Rev Gav

What’s in a name?

1 Timothy 1.1–2, 12–14

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope,

To Timothy, my loyal child in the faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Reflect

Paul — the one who wrote many of our letters in the New Testament — had two names, a Jewish name, ‘Saul’, and a Roman name, ‘Paul’. Saul was also a Pharisee and known for his strict adherence to the Law of Moses.

Wanting to preserve the Jewish faith, Saul chased down and persecuted the early followers of Jesus, even participating in the stoning and execution of one of them named Stephen. Saul went through a dramatic conversion experience when he was struck by a light from heaven and heard the voice of Jesus, who asked him why he was persecuting him. After this vision, he was temporarily blinded and was later healed by a disciple named Ananias before being baptised and becoming a fellow follower of Christ. After his conversion he continued to use and be known by his Roman name, Paul.

We do not know exactly why Saul chose to be known from then on as Paul, but it is very likely that because as his purely Jewish life had been associated with the former, he used the latter to signify his new life in Christ.

The point of this brief history was because it is good for us to remember from where Paul came, and it is this history to which he refers when he writes, “(Jesus) judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

The grace of God has overflowed to all of us who follow Christ and, like Paul, we too have received mercy. Paul’s response to this divine revelation and outpouring of God’s love was to dedicate his life to serving Christ. In his eyes, how could he do anything less? And he pursued this new calling with the same zealousness that he had applied to his duties as a Pharisee, giving up everything to proclaim Jesus Christ as sovereign and bear witness to God’s love. The letters of Paul provide a narrow window into his world, the development of his thoughts, and his understanding of all that had taken place.

We, in the western church, are very blessed (perhaps too blessed?). It is very easy to take it for granted that we can pop along to a building and worship with fellow Christians, and if I am honest, there is often little urgency within us to do so. With all that we can obtain at the tap of a finger, we can be so sated with life, that we can lose our hunger and passion for God. Imagine what our church gatherings would be like if we all turned up early, eager and expectant to meet with God and with one another?

Pray

Holy God
Help me remember
from where I came
and be grateful
for the overflow
of your loving mercy.
Melt my cold heart
and fill me with
a passion and
fire for you
that can never
be extinguished.