Paul's Transformation: A Testament to Divine Authority

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The evidence is strong that Paul is speaking as a reasonable honest man who knows what he is saying and why his explanation is that Christ appeared to him and that he receives Revelation with such Revelation he credits the Old Testament and speaks a full message about the person and work of Jesus Christ as God's truth we must decide if we believe he is credible witness there is good reason to believe that he is. [00:00:06]

Paul is not oblivious to the problem and in Galatians 1 he undertakes to say something which sounds like he's trying to help the Galatians credit his testimony so he put yourself now in the galatian shoes and say we want to know can this man be trusted I mean he's a killer he's a murderer and now he's starting to preach some pretty amazing things so here's the way he argues we have to decide is this true or not. [00:06:42]

For I would have you know Brethren that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man these are not just human words and message you're getting here for I neither received it from man nor was I taught it but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ so his claim is that these amazing things he says about Christ and the gospels was not learned by ordinary human means but that he received it from Jesus Christ as a revelation. [00:07:22]

You have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism how I used to persecute the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it and I was advancing in Judaism Beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions and stop right there so what he does with his first premise in this argument is to say you have access to knowledge here that you know is true namely I was one amazing Pharisee. [00:08:54]

But when he who had set me apart even from my mother's womb called me through his grace was pleased to reveal his son to me that I might preach him among the Gentiles I did not consult with flesh and blood nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me I went to Arabia and then I returned to Damascus then 3 years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with sephus and I stayed with him 15 days. [00:10:19]

I was once utterly out and out moving towards the destruction of Christianity and advancing in Judaism and now 180 degrees I'm preaching Jesus Christ who appeared to me on the Damascus Road and I want you to know I didn't get all this by running to flesh and blood or going up to Jerusalem or talking to the apostles I went away and only three years later did I get together and have a talk with Peter and the others. [00:12:03]

The writings of Paul do not fit the way lunatics or psychotics speak his writings like Romans are reasoned in an extended and coherent way his writings bear the marks of many warm personal relationships his writings bear the mark of much interest and concern with others now I I if you say would you come up with this list why why you mentioning those things these are the thing I know a lot of of schizophrenics. [00:18:18]

The price Paul was paying to be a Christian and an apostle rule out the idea that he was using it as a platform to con others he proved repeatedly that he was not being driven by money he was a Tent Maker he didn't take offerings for himself he had others handle offerings when he was trying to collect the money for the Saints in Jerusalem this man was not driven by greed not driven by money wasn't using this message as a platform to con others. [00:20:18]

I conclude to say that Paul is making an honest mistake as a reasonable man is to miss the point the problem is not just that he might have made an honest mistake in his conversion which would be inexplicable enough the problem is that he goes on year after year making the most outrageous claims about his own revelatory experiences and the reality of Christ and the Holy Spirit and the nature of reality this is not an honest mistake this is a lifetime of sustained delusion or deceit if he's not telling the truth. [00:21:49]

I have had my faith threatened and challenged by almost every conceivable side there may be new challenges that emerge that I haven't thought of but and over time I've begun to think of these writers not in some magical way but rather as people like you that I know I know them in fact better than most of you I've lived with them longer I've seen more about what they think than what you think and I have been posed repeatedly in in down times and up times and hard times and good times are these guys reliable. [00:23:34]

Paul is special to me because Paul has 13 letters and they are letters they're not like the gospels like Matthew Matthew is hidden you Matthew never says I felt this like I felt this or I felt that Paul he's talking about himself all the time you really get to know Paul when you read the letters of Paul he talks about his angers he talks about his anxieties he talks about his failures he talks about his successes he talks about his conflicts he there's Paul all over the place. [00:24:57]

I just have I've lived with this man so long I've struggled with what appear to be inconsistency so long and found such deep and wonderful consistency I I've seen the way he handles conflict and I've seen the way he talks about God that uh I just can't reject Paul as a friend and counselor and a wise knower of Jesus who had an encounter with him that I never had and had a unique call on his life so I I mean just personally that's the way I relate to the Apostle Paul. [00:26:21]

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