Paul's persecution

Wow, I can't believe that it has taken me this long to have my first original thought. I may have had a few thoughts before this one, but none of them have actually materialized onto this spot.

Here we go then: Paul wasn't seeking to please God as he was persecuting the Church. He says about himself:

"I persecuted the church violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers." [Gal 1:13-14 ESV]

It sounds like he was zealous for what he thought to be right. He thought that the Church was a heresy, and so he was trying to stamp out this blemish among God's people. The problem for this zealot, though, is that he was wrong.

I mis-quoted the above passage. It actually says:

"I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers." [Gal 1:13-14 ESV]

Paul now recognizes that he was wrong. Because the truth has be revealed to him by Christ, he now knows that it is the church of God, not a blemish among God's people. Paul in his own life is showing what he is talking about in Rom 1:18-32. In his own unrighteousness, he was actually suppressing the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord. He was a great Jew, zealous for God. He thought that he was seeking God's approval, but he was actually suppressing the truth that God has made known, and not serving God.

Whoa, wait a minute, how can we be sure that we are doing the right thing? Because God has actually revealed truth to us. Let's not assume that we know who God is, but instead listen to who he says he is, and how we should respond to this. Praise God that he has given us his Word!