Paul and the Roman Christians, Part 1

The Book of Romans is my favorite among Paul's letters. For many years after becoming a new Christian, in my spiritual immaturity, its treasures remained hidden from me. But in more recent years, having braved the book time after time, slowly but surely chipping away at the buried treasure, I finally have a better understanding of its depths (at least in some measure) and it has become a huge source of encouragement to me. Thus, I would like to spend a little blog time on Paul and his letter to the Christians at Rome.

But first, we will want to get to know Paul himself. For this we will have to spend some time in the book of Acts where Paul's first appearance is seen. He is among those who are gathered together outside the city at the stoning of the first Christian martyr: Stephen. Stephen was:

• "full of faith and power" and "did great wonders and miracles among the people." (Acts 6:8)
  
• "Certain of the synagogue…disputing with Stephen…were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake." (Acts 6:10)
  
• "And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." (Acts 6:15)
  

But when those in the synagogue heard the things Stephen spoke "they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 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 7:54-58)

We are not told whether or not Saul was in the synagogue and heard all that Stephen had to say; perhaps he just saw a crowd pushing a man outside the city walls and decided to follow them. But he certainly heard Stephen's last words:

"And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep." (Acts 7:59-60)

But the Bible does go on to tell us more about Saul at that time:

"and Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women, committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word." (Acts 8:1-4)

Saul, then, was a catalyst in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ far beyond the confines of Jerusalem; consenter to Stephen's stoning, persecutor of those who professed Christianity, a terror among the new believers, Saul, in his ungodly state, did much to further the very thing he sought to destroy. That fact might cause you, as it does me, to be amazed and wonder at God's sovereignty and His orchestration of things that happen here on earth. Everything, including evil which does not originate with God, is subject to Him and to His purposes for good. I don't believe Satan, the initiator of Saul's reign of terror, intended to spread the gospel with his tactics. But God is sovereign and ultimately His will alone shall prevail.

Saul later described some of the things he did against his fellow Jews, traitors to the law of the fathers, who had become followers of Christ, also known as followers of "the way":

"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. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished…." (Acts 22:3-5)

"Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee, and when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him." (Acts 22:19-20)

"I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities." (Acts 26:9-11)

It is in Acts 9 that we see the amazing transformation that Jesus performed in the heart of Saul on his way to Damascus to round up more offenders [Saul became known as Paul beginning in Acts 13:9, and while we are not told why his name changed it is interesting to note that Saul means "desired" and Paul means "small or little."] I hope you will read Acts 9 before you continue on. But there is additional information about that day given to us in Acts 26 which should also be read.

I want to direct us to Paul's own words about that event in Acts 26 as he relays the details of that day to King Agrippa who is holding Paul prisoner:

"Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee. To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for repentance." (Acts 26:12-20)

More about Paul and the Roman Christians tomorrow.