Summary: Paul is continuing his defense of the Gospel in defending his apostleship. He states that he had been set apart, even before birth. Set apart for the purpose of sharing the good news with gentiles. He then records what went on after his conversion, the places he went and the people to whom he saw over a three year period. He makes a bold assertion at the end of this passage in stating that what he writes, “before God, he isn’t lying.”
Note: Judaizers had probably been claiming that Paul had been heavily instructed by the apostles during his stay in Jerusalem to write him off as not credible, hence Paul’s assertion that he was not lying.
Timeless Principle: One principle to pull from this text is the simple yet overwhelming fact that God’s grace is unmerited [see 15-16: “before I was born… I was called by grace… God was pleased to reveal his son me even while I hated him”]. Paul says that he had been set apart even before birth. Too often I find myself, in my sinful nature, saying that I have something to do with the grace I have received despite the fact that I know the opposite is true. God has “chosen us (follower’s of Christ) in Christ before the foundations of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” [Eph. 1: 4-6]. God has freely chosen us to be a “people for his own possession, zealous for good works” [Titus 2:14]. In Christ, God has transferred us from darkness into marvelous light, blessing us, not only with the uniting of us to himself, but with every spiritual blessing under heaven and Earth, more than these things he has set his love on us not because we were mighty or strong (when rather we were the weakest and smallest), but because he loved us, even more so than that he has counted us a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, showing the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus [1 Pet. 2: 9, Eph. 1: 3, 2: 7, Deut. 7: 6]. This grace is unmerited; It was not like God looked down on me and said, “Canaan is such a good guy, I think I’m going to show my immeasurable grace to him because of how sweet a dude he is.” We must realize that grace is completely (100 percent plus some) undeserved; this unearned grace has found us for a very different reason. Perhaps it, though not a perfect illustration, would be more appropriate to say that God looked down at me and was disgusted by my sin and even driven to fury, but in his perfect grace was pleased to open my eyes to the image of his Son’s twisted body on a roman cross, more so than that adopting me, the foremost of sinners, even a hater of God by nature, to be his Son, bringing me into communion with himself simply because he loved me, and that is it. I, you, we have never nor shall we ever do anything to merit God’s amazing grace. Paul realized that even before his moral acts God had chosen him, hand-picked for the sake of taking the Gospel to the world. It is the mere fact of this grace that drives Paul to proceed despite his awareness of the afflictions to come to say this, “I do not count my life as any value or precious at all, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry that the Lord Jesus Christ, to testify to the Gospel of the freely given, unmerited grace of God” [Acts 20: 24]. May we, I, be like Paul in that I might be driven by this grace that sought me out. May I remember that the God who fabricated the world, delicately knitted me together in my mother’s womb, setting me apart for his work (as is true for every adopted child of God by his perfect grace) [Psalm 139].
Another principle that can be seen in this text is Paul’s urgency to see the carry his calling. Paul is testifying that after his conversion he did not ask questions but rather went straight into preaching the good news of the Christ-given grace of God. Paul had a divine calling right? So how does this relate to me, I didn’t have a personal encounter with Christ on some desolate road in the middle of nowhere? Maybe the real question is Paul’s calling a singular calling or is it shared by all believers? Though Paul had a specific calling to reach gentiles, his calling to make disciples was not and is not a singular calling. We are joint heirs of the Gospel and we have been called to go forth and make disciples teaching them to obey all Christ has commanded [Matt. 28: 18-20]. We, having been sealed with the Holy Spirit are to be Christ’s ambassadors to the nations [Acts 1:8]. May we like Paul be driven to sorrow if we are but to preach the Gospel and declare its excellences, even declaring with Paul, “woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” [1 Cor. 9: 16] One challenge that I feel sometimes is the lie that I do not have enough knowledge of the word to share the Gospel. Anyone who is now in Christ, by necessity, knows all that they should ever know to proclaim Christ. If you are a follower of Christ, then you have heard the truth of Christ’s substitutionary death for our sake and it is this truth that is the heart of the Gospel. Knowledge, or lack thereof, is not an excuse to be idol when Christ has commissioned you into the war. Besides, what knowledge is there besides the Gospel? None worth mentioning. May we, like Paul, work, beginning in prayer and humility, to reach the nations.
My Prayer: Father, thank you for calling me out, when I would have never called out for you. Thank you, for being sovereign. Thank you for your free grace because if it was free then it would be unattainable, for I am but a man who mocked you time and time again in my sin. And even as I desolated your name, you loved me anyway so much so that you willingly killed your son. More than that, you have entrusted me to proclaim you truth and father I pray that you would instill in me a heart like Paul, that even the thought of not sharing your Gospel would greatly trouble my heart. I pray that you would go before your chosen ambassadors and prepare the hearts of men for though we are you messengers we are powerless to change men’s hearts and so we ask that you do a supernatural work so that your name might get glory. In your’s Son’s name I pray, Amen.
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