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 made havoc of the church by entering one house after another, dragging off men and women, and consigning them to prison.
Saul became more and more vigorous. He put the Jewish residents in Damascus to confusion by his proof that Jesus was the Christ;
He got to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, unable to believe he was really a disciple.
he belonged to the suite of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and demanded to hear the word of God.
Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had happened; he was astounded at the doctrine of the Lord.
for it is in him that we live and move and exist ??as some of your own poets have said, 'We too belong to His race.'
and as he belonged to the same trade he stayed with them and they all worked together. (They were workers in leather by trade.)
you know yourselves how these hands of mine provided everything for my own needs and for my companions.
I once believed it my duty indeed actively to oppose the name of Jesus the Nazarene. I did so in Jerusalem. I shut up many of the saints in prison, armed with authority from the high priests; when they were put to death, I voted against them; read more. there was not a synagogue where I did not often punish them and force them to blaspheme; and in my frantic fury I persecuted them even to foreign towns.
'Who are you?' I asked. And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me.
Make no mistake about this: 'bad company is the ruin of good character.'
Ministers of Christ? yes perhaps, but not as much as I am (I am mad to talk like this!), with all my labours, with all my lashes, with all my time in prison ??a record longer far than theirs. I have been often at the point of death; five times have I got forty lashes (all but one) from the Jews, read more. three times I have been beaten by the Romans, once pelted with stones, three times shipwrecked, adrift at sea for a whole night and day; I have been often on my travels, I have been in danger from rivers and robbers, in danger from Jews and Gentiles, through dangers of town and of desert, through dangers on the sea, through dangers among false brothers ??27 through labour and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger and thirst, starving many a time, cold and ill-clad, and all the rest of it.
And then there is the pressing business of each day, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel his weakness? Whose faith is hurt, and I am not aglow with indignation?
no man put it into my hands, no man taught me what it meant, I had it by a revelation of Jesus Christ.
I was circumcised on the eighth day after birth; I belonged to the race of Israel, to the tribe of Benjamin; I was the Hebrew son of Hebrew parents, a Pharisee as regards the Law,
It has been said by one of themselves, by a prophet of their own, that ??"Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons."
speaking of this as he has done in all his letters ??letters containing some knotty points, which ignorant and unsteady souls twist (as they do the rest of the 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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"Who are you?" he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, "and you persecute me.
Saul got up from the ground, but though his eyes were open he could see nothing; so they took his hand and led him to Damascus.
And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment,
And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment, and he has seen a man called Ananias enter and lay his hands upon him to bring back his sight." read more. "But, Lord," Ananias answered, "many people have told me about all the mischief this man has done to thy saints at Jerusalem! And in this city too he has authority from the high priests to put anyone in chains who invokes thy Name!" But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel. I will show him all he has to suffer for the sake of my Name."
and the Jews, after a number of days had elapsed, conspired to make away with him.
his disciples managed one night to let him down over the wall by lowering him in a basket.
Barnabas, however, got hold of him and brought him to the apostles. To them he related how he had seen the Lord upon the road, how He had spoken to him, and how he had spoken freely in the name of Jesus at Damascus. He then went in and out among them at Jerusalem, speaking freely in the name of the Lord; read more. he also held conversations and debates with the Hellenists. But when the brothers learned that the Hellenists were attempting to make away with him,
"Three days ago," said Cornelius, "at this very hour I was praying in my house at three o'clock in the afternoon, when a man stood before me in shining dress, saying, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, your alms are remembered by God. read more. You must send to Joppa and summon Simon who is surnamed Peter; he is staying in the house of Simon a tanner beside the sea.' So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Well now, here we are all present before God to listen to what the Lord has commanded you to say." Then Peter opened his lips and said, "I see quite plainly that God has no favourites, but that he who reverences Him and lives a good life in any nation is welcomed by Him. You know the message he sent to the sons of Israel when he preached the gospel of peace by Jesus Christ (who is Lord of all); you know how it spread over the whole of Judaea, starting from Galilee after the baptism preached by John ??38 how God consecrated Jesus of Nazaret with the holy Spirit and power, and how he went about doing good and curing all who were harassed by the devil; for God was with him.
As for what he did in the land of the Jews and of Jerusalem, we can testify to that. They slew him by hanging him on a gibbet, but God raised him on the third day, and allowed him to be seen read more. not by all the People but by witnesses whom God had previously selected, by us who ate and drank with him after his resurrection from the dead, when he enjoined us to preach to the People, testifying that this was he whom God has appointed to be judge of the living and of the dead. All the prophets testify that everyone who believes in him is to receive remission of sins through his Name."
and on finding him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught considerable numbers. It was at Antioch too that the disciples were originally called "Christians."
Setting sail from Paphos, Paul and his companions reached Perga in Pamphylia; John left them and went back to Jerusalem,
So Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said, "Listen, men of Israel and you who reverence God. The God of this People Israel chose our fathers; he multiplied the people as they sojourned in the land of Egypt and with arm uplifted led them out of it. read more. For about forty years he bore with them in the desert, and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan he gave them their land as an inheritance for about four hundred and fifty years. After that he gave them judges, down to the prophet Samuel. Then it was that they begged for a king, and God gave them forty years of Saul, the son of Kish, who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. After deposing him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he bore this testimony that 'In David, the son of Jessai, I have found a man after my own heart, who will obey all my will.' From his offspring God brought to Israel, as he had promised, a saviour in Jesus, before whose coming John had already preached a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. And as John was closing his career he said, 'What do you take me for? I am not He; no, he is coming after me, and I am not fit to untie the sandals on his feet!' Brothers, sons of Abraham's race and all among you who reverence God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us. The inhabitants of Jerusalem and their rulers, by condemning him in their ignorance, fulfilled the words of the prophets which are read every sabbath; though they could find him guilty of no crime that deserved death, they begged Pilate to have him put to death, and, after carrying out all that had been predicted of him in scripture, they lowered him from the gibbet and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. For many days he was seen by those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem; they are now his witnesses to the People. So we now preach to you the glad news that the promise made to the fathers has been fulfilled by God for us their children, when he raised Jesus. As it is written in the second psalm, thou art my son, to-day have I become thy father. And as a proof that he has raised him from the dead, never to return to decay, he has said this: I will give you the holiness of David that fails not. Hence in another psalm he says, thou wilt not let thy holy One suffer decay. Of course David, after serving God's purpose in his own generation, died and was laid beside his fathers; he suffered decay, but He whom God raised did not suffer decay. So you must understand, my brothers, that remission of sins is proclaimed to you through him, and that by him everyone who believes is absolved from all that the law of Moses never could absolve you from. Beware then in case the prophetic saying applies to you: Look, you disdainful folk, wonder at this and perish for in your days I do a deed, a deed you will never believe, not though one were to explain it to you." As Paul and Barnabas went out, the people begged to have all this repeated to them on the following sabbath. After the synagogue broke up, a number of the Jews and the devout proselytes followed them; Paul and Barnabas talked to them and encouraged them to hold by the grace of God. And on the next sabbath nearly all the town gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds they were filled with jealousy; they began to contradict what Paul said and to abuse him. So Paul and Barnabas spoke out fearlessly. "The word of God," they said, "had to be spoken to you in the first instance; but as you push it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, well, here we turn to the Gentiles! For these are the Lord's orders to us: I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the end of the earth." When the Gentiles heard this they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord and believed, that is, all who had been ordained to eternal life; and the word of the Lord went far and wide over the whole country. But the Jews incited the devout women of high rank and the leading men in the town, who stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their territory. They shook the dust off their feet as a protest and went to Iconium.
They crossed Phrygia and the country of Galatia, the holy Spirit having stopped them from preaching the word in Asia;
and so they passed Mysia by and went down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul by night, the vision of a Macedonian standing and appealing to him with the words, "Cross to Macedonia and help us."
He argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout proselytes and also in the marketplace daily with those who chanced to be present. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also came across him. Some said, "Whatever does the fellow mean with his scraps of learning'?" Others said, "He looks like a herald of foreign deities" (this was because he preached 'Jesus' and 'the Resurrection'). read more. Then taking him to the Areopagus they asked, "May we know what is this novel teaching of yours? You talk of some things that sound strange to us; so we want to know what they mean." (For all the Athenians and the foreign visitors to Athens occupied themselves with nothing else than repeating or listening to the latest novelty.) So Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe at every turn that you are a most religious people. Why, as I passed along and scanned your objects of worship, I actually came upon an altar with the inscription TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Well, I proclaim to you what you worship in your ignorance. The God who made the world and all things in it, he, as Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in shrines that are made by human hands; he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything, for it is he who gives life and breath and all things to all men. All nations he has created from a common origin, to dwell all over the earth, fixing their allotted periods and the boundaries of their abodes, meaning them to seek for God on the chance of finding him in their groping for him. Though indeed he is close to each one of us, for it is in him that we live and move and exist ??as some of your own poets have said, 'We too belong to His race.' Well, as the race of God, we ought not to imagine that the divine nature resembles gold or silver or stone, the product of human art and invention. Such ages of ignorance God overlooked, but he now charges men that they are all everywhere to repent, inasmuch as he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world justly by a man whom he has destined for this. And he has given proof of this to all by raising him from the dead."
who asked him to stay for a while. But he would not consent; he said goodbye to them, telling them, "I will come back to you, if it is the will of God." Then, sailing from Ephesus, read more. he reached Caesarea, went up to the capital to salute the church, and travelled down to Antioch. After spending some time there he went off on a journey right through the country of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening the disciples.
After passing through the districts of Macedonia and encouraging the people at length, he came to Greece,
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the presbyters of the church.
'Who are you?' I asked. He said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, and you are persecuting me.'
Then, finding half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisees, Paul shouted to them, "I am a Pharisee, brothers, the son of Pharisees! It is for the hope of the resurrection from the dead that I am on trial!"
Now Paul's nephew heard about their treacherous ambush; so he got admission to the barracks and told Paul.
he said, "I will go into your case whenever your accusers arrive," giving orders that he was to be kept in the praetorium of Herod.
If I am a criminal, if I have done anything that deserves death, I do not object to die; but if there is nothing in any of their charges against me, then no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!"
'Who are you?' I asked. And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me.
So they fixed a day and came to him at his quarters in large numbers. From morning to evening he explained the Reign of God to them from personal testimony, and tried to convince them about Jesus from the law of Moses and the prophets.
For two full years he remained in his private lodging, welcoming anyone who came to visit him; he preached the Reign of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unmolested.
by the force of miracles and marvels, by the power of the Spirit of God. Thus from Jerusalem right round to Illyricum, I have been able to complete the preaching of the gospel of Christ ??20 my ambition always being to preach it only in places where there had been no mention of Christ's name, that I might not build on foundations laid by others,
Salute Andronicus and Junias, fellow-countrymen and fellow-prisoners of mine; they are men of note among the apostles, and they have been in Christ longer than I have.
Salute my fellow-countryman Herodion. Salute such members of the household of Narcissus as are in the Lord. Salute Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work hard in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis; she has worked very hard in the Lord.
Well, when I reached Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, though I had a wide opportunity in the Lord,
instead of going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off at once to Arabia, and on my return I came back to Damascus.
no, although it was because of an illness (you know) that I preached the gospel to you on my former visit,
no, although it was because of an illness (you know) that I preached the gospel to you on my former visit, and though my flesh was a trial to you, you did not scoff at me nor spurn me, you welcomed me like an angel of God, like Christ Jesus. You congratulated yourselves.
throughout the whole of the praetorian guard and everywhere else it is recognized that I am imprisoned on account of my connexion with Christ,
I was circumcised on the eighth day after birth; I belonged to the race of Israel, to the tribe of Benjamin; I was the Hebrew son of Hebrew parents, a Pharisee as regards the Law, in point of ardour a persecutor of the church, immaculate by the standard of legal righteousness.
Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner salutes you; so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you have got instructions (if he comes to you, give him a welcome);
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
See Verses Found in Dictionary
If your right eye is a hindrance to you, pluck it out and throw it away: better for you to lose one of your members than to have all your body thrown into Gehenna.
but when he saw the strength of the wind he was afraid and began to sink. "Lord," he shouted, "save me."
and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified; then on the third day he will be raised."
[Everyone who falls on this stone will be shattered, and whoever it falls upon will be crushed.]"
Then he said to his servants, 'The marriage-banquet is all ready, but the invited guests did not deserve it.
I was unclothed and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you visited me.'
The King will answer them, 'I tell you truly, in so far as you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even to the least of them, you did it to me.'
The crowds asked him, "Then what are we to do?"
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing." Then they distributed his clothes among themselves by drawing lots.
So the Logos became flesh and tarried among us; we have seen his glory ??glory such as an only son enjoys from his father ??seen it to be full of grace and reality.
For we have all been receiving grace after grace from his fulness;
You are worshipping something you do not know; we are worshipping what we do know ??for salvation comes from the Jews.
Well, if I have washed your feet, I who am your Lord and Teacher, you are bound to wash one another's feet;
So Pilate went back inside the praetorium and called Jesus, saying, "Then you are king of the Jews?" Jesus replied, "Are you saying this of your own accord, or did other people tell you about me?" read more. "Am I a Jew?" said Pilate. "Your own nation and the high priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus replied, "My realm does not belong to this world; if my realm did belong to this world, my men would have fought to prevent me being handed over to the Jews. No, my realm lies elsewhere." "So you are a king?" said Pilate, "you!" "Certainly," said Jesus, "I am a king. This is why I was born, this is why I came into the world, to bear testimony to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
This made Pilate anxious to release him, but the Jews yelled, "If you release him, you are no friend of Caesar's! Anyone who makes himself a king is against Caesar!"
he leapt to his feet, started to walk, and accompanied them into the temple, walking, leaping, and praising God.
Now I know, brothers, that you acted in ignorance, like your rulers ??18 though this was how God fulfilled what he had announced beforehand by the lips of all the prophets, namely the sufferings of his Christ.
but an angel of the Lord opened the prison-doors during the night and brought them out, saying,
But a Pharisee in the Sanhedrin called Gamaliel, a doctor of the Law who was highly respected by all the people, got up and ordered the apostles to be removed for a few moments. Then he said, "Men of Israel, take care what you do about these men. read more. In days gone by Theudas started up, claiming to be a person of importance; a number of men, about four hundred of them, rallied to him, but he was slain, and all his followers were dispersed and wiped out. After him Judas the Galilean started up at the time of the census, and got people to desert to him; but he perished too, and all his followers were scattered. So I advise you to-day to leave these men to themselves. Let them alone. If this project or enterprise springs from men, it will collapse; whereas, if it really springs from God, you will be unable to put them down. You may even find yourselves fighting God!"
Some of those who belonged to the so-called synagogue of the Libyans, the Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians, as well as to that of the Cilicians and Asiatics, started a dispute with Stephen,
Some of those who belonged to the so-called synagogue of the Libyans, the Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians, as well as to that of the Cilicians and Asiatics, started a dispute with Stephen,
It was at this period that Moses was born, a divinely beautiful child. For three months he was brought up in his father's house;
So Moses was educated in all the culture of the Egyptians; he was a strong man in speech and action.
Putting him outside the city, they proceeded to stone him (the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a youth called Saul).
but Saul made havoc of the church by entering one house after another, dragging off men and women, and consigning them to prison.
"Who are you?" he asked. "I am Jesus," he said, "and you persecute me.
His fellow-travellers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but they could not see anyone.
But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel.
So Ananias went off and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit."
So Ananias went off and entered the house, laying his hands on him with these words, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord, by Jesus who appeared to you on the road, to let you regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit." In a moment something like scales fell from his eyes, he regained his sight, got up and was baptized.
He lost no time in preaching throughout the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God ??21 to the amazement of all his hearers, who said, "Is this not the man who in Jerusalem harried those who invoke this Name, the man who came here for the express purpose of carrying them all in chains to the high priests?"
Saul became more and more vigorous. He put the Jewish residents in Damascus to confusion by his proof that Jesus was the Christ; and the Jews, after a number of days had elapsed, conspired to make away with him.
He got to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, unable to believe he was really a disciple.
He got to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, unable to believe he was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, got hold of him and brought him to the apostles. To them he related how he had seen the Lord upon the road, how He had spoken to him, and how he had spoken freely in the name of Jesus at Damascus. read more. He then went in and out among them at Jerusalem, speaking freely in the name of the Lord; he also held conversations and debates with the Hellenists. But when the brothers learned that the Hellenists were attempting to make away with him,
he also held conversations and debates with the Hellenists. But when the brothers learned that the Hellenists were attempting to make away with him, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
So when Peter came up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party fell foul of him. "You went into the houses of the uncircumcised," they said, "and you ate with them!" read more. Then Peter proceeded to put the facts before them. "I was in the town of Joppa at prayer," he said, "and in a trance I saw a vision ??a vessel coming down like a huge sheet lowered from heaven by the four corners. It came down to me, and when I looked steadily at it, I noted the quadrupeds of the earth, the wild beasts, the creeping things and the wild birds. Also I heard a voice saying to me, 'Rise, Peter, kill and eat.' I said, 'No, no, my Lord; nothing common or unclean has ever passed my lips.' But a voice answered me for the second time out of heaven, 'What God has cleansed, you must not regard as common.' This happened three times, and then the whole thing was drawn back into heaven. At that very moment three men reached the house where I was living, sent to me from Caesarea. The Spirit told me to have no hesitation in accompanying them; these six brothers went with me as well, and we entered the man's house. He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, 'Send to Joppa for Simon who is surnamed Peter; he will tell you how you and all your household are to be saved.' Now just as I began to speak, the holy Spirit fell upon them as upon us at the beginning; and I remembered the saying of the Lord, that 'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the holy Spirit.' Well then, if God has given them exactly the same gift as he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I ??how could I try to thwart God?"
Some of them, however, were Cypriotes and Cyrenians, who on reaching Antioch told the Greeks also the gospel of the Lord Jesus;
The news of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they despatched Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God he rejoiced, and encouraged them all to hold by the Lord with heartfelt purpose read more. (for he was a good man, full of the holy Spirit and faith). Considerable numbers of people were brought in for the Lord. So Barnabas went off to Tarsus to look for Saul, and on finding him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught considerable numbers. It was at Antioch too that the disciples were originally called "Christians." During these days some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, one of whom, named Agabus, showed by the Spirit that a severe famine was about to visit the whole world (the famine which occurred in the reign of Claudius). So the disciples put aside money, as each of them was able to afford it, for a contribution to be sent to the brothers in Judaea. This they carried out, sending their contribution to the presbyters by Barnabas and Saul.
This they carried out, sending their contribution to the presbyters by Barnabas and Saul.
The very night before Herod meant to have him produced, Peter lay asleep between two soldiers; he was fastened by two chains, and sentries in front of the door guarded the prison. But an angel of the Lord flashed on him, and a light shone in the cell; striking Peter on the side he woke him, saying, "Quick, get up!" The fetters dropped from his hands, read more. and the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and put on your sandals." He did so. Then said the angel, "Put on your coat and follow me." And he followed him out, not realizing that what the angel did was real, but imagining that he saw a vision. When they had passed the first guard and the second they came to the iron gate leading into the city, which opened to them of its own accord; they passed out, and after they had gone through one street, the angel immediately left him.
After fulfilling their commission, Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, bringing with them John who is surnamed Mark.
After fulfilling their commission, Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, bringing with them John who is surnamed Mark.
Here they spent a considerable time, speaking fearlessly about the Lord, who attested the word of his grace by allowing signs and wonders to be performed by them.
said in a loud voice, "Stand erect on your feet." Up he jumped and began to walk.
and a keen controversy sprang up; but Peter rose and said to them, "Brothers, you are well aware that from the earliest days God chose that of you all I should be the one by whom the Gentiles were to hear the word of the gospel and believe it. The God who reads the hearts of all attested this by giving them the holy Spirit just as he gave it to us; read more. in cleansing their hearts by faith he made not the slightest distinction between us and them. Well now, why are you trying to impose a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we ourselves could bear? No, it is by the grace of the Lord Jesus that we believe and are saved, in the same way as they are."
He also came down to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple called Timotheus, the son of a believing Jewess and a Greek father. He had a good reputation among the brothers at Lystra and Iconium; read more. so, as Paul wished him to go abroad with him, he took and circumcised him on account of the local Jews, all of whom knew his father had been a Greek.
They crossed Phrygia and the country of Galatia, the holy Spirit having stopped them from preaching the word in Asia; when they got as far as Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them,
As soon as he saw the vision, we made efforts to start for Macedonia, inferring that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
and brought them out (after securing the other prisoners). "Sirs," he said, "what must I do to be saved?" "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ," they said, "and then you will be saved, you and your household as well."
But the Jews were aroused to jealousy; they got hold of some idle rascals to form a mob and set the town in an uproar; they attacked Jason's house in the endeavour to bring them out before the populace,
Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also came across him. Some said, "Whatever does the fellow mean with his scraps of learning'?" Others said, "He looks like a herald of foreign deities" (this was because he preached 'Jesus' and 'the Resurrection'). Then taking him to the Areopagus they asked, "May we know what is this novel teaching of yours? read more. You talk of some things that sound strange to us; so we want to know what they mean." (For all the Athenians and the foreign visitors to Athens occupied themselves with nothing else than repeating or listening to the latest novelty.) So Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe at every turn that you are a most religious people. Why, as I passed along and scanned your objects of worship, I actually came upon an altar with the inscription TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Well, I proclaim to you what you worship in your ignorance. The God who made the world and all things in it, he, as Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in shrines that are made by human hands;
The God who made the world and all things in it, he, as Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in shrines that are made by human hands;
The God who made the world and all things in it, he, as Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in shrines that are made by human hands; he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything, for it is he who gives life and breath and all things to all men.
he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything, for it is he who gives life and breath and all things to all men. All nations he has created from a common origin, to dwell all over the earth, fixing their allotted periods and the boundaries of their abodes,
All nations he has created from a common origin, to dwell all over the earth, fixing their allotted periods and the boundaries of their abodes, meaning them to seek for God on the chance of finding him in their groping for him. Though indeed he is close to each one of us,
meaning them to seek for God on the chance of finding him in their groping for him. Though indeed he is close to each one of us, for it is in him that we live and move and exist ??as some of your own poets have said, 'We too belong to His race.'
for it is in him that we live and move and exist ??as some of your own poets have said, 'We too belong to His race.' Well, as the race of God, we ought not to imagine that the divine nature resembles gold or silver or stone, the product of human art and invention.
inasmuch as he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world justly by a man whom he has destined for this. And he has given proof of this to all by raising him from the dead."
and as he belonged to the same trade he stayed with them and they all worked together. (They were workers in leather by trade.)
Paul said, "I am a Jew, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, the citizen of a famous town. Pray let me speak to the people."
"I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel in all the strictness of our ancestral Law, ardent for God as you all are to-day.
(My companions saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of him who talked to me.)
As I could not see owing to the dazzling glare of that light,. my companions took my hand and so I reached Damascus.
Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One, and to hear him speak with his own lips.
Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One, and to hear him speak with his own lips.
When I returned to Jerusalem, it happened that while I was praying in the temple I fell into a trance
When I returned to Jerusalem, it happened that while I was praying in the temple I fell into a trance and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste, leave Jerusalem quickly, for they will not accept your evidence about me.'
and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste, leave Jerusalem quickly, for they will not accept your evidence about me.'
and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste, leave Jerusalem quickly, for they will not accept your evidence about me.' 'But, Lord,' I said, 'they surely know it was I who imprisoned and flogged those who believed in you throughout the synagogues,
The commander replied, "I had to pay a large sum for this citizenship." "But I was born a citizen," said Paul.
Then, finding half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisees, Paul shouted to them, "I am a Pharisee, brothers, the son of Pharisees! It is for the hope of the resurrection from the dead that I am on trial!"
On the following night the Lord stood by Paul and said, "Courage! As you have testified to me at Jerusalem, so you must testify at Rome."
How I lived from my youth up among my own nation and at Jerusalem, all that early career of mine, is known to all the Jews. They know me of old. They know, if they chose to admit it, that as a Pharisee I lived by the principles of the strictest party in our religion.
We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? You hurt yourself by kicking at the goad.'
We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? You hurt yourself by kicking at the goad.'
We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? You hurt yourself by kicking at the goad.'
Now get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you in order to appoint you to my service as a witness to what you have seen and to the visions you shall have of me.
Now get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you in order to appoint you to my service as a witness to what you have seen and to the visions you shall have of me. I will rescue you from the People and also from the Gentiles ??to whom I send you, read more. that their eyes may be opened and that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, to get remission of their sins and an inheritance among those who are consecrated by faith in me.'
that their eyes may be opened and that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, to get remission of their sins and an inheritance among those who are consecrated by faith in me.'
whom God put forward as the means of propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to demonstrate the justice of God in view of the fact that sins previously committed during the time of God's forbearance had been passed over;
whom God put forward as the means of propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to demonstrate the justice of God in view of the fact that sins previously committed during the time of God's forbearance had been passed over;
You have received no slavish spirit that would make you relapse into fear; you have received the Spirit of sonship. And when we cry, "Abba! Father!",
I can vouch for their zeal for God; only, it is not zeal with knowledge.
No, what it does say is this: ??The word is close to you, in your very mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach). Confess with your mouth that 'Jesus is Lord,' believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved;
Welcome a man of weak faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his scruples. While one man has enough confidence to eat any food, the man of weak faith only eats vegetables. read more. The eater must not look down upon the non-eater, and the non-eater must not criticize the eater, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to criticize the servant of Another? It is for his Master to say whether he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Master has power to make him stand. Then again, this man rates one day above another, while that man rates all days alike. Well, everyone must be convinced in his own mind; the man who values a particular day does so to the Lord. The eater eats to the Lord, since he thanks God for his food; the non-eater abstains to the Lord, and he too thanks God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself;
So let us stop criticizing one another; rather make up your mind never to put any stumbling-block or hindrance in your brother's way. I know, I am certain in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is in itself unclean; only, anything is unclean for a man who considers it unclean. read more. If your brother is being injured because you eat a certain food, then you are no longer living by the rule of love. Do not let that food of yours ruin the man for whom Christ died. Your rights must not get a bad name. The Reign of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, it means righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit; he who serves Christ on these lines, is acceptable to God and esteemed by men. Peace, then, and the building up of each other, these are what we must aim at. You must not break down God's work for the mere sake of food! Everything may be clean, but it is wrong for a man to prove a stumbling-block by what he eats; the right course is to abstain from flesh or wine or indeed anything that your brother feels to be a stumbling-block. Certainly keep your own conviction on the matter, as between yourself and God; he is a fortunate man who has no misgivings about what he allows himself to eat. But if anyone has doubts about eating and then eats, that condemns him at once; it was not faith that induced him to eat, and any action that is not based on faith is a sin.
to the weak I have become as weak myself, to win over the weak. To all men I have become all things, to save some by all and every means.
No, what I imply is that anything people sacrifice is sacrificed to daemons, not to God. And I do not want you to participate in daemons!
I passed on to you what I received from the Lord himself, namely, that on the night he was betrayed the Lord Jesus took a loaf,
For he who speaks in a 'tongue' addresses God not men; no one understands him; he is talking of divine secrets in the Spirit.
First and foremost, I passed on to you what I had myself received, namely, that Christ died for our sins as the scriptures had said,
and finally he was seen by myself, by this so-called 'abortion' of an apostle.
Make no mistake about this: 'bad company is the ruin of good character.'
My opponent says, 'Paul's letters are weighty and telling, but his personality is weak and his delivery is beneath contempt.'
Ministers of Christ? yes perhaps, but not as much as I am (I am mad to talk like this!), with all my labours, with all my lashes, with all my time in prison ??a record longer far than theirs. I have been often at the point of death; five times have I got forty lashes (all but one) from the Jews, read more. three times I have been beaten by the Romans, once pelted with stones, three times shipwrecked, adrift at sea for a whole night and day; I have been often on my travels, I have been in danger from rivers and robbers, in danger from Jews and Gentiles, through dangers of town and of desert, through dangers on the sea, through dangers among false brothers ??27 through labour and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger and thirst, starving many a time, cold and ill-clad, and all the rest of it.
And then there is the pressing business of each day, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel his weakness? Whose faith is hurt, and I am not aglow with indignation? read more. If there is to be any boasting, I will boast of what I am weak enough to suffer! The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed for ever, He knows I am telling the truth! (At Damascus the ethnarch of king Aretas had patrols out in the city of the Damascenes to arrest me,
(At Damascus the ethnarch of king Aretas had patrols out in the city of the Damascenes to arrest me, but I was lowered in a basket from a loophole in the wall, and so managed to escape his clutches.)
There is nothing to be gained by this sort of thing, but as I am obliged to boast, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
My wealth of visions might have puffed me up, so I was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to rack me and keep me from being puffed up; three times over I prayed the Lord to make it leave me, read more. but he told me, "It is enough for you to have my grace: it is in weakness that [my] power is fully felt." So I am proud to boast of all my weakness, and thus to have the power of Christ resting on my life. It makes me satisfied, for Christ's sake, with weakness, insults, trouble, persecution, and calamity; for I am strong just when I am weak.
You had all the miracles that mark an apostle done for you fully and patiently ??miracles, wonders, and deeds of power. Where were you inferior to the rest of the churches? ??unless in this, that your apostle did not choose to make himself a burden to you. Pray pardon me this terrible wrong! read more. Here am I all ready to pay you my third visit. And I will not be a burden to you; I want yourselves and not your money. Children have not to put money by for their parents; that is what parents do for their children. And for your souls I will gladly spend my all and be spent myself. Am I to be loved the less because I love you more than others? But let that pass, you say; I was not a burden to you, no, but I was clever enough to dupe you with my tricks? Was I? Did I make something out of you by any of my messengers? I asked Titus to go, and with him I sent our brother. Titus did not make anything out of you, did he? And did not I act in the same spirit as he did? Did I not take the very same steps? You think all this time I am defending myself to you? No, I am speaking in Christ before the presence of God, and speaking every word, beloved, in order to build you up. For I am afraid I may perhaps come and find you are not what I could wish, while you may find I am not what you could wish; I am afraid of finding quarrels, jealousy, temper, rivalry, slanders, gossiping, arrogance, and disorder ??21 afraid that when I come back to you, my God may humiliate me before you, and I may have to mourn for many who sinned some time ago and yet have never repented of the impurity, the sexual vice, and the sensuality which they have practised.
No, brothers, I tell you the gospel that I preach is not a human affair; no man put it into my hands, no man taught me what it meant, I had it by a revelation of Jesus Christ. read more. You know the story of my past career in Judaism; you know how furiously I persecuted the church of God and harried it, and how I outstripped many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house.
and how I outstripped many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house. But the God who had set me apart from my very birth called me by his grace,
But the God who had set me apart from my very birth called me by his grace, and when he chose to reveal his Son to me, that I might preach him to the Gentiles, instead of consulting with any human being,
and when he chose to reveal his Son to me, that I might preach him to the Gentiles, instead of consulting with any human being, instead of going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off at once to Arabia, and on my return I came back to Damascus.
instead of going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off at once to Arabia, and on my return I came back to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to make the acquaintance of Cephas. I stayed a fortnight with him.
Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to make the acquaintance of Cephas. I stayed a fortnight with him.
Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to make the acquaintance of Cephas. I stayed a fortnight with him.
Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to make the acquaintance of Cephas. I stayed a fortnight with him. I saw no other apostle, only James the brother of the Lord.
I saw no other apostle, only James the brother of the Lord. (I am writing you the sheer truth, I swear it before God!) read more. Then I went to the districts of Syria and of Cilicia. Personally I was quite unknown to the Christian churches of Judaea;
(It was in consequence of a revelation that I went up at all.) I submitted the gospel I am in the habit of preaching to the Gentiles, submitting it privately to the authorities, to make sure that my course of action would be and had been sound.
(It was in consequence of a revelation that I went up at all.) I submitted the gospel I am in the habit of preaching to the Gentiles, submitting it privately to the authorities, to make sure that my course of action would be and had been sound. But even my companion Titus, Greek though he was, was not obliged to be circumcised.
But even my companion Titus, Greek though he was, was not obliged to be circumcised. There were traitors of false brothers, who had crept in to spy out the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus; they did aim at enslaving us again.
There were traitors of false brothers, who had crept in to spy out the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus; they did aim at enslaving us again. But we refused to yield for a single instant to their claims; we were determined that the truth of the gospel should hold good for you. read more. Besides, the so-called 'authorities' (it makes no difference to me what their status used to be ??God pays no regard to the externals of men), these 'authorities' had no additions to make to my gospel. On the contrary, when they saw I had been entrusted with the gospel for the benefit of the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been for the circumcised (for He who equipped Peter to be an apostle of the circumcised equipped me as well for the uncircumcised), and when they recognized the grace I had been given, then the so-called 'pillars' of the church, James and Cephas and John, gave myself and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. Our sphere was to be the Gentiles, theirs the circumcised.
Are you such fools? Did you begin with the spirit only to end now with the flesh?
no, although it was because of an illness (you know) that I preached the gospel to you on my former visit,
Tell me, you who are keen to be under the Law, will you not listen to the Law?
Now this is an allegory. The women are two covenants. One comes from mount Sinai, bearing children for servitude; that is Hagar, for mount Sinai is away in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for the latter is in servitude with her children.
for mount Sinai is away in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for the latter is in servitude with her children.
You are for justification by the Law? Then you are done with Christ, you have deserted grace,
I am 'still preaching circumcision myself,' am I? Then, brothers, why am I still being persecuted? And so the stumbling-block of the cross has lost its force, forsooth!
See what big letters I make, when I write you in my own hand!
Why, even the circumcision party do not observe the Law themselves! They merely want you to get circumcised, so as to boast over your flesh!
illuminating the eyes of your heart so that you can understand the hope to which He calls us, the wealth of his glorious heritage in the saints,
less than the least of all saints as I am, this grace was vouchsafed me, that I should bring the Gentiles the gospel of the fathomless wealth of Christ
their intelligence is darkened, they are estranged from the life of God by the ignorance which their dulness of heart has produced in them ??19 men who have recklessly abandoned themselves to sensuality, with a lust for the business of impurity in every shape and form.
and render thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ at all times and for all things.
For we have to struggle, not with blood and flesh but with the angelic Rulers, the angelic Authorities, the potentates of the dark present, the spirit-forces of evil in the heavenly sphere.
I was circumcised on the eighth day after birth; I belonged to the race of Israel, to the tribe of Benjamin; I was the Hebrew son of Hebrew parents, a Pharisee as regards the Law, in point of ardour a persecutor of the church, immaculate by the standard of legal righteousness.
It was a great joy to me in the Lord that your care for me could revive again; for what you lacked was never the care but the chance of showing it.
You Philippians are well aware that in the early days of the gospel, when I had left Macedonia, no church but yourselves had any financial dealings with me; even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent money more than once for my needs.
Your debt to me is fully paid and more than paid! I am amply supplied with what you have sent by Epaphroditus, a fragrant perfume, the sort of sacrifice that God approves and welcomes.
thanking the Father who has qualified us to share the lot of the saints in the Light, rescuing us from the power of the Darkness and transferring us to the realm of his beloved Son! read more. In him we enjoy our redemption, that is, the forgiveness of sins.
People tell us of their own accord about the visit we paid to you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and a real God
People tell us of their own accord about the visit we paid to you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and a real God and to wait for the coming of his Son from heaven ??the Son whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who rescues us from the Wrath to come.
and to wait for the coming of his Son from heaven ??the Son whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who rescues us from the Wrath to come.
At Philippi, as you know, we had been ill-treated and insulted, but we took courage and confidence in our God to tell you the gospel of God in spite of all the strain.
At Philippi, as you know, we had been ill-treated and insulted, but we took courage and confidence in our God to tell you the gospel of God in spite of all the strain.
Brothers, you recollect our hard labour and toil, how we worked at our trade night and day, when we preached the gospel to you, so as not to be a burden to any of you. You are witnesses, and so is God, to our behaviour among you believers, how pious and upright and blameless it was,
to lead a life worthy of the God who called you to his own realm and glory.
for you have started, my brothers, to copy the churches of God in Christ Jesus throughout Judaea; you have suffered from your compatriots just as they have suffered from the Jews,
also, endeavour to live quietly, attend to your own business, and ??as we charged you ??work with your hands, so that your life may be correct in the eyes of the outside world and self-supporting.
I render thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has made me able for this; he considered me trustworthy and appointed me to the ministry, though I had formerly been a blasphemer and a persecutor and a wanton aggressor. I obtained mercy because in my unbelief I had acted out of ignorance; read more. and the grace of our Lord flooded my life along with the faith and love that Christ Jesus inspires. It is a sure word, it deserves all praise, that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners"; and though I am the foremost of sinners, I obtained mercy, for the purpose of furnishing Christ Jesus with the chief illustration of his utter patience; I was to be the typical instance of all who were to believe in him and gain eternal life.
Those who are guilty of sin you must expose in public, to overawe the others.
I render thanks to God, the God of my fathers whom I worship with a pure conscience, as I mention you constantly in my prayers.
It has been said by one of themselves, by a prophet of their own, that ??"Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons."
and he saved us, not for anything we had done but from his own pity for us, by the water that means regeneration and renewal under the holy Spirit
You have not come to what you can touch, to flames of fire, to mist and gloom and stormy blasts,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a life of hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord means salvation; as indeed our beloved brother Paul has written to you out of the wisdom vouchsafed to him,
It is of what existed from the very beginning, of what we heard, of what we saw, of what we witnessed and touched with our own hands, it is of the Logos of Life
Morish
This apostle was of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of pure descent, born at Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, a fact which gave to him the privilege of Roman citizenship. He was a disciple of Gamaliel and a strict Pharisee. He is first introduced to us as a young man, by name SAUL, at whose feet the witnesses who stoned Stephen laid their clothes. He became afterwards a violent persecutor of the saints, both of men and women, acting with great zeal, thinking he was doing God's service. His conversion as the effect of the Lord appearing to him was unique, and he was so completely changed that he became at once as bold for Christ as before he had been a persecutor of Christ in the persons of His saints. He immediately preached in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. This was the distinctive point of his testimony. As the Jews sought his life at Damascus, he departed into Arabia, where doubtless he had deep exercise of heart and learnt more of the Lord.
After three years he went up to see Peter at Jerusalem, where he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus. The Jews again seeking his life, he was conducted to Caesarea, and sent to Tarsus, his native place. From thence he was fetched by Barnabas to go to Antioch, where the gospel had been effectual, and there they both laboured. After having, in company with Barnabas, taken supplies to Jerusalem (his second visit), on occasion of a dearth, he commenced his first missionary journey to Cyprus and Asia Minor. He and Barnabas returned to Antioch, where he remained 'a long time.' On a dispute arising as to Gentile converts being circumcised, he went with Barnabas to Jerusalem concerning that question, and returned to Antioch. This city had become a sort of centre of the activity of the Spirit. Being far from Jerusalem it was less influenced by Judaising tendencies, though communion with the saints there was maintained.
Asia Minor, Macedonia and Greece were the sphere of Paul's second missionary journey. Having differed from Barnabas, because the latter wished to take John with them (who had left them on the first journey), Paul selected Silas for his companion, and departed with the full fellowship of the brethren. During part of this journey Timothy was one of the company. He abode a year and a half at Corinth, where he wrote the two EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS. He now visited Jerusalem at the feast, and returned to Antioch. He took his third missionary journey through Galatia and Phrygia. When he visited Ephesus he separated the disciples from the synagogue, and they met in the school of Tyrannus. At Ephesus he wrote the FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, and probably the EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. After the tumult raised by Demetrius he went to Macedonia, and there wrote the SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. He again visited Corinth and wrote the EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.
The Jews seeking his life, Paul went through Macedonia, sailed from Philippi, and preached at Troas. At Miletus he gave a solemn parting address to the elders of Ephesus, and took his leave of the disciples at Tyre, where he was cautioned not to go to Jerusalem. At Caesarea also he was warned of what awaited him at Jerusalem, but he avowed that he was ready not only to be bound, but also to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.
Paul arrived at Jerusalem just before Pentecost. In order to prove himself a good Jew he was advised by the brethren to associate himself with four men who had a vow on them, and to be at charges with them. But while carrying this out he was seized by some Asiatic Jews, and beaten, but was rescued by Lysias, the Roman chief captain. After appearing before the council, and again being rescued by him, he was for safety sent off by night to Caesarea. There his cause was heard by Felix, who kept him prisoner, hoping to be bribed to release him. Two years later, when superseded by Festus, Felix, to please the Jews, left Paul in bonds. On appearing before Festus, to save himself from being sent to Jerusalem, there being a plot to waylay and murder him, Paul appealed to the emperor. His case having been heard by Agrippa and Festus, he was finally remitted to Rome. The ship, however, was wrecked at Malta, where they wintered, all on board having been saved.
On his arrival at Rome, Paul sent for the chief men of the Jews and preached to them: some of them believed, though the majority rejected God's grace (thus fulfilling Isa 6:9-10), which should henceforth go to the Gentiles. He, though still a prisoner, abode two years in his own hired house. There he wrote the EPISTLES TO THE COLOSSIANS, the EPHESIANS, the PHILIPPIANS, and also to PHILEMON.
The history of Paul is thus far given in the Acts of the Apostles, but there are intimations in the later epistles that after the two years at Rome he was liberated. His movements from that time are not definitely recorded; apparently he visited Ephesus and Macedonia, 1Ti 1:3; wrote the FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY; visited Crete, Tit 1:5; and Nicopolis, Tit 3:12; wrote the EPISTLE TO TITUS (the early writers say that he went to Spain, which we know he desired to do, Ro 15:24,28); visited Troas and Miletus, 2Ti 4:13,20; wrote the EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS; and when a prisoner at Rome the second time, wrote the SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY, when expecting his death. Early writers say that he was beheaded with the sword, which is probable, as he was a Roman citizen.
Paul received his commission directly from Christ who appeared to him in glory, and this source of his apostleship he carefully insists on in the Epistle to the Galatians. New light as to the church in its heavenly character came out by Paul, who was God's special apostle for that purpose. To him was revealed the truth that the assembly was the body of Christ, and the doctrine of new creation in Christ Jesus, in which evidently there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. This caused great persecution from the Jews and from Judaising teachers, who could not readily give up the law, nor endure the thought of Gentiles having an equal place with themselves. This Paul insisted on: it was his mission as apostle to the Gentiles. To Paul also was committed what he calls "my gospel:" this was 'the gospel of the glory' (Christ in glory who put away the Christian's sins being presented in it as the last Adam, the Son of God). 2Co 4:4. It not only brings salvation, great as that is, but it separates the believer from earth, and conforms him to Christ as He is in glory.
Paul was an eminent and faithful servant of Christ. As such he was content to be nothing, that Christ might be glorified. To the Thessalonians he was gentle 'as a nurse cherisheth her children.' 1Th 2:7. He was severe however to the Corinthians when they were allowing sin in their midst, and to them he had to assert his apostolic authority when traducers were seeking to nullify his influence among them. To the Galatians he was still more severe: they were in danger of being shipwrecked as to faith by false Judaising teachers, who were undermining the truth of the gospel.
In the epistles we get a few glimpses of the inner life of Paul. After having been caught up into the third heavens, he prayed for the removal of the thorn in the flesh which had been given him lest he should be puffed up, and was told that Christ's grace was sufficient for him, he could say, "most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.'' 2Co 12:9-10. He also could say, "To me to live is Christ;" and "This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus." Php 3:13-14. As a martyr he reached that goal. The catalogue he gives of his privations and sufferings in 2Co 11:23-28 discloses the fact that but a small part of his gigantic labours is recounted in the Acts of the Apostles.
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whenever I went to Spain, I am hoping to see you on my way there, and to be sped forward by you after I have enjoyed your company for a while.
Well, once I finish this business by putting the proceeds of the collection safely in their hands, I will start for Spain and take you on the way.
there the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to prevent them seeing the light thrown by the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God.
Ministers of Christ? yes perhaps, but not as much as I am (I am mad to talk like this!), with all my labours, with all my lashes, with all my time in prison ??a record longer far than theirs. I have been often at the point of death; five times have I got forty lashes (all but one) from the Jews, read more. three times I have been beaten by the Romans, once pelted with stones, three times shipwrecked, adrift at sea for a whole night and day; I have been often on my travels, I have been in danger from rivers and robbers, in danger from Jews and Gentiles, through dangers of town and of desert, through dangers on the sea, through dangers among false brothers ??27 through labour and hardship, through many a sleepless night, through hunger and thirst, starving many a time, cold and ill-clad, and all the rest of it.
And then there is the pressing business of each day, the care of all the churches.
but he told me, "It is enough for you to have my grace: it is in weakness that [my] power is fully felt." So I am proud to boast of all my weakness, and thus to have the power of Christ resting on my life. It makes me satisfied, for Christ's sake, with weakness, insults, trouble, persecution, and calamity; for I am strong just when I am weak.
Brothers, I for one do not consider myself to have appropriated this; my one thought is, by forgetting what lies behind me and straining to what lies before me, to press on to the goal for the prize of God's high call in Christ Jesus.
no, we behaved gently when we were among you, like a nursing mother cherishing her own children,
As I asked you when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay where you are at Ephesus and warn certain individuals against teaching novelties
When you come, bring the mantle I left at Troas with Carpus, also my books, and particularly my paper.
Erastus stayed on at Corinth: I left Trophimus ill at Miletus.
I left you behind in Crete in order to finish putting things right and to appoint presbyters in every town as I told you,
Whenever I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to 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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'A hundred barrels of oil,' he said. The factor told him, 'Here is your bill; sit down at once and enter fifty barrels.'
Putting him outside the city, they proceeded to stone him (the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a youth called Saul).
one of whom, named Agabus, showed by the Spirit that a severe famine was about to visit the whole world (the famine which occurred in the reign of Claudius).
But certain individuals came down from Jerusalem and taught the brothers that "unless you get circumcised after the custom of Moses you cannot be saved." As a sharp dispute and controversy sprang up between them and Paul and Barnabas, it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas, along with some others of their number, should go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and presbyters at Jerusalem about this question. read more. The church sped them on their journey, and they passed through both Phoenicia and Syria informing the brothers, to the great joy of all, that the Gentiles were turning to God. On arriving at Jerusalem they were received by the church, the apostles and the presbyters, and they reported how God had been with them and what he had done. But some of the believers who belonged to the Pharisaic party got up and said, "Gentiles must be circumcised and told to observe the law of Moses." The apostles and the presbyters met to investigate this question, and a keen controversy sprang up; but Peter rose and said to them, "Brothers, you are well aware that from the earliest days God chose that of you all I should be the one by whom the Gentiles were to hear the word of the gospel and believe it. The God who reads the hearts of all attested this by giving them the holy Spirit just as he gave it to us; in cleansing their hearts by faith he made not the slightest distinction between us and them. Well now, why are you trying to impose a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we ourselves could bear? No, it is by the grace of the Lord Jesus that we believe and are saved, in the same way as they are." So the whole meeting was quieted and listened to Barnabas and Paul recounting the signs and wonders God had performed by them among the Gentiles. When they had finished speaking, James spoke. "Brothers," he said, "listen to me. Symeon has explained how it was God's original concern to secure a People from among the Gentiles to bear his Name. This agrees with the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent, its ruins I will rebuild and erect it anew, that the rest of men may seek for the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by my name, saith the Lord, who makes this known from of old. Hence, in my opinion, we ought not to put fresh difficulties in the way of those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but write them injunctions to abstain from whatever is contaminated by idols, from sexual vice, from the flesh of animals that have been strangled, and from tasting blood; for Moses has had his preachers from the earliest ages in every town, where he is read aloud in the synagogues every sabbath." Then the apostles and the presbyters, together with the whole church, decided to select some of their number and send them with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. The men selected were Judas (called Bar-Sabbas) and Silas, prominent members of the brotherhood. They conveyed the following letter. "The apostles and the presbyters of the brotherhood to the brothers who belong to the Gentiles throughout Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: greeting. Having learned that some of our number, quite unauthorized by us, have unsettled you with their teaching and upset your souls, we have decided unanimously to select some of our number and send them to you along with our beloved Paul and Barnabas who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We therefore send Judas and Silas with the following message, which they will also give to you orally. The holy Spirit and we have decided not to impose any extra burden on you, apart from these essential requirements: abstain from food that has been offered to idols, from tasting blood, from the flesh of animals that have been strangled, and from sexual vice. Keep clear of all this and you will prosper. Goodbye."
Paul and Barnabas, however, stayed on in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord along with a number of others. Some days later, Paul said to Barnabas, "Come and let us go back to visit the brothers in every town where we have proclaimed the word of the Lord. Let us see how they are doing." read more. But while Barnabas wanted to take John (who was called Mark) along with them, Paul held they should not take a man with them who had deserted them in Pamphylia, instead of accompanying them on active service. So in irritation they parted company, Barnabas taking Mark with him and sailing for Cyprus, while Paul selected Silas and went off, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.
all of a sudden there was a great earthquake which shook the very foundations of the prison; the doors all flew open in an instant and the fetters of all the prisoners were unfastened. When the jailer started from his sleep and saw the prison-doors open, he drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, supposing the prisoners had made their escape; read more. but Paul shouted aloud, "Do not harm yourself, we are all here!" So calling for lights he rushed in, fell in terror before Paul and Silas, and brought them out (after securing the other prisoners). "Sirs," he said, "what must I do to be saved?" "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ," they said, "and then you will be saved, you and your household as well." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all in his house. Then he took them at that very hour of the night and washed their wounds and got baptized instantly, he and all his family. He took them up to his house and put food before them, overjoyed like all his household at having believed in God.
After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
and as he belonged to the same trade he stayed with them and they all worked together. (They were workers in leather by trade.)
crying, "This fellow incites men to worship God contrary to the Law." Paul was just on the point of opening his lips to reply, when Gallio said to the Jews, "If it had been a misdemeanour or wicked crime, there would be some reason in me listening to you,O Jews.
After waiting on for a number of days Paul said goodbye to the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. (As the latter was under a vow, he had his head shaved at Cenchreae.)
After spending some time there he went off on a journey right through the country of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening the disciples.
After passing through the districts of Macedonia and encouraging the people at length, he came to Greece, where he spent three months. Just as he was on the point of sailing for Syria, the Jews laid a plot against him. He therefore resolved to return through Macedonia.
When they came to him, he said, "You know quite well how I lived among you all the time ever since I set foot in Asia, how I served the Lord in all humility, with many a tear and many a trial which I encountered owing to the plots of the Jews, read more. how I never shrank from letting you know anything for your good, or from teaching you alike in public and from house to house, bearing my testimony, both to Jews and Greeks, of repentance before God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Now here I go to Jerusalem under the binding force of the Spirit. What will befall me there, I do not know. Only, I know this, that in town after town the holy Spirit testifies to me that bonds and troubles are awaiting me. But then, I set no value on my own life as compared with the joy of finishing my course and fulfilling the commission I received from the Lord Jesus to attest the gospel of the grace of God. I know to-day that not one of you will ever see my face again ??not one of you among whom I moved as I preached the Reign. Therefore do I protest before you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you; I never shrank from letting you know the entire purpose of God. Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock of which the holy Spirit has appointed you guardians; shepherd the church of the Lord which he has purchased with his own blood. I know that when I am gone, fierce wolves will get in among you, and they will not spare the flock; yes. and men of your own number will arise with perversions of the truth to draw the disciples after them. So be on the alert, remember how for three whole years I never ceased night and day to watch over each one of you with tears. And now I entrust you to God and the word of his grace; he is able to upbuild you and give you your inheritance among all the consecrated. Silver, gold, or apparel I never coveted; you know yourselves how these hands of mine provided everything for my own needs and for my companions. I showed you how this was the way to work hard and succour the needy, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, who said, 'To give is happier than to get.'"
The brothers welcomed us gladly on our arrival at Jerusalem.
Some of the crowd roared one thing, some another, and as he could not learn the facts owing to the uproar, he ordered Paul to be taken to the barracks. By the time he reached the steps, he had actually to be carried by the soldiers on account of the violence of the crowd, read more. for the whole mass of the people followed shouting, "Away with him!" Just as he was being taken into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, "May I say a word to you?" "You know Greek!" said the commander. "Then you are not the Egyptian who in days gone by raised the four thousand assassins and led them out into the desert?" Paul said, "I am a Jew, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, the citizen of a famous town. Pray let me speak to the people." As he gave permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people. A great hush came over them, and he addressed them as follows in Hebrew.
"Brothers and fathers, listen to the defence I now make before you."
They yelled and threw their clothes into the air and flung dust about,
Then, finding half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisees, Paul shouted to them, "I am a Pharisee, brothers, the son of Pharisees! It is for the hope of the resurrection from the dead that I am on trial!"
by the force of miracles and marvels, by the power of the Spirit of God. Thus from Jerusalem right round to Illyricum, I have been able to complete the preaching of the gospel of Christ ??20 my ambition always being to preach it only in places where there had been no mention of Christ's name, that I might not build on foundations laid by others,
My love be with you all in Christ Jesus.' [Amen.]
instead of going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off at once to Arabia, and on my return I came back to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to make the acquaintance of Cephas. I stayed a fortnight with him.
no, although it was because of an illness (you know) that I preached the gospel to you on my former visit, and though my flesh was a trial to you, you did not scoff at me nor spurn me, you welcomed me like an angel of God, like Christ Jesus. You congratulated yourselves. read more. Now, what has become of all that? (I can bear witness that you would have torn out your very eyes, if you could, and given me them.)
for which I have to suffer imprisonment as if I were a criminal. (But there is no prison for the word of God.)
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
See Verses Found in Dictionary
(Saul quite approved of his murder.) That day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone, with the exception of the apostles, was scattered over Judaea and Samaria.
but Saul made havoc of the church by entering one house after another, dragging off men and women, and consigning them to prison.
Meanwhile Saul still breathed threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest
and the Jews, after a number of days had elapsed, conspired to make away with him.
Barnabas, however, got hold of him and brought him to the apostles. To them he related how he had seen the Lord upon the road, how He had spoken to him, and how he had spoken freely in the name of Jesus at Damascus.
he also held conversations and debates with the Hellenists. But when the brothers learned that the Hellenists were attempting to make away with him,
So Barnabas went off to Tarsus to look for Saul, and on finding him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught considerable numbers. It was at Antioch too that the disciples were originally called "Christians."
one of whom, named Agabus, showed by the Spirit that a severe famine was about to visit the whole world (the famine which occurred in the reign of Claudius).
Now in the local church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Symeon (called Niger) and Lucius the Cyrenian, besides Manaen (a foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.
But certain individuals came down from Jerusalem and taught the brothers that "unless you get circumcised after the custom of Moses you cannot be saved." As a sharp dispute and controversy sprang up between them and Paul and Barnabas, it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas, along with some others of their number, should go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and presbyters at Jerusalem about this question.
Some days later, Paul said to Barnabas, "Come and let us go back to visit the brothers in every town where we have proclaimed the word of the Lord. Let us see how they are doing."
and as he belonged to the same trade he stayed with them and they all worked together. (They were workers in leather by trade.)
Paul said, "I am a Jew, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, the citizen of a famous town. Pray let me speak to the people."
I persecuted this Way of religion to the death, chaining and imprisoning both men and women,
When I returned to Jerusalem, it happened that while I was praying in the temple I fell into a trance
They had strapped him up, when Paul said to the officer who was standing by, "Are you allowed to scourge a Roman citizen ??and to scourge him without a trial?"
That is why God has given them up to vile passions; their women have exchanged the natural function of sex for what is unnatural, and in the same way the males have abandoned the natural use of women and flamed out in lust for one another, men perpetrating shameless acts with their own sex and getting in their own persons the due recompense of their perversity. read more. Yes, as they disdained to acknowledge God any longer, God has given them up to a reprobate instinct, for the perpetration of what is improper, till they are filled with all manner of wickedness, depravity, lust, and viciousness, filled to the brim with envy, murder, quarrels, intrigues, and malignity ??slanderers, defamers, loathed by God, outrageous, haughty, boastful, inventive in evil, disobedient to parents, devoid of conscience, false to their word, callous, merciless; though they know God's decree that people who practise such vice deserve death, they not only do it themselves but applaud those who practise it.
You forbid adultery; do you commit adultery? You detest idols; do you rob temples? You pride yourself on the Law; do you dishonour God by your breaches of the Law? read more. Why, it is owing to you that the name of God is maligned among the Gentiles, as scripture says!
For he decreed of old that those whom he predestined should share the likeness of his Son ??that he might be the firstborn of a great brotherhood. Then he calls those whom he has thus decreed; then he justifies those whom he has called; then he glorifies those whom he has justified.
Thus, I may speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but if I have no love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal; I may prophesy, fathom all mysteries and secret lore, I may have such absolute faith that I can move hills from their place, but if I have no love, I count for nothing; read more. I may distribute all I possess in charity, I may give up my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I make nothing of it. Love is very patient, very kind. Love knows no jealousy; love makes no parade, gives itself no airs, is never rude, never selfish, never irritated, never resentful; love is never glad when others go wrong, love is gladdened by goodness, always slow to expose, always eager to believe the best, always hopeful, always patient. Love never disappears. As for prophesying, it will be superseded; as for 'tongues,' they will cease; as for knowledge, it will be superseded. For we only know bit by bit, and we only prophesy bit by bit; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will be superseded.
For I am the very least of the apostles, unfit to bear the name of apostle, since I persecuted the church of God.
Well, when I reached Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, though I had a wide opportunity in the Lord, my spirit could not rest, because I did not find Titus my brother there; so I said goodbye and went off to Macedonia.
Now, brothers, I have to tell you about the grace God has given to the churches of Macedonia.
I asked Titus to go, and with him I sent our brother. Titus did not make anything out of you, did he? And did not I act in the same spirit as he did? Did I not take the very same steps?
You know the story of my past career in Judaism; you know how furiously I persecuted the church of God and harried it,
Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to make the acquaintance of Cephas. I stayed a fortnight with him.
they merely heard that 'our former persecutor is now preaching the faith he once harried,'
Then, fourteen years later, I went up to Jerusalem again, accompanied by Barnabas; I took Titus with me also.
For there is one Body and one Spirit ??as you were called for the one hope that belongs to your call ??5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, who is over us all, who pervades us all, who is within us all. But each one of us is granted his own grace, as determined by the full measure of Christ's gift.
Never let any sexual vice or impurity or lust be so much as mentioned by you ??that is the proper course for saints to take; no, nor indecent, silly, or scurrilous talk ??all that is improper. Rather, voice your thanks to God. read more. Be sure of this, that no one guilty of sexual vice or impurity or lust (that is, an idolater) possesses any inheritance in the realm of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with specious arguments; these are the vices that bring down God's anger on the sons of disobedience.
I was circumcised on the eighth day after birth; I belonged to the race of Israel, to the tribe of Benjamin; I was the Hebrew son of Hebrew parents, a Pharisee as regards the Law,
All the saints salute you, especially the Imperial slaves.
The reason why I am sending him to you is that he may ascertain how you are, and encourage your hearts. He is accompanied by that faithful and beloved brother Onesimus, who is one of yourselves. They will inform you of all that goes on here. read more. Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner salutes you; so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you have got instructions (if he comes to you, give him a welcome); and so does Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only comrades in the work of God's realm, belonging to the circumcised, who have been any comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of yourselves, salutes you ??a servant of Christ Jesus who is always earnest in prayer for you, that you may stand firm like mature and convinced Christians, whatever be the will of God for you.
It has been said by one of themselves, by a prophet of their own, that ??"Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." That is a true statement. So deal sharply with them, to have them sound in the faith
Remind them to be submissive to their rulers and authorities; they must obey, they must be ready for any good work, they must abuse no one, they must not quarrel, but be conciliatory and display perfect gentleness to all men. read more. For we ourselves were once senseless, disobedient, astray, enslaved to all manner of passions and pleasures; we spent our days in malice and envy, we were hateful, and we hated one another.
For we ourselves were once senseless, disobedient, astray, enslaved to all manner of passions and pleasures; we spent our days in malice and envy, we were hateful, and we hated one another. But "the goodness and affection of God our Saviour appeared;
But "the goodness and affection of God our Saviour appeared; and he saved us, not for anything we had done but from his own pity for us, by the water that means regeneration and renewal under the holy Spirit