"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God."
Last time we began a brief study of the distinctive ministry and
apostleship of Paul; a ministry that was clearly not the same as that of
the twelve who were apostles before him. We looked at Paul's dramatic
conversion on the road to Damascus, where he was transformed by God's
grace from the chief persecutor of the church to an apostle of Jesus
Christ. Paul was saved by God for a special purpose, but his calling was
distinct from that of the Twelve.
Paul's Distinct Calling
In the first chapter of the book of Acts, the apostle Peter directed the
apostles to select a replacement for Judas Iscariot, who had betrayed
Jesus. They narrowed the candidates to two and then cast lots to select
Matthias. There are some Bible teachers who believe Peter and the other
apostles were wrong for doing this. They insist that Paul was God's
choice to take Judas' place. Those who hold to this idea fail to see
that Paul was called by God for a different purpose than that of the
Twelve. Peter understood the number of these apostles must be raised
back up to twelve because their ministry was to the twelve tribes of
Israel. They began this ministry by going to the Jews in the homeland,
starting in Jerusalem and Judea, the capital city and central region of
the nation.
Paul was not called by God to take part in the ministry of the Twelve.
While he certainly was called to testify before the children of Israel
(Acts 9:15), his primary ministry was to be "a preacher, an apostle, and
a teacher of the Gentiles" (2 Tim. 1:11). At the time he was saved,
this was something new, for up to this point the ministry both of the
Lord Jesus and of His apostles had been limited to the Jews only. The
only way a Gentile could come to God was as a proselyte, one who had
adopted the Jews' religion through circumcision (Acts 2:10). Paul was
separated by God for the express purpose of preaching Christ among the
Gentiles (Gal. 1:15-16).
Since Paul's apostleship was something new, the message he was to preach
did not originate with men. Paul wrote to the Galatians:
"But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached
by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor
was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ."
(Gal. 1:11-12)
After Paul was saved, he "did not immediately confer with flesh and
blood" nor did he "go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles" before
him. Instead, he went to Arabia and later returned to Damascus (Gal.
1:17). While Paul was in Arabia, God began to reveal His plan and
purpose for Paul's ministry. God did not reveal everything to Paul at
this time, for we know Paul received an abundance of revelations
throughout his lifetime (2 Cor. 12:1-7). What is important to see is
that Paul did not receive his calling and instructions from men,
specifically not from the Twelve, but by direct revelation from Jesus
Christ. I believe it is significant that the twelve apostles, who were
sent to God's earthly people, Israel, received their calling and
commission from the Lord Jesus while He was still here on earth.
Whereas, Paul received his calling and commission from the Lord Jesus
after He had already ascended back into heaven.
Paul did not visit Jerusalem until three years after he was saved. He
met with Peter, but only remained with him for fifteen days. During this
time, the only other apostle he saw was James, the Lord's brother (Gal.
1:18-19). While in Jerusalem, the Lord spoke to Paul as he was praying
in the temple one day and told him, "Make haste and get out of Jerusalem
quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me. ...
Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles" (Acts
22:18,21). While the Twelve remained in Jerusalem, even after the
persecution and scattering of the Jerusalem church that occurred after
the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:1), the Lord sent Paul away from
Jerusalem to minister, instead, to the Gentiles.
Paul spent the next ten years in the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and
was "unknown by face" to the believing Jews in Judea. All they knew of
Paul was that "he who formerly persecuted them, now preached the faith
which he once tried to destroy," and for this, they glorified God (Gal.
1:21-24).
Paul and Barnabas, were then led to go to Antioch in Syria, which became
their new home. After a year of ministry in Antioch, these two apostles
were sent out by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word in Asia Minor (Acts
13). In each city they visited, they preached the Word first to the
Jews, but also to the Gentiles. Paul's ministry to the Gentiles was
difficult for the Jews to understand and accept; not just for the
unbelieving Jews, but for the believing Jews as well. When Paul and
Barnabas returned from this first journey, certain Jews from Judea came
to Antioch and insisted the Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the
law in order to be saved, something that Paul and Barnabas strongly
disputed (Acts 15:1-2). It was determined that Paul and Barnabas should
go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem to settle the issue.
Luke's account in Acts chapter 15 seems to indicate that the church at
Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem (Acts 15:2-3), but when Paul
related this same event to the Galatians, he said, "I went up by
revelation." This statement indicates the Lord Jesus revealed to Paul
that he was to go to Jerusalem. In this same passage, Paul gave the
reason why the Lord sent him to Jerusalem:
"And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which
I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of
reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain." (Gal.
2:2)
This is another clear indication that Paul's ministry and apostleship,
even the gospel he preached, were distinct from that of the Twelve. Many
people have trouble accepting the idea that Paul was preaching a
different gospel than the Twelve were preaching, but why would Paul need
to communicate to them the gospel he preached among the Gentiles if it
was the same one being preached by the Twelve to the Jews? The fact is,
it was not the same gospel. Paul goes on to say:
"But from those who seemed to be something-whatever they were, it makes
no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man-for those
who seemed to be something added nothing to me. But on the contrary,
when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed
to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter (for He who worked
effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked
effectively in me toward the Gentiles), and when James, Cephas, and
John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given
to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we
should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised." (Gal. 2:6-9)
"Those who seemed to be something" refers to those who had long had the
reputation of being apostles and elders, the ones who currently held the
leadership roles in the Jerusalem church (specifically James, who was
the Lord's brother, Cephas or Peter, and John). Paul declared of these
men: they "added nothing to me." Paul was not saying they were of no use
to him or that he was, in any way, better than they were. He was simply
indicating that, in regard to his own ministry, particularly the gospel
he preached, these other apostles did not give him any revelation or
direction. As Paul shared with these leaders of the Jerusalem church how
God was working through him and Barnabas to reach the Gentiles for
Christ, they recognized that Paul's ministry was genuinely of God. It
became clear to them that the Lord had given Paul this gospel of grace
to preach among the uncircumcised Gentiles, just as they had been given
the gospel of the kingdom to preach among the Jews. From the testimony
of Paul and Barnabas, it was evident that God was working through these
new apostles, just as He was working through the Twelve, but clearly
according to different callings. So, James, Peter, and John extended to
Paul and Barnabas "the right hand of fellowship," agreeing that each
should continue in the ministry God had sent them to do.
It is vital that we see and understand what James, Peter, and John came
to see at the Jerusalem Council-that Paul was given a ministry and
apostleship "by the will of God," but one that was distinct from their
own.
We still need to take a closer look at the overall purpose and nature of
Paul's ministry. For instance, while Paul was called of God to be the
apostle to the Gentiles, he also had a ministry to the children of
Israel. During the Acts period, Paul always went to the Jews first and
then to the Gentiles. Why did God send Paul to the Jews first? What was
the nature of his ministry to the children of Israel?
After the close of the book of Acts, Paul fully unveiled God's plan and
purpose for a new body of believers, the Church, the Body of Christ, in
which the distinction between Jew and Gentile has been removed. This is
another aspect of Paul's apostleship that must be considered. Next
month, we will continue this study, looking in more detail at "Paul's
Diverse Commission."
