Paul More Exceedingly Zealous Galatians 1:14 - Equipped for Battle

In proving his authority and identification with the members of the churches in Galatia, Paul offers his background before he met Jesus Christ. Paul uses where he came from to demonstrate where he was brought to when referring to the gospel of grace which he preached. He already wrote about his persecuting and wasting the church, and today he adds more to his resume' in chapter one and verse fourteen where he wrote:

And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.

Paul first wrote: “And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation”. The word “profited” means, “to go forward, advance, proceed” which means Paul was ahead of his class. Paul was a Pharisee, which meant that he would have memorized the first five books of the Bible - Genesis through Deuteronomy, in order to qualify. Not many can meet such a feat even today, however, Paul excelled in the Jew's religion.

He adds, “being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.” Not only was Paul a great student of the Jew's religion, he was also much more zealous which means, “more abundantly, greater in degree, more earnest, in burning zeal. Ready to defend and vehemently contend for a thing.” Paul not only was ready to defend his faith, but he would take measures beyond those of his peers to be sure it was not altered. We should remember that this is the background for Paul's conversion to Jesus Christ and the gospel which he afterwards promoted.

What about our background? Would we say that we excelled above our class in what we used to believe? If there was a way to measure how adamant we were about our beliefs in the past would people easily identify us as a “zealot” for it? Perhaps some who are reading these words are adamantly defending what they believe or don't believe right now? And it could be that the reason they are reading these words is because Jesus Christ desires that they know Him and the gospel that Jesus came to give. If either of these cases are so, the rest of the teaching within this book is going to be of particular interest because it only gets better from here.

Next time we see the grace of God at work in Paul's life, so read ahead, and let us join together then.

Until tomorrow...there is more...

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