Why did Paul persecute Christians before his encounter with Jesus on the way to Damascus?

Why did Paul persecute Christians before his encounter with Jesus on the way to Damascus?

While this is really interesting to know the fact about Paul. I studied the "New Perspectives of Paul" and understood something which helped me to be clear enough for the above question. Paul is a well-known figure since the first century. Before the conversion, his name was Saul in Hebrew, and Paul in Greek which was given after the conversion. He was Jews (Acts 22:3) as well as Pharisee. Being Pharisee he might be a member of Sanhedrin (the council of 70 members of the high priest). He was there when Stephen was killed Acts 7:58. Saul strongly believed in Torah Mosaic Law. He knows the Scripture and first-century Jews expected the Messiah to be glorious King would come and free them from the hated yoke of Roman domination. But the Hellenistic Diaspore Jews were converting to Christianity and many others. "The Word of God was reaching more and more people. The group of followers in Jerusalem became larger and larger even a big group of Jewish priests believed and obeyed" (Acts 6:7). This was intolerable by the Council as well as Saul. His understanding was people who died on the cross was a curse because he was familiar with the Scripture written in Deuteronomy 21:22, "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance." This verse was the wrong understanding of Saul. He used to think why these people are following Christ who was hung on the cross. This made Saul more offensive because it was blasphemy for them. "And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against then church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. but Saul began to destroy the church. going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison" (Acts 8:1-3)

Thus, I can say that Paul had a wrong understanding of the Scripture which made him persecute the Christians in the first century before his conversion.

Jesus as the suffering servant

Jesus as the suffering servant: The main theme of the Gospel of Mark is "Jesus as the suffering servant." It is the oldest of the four gospels and written to Romans. Mark portrayed Jesus as the Suffering Servant which is the heart of Mark's Gospel. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."- Mark 10:45

Here, we can see the suffering servant, humility, and servant heart of Christ. Jesus is the perfect role model for the entire humanity to serve others without any interest. Just before the Crucifixion, Jesus washed the feet of all the disciples showing us the example of servanthood. Today, hardly people wash other's feet without profit. We know very well being God, Jesus made himself humbled and obedient to His Father in Heaven. He never compromised with the Word and never did His own will. There are thousands and thousands of ministers of God who called themselves as a servant but the question mark is, are we following His footsteps? Who is your role model? "We don't serve God to gain His acceptance; we are accepted so we serve God. we don't follow Him in order to be loved; we are loved so we follow him."- Neil T Anderson

As the Potter forms clay into vessels, some for honorable use and some for menial use, so God forms us to serve His purpose. Regardless of how our position in life may look to others, we are all formed to serve the Lord in some way or other. If God made you be a helper, then help with all your heart. If you enjoy cleaning houses for people, then do as if you are cleaning the Lord's house. There is great joy and happiness in serving God and His people. Do whatever the Lord puts in your heart to do and enjoy fulfilling your God-given purpose. Rick Warren Said, "Faithful servants never retire. You can retire from your career, but you will never retire from serving God." You are called to serve not to be served.

What is our take away: Live to serve God and serve like Christ!

God Bless You!

God doesn’t call the qualified - He qualifies the Called

God doesn’t call the qualified - He qualifies the Called: This is a very true statement that God doesn’t call you when you are qualified, fabulous or famous rather He qualifies your call. When Jesus started his public ministry He didn’t call the learned, educated, qualified, teachers or scribes for His public ministry but He called normal people like you and me. Scripture says; As Jesus was walking by Lake Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew. These brothers were fishermen, and they were throwing a net into the lake to catch fish. Jesus said to them, “Come with me, and I will make you a different kind of fisherman. You will bring in people, not fish.” Right then they left their nets and followed him. Jesus walked a little farther and saw two other brothers, James and John, the son of Zebedee. They were in their boat, preparing their nets to catch fish. As soon as Jesus saw them, he told them to come and follow me. They left their father Zebedee and the men who worked for him in the boat, and they followed Jesus (Mark 1:16-20). After following Jesus they turned into disciples. They remain faithful in their calling as well as with their master Jesus. They never thought that Jesus will die for the whole world and left them alone. But still, they remain strong in their Call. Before ascending to Heaven Jesus said to them, “All the authority in heaven and earth has given to me. Therefore, Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age,” Every disciple obeyed the Great Commission and started sharing the good news (Gospel) in the midst of persecution, pain, hatred, fear but they never give up. Think, if all the disciples were returned back to their own old business then today I would not have posted at the same time you are not reading this article. (This means you are not a mistake! God has a special pan in your life. You are chosen one, separated one and called one). Disciples were all ordinary people but did the extraordinary tasks in this World. They changed the world upside down. They proclaim the Word of God with power, authority, truth, and in Spirit. You may think, that era and this era is totally different. I agree with you but my dear friend, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrew 13:8). The situation is still the same as before persecution, hatred, betrayal and it will remain. Only the change in development and advancement in technology. God wants sacrificial Call and devoted love from you and me. You can prepare yourself in learning and equipping yourself at the same time give yourself fully to the Lord. If you are qualified in absence of call the there is no meaning but if there is Call surely God will make you qualify. He is the king of king, Lord of Lord, great, mighty and awesome God (Revelation 19:16-17). Are you ready to follow Jesus Christ like the first-century disciples? To make the statement true (God doesn’t call the qualified - He qualifies the Call) it’s up to you and me!

So friends, if you have Call from the Lord then without any hesitation follow Christ because He will teach you, guide you, and use you for His glory in His kingdom. Scripture says, “He is Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). As Jesus said, “I will be with you to the end of the age”. He will never leave you and forsake you. Now, What is your response?

God Bless You!

What is Synoptic Gospel?

# What is Synoptic Gospel?

The first three books of the New Testament Matthew, Mark, and Luke are much more similar to each other which contain similar content, passages, stories, wording, and the life of Christ. Having all these similarities in these books are called Synoptic Gospel (syn means "together with"; thus "seeing together"). Though they are similar; the Synoptic Gospel was addressed to different communities by different writers on different dates but focusing on one thing i.e. Christ. 

If God knew that Adam will eat the fruit in the Garden of Eden. Why God didn't stop Adam?

If God knew that Adam will eat the fruit in the Garden of Eden. Why God didn't stop Adam? 

I have been asked this question frequently. So I thought to write here in my blog for the readers like you.
This is the most common question of all. We know God created everything including human beings, the first man Adam. Scripture says human beings are the most beautiful and precious creation than any other creations because God created man in His own image (Genesis 1:26). God used His hands to create Adam "the Lord formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breathed of life, and the man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7). He gave life to Adam but the rest of the creation was created by His words. Even our creation is far better than Angels because they do not have their own free will (freedom). Only we human beings have the free will which means we can believe, praise, disobey, obey or dishonor, honor Him, it's our own will because God has given us that Free Will. Only for Human Beings but we can't escape from His judgment (Isaiah 28:14-16). We should understand this; by doing all these does not make God small or big, happy or unhappy. He is an almighty and sovereign God who knows everything from beginning to end (Revelation 21:6, Romans 11:33, Jeremiah 32:17). He does not want to control you and me because His love for us is unconditional (John 3:16). He doesn't want His beautiful creation should act like a puppet. If there was no free will then there would be no unconditional Love from God "God is Love" (1 John 4:8). I would like to give a small example: During examination time the invigilators are strictly not allowed to teach anything to the students. By chance, if the invigilators saw one of the students is writing the wrong answer meanwhile he can't stop him/her and correct his/her answer. It's ethically or morally wrong! The examination is the test for the students. In the same way, it was a test for Adam. God doesn't want to take freedom from human beings. So due to the free will given to Adam, God didn't stop him from eating fruit. I hope you are clear than before.
If you have any Biblical questions or comments please put it own the comment box. I will try my best to answer your questions.
Thank You for reading
God Bless!

How did Cain get married to his wife?

How did Cain get married to his wife?

This is an obvious question that might arise in the head of every Bible reader. When I read Genesis 4:16-17: ^“Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son.”Here we do not find Cain went to Nod and found the wife there. Rather we can find the implication that he had a wife when he went to Nod and had relations with his wife. Let’s observe some more scripture: 

Genesis 2:7 "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being." 

Genesis 2:21-22 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man and brought her to the man. 

In Genesis 1:28 God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. We don't know when Cain killed Abel and also the Bible does not say how old Cain and Abel were? It is evident that they were not a teenager or young men but could be over forty years of age that means there could be a considerable number of people living at that time because the Bible says Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters in Genesis 5:4. This verse makes clear that they had more sons and daughters. When Seth was born Adam was one hundred and thirty years old. According to Jewish tradition, "they considered Adam had 33 sons and 23 daughters" which shows there were many people during that time. Finally, we can say Cain could have married would have been a sister or a niece.

Another question may arise in incest. This marriage during that time does not violate the commands of God because there was no such law given by God at that time. Later on, Moses wrote all the laws given by the Lord which condemns such a relationship in the book of Leviticus 18:18. From that day onwards, it is prohibited!