Apostle Paul.
“I, Paul, am an apostle to the Gentiles, and I magnify my ministry.” Romans. 11:13.
Though Apostle Peter brought the gospel to the first Gentile converts. It was Paul, however, who had the Vision of the universal nature of Christianity. It was he who saw that the gospel should include the Gentile world. And so he dedicated his life to bringing the gospel to that world.
Birth And Education.
Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, was a citizen of Tarsus, the leading city of Cilicia, a “no mean city.” He was a freeborn Roman citizen and had received the training accorded only to promising young Jews and had sat at the feet of the great Jewish teacher, Gamaliel.
Apostle Paul’s Vision and Mission.
Apostle Paul had a vision and a mission that caused him to press on despite severe physical and spiritual trials and tests. He pressed on through such difficulties and tests that would have discouraged most men.
The Vision was preparing a kingdom for Christ to deliver to the Father.
While the mission can be expressed in three statements.
(1) His Mission for the Lost. Was to bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus.
“By all means to save some.” 1 Cor. 9:22.
(2) His mission for the saved. Was to bring them to maturity, to a complete knowledge of the truth.
“To warn and teach every man concerning the mystery of Christ in you. To present every man mature in Christ.” Col. 1:27-29.
(3) And thirdly, a mission for himself. A task that expressed his desire for a Rapture centred on Christ.
“That by all means, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:11.
It is this third mission statement that makes Apostle Paul tick.
Paul’s Ministry.
Apostle Paul was a genius in many ways, so his work was diverse.
He was a wise and devoted propagator of the gospel.
And his strategy was to expand the gospel to Europe with Rome as his goal. Paul was bent on going to Rome even as a prisoner of the Roman government. He knew that for the gospel to spread to the whole world, it had to get to Rome.
Paul was a publisher and he kept in touch with all the churches, writing letters to them under the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
Although these letters or Epistles were written to meet specific needs in his churches, Paul’s letters or “Tracts for the Times” are still relevant today. This is because of the great principles he developed in his letters to meet the emergencies in these first-century churches.
Apostle Paul was also a theologian. He believed that the new birth and not observation of the Law of Moses qualified a believer to participate in God’s Will. Participation in God’s Will grants the believer God’s favour so that he finds happiness and usefulness.
Paul also believed that Christian conduct should spring from love based on union with Christ by faith. His philosophy of history favours a cataclysmic supernatural view of history where man fails, and God manifests His Power to fulfil His divine plan.
Finally, Apostle Paul was never satisfied with only presenting Christianity. He also fought for the purity of the Christian doctrine. So polemicist Paul, by voice and correspondence, never failed to challenge any wrong view of the person or work of Christ.
Conclusion On Apostle Paul.
Paul’s faith and courage, coupled with a sound approach to the work, enabled him to carry The Gospel to the Gentile Nations of the Roman Empire. And Christianity across Europe.
He was the one who explained the meaning of Christ’s Life and death regarding the salvation of sinful man.
So, Apostle Paul, the “Apostle of the Nations,” was the most qualified to explain Christ to the Gentile world.