Paul — the persecutor turned chief apostle to the Gentiles

Approximately half of the New Testament books are written by, or about the work of, one man. Paul's position in the chain is so central that engaging the New Testament without engaging Paul is engaging less than half of what is given. Scripture introduces him first as a witness to a martyrdom on the wrong side, and ends with him writing letters from death-row in Rome. Between those two scenes is the chief example of what direct encounter with the risen Christ can do to even his most committed enemy.

The persecutor

"Saul was consenting to his death. A great persecution arose against the assembly which was in Jerusalem in that day. They were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles." — Acts 8:1

"But Saul ravaged the assembly, entering into every house and dragged both men and women off to prison." — Acts 8:3

"But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem." — Acts 9:1–2

Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee of Pharisees (Phil 3:5), trained under Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), present at the stoning of Stephen consenting to his death, then leading active persecution of the church — making havock, dragging men and women to prison, requesting authority to extend the persecution beyond Jerusalem to Damascus. The chief enemy of the church at the moment of his conversion.

The Damascus road

"As he traveled, he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He said, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise up and enter into the city, then you will be told what you must do.”." — Acts 9:3–6

Direct encounter with the risen Christ, post-ascension, while in active opposition to the faith. The encounter is recorded three times in Acts (chapters 9, 22, and 26 — by the narrator, by Paul to a Jerusalem crowd, by Paul to King Agrippa). The repetition is itself a witness: this is the event around which Paul's life is organized.

The voice's question — Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? — establishes a doctrine in three words. Me — not my people, my followers, my church, but me. Christ identifies himself with the church Paul was persecuting; to attack the body is to attack the head. The body-of-Christ doctrine (1 Cor 12, Eph 4–5) that Paul will later expound was first delivered to him in this question on the road.

Paul is blinded for three days. The believer Ananias is sent to him in Damascus by direct instruction:

"But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”." — Acts 9:15–16

The mission and the suffering are named together. Chosen vessel — eklogēs skeuos, vessel of choice — to bear the name to the Gentiles, kings, and Israel. The suffering is part of the commission, not a deviation from it.

The mission

Three missionary journeys (Acts 13–21) carry the gospel from Antioch through Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece, and back. The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) settles the question of whether Gentile believers must adopt Mosaic law — settled in the negative, opening the gospel's door to the Gentile world without the cultural barrier of full Jewish observance. Without Paul, Christianity might well have remained a sect within Judaism. Paul's mission is what made it the global movement scripture predicts.

The fourth journey is to Rome — under arrest, by Paul's own appeal to Caesar (Acts 25:11). He arrives in Rome around 60 AD and is held under house arrest. The book of Acts ends with him preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him (Acts 28:31). Tradition holds that he was released, briefly free, then re-arrested under Nero, and beheaded outside Rome around 67 AD.

The doctrines anchored

Paul wrote thirteen New Testament epistles (possibly fourteen, if Hebrews is his): Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon. Most of the doctrinal exposition of the New Testament is Pauline. Doctrines for which Paul is the principal scriptural anchor:

• Justification by faith — "Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;" (Rom 5:1; cf. Rom 3:21–28; Gal 2:16; 3:1–14)
• In-Christ identity — "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." (2 Cor 5:17); Ephesians 1 uses in Christ / in him / in whom eleven times in one passage
• The body of Christ — "For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ." (1 Cor 12:12); Eph 4:11–16; Rom 12:4–5
• The resurrection sequence — "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus… For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first,." (1 Thess 4:14–17); the full doctrine in 1 Cor 15
• The new man — "your former way of life, the old man… and put on the new man," (Eph 4:22–24; cf. Col 3:9–10) — already §21 of this document
• The spiritual gifts — 1 Cor 12, Rom 12:3–8, Eph 4:7–13
• The armor of God — "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Eph 6:11–18) — central to §22 of this document
• The marriage-and-the-church mystery — "“For this cause a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife. Then the two will become one flesh.” This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and the assembly." (Eph 5:31–32) — central to §12 of this document
• The predestination-and-election framework — Rom 8:28–30; 9–11; Eph 1:3–14
• The call to renewing of the mind — "be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind," (Rom 12:2) — the basis of all renewed-mind / repentance / metanoia work

The suffering catalogue

"Five times I received forty stripes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep. I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brothers; in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness. Besides those things that are outside, there is that which presses on me daily: anxiety for all the assemblies." — 2 Corinthians 11:24–28

Paul authenticates his doctrine with the price he paid for it. He boasts not of revelations or accomplishments but of infirmities (2 Cor 11:30; 12:9–10) — "Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me." The pattern that makes him credible as a teacher is that he suffered for what he taught and continued to teach through the suffering.

The Carrier-Not-Crosser pattern lived in person

"For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. From now on, the crown of righteousness is stored up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing." — 2 Timothy 4:6–8

His final letter, written from death-row, anticipating execution. Fought, finished, kept, crown — the pattern §5 of this document names as the carrier's posture, lived by Paul to the moment of his beheading. but also to all those who have loved his appearing. — the crown is shared. The chain (§13) is carried by Paul to its terminus in his own life and handed forward to all them also.

Paul's position in the chain

• He is the chief example of post-ascension conversion via direct encounter. The eleven apostles knew Christ in his earthly ministry. Paul did not. His apostleship rests on the Damascus road. For every later believer — including every reader of these words — the model of how Christ can be encountered after the ascension is Paul, not the eleven.
• He is the chief example of grace's reach to even the chief enemy. "The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." (1 Tim 1:15). The reach of grace is established as wide enough for the persecutor; therefore wide enough for anyone.
• He is the chief example of suffering-as-authentication. What was suffered for the doctrine is the witness that the doctrine was held truly. The body of his teaching is signed in scars.
• He is the chief writer of the church's doctrinal vocabulary. Most of what the church confesses about justification, sanctification, the body of Christ, the new creation, the rapture, the spiritual gifts, the armor — Paul anchored. Engaging the New Testament without engaging Paul is engaging less than half of what is given.

See: Acts 7:54–8:3; 9:1–31; 13–28; Romans (whole book); 1 & 2 Corinthians (whole books); Galatians (whole book); Ephesians (whole book); Philippians 1:12–30; 3:1–21; 4:10–13; Colossians 1:24–29; 1 & 2 Thessalonians; 1 & 2 Timothy (the Pastoral Epistles); Titus; Philemon; 2 Peter 3:15–16 (Peter on Paul's epistles); plus all sections of this document that draw on Pauline material — §§1–4, 6, 9–17, 21, 22.