September 16, 2009 CALLED THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD by Russell S. Miller Printer Friendly Version "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, To reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood" (Gal. 1:15,16). From the moment of his birth, Paul, like Jeremiah (1:5) of old, was selected by the Lord to "preach among the heathen" (Gal. 1:16). But unlike Jeremiah, Paul was not called to be a prophet. In Romans 11:13 he states the reason for which God had called him: "For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office" (Rom. 11:13). In Ephesians 3:8, we read these words concerning his ministry: "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." The Lord was in Paul's life from his birth, working behind the scenes in his early training, his schooling, being also "brought up in [Jerusalem] at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers" (Acts 22:3). In other words God had Paul, and this dispensation of grace, in mind all the while and "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11). It was at Damascus --- upon the conversion of this Saul of Tarsus --- that Christ began to reveal Himself unto him! Acts 9 marks the beginning of "the revelation of Jesus Christ" in Paul's life (Gal. 1:11,12; Acts 26:16-18; I Tim. 1:15-16). "And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus" (I Tim. 1:14). Thus, we discover that both before and after Acts 28 the Apostle's afflictions were on account of his God-given call to minister the gospel of the grace of God. "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for His Body's sake, which is the Church; WHEREOF I AM MADE A MINISTER, according to the dispensation of God WHICH IS GIVEN TO ME for you, to fulfil the Word of God; Even THE MYSTERY which has been HID FROM AGES AND FROM GENERATIONS, but has NOW been made manifest to His saints" (Col. 1:24-26). It was concerning THIS call and ministry of grace that Paul wrote Timothy: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (II Tim. 4:7). To the Reader: Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface: "It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles." We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.