Paul: From Persecutor to Preacher

Introduction

The Bible recounts stories of men and women who were transformed by God from sinners to saints.

Such a story was that of the Apostle Paul who went from being a hardened persecutor of Christians to becoming a preacher of the same gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the following two passages, we read of the story of Paul summarized by himself:

Galatians 1:23‭-‬24 (NKJV) says,

"But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God in me."

In I Timothy 1:12‭-‬15 (NKJV) Paul again notes,

"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."

There are two important aspects of Paul’s life that we can learn from according to the passages above:

#1. Paul The Sinner

We do what we do because of our nature. We are either trapped in our old nature or we are controlled by a new nature born from above by the Spirit of God. Therefore, everyone is either a sinner controlled by Satan or a saint joined to Christ.

In the book of Acts 9, we read of the story of Paul (then Saul) who worked tirelessly to persecute believers in Christ thinking that he was doing the will of God. Thus, he collected letters from the hands of the high priest and went to Damascus in rage to arrest those of the Way. Every sinner channels his disobedience into something and Paul’s was to persecute believers. Paul considered himself ‘a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man’ because he did ‘it ignorantly in unbelief’.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:1 that we were all dead in trespass until God made us alive with Christ. We were once disobedient and under the power of Satan. We were all once sinners. Every saint’s story starts from the sinful nature.

#2. Paul The Saint

The second thing we learn from Paul is that he obtained mercy and grace to become a saint of Christ.

In the article, What Does Saint Mean, saint is explained as,

“…a “holy one,” someone who is set apart for God’s special purposes. As a result, every follower of Jesus Christ is a saint.”

Romans 1:7 (NKJV) said,

"To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

I Corinthians 1:2 (NKJV) says,

"To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours."

We learn three important things about Paul’s salvation:

a. Paul Was Saved From Sin

Paul says Christ saved him from being a chief sinner. Sin is disobedience. Sin is to miss the mark of God. Sin is wrath against God. Thus, by Christ saving Paul, he overcame the power of sin and its bondage.

b. Paul Was Saved To Serve Christ

Paul was not only saved from sin but also saved to serve Christ. We are moved from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. When Christ met him on the Damascus Road, He will be sent to preach to the Gentiles and suffer many things for His name sake (Acts 9:16). We are freed from sin to become slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18).

c. Paul Was Saved To Glorify Christ

The last thing we notice about the testimony of the people about Paul was that they glorified God in him because they could tell that Christ was at work in his life. They knew it could not be human work for such a person to have true repentance and propagate the same gospel he was against.

Every believer in Christ has been saved from sin to become a saint who is a slave to the Saviour Jesus Christ. Our lives must reflect this reality like that of Paul.

In The Journals of Kierkegaard, Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard said,

“God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: he makes saints out of sinners.”

In Galatians 2:20 Paul said,

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

May the preaching of the gospel save many more people from sinful lives to become saints of Christ Jesus.

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