My take on Truth, Grace, Restoration, Love

Came across this and was very much moved as I read about Pual’s path he journeyed.

When Saul of Tarsus, who was later renamed Paul, saw the resurrected Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road, Saul converted to Christianity. He made three long missionary journeys throughout the Roman Empire, planting churches, preaching the gospel, and giving strength and encouragement to early Christians. Of the 27 books in the New Testament, Paul is credited as the author of 13 of them. While he was proud of his Jewish heritage, Paul saw that the gospel was for the Gentiles as well. Paul was martyred for his faith in Christ by the Romans, about 64 or 65 A.D.

God gave Paul the strength, wisdom, and endurance to carry out the mission Jesus entrusted Paul with. Much of the Protestant Reformation was based on Paul’s teaching that people are saved by grace, not works: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-” (Ephesians 2:8, NIV) This truth frees us to stop striving to be good enough and to instead rejoice in our salvation, gained by the loving sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

And then I asked myself a question. What if Paul had a teen age son? What would the conversation have sounded like? Would it have gone like this? Dad You’ve been beat up again. Last week you were stoned nearly to death. everytime you’re thrown in jail you never write me because you are always writing letters to another church. Dad, we are moving again? Another church plant? Another town? People are beginning to talk.

Or would it have went something like this given the fact Paul would be teaching in his home what he was teaching the churches. I think His teen age son or daughter may have very well recognized that the one thing their dad could do the best would never be able to be done in heaven. It may have very well been why would be able to see God’s hand in it. One more life to heaven. That’s it. Whether people understood such a calling was not a thing they could worry about. It brings Philippians 1:18 to life for me.

But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,

When you are consumed with the mission of Christ it is not your comfort or status or security you worry about. You don’t worry about what people think or say. Yours is to do as God has made you. Whether it takes you to being stoned, run out of town, to be misunderstood, or jailed, Christ’s cross must be preached and whatever the state of being you rejoice. This was the one track Paul traveled on. His was to do but what the mind of Christ had him to do. Do you have such a one track mind?