Why I Love Paul

I’m in awe of this amazing privilege afforded me by the grace of God of being able to read and study God’s word especially as I prepare to teach and preach weekly at Church of Grace. We’re currently in chapters 16-18 in Acts (Paul’s second missionary journey); obviously no one is to be compared to Jesus since the Lord is in a category all to himself; he’s uncontested; yet among “the rest of us” I can think of no one more admirable and greater than the Apostle Paul. A reading through the New Testament leaves no one in doubt that Paul was a man who truly bore, as he put it, “the marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17). I attempt to read through Acts weekly especially paying attention to the immediate context from which I am preaching. I made the following observation today; here’s a glimpse into Paul's highly admirable character.

“Now while Paul was waiting for [Silas and Timothy] at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols” (Acts 17:16); he began “preaching Jesus and the Resurrection” (v. 18). “After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth…And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy [finally] arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus” (Acts 18:1, 3-5).

It is clear to me that Paul most certainly did not equate “waiting” with
“inactivity.” “While Paul was waiting for [Silas and Timothy] (Acts 17:16)…[he]
was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus”
(18:5). These little details are easy to miss hence the reason for “paying attention” to the text. I love Paul because as he strengthened the churches he planted he also strengthens me, not him, but Christ in him. He was a man of humility always attributing who he was and what he did to Christ. He wrote,

“By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of [the other Apostles], though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

And

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

I love Paul because he makes me love Jesus more. Well, not he, but ultimately God causes me to love him more. You know what I mean.