PAUL'S MISSION AND WRITING

Paul's mission and writing of the epistles impact the beliefs of Christians both then and now?



Paul's mission and writing of the epistles impact the beliefs of Christians both then and now?

Introduction

Without doubt, one of the most influential accounts of Christianity is the fact that Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor perhaps most bitter of Christianity, to become the apostle Paul. Saul was a Jewish fanatic, a religious leader. The fact of being born in Tarsus gave him the opportunity to stay in touch with one of the most advanced cultures of the time. Tarsus was a university town which was notorious for his culture and his school of philosophy. If we are to understand Paul's conversion is necessary to understand why it was anti-Christian: the reason was his devotion to Jewish law, and this was what caused her tremendous hatred against Jesus Christ and the early church.

Impact of the Early Life of Saul of Tarsus and his Conversion

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus into Paul the apostle is, I believe one of the most convincing evidences for the truth of Christianity. Prior to his conversion, Paul had it all. He had power, money, influence, and respect within his community, the best education available, and a purpose in life. And then, overnight, he changed from Christianity's greatest opponent to its greatest proponent. Paul had nothing to gain and everything to lose by becoming a believer in Christ. There was only one, logical reason for him to become a Christian. Because Christianity was true. Because he had encountered the risen Christ.

The Jews had falsely accused him of many crimes, and sent him to the Romans to be tried for those crimes, hoping he would be executed. But Paul, despite persecution and unsympathetic listeners, laid out the truth of his conversion and the truth of the gospel clearly and unapologetically. We can learn a lot from his personal testimony. Most importantly, the center-point of Paul's testimony was not himself, but Christ. Paul's testimony was not what he had done in his life with Jesus' help. It was the radical, supernatural change that Christ had done in him. And that is a model we should follow.

The risen Jesus is the climax of history, for he is both Messiah and God. God comes to all people, as he came to Paul, in the person of Jesus. This aggressive preaching provoked fury and consternation among Jews at Damascus; they enlisted the support of Aretas, whose Nabatean kingdom then included Damascus, to secure Paul's arrest. Luke describes his escape: 'His disciples took him by night and let him down over the wall, lowering him in a basket.' (Acts 9:25) The date of his escape must have been before AD 40, because King Aretas died in that year.

Three years after his conversion, Paul went up to Jerusalem to meet Peter, and stayed with him for fifteen days. 'But I saw none of the other apostles,' he wrote to the Galatians, 'except James ...