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At the same time he knew very well that it would be useless to seek the light he needed from men, -- from flesh and blood, as he expressed it.1 That was certain. He was not at all the man to surrender himself to another's guidance and walk by another's light. Besides, even had it been otherwise, he could not possibly have expected any help from the Twelve; for they still failed to see even as much as his eyes, quickened by hostility, had discerned before his conversion, when he was still a persecutor. They still failed to see that whoever became an adherent of the Crucified had broken with the Law, and must regard the cross as the greatest deed of God. So he left the busy Damascus and betook himself to Arabia, to some quiet place in the neighborhood. Here he remained a considerable time, and the interval of repose bore rich fruits for his inner life; so that when he returned to active work he had in truth become a new man, and was fully equipped with his new conviction. During the next five-andtwenty years he was far from standing still. He expanded and consolidated his views in the midst of his restless activity, and indeed in consequence of it, and more especially in the course of the hot controversies in which he was involved. But it was now that the great revolution took place, and that the formation of his views and character alike was completed in principle and in essence.

We must remember that this transition involved a complete change in the foundations alike of his religious and his moral life, and therefore an enormous strain, not only upon his intellectual but still more upon his moral powers. Was it not a sublime resolve, involving the stern suppression of all self-love and self-satisfaction, thus to break with his own past, unconditionally to relinquish all the results of his services, all in which he had hitherto gloried, to which he had devoted himself with heart and soul, and in which he had excelled so many of his companions, henceforth to find shame and humiliation in the prosecuting zeal that had been his glory? The substance of his preaching henceforth ran: Not by the Law, but by grace, not by works, but by faith, we are saved; and therefore all distinction between Jew and heathen is henceforth abolished!" And this shows that the Jew within him had died for ever; but not, we may be sure, without causing him the deepest trouble and affliction of soul, -not without a long and desperate wrestle for the very life 1 Galatians i. 16, 17; compare p. 319.

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2 Philippians iii. 4 ff.; 2 Corinthians xi. 21 ff.; Galatians i. 13, 14.

All this he ascribed to the influence of the cross upon him. His whole soul turned to the Christ who had suffered himself to be nailed to the cross in obedience to God and in love to mankind, and had taken pity upon him, his enemy and persecutor. Nay, he felt so closely bound to him that it was as if he had himself been crucified with him, or in his person; had died with him to the Law, to the world, and to sin; had risen with him from the regions of the dead, henceforth a new man, living like the Christ, and with him, to God alone. He felt himself in such close communion with Christ that it was as if his former self-the self-seeking Jew-had gone, and as if Christ himself lived henceforth in him.1 Did not the spirit of Christ and what was that but Christ himself? — work in him and control him more and more? The life he now lived was in truth a new, a holy, an eternal life, free from the Law with its restraints and curse. He no longer knew any thing of a Lawgiver in heaven, whom he must serve in trembling, but only of a Father whose grace was his all, love of whom was now the principle of his obedience and of his whole moral life, whose Spirit dwelt in him as the pledge of a blessed future. The Law could not form man to obedience, for man's carnal nature the fountain and the seat of sin made the Law powerless. But when Christ laid aside upon the cross the flesh, the carnal nature, which he had received at his birth, then upon that same cross the carnal nature of all who should cleave to him and become one with him was as good as slain, and with the flesh the power of sin was destroyed. Then they might not, and could not, fail any longer to live for God by the Spirit.2 Thus the whole inner life of Paul hinged upon the contrast between Law and faith, sin and grace, flesh and spirit, Adam and Christ.3 Adam was the representative of the old, carnal, sinful race of man; Christ of the new, spiritual, and holy race that would be revealed in all its glory at the coming of the kingdom of God. To Christ, this second Adam, Paul ascribed a pre-existence in heaven, as the Son of God or type of humanity, before he took upon himself the carnal nature in order to redeem the posterity of Adam. Like all the believers, he expected him to return from heaven shortly, to complete the work of salvation. Meanwhile, it was his task to preach this Christ to the world,

1 Galatians vi. 14, ii. 19, 20; 2 Corinthians v. 14 ff.; Romans vi. 4 ff.

2 Romans viii. 1 ff.; 2 Corinthians i. 22; Galatians v. 5.

3 1 Corinthians xv. 21 ff., 45 ff.; Romans v. 12 ff.

4 Galatians iv. 4; 1 Corinthians xv. 47; 2 Corinthians viii. 9; Romans viii. 3 Philippians ii. 5 ff.

especially to the heathen world, hitherto deprived of the glad tidings, so that when he should come he might find the world prepared and believing.

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How long Paul stayed in Arabia we do not know; but it must have been several months, and perhaps a year or two. He was probably residing all this time in some village on the great plain that stretches south-west of the river Euphrates, and is known as the Arabian desert. There he supported himself by his trade, while his heart and head were ceaselessly busied with deep speculations, with the examination of the Scripture, with the internal conflict of his soul, and with prayer to God. As soon as he had come to a clear and definite conclusion, he came back from his retirement, a new man in very truth, and began the work of his Lord. He chose Damascus, the nearest great city, Damascus which he had once before approached upon so different a mission, as the scene of his first labors. And here for the first time, accordingly, the Christ was preached to the heathen world by a preacher who distinctly knew what he was doing, and did it on the strength of an established principle. For though Paul may have chosen the synagogue as his basis, there is no reasonable doubt that from the first he appeared as the Apostle of the heathen.1 But it appears that before long his preaching was impeded, and his life, or at least his liberty, very seriously threatened, so that he determined to fly. He tells us himself that the governor of King Aretas, to whose territory Damascus just then at any rate belonged, had set watches at the gates of the city to seize him. But he succeeded in reaching the house of a friend who lived on the walls; and thence, under cover of the darkness, he was let down in a basket from a window in the wall and escaped. Then he went to Jerusalem. He had not been there since his conversion, now three years ago. He had not the least intention of preaching in the city, for the field of his labors lay not there; but he desired to make acquaintance with Peter, the most prominent of the inner circle of the friends and disciples of Jesus. So he stayed with him in his own house; but he met none of the other Apostles only James the brother of Jesus, who stood with Peter at the head of the community of Jerusalem. It seems, therefore, that he kept his visit a secret, and avoided contact both with his former associates and with the community. After a visit of only fifteen days, he left his host and the City of the Temple, again to devote all his powers to his task as 1 Galatians i. 16. 2 2 Corinthians xi. 32, 33; compare p. 122.

the Apostle of the heathen, this time in the regions of Syria

and Cilicia.

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But before accompanying Paul upon his journey, we must mention that the writer of Acts gives an account of what took place after the conversion, which differs widely, and evidently not by accident, from that of the Apostle himself. He omits every thing that Paul urges in proof of his originality and independence of the Twelve. His retirement, his stay in Arabia, his three years' absence from Jerusalem, the privacy of his intercourse with Peter, all disappear without a trace! He is made to come forward at Damascus, without any interval, and begin preaching that Jesus is the Christ. Moreover, his preaching is directed to the Jews, who are full of amazement to hear him say these things, and, since they cannot refute him, make a murderous design against his life. He escapes, as above described, and goes to Jerusalem to join the community there. But the brethren are suspicious of him until Barnabas introduces him to the Apostles, tells them how Christ appeared to the persecutor, and how he has since been preaching at Damascus. Thus introduced and recommended, he associates on intimate terms with the Twelve, preaches with them in Jerusalem and the neighborhood,' and directs his special efforts to the conversion of the Greek Jews; but they plot against his life, upon which the brethren safely convey him to Cæsarea, and send him to his native city, Tarsus. This account, as we see at once, contradicts that of Paul himself in almost every particular, though the Apostle certifies the truth of his own statement in the most solemn manner: "As for what I am writing, behold! I declare before God that I lie not." Elsewhere, in a speech he puts upon the lips of Paul, the author still more evidently betrays his design of making his readers suppose that Paul did not begin preaching to the heathen at once and of his own motion, but only in consequence of the obstinate resistance of the Jews, and very much against his own desires and intentions; for he makes him say that after his conversion he returned to Jerusalem, and that as he was praying in the temple he saw the Christ, in a transport, and that he commanded him to leave the city at once, for he would not get a hearing there. He urged that, since the people of Jerusalem had known him as a furious persecutor, they could not fail to attach importance to his preaching now. But it was all in vain; he must travel far away to the heathen!

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1 Acts ix. 28 (read "coming in and going out of Jerusalem "); compare xxvi. 20. 2 Acts xxii. 17-21.

CHAPTER V.

THE FIRST MISSION TO THE HEATHEN.

GALATIANS I. 21-24; ACTS XI. 22-30, XII. 24-XIV.; LUKE X. 1 ff., 17-20.

PAUL

AUL himself only gives us a few of the leading facts that relate to his appearing as a missionary in the regions of Syria and Cilicia, -to his preaching and his fortunes there, or in general to the opening period of his labors as the Apostle of the gentiles, and even what he does tell us comes out for the most part incidentally. The only point upon which he lays any stress is the absolute independence which always characterized his work. He did not stand in any position of dependence whatever to the Twelve or the primitive community. He had received no commission, no instructions, no hints from them; and what is more he did not once go to Jerusalem during the whole of this period of eleven years. Very possibly he was not in any kind of communication with the believers there; for when we read that the communities of Judæa, to whom he was not so much as known by face, hearing that the former persecutor was now a preacher of faith in the Crucified, glorified God in him, we cannot help suspecting that they were but imperfectly acquainted with the substance of his preaching, for otherwise their satisfaction would have been far from unmingled. Paul informs us further that his work was richly blessed, an unmistakable sign of the Divine approval, so that at the close of these eleven years his gospel was spread in many quarters among the heathen, and he had established numerous communities.1 His headquarters were at Antioch.2 Of his numerous fellowlaborers he only mentions three; namely, Barnabas, Titus, — a born heathen, whom he had probably converted himself, since he certainly was not subjected either to the Law or to circumcision, - and Timotheus, a convert of his own and afterward his frequent travelling companion. As we go on we shall frequently meet with these three men, as well as other friends and assistants of Paul.

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1 Galatians ii. 2, 7, 8.

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2 Galatians ii. 11, 13.

8 Galatians ii. 1, 3, 13; 1 Corinthians iv. 17; compare 2 Corinthians ii. 15, et seq.

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