Written by Deanna Brooks, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
In 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul writes: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Think on those words, then look at verse 8 where he follows those thoughts by saying, “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”
What do we know about Paul? Why was he able to write with such confidence?
We first meet Paul in Acts 7:58 where he is called by his Jewish name Saul, holding the garments of those stoning Stephen, then Acts 8:1 tells us Saul approved the execution. This makes us think he already had some authority among Jewish leaders.
Paul tells a little about himself in 1 Corinthians 15:9, 10: “For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain…”
We learn more in Philippians 3:5,6: “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
Paul was born a Jew, and his parents followed Jewish law and circumcised him when he was eight days old, according to the law God gave Abraham in Genesis 17:12.
Paul was a Pharisee, a teacher of the law, and he was zealous to fight against anything that challenged the purity of Israel or of the law.
He was a persecutor of the church and willing to use violence to protect the law of Moses. He believed the early Christians were blasphemers against a holy God. Paul would have remembered Leviticus 24:10-16 where God was blasphemed and knew this was a serious offense. He lived blamelessly according to how he understood the law to be.
As a faithful Jew he offered the appropriate sacrifices and kept the feast days and purity laws, and he would have expected others to do the same.
Paul grew up in Jerusalem and studied at the school of Gamaliel (a leading authority in the Sanhedrin) according to Acts 22:3. Because of his schooling, we assume he was from a wealthy family. His birthplace, Tarsus, about 620 miles from Jerusalem, dated back to 1900 BC, and was an important trade city in what we know as modern-day Turkey.
Paul had access to power, to money, and to the prestige of high social standing… all of which he gave up to follow Jesus.
In Philippians 3:7-8 Paul writes: “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
Paul had given up everything from his early life in order to be a disciple of the Christ.
Because Paul went to the Gentiles, he did not speak of “virtue” since they would have thought of the four Greek virtues: justice, courage, temperance, and prudence. Instead, Paul spoke of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…and he encouraged Christians to build these into their lives.
Paul tells us his goal in Philippians 3:10: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”
He encourages us to forget what’s behind and press on remembering the goal that’s in front of us (Phil. 3:14-15.)
Paul tells the Sanhedrin in Acts 23:1: “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” Because he had done what he thought God wanted him to do, when Jesus got his attention on the road to Damascus, Paul was receptive to the message of Jesus.
Before Paul began persecuting Christians, it is probable that he studied this new faith because of wanting to do what was right, so he may have already known something about what the disciples did and believed.
The apostle Paul, born a citizen of Rome, reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven and we await a Savior who will transform us (Phil. 3:20-21; 4:1), so “stand firm in the LORD.”
In standing firm, we, too, can say with Paul, “I have kept the faith…a crown of righteousness is waiting.”
Quotations are ESV.
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