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The Conversion of Paul – Hit the Mark — 3 Comments

  1. Curtis, thank you for so clearly highlighting the pathway to actual, truthful eternal life as God would have humanity experience it. Jesus clearly taught, as recorded in all the gospels, that for one to GAIN LIFE, it first REQUIRES LOSS of one's life (Mt 10:39; Mk 8:35; Lk 9:24; Jn 12:25). He prayed for (Mt 26:39) AND ACCOMPLISHED it in His own life (Mt 26:42). Along that journey He also taught His followers to pray for a similar reality (Mt 6:10; 12:50).

    Curtis, you said, "Paul’s life before Damascus is an extreme example of how many of us have often conducted ourselves. Our religious zeal, not according to knowledge, has had a negative effect. We have ruined lives and relationships –all while claiming we were on a mission of righteousness." While I understand why you characterize his experience as "extreme", I believe his experience can serve to enlighten "good" religious persons to a danger more mundane and widespread than we like to acknowledge. A danger of which Jesus cautioned His own disciples (Mt 26:41), which I believe you correctly identify as "religious zeal, not according to knowledge"(Rm 10:2). I don't believe this to be a danger unique to the "religious" though. Our human "zeal" to marry, parent, govern and pursue otherwise good, normal human activity is plagued with the unexpected pitfalls that arise from our gaps in knowledge, that only worsens with each well-intentioned, human step taken without the ONLY Omniscient's counsel (Rm 10:3; Hos 4:6).

    Jesus' revealed, guaranteed--albeit ironic--solution, exemplified in Paul's point-of-conversion question in Acts 9:6, IS THAT LOSS OF LIFE (Philippians 3:8-9) requisite to experiencing eternal life (Jn 12:25).

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