1 Corinthians 15.9-10
[9] For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. [10] But by the grace of God I am what I am.
The apostle Paul would forever be Saul the persecutor, just like Rahab the prostitute (Hebrews 11.31) or Simon the leper (Matthew 26.6). They had been forgiven and transformed, but they never forgot the dreadful lives they had been saved from. We cannot erase our past, but we can rejoice in the change God has brought about in us by his grace, and live the new lives which he has called us to. When arrested in Jerusalem he stood before the crowd and told them what God had done in his life. He told them what God had told him: “You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22.18). That became Paul’s mission. We too can do no better than to tell people what God has done in our lives.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come:
’tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
Leave a Reply