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Destined To Become - part 1 of 3 (King James & Amplified Versions) As a persecutor of Christians, Saul of Tarsus may well have envisioned himself among the religious hierarchy of his day. In fact, in his pre-conversion state, Paul might well have qualified as the Pharisee in one of Jesus’ parables. The audience included those “which trusted in themselves, that they were righteous, and despised others” {Luke 18:9}. Two men, a Pharisee and a publican, both went to the temple to pray {v 10}. Priding himself on the religious duties he ritualistically performed, the Pharisee produced a self-congratulatory listing while the publican demonstrated and uttered a prayer of humble supplication, bemoaning his own spiritual poverty. As the Pharisee rehearsed his self-righteous boasting before the Lord, “…the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner” {v 13}. Weymouth renders this verse as “…God, be propitiated unto me, the sinner” {v 13 underlining added}. Consumed with his own “spiritual” accomplishments, the Pharisee failed to recognize that he, created by God as a potential house of prayer, had become, instead, “a den of thieves” {Matt 21:13}. The publican, on the other hand, offered himself in brokenness and contrition, “[broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent]” {Ps 51:17}. While one actually became the house of prayer for which God had destined him, the other, save for Divine intervention such as Paul experienced, may have missed his destiny by measuring righteousness according to his own standard instead of God’s. That Saul ever foresaw himself as Paul the apostle, an advocate of the very Gospel whose followers he sought to destroy, seems doubtful. His letters indicate the beginning of his recognition of the purpose for which God had created, called, ordained and destined him: “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen…” {Gal 1:15-16a}. First, note the phrase “when it pleased God,” indicating Paul’s realization that God operates in times and seasons. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” {Ecc 3:1}. Saul’s blinding experience on the road to Damascus was in reality his spiritual birthing, “A time to be born” {Ecc. 3:2}. “Ye must be born again” {John 3:7}, instructed Jesus. As for “and a time to die” {Ecc 3:2}, how radically Paul’s concept of death itself changed, his new focus becoming a daily dying to self that the life of Christ might be manifest in him. How drastic a change in his own self-perception! For Paul, who had previously gloried in his standing as a Pharisee, later declared: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” {I Tim 1:15}. No longer a self-propelled activist, Paul became obedient to the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit: “And the Spirit bade me go” {Acts 11:12a}. Had he initially followed his natural inclinations, Paul would most likely have checked immediately with Christian leaders in Jerusalem in order to learn more about this Jesus whom he now accepted as Lord.. But having completely surrendered to that Lordship, he reports: “…immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus” {Gal 1:16-17}. In fact, it was three years before he returned to Jerusalem where he met with Peter and James, the brother of Jesus {v 18-19}. Exactly when and how Paul received Divine revelation as to his purpose and mission is not clear. Perhaps these confrontations occurred when he “went away and retired into Arabia” {Gal 1:17} before returning to Damascus. That God did grant him some preview of the cost of his ministry is evident from one of the Lord’s comments when he sent Ananias to minister to Paul by the laying on of hands: “For I will make clear to him how much he will be afflicted and must endure and suffer for My name’s sake” {Acts 9:16}. During this preordained time of preparation and revelation, God began working into Paul the character of Christ, thereby enabling him to become an embodied demonstration of the Living Word. Early in his transformation, Paul was changed from one who focused on doing religious works “in accordance with the [very] strictest sect of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee” {Acts 26:5} to one whose aim was becoming a righteous and holy vessel through whom his Lord could live, “I have been crucified with Christ – [in Him} I have shared His crucifixion; it is no longer I who live, but Christ the Messiah, lives in me…” {Gal 2:20}. Paul’s life reflects his belief that as Christ’s ambassador he must become the message that he preached. “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” {Gal 6:17b}. Only by manifesting His life can one most effectively preach Christ as Lord. As a preacher of truth, Paul stood for truth, no matter the opposition, even confronting those who “concealed their true convictions and acted insincerely” {Gal 2:13a} and whose hypocrisy was affecting “even Barnabas” {v 13b}. Of these, Paul wrote, “…they were not straightforward and were not living up to the truth of the Gospel” {Gal 2:14}. In contrast, Paul referred to those whose lives manifested the Gospel as “…our letter of recommendation…to be (perceived, recognized,) known and read by everybody. You show and make obvious that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, not written with ink but with [the} Spirit of [the} living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” {2 Cor 3:2-3}. Paul’s complete self-surrender to Christ allowed God to work into him that which He had purposed from before the foundation of the world. “…he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will” {Eph 1:4-5}. By surrendering himself unreservedly unto the Lord, Paul became a willing vessel, allowing Jesus Christ, the Living Word to once again tabernacle among men. Are we destined to become less? -Ruth French October Newsletter 2002 | Higher Things | Living Worship Pastor's Journal October 2001 | Judas | Destined to Become part 1 of 3
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