Paul's Bible School

Following the announcement of the retirement of our church's Senior Pastor, I was honored and humbled to be asked by our Deacon Board to serve on the Search Committee. One of the first tasks the Committee needed to do was to create a profile of our next Pastor. What education, experience, strengths, etc. should this man possess?

I remember discussing our requirements for his education. Did we require a Bachelor's Degree? a Master's Degree? Must the candidate have graduated from a Christian Bible College?  Did we require a degree in Pastoral Studies? What about Seminary?

In our society, it seems that requirement #1 for men and women who want to go into Christian ministry is to be a college graduate from a Christian College or University. We expect our men and women to learn how to do ministry from professors at these institutions. Hopefully, these institutions are capable of instilling knowledge and providing ministry opportunities to allow the students hands-on experience so that when graduation comes, a new crop of effective ministers are ready to serve.

The apostle Paul made a point in Galatians 1:11-12 to say that he did NOT go to Bible School. "I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ."

No Bible School for Paul and no need of Bible commentaries -- he had first-hand training directly from the Lord Jesus Christ. In his life of Judaism, he had lots of formal teaching on the Old Testament. But, Paul was living in the Church Age. The Old Testament was completed -- the New Testament was just beginning. Like the other apostles, Christ personally trained Paul.

I wonder how different Paul's training was in comparison to the training of the 12 disciples. When Christ was training Paul, His work of salvation had been completed. No more anguish at the thought of the cross with its terrible burden and shame. No more physical limitations such as fatigue and hunger for Christ. Was there more joy displayed by the Lord during Paul's training because his work was completed?

Hebrews 12:2 reminds us that "Jesus...who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame." Christ's work was completed -- He had entered back into His rightful place as God the Son with the Godly attributes taken up again that He had set aside to take on human form (Phil. 2:6-11).

Did the timing of Paul's training -- after the work of salvation was completed and the elimination of physical, mental, and spiritual obstacles -- have any correlation on the amount of the New Testament written by Paul in comparison to the other apostles?

Paul doesn't specify in this passage or other passages when his training took place. I wonder if the visions that Paul experienced were the times of training from the Lord. In II Corinthians 12, he writes about his "visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven....He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell." Acts 9:12 says of Saul (while blind from his conversion experience), "In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." 

I've always wondered if Paul's training occurred while he was in Arabia (Gal. 1:17) which is where he went immediately after his calling to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Paul wrote in Gal. 1:18 that three years had passed after his conversion before he went to Jerusalem. Christ's training to the 12 disciples lasted 3+ years. Could Paul's training have also lasted 3 years?

I've enjoyed thinking and wondering about Paul's training. Lots of things we don't know. One thing that it is safe to say, Paul had an unique, first-hand training experience with the Lord. I'm sure that it contributed greatly to the impact of his ministry to the church of Jesus Christ in his lifetime as well as every generation of Christians since.

In my next blog, I'll give you an update on progress of financial goals and share some thoughts about my granddaughter, Jenny, who turned 5 on Wednesday.

Until then, thanks for reading....