PAUL IS STILL SAUL
Paul was originally named Saul, after the first king of Israel. His name wasn’t changed after his conversion, as many believe. Saul and Paul were two names for the same person. Saul is his Hebrew name and Paul his Greek name. When Paul speaks of his conversion in Acts 26:14, he said “…I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, “Saul, Saul..”
There is no scriptural evidence that God changed his name. However, we do see passages that indicate that Saul and Paul were interchangeable. Here are a few examples. In Acts 13:9, it states that Saul was also called Paul, Jesus addressed him as Saul (Acts 9:4), Ananias referred to him as brother Saul (Acts 9:17), referred to as Saul (Acts 9:22-23), and the Holy Spirit called him Saul (Acts 13:2). Paul was his Roman name, which would be naturally used amongst the Gentiles in his missionary work. Using this name would allow him to approach the Gentiles as he was to speak in their own language.
This idea that Saul’s name was changed could have come from the fact that God did change the names of believers in the Old Testament. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham(Gen. 17:4-5) and Sarai’s name to Sarah (Gen. 17:15), and Jacob to Israel (Gen. 32:28). But nowhere do we read of Saul’s name being changed by God.
PAUL’S BIRTH
Paul was a Greek-speaking Jew, born in the prosperous city of Tarsus, in Cilicia (Acts 9:11), in approximately A.D. 5, in what is now modern Turkey. Which he states is not an insignificant city (Acts 21:39). Paul was an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil. 3:5) and raised a Pharisee. He was born to Jewish parents who possessed Roman citizenship, a privilege that Paul would also possess (Acts 22:26-28). His parents were Pharisees, who strictly adhered to the Law of Moses. Paul was circumcised on the eighth day (Phil 3:5), following the Mosaic law.
PAUL’S EDUCATION
Tarsus was known as a center of intellectual life and one of the largest trade centers on the Mediterranean coast. People from all over the Roman Empire went to Tarsus to live and work in this prosperous city. This includes educators who went there to teach, bringing their culture and knowledge. It could be that Paul received training there and also in Jerusalem, in the school of Rabbi Hillel, under the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). Gamaliel was one of the most famous, well-respected teachers- is one of the greatest rabbinical teachers of the first century. He was a Pharisee and the grandson of the famous rabbi Hillel. The first biblical mention of Gamaliel is in Acts 5. Some suggest that Paul became a student of Gamaliel between the age of 10-15 years old. Under his guidance, he would have received a wide range of exposure to Greek literature and philosophy, learned to interpret the Hebrew Scriptures, and memorized them. In addition to his studies, Paul had to memorize the ancient Hebrew language Targums and be able to translate it into Aramaic. He was given exceptional education. By the time he completed rabbinical school, he had received the best education his religion had to offer.
PAUL PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS
Paul, a Pharisee like his father (Acts 23:6), possessed zeal for his faith. The zeal that led to the persecution of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1-3). Paul was consumed by a passion to execute and imprison Christians. Before going to Damascus, he went door-to-door, dragging Christians out of their homes to arrest them and take them to trial, where Paul would vote that they be executed for blasphemy (Acts 8:1-3; 26:10). In fury, he went after Christians in many “foreign cities” outside of Israel and did everything to denounce their faith (Acts 26:11). Paul was present for Stephen’s stoning and death. He held the garments of those stoning Stephen (Acts 7:58). He showed no remorse for those who were followers of Jesus.
PAUL’S CONVERSION
Around A.D. 33-34, Paul was on his way to Damascus to apprehend anyone who belonged to the Way, when he was miraculously converted. Suddenly a light shone from heaven, causing him to fall on his face and losing his sight. Then he heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:1-19). Jesus was expressing that the persecution of Christians, was like persecuting Him. Paul had realized that he had been attacking God by the shedding of the blood of His people, rather than serving Him. Jesus even warned his disciples of this in John 16:2 saying, “…whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.”
After Paul regained his sight, he was baptized and ate to regain his strength since he had been without food or drink for three days (Acts 9:9, 18). He immediately began to proclaim the gospel message in the Synagogues (Acts 9:19-20). With the Jews plotting to kill him, the disciples helped him escape (Acts 9:23-25, 2 Cor. 11:32-33). In Galatians 1:17-18, Paul explains that this is the point in which he left for Nabatean Arabia, spending three years there. It was during this time that he received most of his doctrine as a direct revelation from God (Gal. 1:11-12).
After his conversion, Paul’s only mission was to preach God’s gospel at all costs. He endured suffering, trials, and dangers (2 Cor. 11:22-33), was beaten and imprisoned, and yet, sang praises to God (Acts 16:22-25), and was stoned and left for dead due to his preaching but continued to preach the gospel (Acts 14:19-21). He knew persecution awaited but didn’t count his life to be of value (Acts 20:22-24). He had a deep love for God, believers, and unbelievers. Especially love for his fellow Jews. He had such love for Israel and longed to see them saved (Rom. 9:3). While he taught and rebuked his audience, he displayed humility (1 Cor. 11:1, Phil 3:17, Acts 20:18-24, 2 Thess. 3:6-9. How amazing to see how tirelessly he preached God’s gospel that he once sought to destroy (Acts 26:9). All he did was for the glory of God (Rom. 11:36, 1 Cor. 10:31).
THEME AND PURPOSE FOR PAUL’S LETTER
Paul wrote this letter while he was in Corinth ( Rom 16:1, 23), towards the end of his third missionary journey, and before he set off to Jerusalem (Rom. 15:25) around A.D 55-58. His letter was directed to the Church in Rome. The church had likely been existent for many years (15:23). The letter was not written to rebuke ungodliness or to correct bad theology (unlike some of his other epistles). On the contrary, he seems to have known that they were firmly established believers, strong enough to carry out missionary activities. He referred to them as ones who were, “full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.”
The central theme of Romans is the gospel (1:16-17). This includes God’s promise which is now realized (1:1-3) and the mystery now revealed (16:25-26). The letter was an opportunity to teach the truths of the gospel of grace. One of the truths being the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which Paul clearly mentions in chapters three, four, and five. The Romans Road to salvation was compiled by using verses from this book. Unlike the theme, there isn’t just one purpose for his letter. It was to teach doctrine, edify, instruct, and encourage since they had not received the benefits of apostolic preaching or teaching. For instance, he includes instruction for Christian living in chapters twelve through fifteen. He also mentioned a few reasons why he desired to go to Rome- to edify believers (1:11), to encourage one another (1:12, 15:32), and to preach the gospel (1:15).
The letter was also a way of introducing himself to the Church since they didn’t personally know him. Although it was not intended to be systematic, it reads more like a theological essay than a letter. It emphasizes Christian doctrine (sin and death, grace, faith, salvation, righteousness, justification, sanctification, redemption, resurrection, and glorification). It also contains a widespread of Old Testament passages that Paul uses to illustrate the truths in this book.
PAUL’S DEATH
Scripture does not record how Paul died, so there is no way to be sure of the circumstances of his death. However, Paul did express the anticipation of this death (2 Tim. 4:6-8) while he was writing second Timothy in a Roman prison. Jesus revealed to Paul that he would suffer for the name of Christ (Acts 9:16).
The claim that he was beheaded, at the order of Roman emperor Nero, or one of his subordinates, comes from Eusebius, an early Church historian. It is said that Paul’s death occurred shortly after the burning of Rome, In-mid July of A.D. 64, a fire that lasted six days. The fire could have been due to the peak of the Mediterranean summer when temperatures increased and humidity decreased, removing the moisture. This makes it more likely for material to burn. The Roman historian, Tacitus, stated that wind was present, which most likely affected the spread of the fire. This could have been the Sirocco (Scirocco) winds, blowing from Africa. To this day, the dry, hot, and forceful winds of Sirocco are associated with dangerous fire conditions.
It’s also said that Nero was responsible for the fire in Rome so that he can rebuild it to his liking. Whether this is true or not, he was aggressively persecuting and killing Christians at that time. Although we don’t know exactly how Paul died, Scripture indicates that he may have died for his faith. In Acts 21:13 he stated he was ready to die “for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Paul was around 60 years old when he died.