Paul, God’S Evangelist and Minister

By Raymond E. Isbell

I am painfully aware of the fact that this presentation does not and cannot do justice to, perhaps, the greatest man to live during the Christian age. As improbable as it may have seemed, God took a young man named Saul and used him to spread the gospel to the world. Who could believe that God would take a narrow minded Pharisee, a conspiring murderer of Christians, a man with seemingly little oratorical ability, and a man without the experience of his own wife and family and use him in an unbelievable capacity to spread the gospel to the Gentile world. At the same time God used him to convince the Jews that Jesus Christ was the Savior they had anticipated for centuries and that their Law was the schoolmaster to bring the world to Christ for the redemption of all.

Pauls evangelical work and personal letters to churches and individuals probably defined more activities and established more attitudes for worship and personal behavior for Christians than the activities any other person.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452067438

Raymond E. Isbell

Raymond E. Isbell received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and mathematics, a master’s degree in organic chemistry, and a doctor of philosophy degree in physical and analytical chemistry. He served as a research chemist for seven years with studies mostly in solid rocket propellants and slow-release nitrogen fertilizers. He taught chemistry at the undergraduate level for over thirty years and served as professor and department head for seventeen of those years. During his career, he was active in several scientific and scholastic organizations including the American Chemical Society and the Alabama Academy of Science and taught several chemistry courses, including his specialties in physical chemistry and analytical chemical instrumentation. His hobbies are gardening, plant propagation, and woodworking. At the age of twelve, Dr. Isbell was baptized into Christ at the Spring Valley Church of Christ in Colbert County, Alabama. That small country congregation made a lasting impact on him as he observed the open atmosphere in the adult Bible classes in which diverse views were discussed and tolerated without rancor. It was also well ahead of the social and civil curve of the time as black visitors were welcomed to the services, and black and white Christians shared meals and prayed together. During his career, Dr. Isbell has served several congregations in the capacity of member, deacon, elder, and guest lecturer. It is his sincere belief that in the not-too-distant future, all Christians must put aside the luxury of quibbling over incidentals and concentrate on saving Christianity from a world bent on destroying it. Dr. Isbell has been married to Shirley Anne James Isbell for over fifty years, and they have a son and a daughter.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Foreword

About the Author

Acknowledgements

 I. Paul, God’s Chosen Man

 II. Paul, God’s Evangelist

 III. Paul, God’s Epistolary Minister

 IV. Paul, God’s Eternal Minister

Foreword

I am painfully aware of the fact that this presentation does not and cannot do justice to, perhaps, the greatest man to live during the Christian age. As improbable as it may have seemed, God took a young man named Saul and used him to spread the gospel to the world. Who could believe that God would take a narrow minded Pharisee, a conspiring murderer of Christians, a man with seemingly little oratorical ability, and a man without the experience of his own wife and family and use him in an unbelievable capacity to spread the gospel to the Gentile world. At the same time God used him to convince the Jews that Jesus Christ was the Savior they had anticipated for centuries and that their Law was the schoolmaster to bring the world to Christ for the redemption of all.

Paul’s evangelical work and personal letters to churches and individuals probably defined more activities and established more attitudes for worship and personal behavior for Christians than the activities any other person.

About the Author

Raymond E. Isbell received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and mathematics, a master’s degree in organic chemistry, and a doctor of philosophy degree in physical and analytical chemistry. He served as a research chemist for seven years with studies mostly in solid rocket propellants and slow-release nitrogen fertilizers. He taught chemistry at the undergraduate level for over thirty years and served as professor and department head for seventeen of those years. During his career, he was active in several scientific and scholastic organizations including the American Chemical Society and the Alabama Academy of Science and taught several chemistry courses, including his specialties in physical chemistry and analytical chemical instrumentation. His hobbies are gardening, plant propagation, and woodworking.

At the age of twelve, Dr. Isbell was baptized into Christ at the Spring Valley Church of Christ in Colbert County, Alabama. That small country congregation made a lasting impact on him as he observed the open atmosphere in the adult Bible classes in which diverse views were discussed and tolerated without rancor. It was also well ahead of the social and civil curve of the time as black visitors were welcomed to the services, and black and white Christians shared meals and prayed together.

During his career, Dr. Isbell has served several congregations in the capacity of deacon, elder, and guest lecturer. He observed the missionary zeal of the 1950s and 1960s followed by a retreat of the church into a period of fear and judgmental attitudes. It is his sincere belief that in the not-too-distant future, Christians must put aside the luxury of quibbling over incidentals and concentrate on saving Christianity from a world bent on destroying it.

Dr. Isbell has been married to Shirley Anne James Isbell for over fifty years, and they have a son and a daughter.

Acknowledgements

Several people have helped and encouraged me in writing this book. My wife, Shirley, not only supported my effort but also missed out on many honey-do projects that were not completed because of it. From a technical point of view, my nephew, Professor Thomas G. Howard, was invaluable for his computer savvy as he taught me to consider it a tool rather than a malicious enemy. He was especially helpful in proofreading and formatting the material.

I. Paul, God’s Chosen Man

A. Overview

Without doubt, Paul’s writings are, and have been, more influential in the lives of Christians than those of any other New Testament writer, perhaps more than all of the other writers combined. His writings makeup roughly 25 percent of the New Testament and establish the basis for much of what we do in terms of doctrine, worship, behavior, and relationships. Although Paul was primarily an evangelist who sought, and largely succeeded, in taking the gospel of Christ to the world, he probably wrote on more subjects to a more diverse audience than any other Bible author. The message he preached was salvation by faith, obedience to the word, and judgment according to deeds. He wrote on many subjects which were controversial but never shied from holding each individual responsible for his own actions.

The life of the apostle Paul may be divided into two periods: from his birth as a Jew to his conversion to Christ and from his conversion to Christ to his death. His work may also be divided into two major areas: Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles and the evangelist to the world and Paul as the minister to the churches and the spiritual mentor for Christians of the world.

Paul’s life as the apostle to the Gentiles and his evangelistic work among the people of the world was recorded by Luke in the last half of the book of Acts. That record presents the work of Paul as it was divided into three major missionary tours. For the most part, all of these tours took place in countries located on the northern and eastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea stretching perhaps from as far as Spain in the West to Syria and Palestine in the East.

Two major themes were presented by Paul. First, he presented the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to his own people, the Jews, and impressed upon them that Christ was a total fulfillment of the Law of Moses. Second, he proposed that the gospel is for all people, Jew and Gentile, and the law of liberty in Christ exempts all from any requirement to follow the Law of Moses as it was completely fulfilled by the life, death, and resurrection of the Christ,

In addition to his work as an evangelist to the world, Paul was a minister to the early Christian Churches and his writings continue to present rules for Christian living to present-day followers of Christ. These writings were addressed to churches and to individuals and are referred to as epistles. They were written to churches in Thessalonica, Galatia, Corinth, Rome, Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae and to coworkers in the gospel, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Together they instructed the Church and Christians for all time and in all places in many matters pertaining to faith, personal behavior, worship, and service.

B. Childhood of Paul

Saul, who later became the apostle Paul (Acts 13:9), was born into the Israeli tribe of Benjamin probably in the first decade A. D. which would make him a little younger than Christ. He was born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia which is located on the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The larger region was once known as Asia Minor and is part of present-day Turkey. Knowledge of his early life before his conversion consists of a few snippets of information found primarily in the book of Acts of the Apostles.

Saul was born a Roman citizen which means that his father and mother were already citizens at his birth. Because just any run-of-the-mill Jew was not granted citizenship, we speculate that his parents had achieved some measure of success, perhaps even wealth, in order to obtain citizenship.

At some time early in his life, Saul chose tent-making as a career field. It was customary for young Jewish boys to choose some craft to assure them of the ability to make a living as an adult. Saul’s craft became particularly useful when, as the Apostle Paul, he was preaching at Corinth where he stayed with Acquila and Priscilla because they also were tentmakers. Paul supported himself at Corinth for 18 months as he taught among the people without being a burden to those who sent him or to those he taught.

Not much is known about Saul’s childhood or his educational training but, whatever his schooling, he was an achiever who became a most erudite scholar and author. When he was about fifteen years old, he was sent to Jerusalem to study to become a rabbi (teacher). There he studied in the rabbinical school of Gamaliel who was the grandson of Hillel, a most noted scholar. Gamaliel was the doctor of the law who counselled the Sanhedrin in the matter pertaining to their complaint against Peter and John (Acts 5:34-40) for their continued teaching in the name of Jesus.

Gamaliel counseled the Sanhedrin to beware of what they did to the apostles and reminded them of Theudas, who claimed to be somebody special and drew away about 400 men. He was, however, slain and amounted to nothing. Similarly, one, Judas, rose up in the days of taxing and drew away many people after him. He too perished and his followers were dispersed.

Gamaliel’s advice to the Sanhedrin was that Peter and John should be left alone because if their work was of men it would come to nothing, but if it was of God it could not be overthrown and they would find themselves fighting against God. The Sanhedrin Council accepted the advice of Gamaliel to the extent that they did not kill Peter and John. Instead, they called them in, beat them, and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus

Unfortunately, Saul was not as open-minded as Gamaliel, his mentor, had been. Indeed, he excelled in his studies but became a zealous Pharisee of firm conviction with little tolerance for those of the new religious group who came to call themselves Christians. He considered them to be heretics and set out to destroy those of the Way by any means possible. This intolerant attitude was displayed by Saul in the first mention of him in Acts 7:58 where it is recorded that he watched the clothing of those who were stoning Stephen, the first Christian martyr.

C. Saul’s Conversion

The conversion of Saul from Judaism to Christianity came around A. D. 33 and is given twice in the book of Acts. A historical account was recorded by Luke in Acts 9 and a personal account was given by Paul in Acts 22 as he defended himself before an angry multitude of Jews in Jerusalem. Although the two reports of the same event are very similar, they vary slightly in the details given.

Luke begins his historical record by describing Saul’s attitude as he went about threatening slaughter against the Disciples of Christ and how he had obtained letters from the high priest in Jerusalem to the synagogues of Damascus, Syria giving him authority to bind anyone who was of the Way and bring them to Jerusalem.

The personal account was given later as Saul, now a Christian evangelist known as Paul, defended himself before a mob of Jews who accused him of heresy. When he gave his defense, Paul spoke in the Hebrew tongue in deference to their common Jewish heritage and addressed his accusers as brothers and fathers even though they intended to kill him.

Paul begins by accounting for his citizenship as a Jew born in Tarsus of Celicia and educated at the feet of Gamaliel in Jerusalem. He claims to have been educated according to the strict manner of the law of the fathers and that he was zealous for God as were they who accused him on that day. He admitted that he was so zealous for God that he had persecuted those of the Way unto death as he bound both men and women and delivered them to prison. He had obtained permission to do these things from the high priest and elders.

The two accounts found in Acts 9:3-8 and Acts 22:6-11 are essentially the same. However, in Acts 9:10-19, Luke records more detail about the reluctance of Ananias to go to Saul and of God’s witness that Saul was a chosen vessel to take his name to the Gentiles, that Saul would be filled with the Holy Ghost, and how Saul received his sight, was baptized. He also mentions that Saul became stronger and went into Damascus where he preached in the synagogues.

In Paul’s personal account, he gives more detail about his interaction with Ananias concerning being baptized to wash away his sins. He leaves off his preaching in Damascus and immediately describes his visit to Jerusalem. In the letter to the Galatians, however, Paul recorded that the trip to Jerusalem did not immediately follow his conversion (Galatians 1:17-2:2). Instead he mentioned specifically that he did not immediately confer with anyone nor did he go to Jerusalem. Instead he went into Arabia for an undisclosed period, returned to Damascus, and three years later went to Jerusalem. At that time, he visited 15 days with Peter and saw James, the Lord’s brother.

Paul’s activities in Arabia were not disclosed. One wonders, however, if the period in Arabia was not a time of personal evaluation and searching as he renewed his study of the scriptures particularly as they related to the coming of the Messiah. It could have been during this period that God revealed to Paul a better understanding of his calling and mission. The magnitude of the revelation given to Paul was so great that he was given a thorn in the flesh to prevent him from becoming unduly enamored with his great blessings.

The historical record of Paul’s missionary work begins in Acts 11: 26 when Barnabas found him and brought him to Antioch, in Syria. The Church in Antioch became the home base for Paul’s work during his three missionary journeys.

D. Paul, the Man, the Message, and the Mission

Paul introduced himself to the Roman Church as a servant of Christ, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God– (Romans 1:1). To several others, he claimed to to be an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will God (1st Corinthians 1:1; 2nd Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1); Colossians 1:1; 2 Timothy 1:1). To the Galatians he was an apostle sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father. He introduced himself and Timothy to the Philippians as servants of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:1). In both of his letters to the Thessalonians, Paul addressed them and identified his coworkers as Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

In his personal letter to Timothy, Paul addressed himself (Timothy 1:1) as an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope. To Titus, he referred to himself as a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness (Titus 1:1). To Philemon, he was a prisoner of Christ Jesus. Philemon 1:1).

Although Paul was a vigorous persecutor of early Jewish Christians, he became a staunch supporter not only of the Jews but also the Gentiles who accepted Christ. His life was devoted to the gospel and to the obedient even to the point of being persecuted to his death as he was beheaded around A. D. 66. His message to the Gentile was to accept Christ by faith without regard for the law Moses and his message to the Jews was to accept Christ by faith because of the Law of Moses.

Paul’s mission was twofold: he was God’s chosen vessel to take the gospel to the Gentile world and was God’s minister to the early church as it dealt with many problems. Some of these problems were the relationship of faith and works, the relationship of Christ to the law, personal behavior, family relationships, church government, worship, and others.

In his work, Paul vigorously presented the resurrection as the fundamental tenet of Christianity. He led the fight against the Jewish efforts to require the Gentiles to keep the law Moses while at the same time staunchly defending any Jew who wished to abide in it. He presented in the most stringent manner that all are saved by faith in God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Surely, Paul was a spiritual enigma. He was cultured and highly educated but spent his life primarily among the heathen Gentiles of the world. He was probably wealthy, and possibly a member of the Herodian family, but he labored among the poor and worked with his own hands to support himself rather than being