Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Paul: A Paradigm of Election to Salvation for Service



PAUL: A PARADIGM OF ELECTION TO SALVATION FOR SERVICE

An Exploration of Divine Election in the Apostle’s Conversion and Ministry



Introduction
            The conversion of Saul of Tarsus, better known as the apostle Paul, has long been recognized as one of the most remarkable stories in Christian history. How a zealous, violent persecutor of Christians became their leading spokesman, scholar, and evangelist is a question which defies simple, rationalistic explanations and argues forcefully for the validity and historicity of the Christian claims.[1] But Paul’s story is unlike most cases of conversion. He came to Christ, not in response to a presentation of the gospel, but on his knees while blinded by the glory of the risen Lord. The apostle heard from the beginning he had been chosen, not merely to believe in Jesus, but to testify as a witness of the risen Savior (Acts 9:13-16; 22:10; 26:15-18). Irving Jensen notes, “The sovereign ways of God in foreordination are remarkably demonstrated in Paul’s…life.”[2] But God’s sovereign foreordination of Paul’s ministry raises profound questions about divine election as it relates to his salvation.
            Divine election refers to God’s choice of certain people in relation to his redemptive purpose. It “is the result of the divine initiative of God.”[3] Sometimes election is corporate, as in God’s choice of Israel as a nation (Deut. 7:6-8). Sometimes election is individual, as in God’s choice of Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; Neh. 9:7), David (1Sa. 16:6-13), Jeremiah (Jer. 1:5), and Paul (Gal. 1:13-17). But whether the object of election is corporate or individual, it refers to “God’s plan to bring salvation to His people and His world”[4] and “to the purpose or plan of God whereby He has determined to effect His will.”[5] Paul wrote that divine election “depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Rom. 9:16). He told the Ephesians that the Father “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:4). Peter referred to Christians as “those who are elect…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1Pet. 1:1-2). Though the doctrine of election is controversial, it is an important biblical and theological issue.
            Why did Jesus appear to Saul on the road to Damascus and not to every other persecutor? Why did the Lord reveal himself to Saul and not to others who heard the gospel but turned away? Why did the Christ choose Saul to be a witness and apostle before he was born? Why did God elect Paul for service in the gospel even before he believed? Some will say Paul was chosen based on his foreseen faith, i.e. God chose Paul because he knew, one day, Paul would choose to believe in Jesus. This theory, however, turns the doctrine of election upside down, giving priority to man’s choice of God rather than to God’s choice of man. We can hardly refer to election as divine if the decisive choice is first made by the individual who is supposedly elect. Paul’s conversion demonstrates God’s decisive action in bringing a rebellious sinner to repentance by shining “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” into Paul’s heart (2Cor. 4:6). The Lord irresistibly drew Paul, yet he came willingly (1Cor. 9:16-18). God’s choice of Paul before his birth to be a witness of Christ to the Gentiles indicates the eternal, unconditional nature of divine election and exemplifies the graciousness of divine mercy.

Part One – A Clear Indication: Paul’s Election for Service Stated

Paul was Chosen by God for Special Service
Saul’s vision of the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus was an experience destined to change the persecutor’s life. I. Howard Marshall notes, “The purpose of the revelation was that Paul should become a witness, describing and proclaiming what he had seen and heard.”[6] Jesus did not merely appear to Paul to convince him of the Christian claims or to frighten him into receiving baptism. The vision was as much to commission the zealous Pharisee as it was to convict him. Luke records the Lord saying, “But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do” (Acts 9:6), and Paul later recalls the Lord saying, “Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do” (Acts 22:10). The perfect-tense tetaktai (tetaktai appointed) “indicates that Paul is part of an established divine plan.”[7] On another occasion Paul narrates the commissioning on the road in even greater detail:
And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles--to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' (Acts 26:15-18)

Paul’s description to King Agrippa of his Damascus road vision clearly points to the significance in the apostle’s mind of the commission he received that day. Paul did not merely decide to move into a new career. God changed his vocation.[8] The Lord had a clear purpose and plan for Paul’s life and moved decisively to call and guide the persecutor into service as an apostle. The former opponent of Jesus’s followers was goaded by God much as a herdsman might direct his animals. The apostle ministered willingly, but regarded himself as under compulsion to Christ (cf. 1Cor. 9:15-18).
            Paul’s election by God to be a witness and spokesman is but one example in a long line of such cases. In the Bible the Lord sovereignly chooses and calls men like Abraham, Moses, David, Jonah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and John the Baptist for his service.[9] Paul understood his own election as a minister to be within this tradition. In Galatians Paul notes he is “one set apart and called from his mother’s womb,” a position parallel to Jeremiah’s selection as a prophet while yet unborn (cf. Jer. 1:5).[10] F. F. Bruce observes:
With no conscious preparation, Paul found himself instantaneously compelled by what he saw and heard to acknowledge that Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified one, was alive after his passion, vindicated and exalted by God, and was now conscripting him into his service. There could be no resistance to this compulsion, no kicking out against this goad which was driving him in the opposite direction to that which he had hitherto been pursuing. He capitulated forthwith to the commands of this new master; a conscript he might be, but henceforth also a devoted and lifelong volunteer.[11]


Paul was Chosen by God for Specific Experiences
Paul not only received confirmation of Jesus’ Messianic claims and of his election as a witness on his journey to Damascus, he was also given specific information about the suffering which awaited him as a servant of Christ. The Lord told Ananias before he went to see Paul how the former persecutor would suffer as a preacher of the gospel (Acts 9:16).[12] Jesus’ promise of deliverance from both Jews and Gentiles clearly implied the danger Paul would face (Acts 26:17).  The apostle’s letters testify to the extreme hardships and persecution he endured for the sake of Christ (2Cor. 1:8-10; 11:23-29; Gal. 6:17; 2Tim. 3:10-12). Such experiences might have defeated many others, but Paul was empowered by Jesus’ revelation these things would be so.
The Lord continued to guide Paul as the apostle encountered specific threats during his preaching ministry. During one of his visits to Jerusalem, as he prayed in the Temple, the Lord told Paul, “Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me” (Acts 22:18). While facing opposition in the city of Corinth, the apostle was reassured, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people” (Acts 18:9-10). After his arrest in Jerusalem, when Paul might otherwise have despaired of life, Luke records, “The following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome’” (Acts 23:11). And during the nearly fatal voyage to Rome, the imprisoned Paul was again encouraged by revelation that he and his companions would succeed in reaching the capital (Acts 27:21-26).
Jesus not only chose Paul for ministry. He foresaw, permitted, and guided the specific course his servant’s ministry would take. Thus the revelation of Paul’s election as a witness not only included his commission, it included information of what his role would involve. The Lord did not choose him to preach and send him into the unknown. The same God who set apart Paul in his mother’s womb knew every day of his life and prepared him to endure what was ahead (cf. Psa. 139:16). Paul’s preaching and persecution were both governed by God’s sovereign purpose.

Part Two – A Necessary Implication: Paul’s Election to Salvation Implied

Paul’s Election for Service Preceded His Salvation
There can be no doubt the divine election of Paul to be a witness of Jesus Christ preceded his experience of salvation and conversion. Paul said God “set me apart before I was born, and…called me by his grace” before he “was pleased to reveal his Son in me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles” (Gal. 1:15-16).[13] Though salvation is grounded in God’s “own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2Tim. 1:9), it is manifest and actualized in space and time when one believes in the Lord Jesus (John 1:12-13; 5:24; Acts 16:30-34; Eph. 1:13). As William Klein puts it, “In God’s mind, his purposes on behalf of a person may be foreknown and predestined. But it is not until the action of ‘calling’ that the person actually becomes a recipient of and participant in God’s purposes for him.”[14] Therefore, while Paul was set apart by God from his mother’s womb for service as a preacher of the gospel, the apostle was not saved from sin and treated as a child of God until sanctified by faith in Christ (cf. Acts 26:18; 2Thess. 2:13). His election for service to Christ preceded his experience of salvation in Christ.

Paul’s Election for Service Presupposed His Salvation
Divine election, whether for service or salvation, inevitably and necessarily precedes the actualization of whatever is purposed, but there is also a necessary sequence within the various aspects of God’s election. Paul was chosen for service as a witness of Christ, but this raises the question, did Paul’s election as an apostle presuppose his election as a believer, one saved by the blood of Christ? It is clear some are chosen by God for service apart from salvation. Judas was chosen by Christ as an apostle, but his role was as the betrayer, not as a saved believer (John 6:70-71). Likewise, the Pharaoh of the exodus was chosen by God as a vessel of wrath to display the divine glory (Rom. 9:17, 22). God is not limited to using those who surrender their hearts to him. All persons, believers and unbelievers, pious and profane, are vessels for service, whether for honorable or dishonorable use (2Tim. 2:20). So it is possible for a person to be chosen for service who is not among the elect, i.e. the saved. But is this the case for Paul?
Paul appears to see little difference between his call as a believer and his commission as a witness.[15] Bruce notes that Paul “speaks as if the call and commission were part of the one conversion experience” and relates the apostle’s experience to those of Isaiah, who was cleansed and commissioned in the same vision (Isa. 6:1-9), Ezekiel, who was commissioned in the midst of a similar vision (Ezek. 1:4-3:11), and Jeremiah, who was appointed as a prophet before his birth (Jer. 1:5). [16] All of these prophets’ lives and ministries testify to their salvation as well as to their service to God. If Paul’s election rightly stands in the tradition of these great men of faith, then his election as a servant cannot be separated from God’s purpose for his salvation.
Many find the idea of individual, unconditional election by God of persons to salvation objectionable, believing such election would negate an individual’s free will and responsibility to participate in the salvation process. But if Paul’s call to believe in Christ and his commission to proclaim Christ are, indeed, parallel and inseparable, as they appear to be, how can we understand his election to salvation as anything other than individual and unconditional? Some will say the Lord elected Paul because he foresaw the apostle’s eventual faith in Jesus, but this would place Paul’s decision to believe logically, though not temporally, prior to his election by God. In other words, it would be Paul who first chose Christ, then Christ who returned the favor by choosing Paul. This makes the doctrine of election merely a divine response to man’s choice.
When the Bible speaks of God knowing or foreknowing certain people, it does not refer to simple knowledge of what will later be true. God undoubtedly has such information (Psa. 139:1-18; Isa. 46:9-10), but when the Scriptures speak of God knowing certain ones it refers to relationship (Exod. 33:17; Amos 3:2; Matt. 7:23; John 10:14; 1Cor. 8:3) and/or divine choices with regard to those persons.[17] In Acts 2:23 Peter describes Jesus as “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.” God’s foreknowledge of the crucifixion is more than mere foresight. It corresponds to his “definite plan” that it be so (cf. 1Pet. 1:18-20). In the same way, God’s foreknowledge of saved persons is related to his choosing them to be in fellowship with him and becomes the basis for his calling them (Rom. 8:29-30; 1Pet. 1:1-2).
God’s call of those he foreknows and elects is effectual, i.e. it accomplishes what it intends by drawing those foreknown to him.[18] This is evident in Paul’s case since no reason, sermon, or witness could overcome his unbelief, until the Lord acted decisively by manifesting his glory in order to bring the persecutor to the point of faith. William Klein says, “Paul uses kalein [call] to describe a divine activity.”[19] Though Klein is an Arminian scholar who rejects individual, unconditional election in favor of a corporate, conditional model, he recognizes God’s calling is a “causative action in designating Paul as his own child.”[20] Divine election and the divine call are not synonymous in the NT, but they are closely related. Klein goes on to say:
Is kalein truly an elective term? Not…in the sense that it is coincident with God’s election to salvation. But it is “elective” in that it marks the individual application in the life of the believer of God’s elective purposes. It would seem from the evidence that kalein refers not so much to God’s choice of individuals to salvation as to his action in naming or designating some to be Christians. It describes God’s active role in assigning, applying, or bestowing salvation to those who are the elect.[21]

It is reasonable, if not necessary, to conclude Paul’s election for service was based upon a prior election to salvation. Alan Cole notes, “To Paul, the origin of all human salvation is in the mind and loving purpose of God.”[22] God clearly foreordained Paul’s service as an apostle and preacher of the gospel. While some have served in such roles without clear evidence of personal, saving faith (e.g. Jonah, Judas), Paul’s role as announced by Jesus and further explained by Ananias seems undeniably linked to salvation in the Lord (Acts 9:15-17; 26:18). It strains both reason and the relevant texts to affirm Paul’s service as an apostle was foreordained but his salvation in Christ was merely foreseen. Marshall observes that “Ananias’s somewhat reproachful question [in Acts 22:16] ‘Why do you wait?’ is slightly odd,”[23] but it makes perfect sense if we recognize Paul’s service as a witness presupposed his obedience to Christ as a disciple. The question is not, “Will you accept Christ and be baptized?” but “Why do you wait?” God’s will for Paul has been revealed, and now Paul is urged to recognize Jesus’ call and visibly, publicly embrace the saving message of God’s Son. God had taken hold of Paul, and it is time for Paul to press forward to take hold of salvation as well (Php. 3:12).[24]

Part Three – An Important Illustration: Paul’s Election as a Paradigm

Paul’s Service is a Pattern for God’s People
The apostle Paul presented his faith, doctrine, and service as a model of Christian orthodoxy in the churches he visited and in the letters he wrote.[25] He told the Corinthian believers, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1Cor. 11:1). He encouraged the church in Philippi to have the same mindset evident in his life and urged, “Join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us” (Php. 3:17). The apostle’s life was more than just a personal experience. It was a paradigm for other believers to look at and learn from, a portrait of Jesus’ life being manifest in Paul’s own, albeit imperfectly (Gal. 2:20; Php. 3:8-14).

Paul’s Salvation is a Pattern of God’s Mercy
The paradigmatic value of Paul’s life is more than just his model of faith and service. The apostle wrote to Timothy, “I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1Tim. 1:16). Paul regards his salvation “as an example [Ï…̔ποτύπωσις pattern]” of God’s work in those who will believe for eternal life. But what is the paradigmatic import of Paul’s salvation? What do we learn from it?
Paul’s conversion was “a conversion of will, intellect, and emotion, which dictated the abiding purpose and direction of his subsequent life and activity.”[26] But this conversion was the result of God’s intervention in Paul’s life. Not every convert has a vision of the risen Jesus which brings about a change in attitude toward the gospel, so that cannot be the way in which Paul’s salvation is a pattern. But every convert is brought to Christ through the decisive intervention of God on the basis of his election and call. When Paul preached in Antioch of Pisidia, Luke notes, “When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed [tassw] to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). In commenting on this passage, Darrell Bock notes that tassw “refers to God’s sovereign work over salvation, where God has assigned those who come to eternal life. The passive voice indicates that God does the assigning.”[27] God has appointed certain persons for eternal life, and at some point he will decisively and effectually call them to faith in Christ. This was the case in Antioch and in the life of Paul. It was also true in the case of 3,000 on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-41), the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-40), Cornelius (Acts 10:44-48), Lydia (Acts 16:14-15), and countless other believers since. Not everyone is knocked to the ground by a blinding vision of Jesus, but every person brought to faith is saved according to the same pattern as the apostle Paul. They all are foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified (Rom. 8:29-30).

Conclusion
Why was Paul saved and commissioned as a minister of the gospel? Was it because of the eloquence of Stephen’s sermon, the goodness of Paul’s heart, or his open-mindedness to the message of Jesus? Paul was saved by sheer grace, undeserved, unearned, and unexpected (1Tim. 1:12-16). God’s purpose for Paul, determined before the apostle’s birth, was manifested at just the right time, as a pattern of the divine mercy which would be shown to all who believe. “The Lord knows those who are his,” Paul told Timothy (2Tim. 2:19). He knows them before they come to faith (John 10:14-16; Acts 18:10). They are called, effectually and inevitably, according to his divine purpose and grace given to them in Christ Jesus before time began (Rom. 8:28; 2Tim. 1:9). Those he foreknows he also predestines, calls, justifies, and glorifies (Rom. 8:29-30). “Salvation belongs to the Lord,” as the prophet Jonah declared (Jonah 2:9). It is the work of God from beginning to end (Php. 1:6; 1Thess. 5:23-24).
God’s choice of Paul before his birth to be a witness of Christ to the Gentiles indicates the eternal, unconditional nature of divine election and exemplifies the essence of divine mercy. Jesus does not appear to every persecutor of the church, but he did appear to Saul and reverse the course of his life.[28] The Lord does not reveal himself directly and personally to every person who rejects the gospel of grace, but he did so for Saul and made him a preacher of that good news. God did not wait for Saul to obey the gospel before he decided how he would use him, nor did he determine the nature of Paul’s ministry based merely upon divine foresight of what the apostle would do anyway. If divine election means anything, if God’s predetermined purpose for Paul’s life has any actual significance at all, it must be related to the Lord’s sovereign choice to intervene in Paul’s life, effectually bring his enemy to faith, and commission him for service as an evangelist and witness. Paul said to the Corinthians, “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 them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1Cor. 15:10).
Bibliography

Bock, Darrell L. Acts. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids:
Baker, 2007.

Boice, James Montgomery. Foundations of the Christian Faith: A Comprehensive and Readable
Theology. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1986.

Bruce, F. F. The Book of Acts. Rev. ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988.

__________ Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977.

Cole, Alan. The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians: An Introduction and Commentary. The Tyndale
New Testament Commentaries. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981.

George, Timothy. “Election” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Edited by Chad Brand,
Charles Draper, and Archie England. Nashville: Holman, 1998, 473-475.

Jensen, Irving L. Acts: An Independent Study. Chicago: Moody, 1974.

Klein, William W. “Paul’s Use of ‘Kalein:’ A Proposal.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological
Society (Mar 1984), http://www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu (accessed February 27, 2013).

Marshall, I. Howard. The Acts of the Apostles: An Introduction and Commentary. The Tyndale
New Testament Commentaries. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.


[1] F.F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 75.

[2] Irving L. Jensen, Acts: An Independent Study (Chicago: Moody, 1974), 142.

[3] Timothy George, “Election” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Edited by Chad Brand, Charles Draper, and Archie England (Nashville: Holman, 1998), 474.

[4] George, 474.

[5] Ibid., 473.
[6] I. Howard Marshall, The Acts of the Apostles: An Introduction and Commentary. The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 356.

[7] Darrell L. Bock, Acts, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 661.

[8] Ibid., 361.
[9] James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith: A Comprehensive and Readable Theology (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1986), 511-513.

[10] Alan Cole, The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians: An Introduction and Commentary, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981), 51.

[11] Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, 75.

[12] F.F. Bruce, The Book of Acts, Rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), 187.

[13] William W. Klein, “Paul’s Use of ‘Kalein:’ A Proposal,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (Mar 1984), http://www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu (accessed February 27, 2013), 59.

[14] Ibid., 64.

[15] Klein, 59.

[16] Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, 75.

[17] Boice, 514-515.

[18] Ibid., 515-516.

[19] Klein, 54.

[20] Ibid., 59.

[21] Klein, 65.

[22] Cole, 51.

[23] Marshall, 357.

[24] Bruce notes that κατεληφθην (katalambano) is a strong verb better translated “I was apprehended” than by “the weaker verbs used in some more recent versions (Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, 75).

[25] Cf. Rom. 1:11-15; 1Cor. 4:17; 7:17; 11:16; 14:33, 37, 40; 16:1; 2Cor. 13:10; Gal. 1:11-12; Eph. 3:1-4; Php. 4:9; Col. 4:16; 1Thess. 2:1-12; 2Thess. 3:7-10.

[26] Bruce, Acts, 183.

[27] Bock, 465.

[28] Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, 74.