Identity - Who am I - Paul

If you ask someone the question "Who are you?”, you are likely to get a whole myriad of responses. You might just get a name. You might hear what they do for work. A response might even include something about faith. Identity is such a core part of people.

At some point in life we will all contemplate this question. Who am I? I have seen a pattern in others that this question comes about when there is something that challenges the ideas that are held about who a person is. When we get married, we add husband or wife to the list of who we are. When children come along, now we’re dad or mom. When we start a new job, we get a new title to add to our identity. If we lose that job, we lose that part of identity. If we lose a spouse or child, our identity is challenged again. When we retire…you get the point. There are a host of life events that cause our sense of identity to change.

The problem with all of those sources of identity and many others that we choose is that they are all external and temporal. Here is what I mean. If my identity is only dependent on how I relate to others and how others relate to me - husband, father, pastor, teacher, programmer - then when, not if, those relationships change, I will have an identity crisis.

All of those parts of me are important. I believe they are all God given roles that I am called to fill. I am to give my best in all of those roles and the roles that God has you in, God wants you to give your best as well, but they are not who you are. They are not who I am.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to look at the lives of those mentioned in the Bible. We’ll look at how they answered the “Who am I?” question.

Today, we are going to start with the Apostle Paul. Paul wrote much of the New Testament. Many of my favorite passages and verses were written by him. With all the good we speak of him now, he was not always a friend of the Gospel. In fact, he was a sworn enemy of those who followed Jesus.

In Acts 9, we read of his conversion - he was blinded on the way to Damascus, on his way to persecute more Christians. Jesus intervenes and changes his identity. Not only did he change Paul’s mission, but his name changed from Saul to Paul.

If you have your Bible with you, turn to chapter 17. We are going to just skim through a few chapters in Acts so we can get an idea of what is going on leading up to chapter 26…Many Bibles have headings in them, I am currently looking at the heading from a Student Bible that is 28 years old...

Chap 17 in Thessalonica - this is the church that received 2 letters from Paul - 1&2 Thessalonians.

Chap 18 Corinth - 1&2 Corinthians…another church received letters from Paul

Chap 19 Ephesus - Ephesians…seeing a pattern here?

Chap 20 Paul says good bye to the Ephesian elders as he heads to Jerusalem. He tells them at the end of the chapter that he would never see his face again.

Chap 21 in the middle of the chapter he is arrested on fabricated charges.

Chap 22…Paul mounts his first defense to the crowd by speaking in their terms of who he is:

Acts 22:3–5 NIV

3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

Paul says what many would say in answering the question who are you: I am a Jew. Here is where I got my education. Here is what I did with that education. Here are the people who can vouch for me.

Then he continues with the testimony of his conversion and when he gets to the end of his testimony of how Jesus changed his life, the crowd got violent.

The guards chain him up, take him away and are about to flog him to find out what else is going on and Paul tells them that he is a Roman citizen and they stop because it Roman citizens had rights.

From there, Paul sees a series of “courts”

The Sanhedrin (23) where he pitted the Sadducees and Pharisees against each other with the matter of resurrection.

Governor Felix in Caesarea after the plot to kill him was made known (23-24).

Acts 24:27 NIV

27 When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

Governor Festus (25) where Paul asserts his right to appeal to Caesar. Paul does this in order to get to Rome to preach there.

King Agrippa (25-26)

Acts 26:1–5 NIV

1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: 2 “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently. 4 “The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. 5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee.

Paul again speaks to who he was - a Pharisee

Acts 26:6–11 NIV

6 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. 7 This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. 8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead? 9 “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

He speaks to his time as a persecutor of Christians. Laying out again who he is. This is all important to the testimony of his life and how Jesus changed him:

Acts 26:12–19 NIV

12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ 19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.

Here is the first hint of the new Paul - He was obedient to what was spoken to him and asked of him by Jesus.

Acts 26:20–23 NIV

20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”

And now the reason behind the change. Jesus rose from the dead in fulfillment of the prophecy that was given in the prophets and by Moses. And of course this proclamation is met with resistance:

Acts 26:24–27 NIV

24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.” 25 “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

All Gospel presentations should end with a question such as this…Do you believe?

Acts 26:28–29 NIV

28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” 29 Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

Paul finishes his conversation with King Agrippa by telling him and all that are listening that he hopes they would all become what he is - a believer in Jesus as messiah, savior, Lord. Paul’s life went from getting rid of Jesus’ disciples to making Jesus’ disciples.

Other than a prisoner, who was Paul at this point? He could not claim the position of Pharisee anymore. His education didn’t matter, his Roman citizenship didn’t matter, his Jewish heritage didn’t matter. When he said that he wanted them “become what I am,” he is speaking of the only identity that mattered - A follower of Jesus.

From here, Paul is sent to Rome. This is a fascinating read. There are shipwrecks, months spent at sea, islands preached to…such a great read what God did with Paul while imprisoned. In fact Acts ends like this:

Acts 28:30–31 NIV

30 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. 31 He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!

Two years Paul was imprisoned in his own house and he taught and he preached and he wrote letters to the churches he planted.

If you read those letters, Paul usually starts them off with

Paul, Servant of Christ Jesus or Paul, an Apostle...

Paul transitioned his identity from a man educated and well placed to a man called by God to proclaim the good news. This identity was so deep within him that no jail cell or other circumstance could keep him from it.

All of his letters encourage us to lean into that identity in Christ. He writes about how we are to do that. It took time for Saul to become Paul - the servant of Christ.

The Bible that I have with me today was the first one given to me by a good friend Andres. He was part of a group of friends who encouraged me in my walk. They studied with me, they challenged me, they prayed with me and for me. Here is a picture of what he wrote…I’ll post it later on our Facebook page.

Here is what it says:

May the author of this book continue to be the author of your life. Never forget who you are:

You are an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ Romans 8:17

You are eternal, lake an angel Luke 20:36

You have a crown that will last forever 1 Corinthians 9:25

You are a holy priest 1 Peter 2:5

You are a treasured possession Exodus 19:5

You were chosen before the creation of the world Ephesians 1:4

You are destined for “praise, fame and honor” and you will be a “holy people to the Lord your God” Deuteronomy 26:19

You are God’s child 1 John 3:1 Galatians 3:16

NEVER FORGET WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST!

NEVER FORGET!

Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at John the Baptist, Peter, and David and how they answered the question “who are you?” When we do that, we will hopefully be able to fully answer that question for ourselves.

May I encourage you to gather a list of traits that are your identity in Christ. Share them with others that others might also recognize their eternal permanent identity in Christ that will not change with age, circumstance or anything else this life might throw at us.