“Be my imitators, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1 JnD).
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).
We first meet Paul at the stoning of Stephen where he (then called Saul) “was consenting unto his death” (Acts 8:1).
As to his background, Paul speaks for himself: “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus... brought up... at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God.... I persecuted this way unto the death.... I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem... to be punished.... As I made my journey... suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? And I answered, Who art Thou, Lord? And He said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest” (Acts 22:38).
A Chosen Vessel Saul learned from Ananias that he was a chosen vessel to bear the Lord’s name before the Gentiles and to suffer for His name’s sake. He learned that in persecuting believers, he persecuted the Head in heaven (Acts 9). Later on, Saul (which means “requested”) became Paul (meaning “little”). “Saul who also is called Paul” (Acts 13:9).
“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy.... And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant” (1 Tim. 1:12-14).
Paul’s Gospel
What formed Paul’s gospel (Gal. 2:2; Rom. 2:16) was fresh revelation. He did not get it by reading the Old Testament. Six things were revealed to him from Christ in glory:
1. We are justified by faith, not by works of the law (Acts 13:38-39).
2. Believers are united to Christ; it is expressed by one loaf on His table (Eph. 1:22-23; 3:27; 1 Cor. 10:17).
3. We are to break bread in remembrance of Him till He comes (1 Cor. 11:23-26).
4. Christ will come to take us to heaven before the judgments fall on the earth (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 2 Thess. 2:1).
5. If a believer dies, he is absent from the body and present with the Lord, which is far better (2 Cor. 5:6-9; Phil. 1:21,23).
6. At His coming our bodies will be changed to be like His incorruptible body of glory (Phil. 3:21).
“I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.... But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me... immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia.... Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother. Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem... by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles” (Gal. 1:11-19; 2:12).
Paul’s Boast
If anyone could boast in the flesh, Paul could even more. Seven things which made him somebody in this world he counts loss and filth (see Phil. 3:5-6). Christ was all to him. “That I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know Him.... This one thing I do.... I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:8-14).
Paul’s Thorn
He had another experience affecting the rest of his life which caused him to need a thorn in his flesh, lest he become proud. “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago.... Such a man (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God know-eth)... was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Cor. 12:24).
No wonder he let nothing stand in the way of his imitating Christ. He includes us: “We all, with open face beholding... the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). The “thorn in the flesh,” and his past would keep him humble, as he says, “I am the least of the apostles... because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor. 15:9). “Less than the least of all saints” (Eph. 3:8). “Though I be nothing” (2 Cor. 12:11).
Paul’s Love
Imitating Christ, he loved every believer. First Thessalonians 1:2 is an example: “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.” In 2 Corinthians 11:23-29 he speaks of things he endured for Christ and the burdens he bore. Like his Master, he makes no complaint. “Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not” (1 Peter 2:23). “Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life” (2 Tim. 3:10).
Paul’s Experience
Though writing by divine inspiration, Paul spoke from experience. “I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and... to abound,... and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:11-13).
Paul’s Concern
Paul was concerned for the ongoing of the truth. In Acts 20:32 his word to the Ephesian elders is, “I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace.” He exhorts Timothy, “The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).
Jesus did not exalt Himself, but “God also hath highly exalted Him” (Phil. 2:9). So Paul awaits the day when God will manifest his work. “Then shall every man have praise of God” (1 Cor. 4:5). A day is coming when “we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Till then we should be more “conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).
T. A. Roach