Having completed our examination of the godly man Job in Part One, and PartTwo with King David, we now conclude this trilogy by looking into the life of apostle Paul.
Why did the apostle Paul claim to be the chief of sinners (1 TIM 1:15)? Many point to this verse for an answer:
1 CORINTHIANS 15:9
For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
Paul remembered the words he heard from the risen Christ:
ACTS 22:7-8
7 "And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' 8 "So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.'
Not only was Saul of Tarsus forgiven of his sins, but his Messiah actually made him an apostle (GAL 1:1)! This is the place of grace, indeed!!
David like his predecessor Saul started out humbly when he was anointed as king of Israel. Unlike Saul however he remained a humble man – certainly not a perfect man, but one who owned up to his own failings (even if delayed as with the case of Bathsheba).
He started out as a faithful shepherd boy – little did he realize at the time but GOD had him in training even then, to eventually become the “Shepherd-King” of Israel!
As one of three that I am most eager to meet in heaven, what I so admire about David is his multi-faceted personality and considerable skill set. He was a good leader, a warrior of renown, a gifted song writer, an eloquent poet. In latter times, David would have been known as a Renaissance Man! Not only was he impressively strong, and extraordinarily handsome with a gifted intellect, but also had a great and compassionate heart (a very rare combination among us humans!).
