A Study of Paul

By B.D. Gray

Paul could probably be called the most fervent Christian ever. However, before he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Master, he was a Jew; a Pharisee; a persecutor of Christians who would go to no end to see Christians hunted down, imprisoned, beat, tortured, and even killed; and he did it all in the name of God. But once he turned to Jesus, while on the Damascus road, he became just as fervent for Christianity as he had been against it. 

In this study, we will examine the life of Paul, only being able to speculate on his early life, but following the Scriptures once they pick up his life in early adulthood. Once we get to his mission work, we will go through the remaining chapters in the Book of Acts. We will also touch on each of his epistles, or letters, that eventually became Books of the Bible, looking at them in the context of Paul’s life and what was happening at the time of their writing. 

Understanding the man, Paul, and what he was going through in his life, will hopefully help you to better understand what he, through the inspiration of God, was trying to communicate to the recipients of his letters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: B.D. Gray
• Release date: Mar 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507098349

Book preview

Preface

Preferring not to do topical studies, I normally try to do studies on individual complete Books of the Bible, starting with the first verse and not finishing until the last verse in the Book. It was in such a study on Paul's epistle to the Romans for a Wednesday night Bible study class that I started with the first word of the Book, Paul and did not finish teaching on that word until two years later. As a result, I took those two years worth of teaching notes on the life of the Apostle Paul, refined and expanded them, and put them into their own study, which is now presented here. As such, this study differs somewhat from the other studies in this series.

One of the major things that Paul seemed to fight a lot against was false teachers. A false teacher does not have to be trying to deceive you in order to teach you wrongly. As you will learn, once you get much farther along in this study, one of Paul's eventual companions, Apollos, started off teaching false doctrine. He didn't do it because he wanted to teach false doctrine, he just didn't know any better. One of the major problems that I see in the Church today is that for generations we have been taught things that just are not scriptural. In fact, in my opinion, it seems that most of what we Christians know about the Bible is nothing more than myths, fables, fairytales, and traditions. It is not that all preachers are trying to teach us falsely, but they are merely teaching us what they have been taught. What they should be teaching us is what the Bible says, instead of what man says. Now, whose fault is it if we are taught something falsely, and we accept it as Gospel? First, let's divide fault into two separate sections: cause and responsibility. If we accept false teaching as Gospel, I see the cause as being the teacher teaching such things; however, I see the responsibility of accepting false teachings belonging to the one who accepts those teachings.

But how do we avoid accepting something falsely taught as being the Gospel? We start with prayer, and a heart and mind that are open to the Holy Spirit (See John 14:26). Next we have to study the Scriptures ourselves to see if what we are being taught is in line with what the Bible says (See 2nd Timothy 2:15). Next, we have to put what is being taught to the test. That doesn't mean that we go out and physically, or literally try everything that we are taught, but instead it means that we are to compare what is being taught with God's Word in whole. In other words, if what is being taught does not agree with the rest of the Bible, then it is probably not right. Finally, we have to talk it over with God, trusting Him to guide us in the proper paths.

All of that being said, whatever you do, do not take my teachings, in and of themselves, as Gospel. I can guarantee you that somewhere or another I will teach you something that is not right. Not that would intend to do so, but because like any other teacher or preacher, I am human. It is your responsibility to study God's word and to determine what is right and what is wrong. You and the future generations are the ones who will have to pay the price for false teachings that you take for the truth. Sure, who ever teaches you will have to answer for their wrong, but you may be the one who has to pay the price, and if that price keeps you or someone else from truly accepting Jesus as their Savior, Lord, and Master, then that price may prove more expensive than you would ever want to pay.

This book is a study. Study does not mean read. Paul said, in 2nd Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Paul did not say to simply read, he did not say to sit and listen to someone teach you, in fact he did not even say to learn, but what he did say was to study. Get in there and work; dig the truth out; search to see what it is that God is trying to tell you or to teach you; understand what God would have you to learn. And the only way you will ever accomplish this is to pray, ask the Holy Spirit to help you to understand, and then work.

The formatting of this book is important. The Scripture of the Book should show up in a slightly larger and Italic font that looks like this: John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

My comments should show up in a non-Italic font like this: {My comments are normally, but not always, enclosed in brackets.}

Any referenced Scripture should show up as a smaller sized non-Italic font like this: {Genesis 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.}

See the difference in the fonts, sizes and the added brackets? If the referenced Scripture is within one of my comments, then the brackets may not be there, such as this: {Your body is a temple too, as it says in 1st Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?} When I want to emphasize something it will either be underlined, bold, or bold underlined in growing order of emphasis.

Unfortunately, one of the draw backs to eBooks is that sometimes the original font type and size may be changed in the process of publishing the eBook, and as a result, it may be difficult to distinguish subtle differences in the fonts. Note that for this same reason, in eBook formats, the underlines, which do not always show up properly, have been replaced with simple bold fonts.

Another drawback to eBooks is that some images may be small and unclear, and when zoomed in on, become even less clear. When you click on See Map, you should be taken to a map at the back of the book (use your back button to return to you place). Once at the map, you can click on it, and a hyperlink will take you to a website (http://paulsmap.weebly.com/) with a better image of the map with a link to a PDF version of the map, which should be much clearer and larger. Please note that you have to click the download link for the better PDF image to display on the screen. Once you click the download link, you can view the PDF, download it, or print it.

There are times when my comments and references may be somewhat lengthy. Since these comments and references may be placed mid sentence within scripture, the flow of the scripture may become lost or confusing. As such, I highly recommend that after you read a comment or reference that you go back and read the scripture portion over again, skipping over the comments or reference. The thought behind this is to maintain the context of the scripture you are studying. As an aid in this, you may find it helpful to keep a Bible open to the scripture you are studying.

In all, this study contains approximately 100,450 words, of this number approximately 67,800 are my words, and 32,650 words are Scripture, and there are another 250 Scripture references for you to look up.

There may be times within the study where I get a little too preachy. If you find this bothersome, try not to let it distract you from the actual study of what God has to say in His Word. You do not have to agree with what I say.

If you are new to studying the Bible, the preface in some of the other studies may provide you with a little more help in starting your study of the Bible.

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Let's Get to Know Paul:

Any time that we are doing a study of one of the Books of the Bible, I feel it is important to know the human author. While there are some Books in the Bible where we simply do not know for sure who the author is, for a good many of them we do. Now, it is important to emphasize that while God is the ultimate author of the Bible, He inspired men to write it, or to physically take pen in hand and put the words down in writing. As such, these men who penned the various Books of the Bible incorporated a portion of their own soul and being into their work. It is not as though they went against the desires of God when they did this, for it is by the very nature of any writing that this happens, and in my own opinion that is why God selected the authors that He did; for who knows the soul and being of a person better than God. That is why I feel that the more we can understand about the author; the better we can understand what it is that God is trying to say to us through them. As such, I recommend that you try to put yourself into shoes of the authors: getting to know them intimately; understanding why they said and did the things that they did. Of course we will never be able to do this completely, but the more we can, the more we will understand about their writings.

Before we go any further, I do want to point out that many times, including some of Paul's writings, the author did not take physical pen in hand, but rather dictated to a scribe who then physically took pen and put it to paper (or parchment or whatever other material they used for writing). It is still the words and feelings of the human author though, and not necessarily that of the scribe, that we are concerned with.

Paul's Writings:

Paul is the most prolific writer in the New Testament.

No, he is not!

Yes he is!

Well, is he or isn't he? I would not doubt that some people will still be arguing this point even after they are in Heaven.

Paul has thirteen Books in the New Testament that are normally attributed to him. These include:

1   Romans

2   1st Corinthians

3   2nd Corinthians

4   Galatians

5   Ephesians

6   Philippians

7   Colossians

8   1st Thessalonians

9   2nd Thessalonians

10  1st Timothy

11  2nd Timothy

12  Titus

13  Philemon

14  Hebrews

I know I said thirteen, but listed fourteen. The book of Hebrews is sometimes credited to Paul and sometimes not, with scholars split both ways. My personal feeling is that Paul did write it, even though the Book itself does not say that he did. But whether Hebrews is counted in with Paul's writings or not, Paul is by far the most prolific writer in the New Testament; with respect to the number of Books. However, if you count words, then Luke is the most prolific writer in the New Testament, with a total of 37,933 words, with 19,482 words in the Gospel of Luke and 18,451 in Acts. If we include Hebrews, Paul only wrote a measly 37,360 words in all of his Books, which is 573 words less than Luke. It should be pointed out here though that most of Luke's writings in the Book of Acts are about Paul.

There are some scholars who will argue that Paul did not write half of the Books that are attributed to him, and unfortunately, none of us were there to verify whether he did write all of them or not. But, especially for the ones that specifically contain statements in their salutation that say they are indeed from Paul, I cannot find any reason why they are not from him. In fact, if we say that they are not from Paul, when the letters themselves say that they are from Paul, then we are saying that the Bible contains false information. At the same time, if we say that the Bible is God's Word, then are we not calling God a lair? And, if we cannot trust one portion of the Bible, can we trust any of it? This is one reason why I prefer the King James Version of the Bible over the newer translations, for many of the newer ones contain statements such as An alternate version of this chapter is..., or Some earlier manuscripts say..., or some other such statement. To me, this would say that the Bible, the Word of God, is somewhat flakey, and therefore not very trustworthy. And if you cannot trust God's Word, whose word can you trust.

The writings of Paul that are contained in the Bible are all epistles. For those of you who are older, an epistle is simply an ancient word for a letter. For those of you who are younger, an epistle is like an email, or a text message, that had to be physically carried from the sender to the recipient. And for those of you who are not born yet, an epistle is like whatever word you use in the future to describe a written communication between one person and another person or group of people. While most of Paul's letters were from Paul to a Church, several were to individual people. But whether to individuals or to groups, Paul's letters are just as applicable in our individual lives and in our Churches today as they were to the original recipients nearly two thousand years ago.

Normally when Paul wrote, it was for a specific reason; usually to try to resolve a problem or stop sin within the Church, but many times he wrote to encourage the reader, and sometimes I feel that he wrote out of need to communicate with those who were close to him. It is my feeling that Paul may have thought that a few of the Churches local to the recipients of his letters might possibly read them, but I doubt very seriously that he ever even considered that people all over the World would be reading them still today. In fact, if the truth were known, Paul is probably the most read author of all time.

If we go to the first verse of most of Paul's letters, he introduces himself and tells the reader somewhat about himself; such as in Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,. If we dissect this statement, we find that it is part of the salutation, or the greeting of the letter which Paul has written to the Christians who are at Rome. It starts by saying who wrote the letter; Paul. It then gives Paul's qualifications for writing the letter and why it should be received and taken to heart. Paul states that he is a "servant of Jesus Christ. The word servant" is translated from the Greek word doulos, which has three meanings: 1, a slave; 2, a bond servant; and 3, a voluntary, but fully devoted servant. The definition that fits best here is 3, Paul was not forced to do the work that he did, but was eager, devoted, and committed to do the work for God and for Jesus Christ. Either way you look at it, Paul is saying that he belongs to Jesus Christ, and as such is doing His work. Paul goes on to state that he is called to be an apostle. Called is translated from the Greek word Kletos, which means: 1, Called; 2, divinely called or appointed; 3, invited; or 4, a saint. The definition that fits here is 2, divinely called or appointed. The word apostle is translated from the Greek word apostolos, which means: 1, a delegate; 2, an ambassador of the Gospel; or 3, a commissioner of Christ. I feel that the one that bests suits Paul here is 1, a delegate. Now a delegate is someone who is sent or authorized to speak and act, on behalf of or to represent another. Therefore, Paul was stating that he is acting on behalf of Jesus Christ in the writing of the letter. Paul goes even further in stating that he has been separated unto the gospel of God. The word separated is translated from the Greek word aphorizo, which means: 1, to set off with a boundary; 2, to limit, exclude, or appoint. The word gospel is translated from the Greek word euaggelion, which means: 1, a good message; or 2, good news. Both of which refers to the fact that God became man, dwelling on Earth through Jesus Christ, who gave up His earthly life to pay for our sins, and that if we would just put our trust and faith in Him, and accept Him as our Savior, then He will save us, which will secure our place in Heaven, to spend Eternity with God. So to paraphrase, Paul is saying: Hello, my name is Paul. I am writing this letter to you as someone who is doing so for, and with full authority of Jesus Christ. I am His official delegate, and my sole purpose is to spread His good news about Salvation. And, this is exactly what Paul did in the remainder of the letter, and throughout the remainder of his life.

Birth, Early Childhood, and Education:

Within a few years, one way or the other, of the birth of Jesus, Paul was born a Jew with the Jewish name of Saul. What's more, he was born a Jew with Roman citizenship and apparently also had the Roman name of Paulus. A Roman citizen having a Roman name and an ethnic name was very common at the time. Paul was not born in Israel, but in the city of Tarsus, which is in Cilicia (See Map).

Paul, unlike Jesus who was born in a barn with livestock, and had a hay manger for his bed, was more than likely born into a life of somewhat luxury and security. I personally like to think of Paul and Jesus being born at essentially the same time, with essentially everything in their lives contrasting one another. Where Paul was safe and secure in his very early childhood, Jesus' parents had to flee to a foreign country, Egypt, to protect their son's life. Paul had the best of education, while Jesus more than likely had no formal education. Paul thought he grew up knowing God, while Jesus was in fact God Himself.

Paul was educated in all the ways of a strict Pharisee under the teachings of Gamaliel in Jerusalem, as it says in Acts 22:3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city {Jerusalem} at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

Tarsus, as is stated, is in Cilicia, which is on the Cydnus River about 10 miles north of the coast of Southeastern Asia Minor, which is now part of modern day Turkey (See Map). The city was near a major trade route between Asia Minor and Syria and became the meeting place for the Eastern (Oriental) and Western (Greek and Roman) cultures. Tarsus became the capital of Cilicia around 67 BC and was one of the major educational centers for Greek learning. In Roman times, the city's population may have reached as high as 500,000 people. It seems that Tarsus had a small population of Jews that had been transplanted to the area after Alexander the Great's conquest of the lands that included Israel. It is very possible that Paul's family were descendants of part of this group. During the several civil wars in the Roman Empire, Tarsus sided with victorious Rome, and as gratitude was granted the status of a free city. One of the rights of natural born citizens of a Roman free city would have had been Roman citizenship. As such, Paul was a Roman citizen just as much as a person born in Rome itself, unlike the Jewish citizens of most Roman occupied towns where they did not enjoy full citizenship. It should be noted that some scholars say that Paul's father must have done something special for Rome and was therefore granted Roman citizenship, but I find it difficult to believe that a Pharisee would do much for the Roman Empire. And, it could have been that Paul's father bought his citizenship which was then passed down to Paul when he was born. Nevertheless, Paul was a natural born Roman Citizen, as it says in Acts 22:25 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? 26 When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. 27 Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. 28 And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. 29 Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

More than once Paul's Roman citizenship saved him from beatings, which were against the law to give to a Roman citizen as was any condemnation of a Roman citizen without regular trial and defense. Furthermore, if a Roman was convicted of a crime, he had the right to appeal unto Caesar, or the Emperor of Rome. Sometimes that was a good thing, but sometimes it was far worse than what the original sentence may have been, depending on the mood that the Emperor was in when he passed sentence.

Paul could very well have studied at some of the best schools in the world at the time, which just happened to be at his home town of Tarsus. His formal education would normally have started when he was around five years old, and would have continued in Tarsus until he was around twelve or thirteen years old. At around that age, Paul was most likely sent to Jerusalem for a formal Jewish education, where he possibly lived with his sister who lived there (See Acts 23:16). It was in Jerusalem that Paul studied under Gamaliel.

Gamaliel was a doctor of Jewish law, and a Pharisee, and was so revered that he was the first person to receive the title of rabban, which ranks higher than a rabbi. It was Gamaliel who, after the Crucifixion of Jesus, convinced the Jewish council not to kill Peter and the other Apostles, as it says in Acts 5:34 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; 35 And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. 36 For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. 37 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. 38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: 39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. 40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

Some say that Gamaliel was a secret Christian and that Peter and Paul later baptized him and Nicodemus together, but there is no proof of this and Gamaliel is still held in reverence by the Jews today. Nonetheless, Gamaliel was a wise man and would have heard much about Jesus during his life. In fact, I have to wonder if he may have been one of the doctors present when Jesus was twelve years old and stayed behind at the temple, as it says in Luke 2:42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. 43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. 44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. 45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. While there is nothing to support it, I cannot help but feel that since Paul was most likely going to school at Jerusalem at this time, and was studying under Gamaliel, Paul could very well have been sitting there, as a young boy himself, when the twelve year old Jesus was sitting in the midst of the doctors, one of whom was most likely Gamaliel. I feel that this was possibly the first of several encounters that Paul had with Jesus before his conversion.

Very little is known about Paul's family. His father is indirectly mentioned in Acts 23:6 where Paul states that he is the son of a Pharisee, therefore, his father would of necessity be a Pharisee, and in Acts 22:28 where Paul says But I was free born. referring to his Roman citizenship, which would have been passed to Paul through his father, who apparently was also a Roman citizen.

Paul's mother may have been referred to in Romans 16:13 where Paul says Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. Now, some say that Paul is referring to his own fleshly mother, who is living at Rome at the time; however, Paul could very well be referring to the fact that Rufus' mother had treated Paul as though he were her own son, and thus he referred to her in a kindly manner as though she were his own mother.

Paul had a sister who had a son, as told by Acts 23:16 where it says And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.

Other than these few instances, I can find nothing else about Paul's family. Some say that Paul had to be married, and therefore had a wife, since he was a member of the Sanhedrin, and to be a member of the Sanhedrin you were required to be married. However, there is no solid evidence in the Bible that Paul was even a member of the Sanhedrin. That doesn't mean that he wasn't a member, just that there is no compelling evidence of the fact. So was Paul married? No one really knows.

One other thing we know about Paul, is that he practiced the occupation of tentmaker, at it says in Acts 18:3 And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers. Paul probably learned the art of tent making at an early age, possibly even before moving to Jerusalem as a teenager to study. This skill in making tents would prove useful to Paul in his future travels.

Paul Was a Pharisee:

Paul, like Gamaliel, and his own father, was a Pharisee, as it says in Acts 23:6 But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. And in Acts 26:4 My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; 5 Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

The word Pharisee comes from the Aramaic word perisha which means separated. By law, all Jews are to be separated from the unclean peoples, or Gentiles, as well as the unclean animals and others things forbidden by God's Law for the Jews to touch or be around. The Pharisees, however, went even further in that they separated themselves from the other Jews who were not as strict in following the Law as they were.

Since the time of Ezra, the priests and scribes were the drivers for the actions of the Israelites. Over time the priests and scribes grew further apart in some of their beliefs until during the conquests by the Greeks, they were separated into two distinct groups. The priests, who were only concerned with the Laws that Moses gave and with running the temple, were called the Sadducees. However, the Sadducees also included most aristocratic Jews, and accepted many of the Hellenistic, or liberal Greek views. After the period of the