If you’ve ever been near a church you might have heard of Paul.
Paul is one of the most influential people in history, but he’s also a bit of a mystery. In his letters, he shares bits and pieces about himself, kind of like a puzzle scattered across the New Testament. So, let’s try to put the pieces together and get a sense of who Paul really was, why he mattered, and how his life shaped his message.
Paul the Jew: Not Just Another Teacher
When Paul introduces himself, he says, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia” (Acts 21:39). It’s easy to skip over, but for Paul, his Jewish identity was central—even after he became the famous “apostle to the Gentiles.” He never stopped thinking of himself as Jewish. In fact, when describing his background to the Philippians, Paul says he’s “a Hebrew of Hebrews”—meaning, both parents were Jews and he was raised in Jewish traditions (Philippians 3:5).
In Paul’s day, there were two main types of Jews:
- Hebraic Jews: Raised in traditional Jewish culture, spoke Hebrew or Aramaic, stuck to the old ways.
- Hellenistic Jews: Born outside of Israel (Palestine), spoke Greek, and absorbed some of the surrounding culture.
Paul was technically a Hellenistic Jew—born in Tarsus, a major Greek city, fluent in Greek, and comfortable in the Roman world. But he insisted on identifying as a true Hebrew. So, he’s both “insider” and “outsider”—a bridge between two worlds, which later helped him take the gospel global.
Growing Up in Tarsus: Brains and Business
Tarsus wasn’t some backwater; it was a bustling commercial center and one of the top three university cities in the ancient world (right up there with Athens and Alexandria). We don’t know if Paul went to university there, but the culture and the intellectual energy of Tarsus definitely rubbed off on him. Still, his parents made sure he got a solid Jewish education.
In Jerusalem, Paul studied under Gamaliel—the most famous rabbi of the day (Acts 22:3). If you were trained by Gamaliel, you had basically gone to the “Harvard” of rabbinical schools. Paul became a top student, mastering the Jewish Law, and possibly even joining the ranks of the Pharisees.
Saul of Tarsus: Before the Change
What was Paul (or Saul, as he was called) like before his big conversion moment?
- Zealous: He was all-in. Whatever he did, he did it with passion.
- Brilliant: Top of his class, steeped in tradition and theology.
- Ambitious: Rising star among the religious elite.
- Legalistic: Obsessed with following the Law to the letter.
- Skeptical: Didn’t buy into “new movements” like the followers of Jesus.
- Persecutor: Saw the early Christians as dangerous heretics and tried to stamp them out.
Honestly, if you were picking a candidate to lead a global movement of grace and forgiveness, you probably wouldn’t choose Saul of Tarsus. But God did.
The Radical U-Turn: Encounter With Jesus
Everything changed when Paul met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). It was a total 180. Suddenly, Paul realized that everything he thought he knew had to be re-examined in the light of Jesus. He later wrote, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).
Instead of chasing status and self-righteousness, Paul now pointed people to Jesus as the true source of righteousness and life (Romans 8:10; Galatians 2:20-21).
From Persecutor to Planter
After his conversion, Paul took time to pray, reflect, and rethink everything he believed. He went to Arabia, then returned to Damascus, and started preaching that Jesus really is the Son of God. The transformation was so shocking that people didn’t trust him at first!
Paul spent years in relative obscurity—learning, teaching, and quietly serving—before Barnabas found him and brought him to Antioch, a diverse and bustling city. From there, Paul launched missionary journeys that would take the gospel across the Roman Empire.
Paul’s Big Mission: A Bridge to the World
Paul wasn’t just a preacher; he was a missionary, a church-planter, a mentor, and a theologian. He traveled everywhere from Jerusalem to Rome, wrote letters that still shape Christian thought today, and faced everything from shipwrecks to angry mobs.
He argued passionately for the truth of the gospel. He challenged both Gentiles and Jews, the religious and the rebellious. And through it all, his background—Jewish roots, Greek culture, Roman citizenship—made him uniquely equipped to share the message of Jesus with anyone, anywhere.
The Bottom Line
Paul’s life is a wild story of transformation. From religious zealot to humble servant; from persecutor to peacemaker; from law-keeper to grace-preacher. And as we read Romans, we’re reading the reflections and insights of a man who knew what it meant to be lost and found, blind and then given sight.
If God could use Paul, He can use anyone. Even you. Even me.
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