Second
Timothy, part1
"Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life
which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 1:1, NKJV)
The apostle Paul was originally born
Saul of Tarsus (which is in modern day Turkey). Paul was a Jew by nationality,
a Roman by citizenship, and a Pharisee by religion. As a Jewish son of a
Pharisee, Paul was afforded the best education the son of a high ranking Jewish
leader could provide. He was taught by the foremost Jewish scholar of the
day (a Pharisee named Gamaliel). As a Roman citizen, he was given
the freedom, rights and privilege due to a citizen of the empire;
some of which he invoked throughout his Christian ministry. As a
Pharisee, he was a member of the most pious and strict sect of Judaism of that
day. He would have had a high view of the Holy Scriptures and would have
been a devout follower of Mosaic law. God was able to use all of these
life experiences to mold Saul of Tarsus into Paul the Apostle.
In Acts 9, we see Paul's conversion
story. Saul was on his way to the city of Damascus to continue his zealous persecution of
the early church when Jesus met him on the road. With a blinding light
that was brighter than the noon day sin, Saul was instantaneously
converted to Christianity; the man who was breathing out murderous threats
against Christianity became its most important advocate. During his
Christian ministry, Paul founded many churches. As was his practice, once
he founded a church, he would stay awhile and teach the new believers.
After Paul would leave a Christian community, he would keep in touch via
correspondence. Paul wrote many letters of which thirteen were preserved
in the Bible. He would often open his letters by stating up front his
apostolic authority.
Now you have to understand, Paul was a
humble person. It wasn't like he opened his letters by saying, "I am
Paul the mightily apostle of Jesus Christ, listen to me!" The reason
Paul had to announce his apostolic authority was because it was constantly
under attack. All of the other apostles (Peter, James, John, etc.) were
apostles by the very fact that they were part of the inner twelve; they lived
and traveled with Jesus for the duration of his earthly ministry. In Acts
1, when the eleven remaining apostles were choosing a replacement for the
traitor Judas, the requirement was that the individual had to be a person who
had been present with Jesus from the beginning. Paul did not fit that
criteria. True he had seen the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, but he did not quite fit the
requirements as laid out in Acts 1. As such many false teachers, who were
jealous of his ministry, would claim that Paul wasn't a real apostle; that he
was a fake.
Nevertheless, Paul was "an
apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God." Paul was
specifically chosen by God to be an apostle. Not just any apostle, but
God's apostle to the Gentiles: "For he is a chosen vessel of
Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15). This ("an apostle of Jesus
Christ by the will of God.") is a very profound statement. Notice
that Paul wasn't an apostle by his will, but by God's will.
According to Ephesians 1:11, God works all things according to his
will. Proverbs 16:9 says: "A man’s heart plans his way,
but the Lord directs his steps." Paul had plans, but God
intervened and made him a "chosen vessel."
Now by what means was God able to use
Paul for his purposes? This isn't a trick question. God was able to
use Paul for service "according to the promise of life which is in
Christ Jesus." God could only use Paul, God can only use you
and me, because of what Jesus Christ has done. In order to use Paul, God
had to initiate the process of salvation in him. So while Paul was chosen
by the will of God, he was chosen through the work of Jesus
Christ. Notice that it was "according to the promise of
life." The promise of life is the gospel: "For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
Paul was an exemplary Christian.
The man who claimed that he was the "chief of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15) was such a model Christian that he
could say, with no hint of arrogance, "Imitate me, just as I also
imitate Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). As Paul opens up his
second letter to his "son in the faith" Timothy, we will see a man
who, as he nears his martyrdom, who was far more concerned with Timothy's
spiritual growth than his own impending execution. He is a true role
model, and one we should all strive to imitate.
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