Was Paul A Disciple, Who Walked Directly With Jesus?

The Apostle Paul’s strategic mission of expanding the church and spreading the Gospel was significant considering the challenges he had to conquer. His life and example was and is applicable to modern cross-cultural leaders and organizations. Philippians 2 is a letter written by Paul to the church of Philippi. It was prepared during his imprisonment in Rome for spreading the Gospel of Christ in an area where people predominately and traditionally believed in Judaism. His writing in this passage highlights Christ as the ultimate example of humility and Paul’s encouragement to his followers to keep the unity, as they are the light of the world.

Among the many New Testament characters recorded in Scripture, the Apostle Paul, by far, is one of the most intriguing. Like the twelve apostles who were companions of Jesus during His earthly ministry, the Apostle Paul was far from perfect but he possessed an extraordinary zeal for God that stood out against the other apostles. Consequently, Jesus likely took notice of Paul’s zeal as well, thus it is no surprise, at least to this author, that Jesus would choose Paul to take the gospel to the Gentiles in faraway lands. Unfortunately, little is known about Paul’s early life. However, and according to Scripture, Paul was likely born around the time of Jesus’ birth (Acts 7:58) in the City of Tarsus, Cecilia, which was a providence of the Roman Empire (McCray, 2003). Tarsus, being a providence of Roman Empire, also made the young Paul a Roman Citizen and Diaspora Jew which Paul would later use to his advantage when facing three separate cases of persecution (Acts 16:37; Acts 22:25-29; Acts 24:27) in the Book of Acts (McCray, 2003).

Because Paul was the first to describe and teach about the role of Jesus in the salvation of humanity from sin, he’s known to be the second founder of Christianity. It was due in part to his influence that

Paul was a faithful apostle, strong leader, and one of the most important figures in the New Testament. Before his conversion, he was known as Saul, and he was a Pharisee. He severely persecuted followers of Jesus in the area of Jerusalem. His conversion was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians. After he repented and was baptized, he began preaching to all who needed to hear God's word. He spread the gospel to others, was empowered by the Holy Spirit in his actions and words, and had persistent faith through difficulties.

Judaizers wanted to preach works but Paul wrote that we must preach Christ alone. 7. Paul was not a passive individual as he describes himself in verse 14 he was “exceedingly zealous”. He appears to be talking to an audience who knew him in the past as a strong Jew who upheld the traditions of his people. He also stated in verse 14 that he “profited in the Jews’ religion” 8. so he was possibly politically powerful and personally benefiting from his status in the community while upholding the Jewish traditions of his fathers. He wants to make it clear to his audience that what he is preaching to them now is not of man but is by divine revelation from God by his grace. To demonstrate his point, Paul recounts his conversion, in which he switched from being a persecutor of the church to being a preacher of its gospel. He wants to advise that his conversion occurred through a direct act of God, who “was pleased to reveal his Son to me, 9. so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles”. The revelation of who Jesus really was came directly from God and for a clear purpose so that Paul could take the message to the Gentiles. Paul insisted that the Spirit is the same Spirit through whom God spoke and acted in the history of Israel, the difference is that through Jesus the Spirit is now poured out on all God’s people, Jew and Gentile alike. 10. The fact that Paul criticized some aspects of his native Judaism 11. and that he announced a gospel to the

He preached about Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ Jesus that died on the cross and now sits above all authority and power.

In his new book Becoming the Gospel Michael Gorman provides an interesting look at the life and letters of the apostle Paul. Gorman wants his readers to consider that more than knowing the gospel and its power to save, Paul want his recipients of his letters to live out the gospel in their lives. Thus Gorman’s central argument in this book is that “Paul wanted the communities he addressed…to become the gospel, and in so doing to participate in the very life and mission of God” (Gorman 2). Gorman explores this idea by taking the reader through a look at the letters of Paul using a “missio Dei” lens, to provide a new view of what Paul is teaching to these early Christian communities.

So it is clear that Pauls mission is spoken directly from this over piling up of texts Pauls strategy is to bring the gospel to all the nations, all the people for the glory of God. Not just Gods original chosen people the Jews. Pauls strategy is to start of where Jesus Christ left off, to bring the news of the saviour to the Jews first and thusly to the Gentiles second – fulfilling the Old Testament Prophecies.

Saul was born on 5 AD in Tarsus and died on 67 AD in Rome. He changed his name to Paul after he was baptized to reflect on his new persona and to begin travelling and preaching. He was a prosecutor that would punish people who were following Jesus and his new religion back then. Paul was changed into a follower and became one of Jesus’ Apostle(13th) by having a vision from God which blinded him(also known as the road to Damascus). He was then saved by the followers of God who also helped him, and made him better. Paul changed religions to Christianity after he got a vision from Jesus. This converted him into a follower of God and he started spreading the words of God instead of patronizing the religion and the people. Paul taught the Gospel of Christ to the first century world. He is one of the most important figures in the Apostolic Age. He ministered both Jews and Romans since he was appreciated by both groups. He is also known as the 13th apostle.

Answering God’s call to proclaim Christ, Paul and Barnabas left the church at Antioch in Syria. At first, their method of evangelism was to preach in the town synagogues. But when many of the Jews rejected Christ, the missionaries recognized God’s call of witnessing to the Gentiles.

Paul was an important follower of Jesus and made a big impact on the growth of Christianity. Paul’s life span was 3-67 AD. Paul traveled 10,000 miles around Rome to teach Christianity. A couple of the places he visited were Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth and Athens. Paul taught to the Jews and Gentiles. The story of Paul is that his name was once Saul. Saul was traveling to Damascus and a bright light from heaven shone on him. Saul was before hand persecuting Christians for their faith. The bright light was God/Jesus. He asked Saul to why he was persecuting him. Saul realized what he was doing was wrong. He got baptized, changed his name to Paul and started preaching about Jesus and Christianity.

It seems strange that so little is known biographically about one of the most important figures in Christian history, but this only serves to add to the mystery and grandeur surrounding the Apostle Paul of Tarsus. Much, however, is known of the time after his conversion to Christ and what he did to contribute to Christianity in this period, and it is this that leaves a greater legacy than the simple facts of his life. The contributions that he made towards the cause of Christ and the spreading and formation of Christianity are what he is perennially remembered for.

An examination of the Pauline epistles should begin with an examination of the author. Saul of Tarsus was a Jewish official a Pharisee. Saul was a persecutor of Christians and an eyewitness to the stoning of Steven. “And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.” (Acts 7.58 King James Version) He had a vision on the road to Damascus and was blinded. God sent Ananias to heal Saul of his affliction. God also sent Paul a vision of Ananias to let him know that he would be healed. Paul did not learn the Gospel from other men. He received his knowledge directly from Jesus.

Paul the Apostle, also known as Saul and St Paul was an apostle who taught the gospel of Christ to the first century world. He is recognised now and back in the time St Paul lived is recognised as one of the most important figures of the Apostolic age.

Paul was born as Saul of Tarsus. He was both a Jew and a Roman citizen. He became a prosecutor of those who follow Jesus and accepted him as their Lord and King. Saul was not trying to being mean by doing this. He thought of it as just working against an enemy of his own Jewish faith. One day he was on the way to Damascus and a bright heavenly light came down from above and blinded him. He was struck to the ground and a voice called out to him saying “Saul, why do you persecute me?” He responded by saying “Who are you, Lord? Lord, what will you have me do?” The voice identified itself as “Jesus whom you persecute”. Jesus told Saul to continue to Damascus where he would be given