MONDAY January 18, 2021
Persecutor of the Church
For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
Galatians 1:13-14
Paul proclaimed his testimony to the Galatians. Before giving his life to Christ, he was an extremely zealous Jew. Paul was a Roman citizen as he was born in Tarsus. He had the best teacher in the entire world––Gamaliel. This well-known teacher taught Paul everything to know about Judaism, about the Jewish traditions, and all the fathers of the Jewish nation. Paul believed in the keeping of the Law; every dot and comma must be kept. That was Paul–––a strict Jew––a Pharisee.
As such, Paul vehemently persecuted the Church. The word persecute means “to pursue.” Paul was pursuing Christians like a lion pursued its prey. He tried as much as possible to have Christians thrown into prison and to have them killed. He set about to destroy the Church! The word destroy means “to make a ruin.” He did not want the Church to thrive; he wanted to wipe out the entire Church from the face of the earth. At this time, the Christian life was not an easy life, but it was the only life.
I am so glad Jesus intervened and saved Paul! He was a genius. He had a highly educated background. Paul was an intellect––a gifted theologian. Paul was able to minister to both Jew and Gentile. He could expound the Word of God so powerfully. He had such an incredible knowledge of Scripture.
Who more innocent than Christ? And who more persecuted? The world is the world still.
~John Flavel~
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