Justified True Belief

(●) Saul of Tarsus, later known as the apostle Paul, was a first‑century Jew from the city of Tarsus in Cilicia, a Roman citizen and a Pharisee trained under the respected rabbi Gamaliel. Zealous for the traditions of his ancestors, he initially viewed the early Christian movement as a dangerous heresy and actively persecuted followers of Jesus, approving of the stoning of Stephen and seeking to imprison believers. While traveling to Damascus to arrest Christians, he experienced a dramatic encounter with the risen Jesus, who appeared to him in blinding light, confronted his persecution, and commissioned him as a chosen instrument to carry the gospel to Gentiles, kings, and the people of Israel. After his conversion and baptism, Paul began preaching that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God, eventually undertaking multiple missionary journeys throughout the Roman Empire, planting churches, training leaders, and enduring intense opposition, suffering, and imprisonment. He articulated key doctrines of the faith such as justification by grace through faith, union with Christ, and the inclusion of Gentiles in God’s people in letters to various churches and individuals. Many of these letters, including Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, and others, are preserved in the New Testament and have profoundly shaped Christian theology and practice. According to early tradition, Paul was eventually martyred in Rome during the reign of Nero, having fought the good fight, finished his course, and kept the faith.

(Q) "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." + Source: Romans 1:16.

(Q) "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." + Source: Romans 3:23–24.

(Q) "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." + Source: Romans 5:8.

(Q) "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." + Source: Romans 8:1.

(Q) "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." + Source: Romans 8:38–39.

(Q) "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." + Source: Galatians 2:20.

(Q) "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." + Source: Ephesians 2:8–9.

(Q) "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." + Source: Philippians 1:21.

(Q) "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." + Source: 2 Corinthians 5:17–21.

(Q) "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." + Source: 2 Timothy 4:7.