Lest you conclude that the genre has nothing to say pertinent to our topic, I refer you to my list of collected texts where you’ll find 40 references. This post will use passages from Paul’s first epistle to Timothy as a jumping-off point.
Violent aggressor
In 1 Timothy 1:13, Paul accused himself of having been a “violent aggressor” (NASB, NIV) before he met Christ. The Greek word here, hubristes, can also be translated “insolent,” which has the connotation of showing scorn or contempt for others who are made in God’s image.
- He also admitted to having acted out of ignorant zeal, firmly believing at the time that he was in the right and that God was pleased with him (1 Tim 1:12-14).
- In the history of the early church, he allowed his missionary companion Luke to publically characterize him as someone who ravaged the church without regard to males or females (Acts 8:3), and who breathed out murderous threats (Acts 9:1 NIV).
- By his own admission in Acts 26:4-12, Paul seems to have been one who carried this zeal farther than anyone else. He didn’t just cast votes against allowing Christians to live, but he also chased them down wherever they fled and attempted to forcefully “persuade” them to recant.
- In Galatians 1:13, he said of his former life that he persecuted the church “beyond measure and tried to destroy it.”
- According to Ananias, the man who led him to salvation, Paul had done real harm to Christians (Acts 9:13).
- In Acts 22:19, Paul confessed to having beaten people who would not renounce their faith in Christ.
Was he a murderer?
It's possible that Paul stopped short of killing people. In Acts 7:50 during the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Stephen, Paul was put in charge of everyone’s coats. Nevertheless, he was “in hearty agreement with putting him to death” (Acts 8:1). In other words, he shared responsibility for Stephen's death because he did not express any caveats in his favor, or raising any objections. He fully sided with the killers, and later gave himself no passes for passive participation.
- Paul came to agree with Jesus that violent, hateful speech is the same as actual violence (Matthew 5:21-22).
- Paul was of the sect of Pharisees whom Jesus condemned for evil speech (Matthew 12:34-36, 15:17-20; Mark 7:20-23). Pharisees saw themselves as clean and untouched by vile sins such as murder, but Jesus said the source of insolent speech is a heart that has murder in it.
- When Jesus confronted Paul on the road to Damascus, He asked, “Why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4-5, 22:7-8). He was feeling the blows as Paul inflicted them on His people. He identified fully with His followers. And Paul would have readily admitted that, yes, his main goal had been to bring Jesus and His cause to nothing (John 15:18-19).
The wonder of Jesus is that He was willing to be numbered among the vilest transgressors, to die with and for them (Isaiah 53). The irony of the cross is that He went there in exchange for a murderer named Barabbas (Mk 15:7, Acts 3:14).
By the time Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy, he understood that, according to God's law, he was guilty of the blood of people whose only crime was believing God’s promises concerning the Messiah. How many deaths he was responsible for we can’t know. Mercifully for everyone involved, Jesus stopped him in his tracks.
If he was not actually a stone-thrower, at the very least, Paul had cursed people who were willing to suffer for Jesus’ sake, condemning them to death. He had said they were beyond redemption. He had terrorized them. Looking back, he was ashamed he had consigned these early Christians to what he thought would be the lowest part of hell. And yet God forgave him (1Tim. 1:15).
Yes, Jesus saves even murderers. One of them—Paul—became one of His first missionaries, one whose letters we still refer today!
Mercy for murderers
As we’ve seen, God abhors violent people. As a student of the law, Paul should have known that. Indeed, in 1 Timothy 1:9-10, Paul still condemns murder, as he does elsewhere (Romans 1:29, 13:9). Forgiven murderers do not remain violent but renounce violence in all its forms, as Paul did repeatedly:
- He said church leaders should not be hot-tempered fighters but instead self-controlled, gentle, and peaceable (1 Tim 3:3; Titus 1:7-8)
- He regulated the behavior of all believers, saying they need to put aside “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech” (Colossians 3:8)
- Rather than using force to bring about conversions, our dealings with non-believers should begin with prayer and never descend into physical or verbal abuse (“without wrath and dissension,” 1 Tim 2:1-8)
- Other epistle-writers emphasize the same point: James 4:2; 1 Peter 4:14; 1 John 3:15; Revelation 9:20-21, 21:8, 22:15.
Epilogue
After Paul’s missionary journeys were over, he was shipwrecked on the island of Malta (Acts 28:1-10). While tending to a fire on the beach, a venomous snake came out of the kindling and bit his hand. Superstitious islanders thought, “Here's a guy who escaped death in the sea only to be killed by a viper! He must be guilty of something really serious, because God is out to get him. He must be a murderer!”
They were partially right. Paul had been a murderer. He deserved death. But Jesus had saved him from all his sins and taken the penalty of death that Paul was due. He had made Paul a new person and had more for him to do. He'd rescued him from the sea and saved him from the effects if poisonous venom so Paul could minister to the people of Malta and continue his journey to Rome.
Next: Jesus' kingdom does not advance by violence
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Related post: Building a culture of life through law
Image credit: 'Ecce Homo,' (c1911) by Sir John Lavery, https://www.richardmorris.org/shop/p/product-6-yrdld-pcpw6-t3kp7-bgsmg
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