfully spend and be spent for your souls. If the more abundantly I love you am I loved the less? But let it he so, I did not burden you; but, being crafty, I caught you with guile. Which one of those whom I sent unto you, did I fleece you through him? I called Titus, and sent the brother along with him: whether did Titus defraud you? did we not walk by the same Spirit? did we not in the same tracks? For a long time you were thinking that I am apologizing to you. We speak before God in Christ; but all things, beloved, are for your edification. For I fear lest, having come, I may not find you as I wish, and may not be found by you as you wish; lest perhaps strife, jealousy, animosities, selfseekings, calumniations, eavesdroppings, inflations, outfallings, are among you; lest, I again having come, my God will humble me before you, and I will mourn over many of those having previously committed sins, and not having repented over the uncleanness and the fornication and debauchery which they have done.
But I make known to you, brethren, the gospel was preached to me, that it is not according to a man; for I did not receive it from man, neither was I taught it, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ. read more. For you have heard of my life formerly in Judaism, that I was persecuting the church of God exceedingly, and destroying it: and I was prominent in Judaism above many comrades in my race, being exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
and I was prominent in Judaism above many comrades in my race, being exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. When the one having separated me, from the womb of my mother, and called me through his grace, was pleased
When the one having separated me, from the womb of my mother, and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
neither did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days;
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days;
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days;
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days; but I saw no other of the apostles, except James the brother of the Lord.
but I saw no other of the apostles, except James the brother of the Lord. Which things moreover I write unto you, behold, before God, that I lie not. read more. Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. But I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which are in Christ.
but I went up according to revelation; and I presented to them the gospel which I am preaching among the Gentiles, but privately to the prominent ones, lest perhaps I am running, or did run, in vain.
but I went up according to revelation; and I presented to them the gospel which I am preaching among the Gentiles, but privately to the prominent ones, lest perhaps I am running, or did run, in vain. But neither was Titus the one with me, being a Greek, compelled to be circumcised:
But neither was Titus the one with me, being a Greek, compelled to be circumcised: but on account of the false brethren having crept in, who came in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they shall bring us into bondage:
but on account of the false brethren having crept in, who came in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they shall bring us into bondage: to whom I rendered not submission for an hour; in order that the truth of the gospel may abide with you. read more. But of those seeming to be something what they were at that time makes no difference to me: God does not receive the face of man: for those seeming to me to be prominent added nothing extra: but on the contrary, seeing that I am intrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision, like Peter of the circumcision, for the one having wrought with Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision also wrought with me unto the Gentiles: and having known the grace of God which was given unto me, James and Cephas and John, who seem to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision;
Are you so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect in the flesh?
You have been divorced from Christ, whosoever are justified by law: you have fallen from grace.
But I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? then the offence of the cross would be done away.
You see with how large letters I have written unto you with my own hand.
For neither do those who are circumcised keep the law; but they wish you to be circumcised, in order that they may glory in your flesh.
the eyes of your heart having been enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance among the saints,
being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God through the ignorance being in themselves, on account of the blindness of their heart;
always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;
because there is not to us fighting against blood and flesh, but against the governments, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenlies.
in circumcision the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; in reference to zeal, persecuting the church, according to righteousness which was in the law being blameless.
But I greatly rejoice in the Lord, because indeed you have at length revived to think about me; in whatsoever you indeed were thinking, nevertheless you lacked opportunity.
And you indeed know, O Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I came out from Macedonia, no church communicated with me in the word of giving and receiving, except you alone; because also in Thessalonica both once and twice you sent to my need.
But I have all things, and I abound: I am full, having received from Epaphroditus those things from you, an odor of a sweet savor, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.
giving thanks to the Father, who has made us worthy unto a participation of the inheritance of the saints in light; who delivered us from the power of darkness, and transplanted us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; read more. in whom we have redemption, the remission of sins:
in order that I may manifest the same, as it behooves me to speak.
for they proclaim concerning what kind of reception we had unto you; and how you turned to God from the idols, to serve the true and the living God,
for they proclaim concerning what kind of reception we had unto you; and how you turned to God from the idols, to serve the true and the living God, and to await his Son out of the heavens, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus the one delivering us from the wrath to come.
and to await his Son out of the heavens, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus the one delivering us from the wrath to come.
but having suffered, and been abused, as you know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict.
but having suffered, and been abused, as you know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict.
For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil: night and day working, that we should burden no one of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God, how sacredly and righteously and blamelessly we were unto you who believed:
and testifying, that you walk worthily of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Jesus Christ: because you suffered the same things from your fellow tribes, as they also from the Jews;
and that you aspire to be quiet, and to prosecute your own employments, and work with your hands, as we proclaimed unto you; in order that you may walk about circumspectly toward the aliens, and you may have need of nothing.
I give thanks to Jesus Christ our Lord, the one having filled me up with dynamite, because he considered me faithful, having put me in the ministry; being antecedently a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and an insulter: but I obtained mercy, because I did it in unbelief being ignorant; read more. but the grace of our Lord with faith and the divine love which is in Christ Jesus superabounded. It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief: but on this account I obtained mercy, in order that Jesus Christ might in me the chief show forth all longsuffering, for an example of those about to believe on him unto eternal life.
Convict those who sin before all, in order that the rest may also have fear.
I give thanks to God, whom I serve from my ancestors with a clean conscience, as I have incessant mention of you in my prayers, night and day
A certain one of them, their own prophet, said, The Cretans are all liars, evil beasts, slow stomachs.
not from works which are in righteousness, which we did, but according to his own mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewal of the Holy Ghost,
For you have not come to the mountain that can be touched, and that is burnt with fire, and unto blackness and darkness, and tempest,
Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one having according to his great mercy begotten us again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
and consider the longsuffering of the Lord's salvation; as our beloved brother Paul according to the wisdom which was given unto him has written unto you;
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have beheld, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of the 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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as I may journey into Spain, for I hope traveling through to see you, and by you to be sent forth thither, if in the first place I may be satisfied with your company??25 but now I journey to Jerusalem, ministering to the saints.
Then having completed and sealed this fruit unto them, I will sail away for Spain by you;
in whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who believe not, in order that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, may not shine on them.
Are they the ministers of Christ? (I speak as a mad man,) I am more; in labors more abundantly, in stripes more abundantly, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often; from the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one, read more. thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice was I shipwrecked, a day and a night I spent in the deep. Often in journeys, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own race, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in labor and in toil, in vigils often, in hunger and in thirst, in fastings often, in cold and in nakedness. Besides all these, that which comes upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most delightfully I will glory the more in my infirmities, in order that the power of Christ may abide on me. Therefore I delight in infirmities, in insults, in difficulties, in persecutions, and in tight places, for Christ's sake: for when I am without strength, then I am dynamite.
Brethren, I do not consider that I have yet received it; but there is one thing, indeed forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those which are before, I press toward the goal unto the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
but we were gentle in the midst of you, as if a nurse may cherish her children;
As I exhorted you to remain in Ephesus, I going into Macedonia, in order that you may command certain ones not to teach heterodoxy,
Coming, bring the cloak, which I left in Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments.
Erastus remained in Corinth: and I left Trophimus in Miletum sick.
Therefore I left you in Crete, in order that you may set in order remaining things, and establish elders in every city, as I commanded you;
When I shall send Artemas or Tychicus to you, 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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And he said; A hundred measures of oil. And he said to him, Take your accounts, and sitting down quickly write fifty.
and casting him out from the city, they began to stone him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man, called Saul:
And one of them by name Agabus, standing up, signified through the Spirit that there is about to be a great famine throughout the whole world: which took place under the reign of Claudius.
And certain ones having come down from Judea were teaching the brethren that, Unless you may be circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you are not able to be saved. And there being no small contention and disputation to Paul and Barnabas against them, they delegated Paul and Barnabas, and certain others of them, to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem concerning this question. read more. Then indeed they having been sent away by the church, traveled through both Phoenicia and Samaria, relating the conversion of the Gentiles: and they continued to make great joy to all the brethren. And arriving into Jerusalem, they were received by the church, and the apostles, and the elders, and they proclaimed so many things as God did with them. And certain one of those from the sect of the Pharisees having believed arose up, saying that, It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders were convened to see about this problem. And there being much disputation, Peter, having arisen, said to them, Men, brethren, you know that from ancient days God chose among you, that the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel through my mouth, and believe. And God, who knows the heart, witnessed to them, giving to them the Holy Ghost, as also to us; and made no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But through the grace of our Lord Jesus, we believe that we are saved, in the same manner in which they are also. And the whole multitude became silent, and continued to hear Barnabas and Paul, relating how many miracles and wonders God wrought among the Gentiles through them. And after they became silent, James responded, saying, Men, brethren, hear me. Symeon hath related how God in the first place interposed to take a people from the Gentiles, in His name. And to this corresponds the words of the prophet; as has been written, After these things I will return, and will build again the throne of David, which has fallen down; and will build again the ruins of the same, and will set it up again: in order that the residue of men may seek out the Lord, even all the Gentiles, on whom my name has been called upon them, says the Lord, who doeth these things known from the beginning. Therefore I judge, that we should not burden those from the Gentiles turning to God: but to command them to abstain from things offered to idols, and from fornication, and from strangulation, and from blood. For Moses from ancient generations, has those preaching him in every city, being read in the synagogues on every Sabbath. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, along with the whole church, to send men chosen from them into Antioch along with Paul and Barnabas; Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brethren: having written through their hand; The apostles and elders, brethren to the brethren who are from the Gentiles throughout Antioch and Syria and Cilicia greeting. Since we heard that certain ones having come out from us troubled you, disturbing your souls with words which we did not command: it seemed good to us, being of one accord, having chosen men to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have imperiled their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, themselves also proclaiming the same things by speech. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no more burden than these necessary things, to abstain from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which keeping yourselves, you will do well. Fare ye well.
And Paul and Barnabas tarried in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, also along with many others. And after many days Paul said to Barnabas, Having returned let us now visit the brethren in every city in which we preached the word of the Lord, how they are doing. read more. But Barnabas advised to take with them John, also called Mark. But Paul thought that he would not take with them, him who having departed from them from Pamphylia, and not having gone along with them into the work. But there was a paroxysm, so that they parted from one another, and Barnabas, taking Mark, sailed away into Cyprus. And Paul, having chosen Silas, went out, committed to the grace of the Lord by the brethren;
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and all the doors were immediately opened, and the bonds of all were loosed. And the jailer, being awakened, and seeing the doors of the prison open, seizing a sword, was about to kill himself, thinking that his prisoners had escaped. read more. But Paul shouted with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are here. And having asked for a light, he sprang in, and being alarmed, he fell down before Paul and Silas, and leading them out said, Sirs, what does it behoove me to do in order that I may be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou and thy household shall be saved. And they spoke to him the word of the Lord, along with all who were in his house. And taking them that hour of the night, he washed the blood from their stripes; and he and his were baptized immediately: and leading them into his house, he set a table by them, and rejoiced throughout his house, having believed in God.
After these things having departed from Athens, he came to Corinth.
and because they were of the same craft, abode with them, and they labored: for they were tentmakers by trade.
saying, This one persuades men to worship God contrary to law. And Paul being about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, If it were some injustice or wicked rascality, O Jews, I would bear with you according to reason:
And Paul, still remaining some days, having bidden adieu to the brethren, sailed away to Syria, and along with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea; for he had a vow.
having spent some time, he went from them, traveling consecutively through the Galatian country and Phrygia, confirming all the disciples.
And having come through those regions, and exhorted them with much speaking, he came into Greece; and having remained three months, a plot rising against him from the Jews, when about to sail for Syria, he was of a mind to return through Macedonia.
And when they came to him, he said to them, You know, that from the first day from which I came unto Asia, how I was with you all the time, serving the Lord with all humility, and tears, and temptations, which came upon me through the plots of the Jews: read more. how I omitted nothing of those things which are profitable, that I should not declare unto you and teach you publicly and from house to house, witnessing both to Jews, and to Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go to Jerusalem bound in spirit, not knowing the things which shall come upon me in it: except that the Holy Ghost in every city witnesses to me, saying that bonds and tribulations await me. But I consider my life worthy of no consideration to myself, so as to finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear testimony to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that you all, among whom I came preaching the gospel of the kingdom, shall see my face no more. Therefore I witness to you this clay, that I am pure from the blood of all men; for I did not shrink to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed to yourselves, and all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost has placed you shepherds, to shepherdise the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know, that after my departure grievous wolves will rise up against you, not sparing the flock; and men from you yourselves will rise up, speaking perverse things, in order to lead away disciples after them. Watch therefore, remembering, that three years night and day I ceased not admonishing you with tears. And now I commend you to God and the word of His grace, who is able to edify you, and give you an inheritance among all the sanctified. I have not sought the silver, or gold, or raiment of any one; you yourselves know, that these hands did minister to my necessities, and those along with me. I have shown you all things, that it so behooveth you laboring to assist the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Men, brethren, and fathers, hear now my apology unto you.
And they crying out, and rending their garments, and throwing dust into the air,
And Paul knowing that one part of them belongs to the Sadducees, and another to the Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men, brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of the Pharisees: concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead I am judged.
in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem, and around about even unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ;
My love with you all in Christ Jesus.
and all the brethren who are with me, to the churches of Galatia.
neither did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days;
in whom I suffer affliction as an evil-doer, even unto 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 Saul was consenting unto his death. And there was a great persecution in that day against the church in Jerusalem: and all were dispersed abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
But Saul was laying waste the church, entering into the houses, and arresting men and women, he committed them to prison.
But Saul, still breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, having come to the high priest,
And when many days were being filled up, the Jews issued a verdict to kill him:
But Barnabas taking him, led him to the apostles, and related to them how he saw the Lord on the way, and that He spoke to him, and how he preached boldly in Damascus in the name of Jesus.
and he was speaking and arguing against the Hellenists, and they undertook to kill him.
And he went away to Tarsus, to hunt up Saul: and having found him, led him to Antioch. And it happened unto them, a whole year indeed they assembled in the church, and taught a great multitude: and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
And one of them by name Agabus, standing up, signified through the Spirit that there is about to be a great famine throughout the whole world: which took place under the reign of Claudius.
And there were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch; Barnabas, and Symeon called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenean, and Manahem, the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
And certain ones having come down from Judea were teaching the brethren that, Unless you may be circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you are not able to be saved. And there being no small contention and disputation to Paul and Barnabas against them, they delegated Paul and Barnabas, and certain others of them, to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem concerning this question.
And after many days Paul said to Barnabas, Having returned let us now visit the brethren in every city in which we preached the word of the Lord, how they are doing.
and because they were of the same craft, abode with them, and they labored: for they were tentmakers by trade.
who after this way persecuted unto death, binding and committing to prison both men and women;
And it happened unto me, having returned into Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, I was in an ecstasy;
And when they were extending him to the scourges, Paul said to the centurion standing by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?
On account of this God gave them up to the lusts of dishonor: for indeed their women changed the natural use to that which is against nature: likewise also the men, having left the natural use of the woman, burned in their desire towards one another; men with men working out disgrace, and receiving the reward of their error among themselves which it behooved. read more. And as they did not approve to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are inappropriate; being filled with all injustice, wickedness, vice, covetousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceitfulness, evil affection; whisperers, calumniators, haters of God, insulters, proud, arrogant, practitioners of evils, disobedient to parents, covenant-breakers, incontinent, without natural affections, unmerciful, who, knowing the rightfulness of God, that those who do such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but they even delight in those who are doing them.
therefore do not you who teach another teach yourself? do you, who preach not to steal, steal? do you, who say not to commit adultery, commit adultery? do you, who abominate idolatry, rob temples? read more. do you, who boast in the law, through the transgression of the law dishonor God? For the name of God is blasphemed by you among the Gentiles, as has been written.
Because whom he did foreknow, he did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren: and whom He did foreknow, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them He also glorified.
If I may speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not divine love, I have become a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not divine love, I am nothing. read more. And if I give all my goods to feed the poor, and if I may give my body that I shall be burnt, and have not divine love, I am profited as to nothing. Divine love suffers long; divine love is kind; divine love envies not; does not make a display of itself, is not puffed up, does not behave itself uncomely, seeks not its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but it rejoices in the truth; it bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, it endures all things. Divine love never falls: but whether there are prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there are tongues, they shall cease; whether there is knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and prophesy in part: but when the perfect may come, that which is in part shall be done away.
For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
And having come into Troas, for the gospel of Christ, and there being a door opened unto me in the Lord, and I had no rest to my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus: but having bidden them adieu, I came away into Macedonia.
But, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia;
I called Titus, and sent the brother along with him: whether did Titus defraud you? did we not walk by the same Spirit? did we not in the same tracks?
For you have heard of my life formerly in Judaism, that I was persecuting the church of God exceedingly, and destroying it:
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days;
But they were only hearing that The one persecuting us at one time is now preaching the faith which he was once desolating;
Then after fourteen years, I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking also Titus with me;
There is one body and one Spirit, as ye indeed are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, read more. one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and above you all, and in all. And to each one of you grace is given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
But all fornication, and uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be named among you, as it becomes saints; and indecorum, or foolish talking, or indecent jesting, which is not becoming, but rather the giving of thanks: read more. for you are knowing this, that no fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words: for through these the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience.
in circumcision the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
All the saints, and especially those from the house of Caesar, salute you.
whom I sent unto you for this same thing, in order that you may know the things concerning us, and he may comfort your hearts; along with our faithful and beloved brother, Onesimus, who is from you; they will truly make known all things to you. read more. Aristarchus my fellow-soldier salutes you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas concerning whom you received commandments; if he may come to you, receive him; and Jesus, called Justus, who being of the circumcision: these are my only fellow-laborers in the kingdom of God, who have been made a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is from you, the servant of Jesus Christ, always agonizing in your behalf in his prayers, in order that you may stand perfect even having been fully carried away in all the will of God, salutes you.
A certain one of them, their own prophet, said, The Cretans are all liars, evil beasts, slow stomachs. This testimony is true: on account of which cause convict them sharply, in order that they may be sound in the faith,
Remind them to submit to the governments, authorities, to obey the rule over them, to be ready unto every good work, to speak evil of no one, that they should be peaceable, gentle, showing all meekness to all men. read more. For when we also were without understanding, being disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in sin and envy, hateful, hating one another;
For when we also were without understanding, being disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in sin and envy, hateful, hating one another; but when the goodness and philanthropy of God our Saviour appeared,
but when the goodness and philanthropy of God our Saviour appeared, not from works which are in righteousness, which we did, but according to his own mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewal of the Holy Ghost,