Who was this Apostle Paul Guy?

If you’re new to being a Christian or have been a Christian for a long time, you may not know much about the Apostle Paul. 

Here are 5 facts that you may or may not know.

#1 – Did you know that before the Apostle Paul was a messenger of Jesus, he was a Pharisee?

What does this mean? Well, let’s not dive in too much – but the Pharisees believe that there is a resurrection of the dead. There is another group called the Sadducees. They believe that there is not a resurrection of the dead.

What is the one thing that your mom always told you not to bring up in family gatherings? #1 Religion #2 Politics. If you got these two groups together, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, if someone brought up the resurrection of the dead comment……..Some people would go home angry.

#2 – Saul? Paul? Which is it?

I am sure you know that the famous Apostle’s name was not always Paul. It use to be Saul. Contrary to popular belief, there is a teaching that Jesus renamed Saul to Paul.

That is not taught in the Holy Scriptures.

The first time we see the name change from Saul to Paul is Dr. Luke writing in Acts 13:9 “But Saul, who was also called Paul.”

There is some speculation that Paul wanted to humble himself and changed his name from Saul, which means “prayed for,” to Paul, which means “tiny, little, petit.”

A few verses above, you will see Saul/Paul meeting with Sergius Paulus. Could he have taken from this man’s name? No idea, but it’s possible.

#3 – Where did Paul go to preach?

Whenever Paul and his friends went into a new city, he would always go to the nearest synagogue.

He would be able to share about Jesus with the Jewish people. A small percentage would believe and follow Jesus, but the majority would want to kick Paul out of the city or want him killed.

Remember, there were no Christian churches where he could go and preach during Paul’s time. Paul is a Church planter, and he planted a lot of Christian churches after his conversion.

#4 – Jewish and Greek greetings

In most of Paul’s letters to the Churches, he helped found, he usually starts his letters with “Grace to you and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

As you know, Jesus called Paul to bring the gospel to all the nations particularly, the Gentiles, people who are not Jewish.

The cities that Paul visited were under Roman rule. It was a common phrase for a Greek or Roman citizen to say, “grace to you,” and if you were a Jewish person, the common saying is, “peace to you.”

Knowing that Jesus is for all, Paul combines these saying to both the Jew and the Greek, or Gentile. We all have access to the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is for ALL!

#5 – Paul did not start the Church in Rome

Paul never started the church in Rome, neither did Peter.

There are teachings that the Apostle Paul founded the church in Rome. Stay with me, do you remember Paul’s friends Aquila and Priscilla?

Paul met this husband and wife team in the city of Corinth. They had the same profession as Paul. They were tentmakers.

It is very possible that Aquilla and his wife Priscilla helped start the church in Rome. Why? Rome was Aquilla and Pricilla’s hometown.

A few years before they met Paul, there was this angry guy named Claudius. He was the emperor at that time in Rome.

He had kicked out all of the Jewish people in Rome. Aquilla and Pricilla, who are Jewish, had to find another place to live, so they made their new temporary home in the city of Corinth.

This is where Paul met Aquilla and Pricilla, on one of Paul’s mission trips he met this power couple, and Paul would witness and share with them.

We know that Aquilla and Pricilla made their way back to Rome.

So, it is very possible that this husband-and-wife team helped start the church in Rome. You could say that Paul commissioned them to plant the church in Rome.

Thank you for reading!