We often fail to realise that the foremost writer of the New Testament was at first a great opponent of Christianity. Yet this opponent, Paul the apostle, wrote more chapters in the New Testament than any other writer ; almost twice as many as Luke and twice that of John including the Revelation. As he is styled the “Apostle to the Gentiles”, the majority of the population in Christian nations would do well to recognise his teachings, for they are a comprehensive explanation of “The Way of Salvation”—the way that he at first persecuted. It would seem that God intended it to be like this, for a convert is usually more likely to be believed. However, though Paul was a convert to Christianity, he was not without early religious training. The point we wish to make is that there can be a right way and a wrong way of worship even in the religious circles that believe in the same God. In other words, there is more to acceptable religion than worshipping God. What is required by God is a worship of Him in the manner that He has prescribed. This difference is vividly portrayed in the life of the apostle Paul and consequently should be a lesson to all who wish to worship God, that they should worship Him in the manner He decides is acceptable.
Paul, you may recall, was positively convinced that his manner of life as a strict Pharisee was the correct way. Such was his zeal that he not only persecuted the true believers but had them put to death. All of which effort he later found out was misdirected.
Now what was wrong with Paul’s former point of view and what was right with his latter? The former point of view consisted of worship of the only true God of Israel and a strict adherence to the Law of Moses with all the interpretations as outlined by the sect of the Pharisees. You may recall our Lord’s criticism of the Pharisees which in the main was condemnation of their hypocrisy. Paul, though a Pharisee, seemed to be free from this fault. What then was wrong? His error seems to have been his opposition to belief in Jesus as either the Son of God or the Messiah. Why did he fail to recognise Jesus ? It was because he, like so many of his kind, considered Jesus as an imposter. You see, the Pharisees placed their trust in obedience to the Law of Moses and their interpretations of it. Paul, after his conversion, explains that this was a way to death, not to life, as his Jewish instructors had taught him. So then how was one to gain life?
Jesus’ disciples asked him a similar question in Matthew 19 verse 25, “Who then can be saved?” . . . Jesus answered, “with man this is impossible but with God all things are possible.” Does not such an answer clearly tell us we cannot of our own selves be saved? “With men this is impossible.” This was Paul’s chief error in his Pharisaical life. He relied upon his own ability to get salvation for himself by keeping the Law instead of relying on God’s way, which was through faith in His Son.
What then was different in Paul’s life after conversion ? Was it not his humility and his reliance? Reliance not upon his own way but upon that way shown him by the Lord Jesus himself, when he appeared to him as he was on the way to Damascus to persecute more of the followers of Jesus.
Most of us are familiar with the story, how Jesus told Paul to go to Damascus and there it should be told him what he was to do. (Acts 9 verse 60). About the same time, Ananias, a disciple of Jesus was also given instructions in a vision to go to the house of Judas and enquire for one called Saul of Tarsus. Saul was Paul’s name before he became a Christian. Later it was changed to Paul. Ananias went as instructed, restored Paul’s sight and baptised him into Christ. Here then Paul received his instruction in the “New Way”, the way of salvation through Jesus.
So we find Paul later proclaiming this way of salvation. There is an interesting incident in connection with this proclamation related in the Acts when a slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination expresses what was truth. “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: the same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, these men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the market place unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe being Romans.” (Acts 16:16-20).
Now what was this Way of Salvation that Paul and Silas were preaching? Obviously the owners of the slave girl wanted none of it. The only thing it saved them from was the opportunity to make money. This by general standards is not something people like to be saved from ; a good profitable business even though a little strange, as the slave girl’s owners, is still something to be coveted rather than saved from. Yet the Way of Salvation took away their improper livelihood. Perhaps they hated “This Way” as much as Paul had previously hated it when he had put in prison and to death those who were preaching this “Way of Salvation”. The causes for their opposition would have been different but the effect was the same. Paul and they were both exposed to “The Way” through miraculous happenings, but Paul realised his mistake and repented, for he knew the value of a right “Way of Salvation”. He knew that from which the way of salvation could save him : Namely, death.
Now the question is, do we realise the value of this Way of Salvation? From what can it save us ? Do we really want to be saved from that which the Bible clearly states is destroying us? We see the Bible indicates from Genesis chapter 3 that because our first parents disobeyed God, God brought upon them the previous threat of death which he said would be their punishment if they did the one thing he told them not to. Since their first offspring were born after they became mortal, having been already condemned to death as we learn from Genesis 3, verse 19, then their children were also mortal. It is this mortality that Paul wanted to be saved from, the body of this death as he calls it in Romans 7 verse 24. This is just as true of us as it was of him. We then have to analyse our own particular situations to be able to determine whether the Way of Salvation is for us. If we wish continued ill-gotten gains in this life as did the owners of the slave girl Paul healed, then we must act as did they in rejecting the Gospel. If however, we realise its value as did Paul we will act as he did.
Though we may be presently misdirected, like Paul was at first, when we have sincere zeal and ask in prayer for guidance we will be shown the true Way of Salvation, the only way of salvation.
When we try to project our thoughts into the future we are not at all sure of what lies there. We have to rely upon experience of the past, or we have to have faith in some divine revelation. Based on the experience of man we know that he cannot project his thoughts regarding himself much past the age of three score years and ten. For about this age limit he must expect to die. If he retains his health and his happiness then death is a horrible thing, for it is their termination. No, by and large, death is not a state to be desired. Then why does it happen ? Why do families lose their dear ones ? Why are the younger ones often taken before the older people? Why do all go the way of all flesh, to use a Biblical expression ? These questions cannot be readily answered by the philosophy of men.
But what does your Bible say about all of this ? Well we previously referred you to the third chapter of Genesis and we quote the sentence on Adam. “Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.” (verse 19) Now Paul says (“ARS” Romans 8, verses 19-21) “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God ; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of Him (God) who subjected it in hope ; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage of decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.” What liberty? The liberty that frees from death. This is the hope of the Gospel, this is the hope that is inspired by learning of the Way of Salvation. This is the only way to escape the bondage of decay so forcibly brought to our minds at every burial we witness, and by every archaeological discovery from the dust of the ages. This gospel, this Way of Salvation was what Paul and the other Apostles were teaching their listeners in their day and today they are teaching us through the written message in our Bible.
You know it was the writer to the Hebrews who penned those often misunderstood instructions in Hebrews 11 verse 6, “He that corneth to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” It may be relatively easy to believe that “He is”, but it is quite difficult to “diligently” seek Him, as Paul found out.
Paul, before his conversion, was seeking God and to his own mind he was doing so diligently, but it was all of no avail because his method was incorrect. He did not recognise God’s only Son sent especially to the Jews of that day to show them first, The Way of Salvation, the way to which their Law of Moses pointed in all of its rituals and religious exercises. Their law showed the exceeding sinfulness of sin as Paul puts it in Romans 7 verse 13, and in so doing it condemned all who could not keep it and so Paul found it a law not unto life but unto death.
The “Mercy” of God, which can free us from the grasp of sin is obtainable through belief in His Son and in all that was accomplished by the crucifixion of that Son, which is what Paul says in 1st Corinthians 1 :23-24, “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” To diligently seek God will then require seeking Him through the Way He has provided, the only Way. Jesus taught the only Way Paul preached. Next issue we will have more to say on this Only Way of Salvation, with particular emphasis on the words of Jesus.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One