Paul of Tarsus in an address to the Jews in Jerusalem said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today (Acts 22:3).” He professed to be a man zealous for God. Elsewhere, he spoke of being a Pharisee, a Hebrew of Hebrews, and again of his zeal. He was an up and coming Jew above Jews. This religious one-upmanship led him to persecute the young Christian church, and to see it as an act of righteousness. He summed himself up with the words, “If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more (Philippians 3:4).” God, however, had other plans for Paul. The result was his conversion at the cost of his position among the Jewish community. It also led to the first in his maturing spiritually. He learned that “religious” zeal is not the same as being righteous. In fact, he said of religious zeal (reflecting his own background), “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge. Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness (Romans 10:1-3).” Personal zeal is not enough.

Paul then shows a development in humility. From “Hebrew of Hebrews,” and “one with more reasons of religious confidence than any other,” he grows.

In AD 57 Paul wrote, “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 (1 Corinthians 15:9).” Not “Hebrew of Hebrews,” or one with reasons to boast, but as least of those called.

Paul later says he is the least of the saints. “Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people . . . (Ephesians 3: 8 – written in AD 61 or 62).” Least of the apostles and least of the believers.

In 1 Timothy 1:15 (written in AD 67) Paul writes, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst (NIV).” This latter part is rendered in the New King James Version as “. . . sinners, of whom I am chief.” The chief of sinners, may be a mature Paul looking at a long life, and his constant failings. Note what he wrote in Romans 7: 15-19: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” It may also reflect his awareness of the gravity of his earlier persecution of the church. Whatever the background of the statement, it still shows a development of maturity, and a eclipsing of his own ego and pride. This chief of all sinners, became a great man of God, not through his own righteousness, but the Spirit of Christ that dwelt within him. We need to search ourselves as well and acknowledge Christ before self.

In Paul we see the growth of humility. This is the servant nature of Christ. As we grow we become more and more like Jesus. He, who did not see His divine right to be something to be grasped onto, but who humbled Himself to be a servant.

How do you see yourself today? Are you religious without measure? Or are you a sinner, washed in the blood by grace one unworthy but redeemed?

Padre