Sermon Tone Analysis

Some of the most heartfelt, encouraging, correcting, and straightforward letters written to believers were from Paul.

But, how much do we know about him?

We have nothing that, in one book or chapter, describes who Paul is or what his background was.

We DO have bits and pieces scattered throughout the New Testament, though.

For us to get a better understanding of the urgency and intimacy of Paul’s writing, we must know who he was and how God impacted his life.

So, we will take a few minutes to look at the life of Paul himself, and then the opening of the letter to the church of Rome.

He was born around the same time as Christ, and was raised as “Saul”.

We find that Paul was from Tarsus in Cilicia, a Jewish settled, Roman governed town that had been previously occupied by the Greeks.

This gave Paul the distinction of being both a Jew, as his Father was, and a Roman Citizen by birthright.

We know he was of the tribe of Benjamin:

Although we do not know when, Paul left Tarsus, was raised and educated in Jerusalem by one of the most well known Pharisees of the time, Gamaliel.

Acts 22:3

He not only was educated by the best, but was excelling himself:

He was the son of a Pharisee, and was a Pharisee himself, keeping all the law:

So, what is a Pharisee?

The word comes from an Aramaic word which means “to separate, divide, or distinguish”.

They were a group of men, religious leaders, who were known for their strict interpretation of the Mosaic law, and developed quite an extensive set of oral law (613 additional commandments) designed to maintain religious identity and purity.

They are known for their oral tradition of the Torah leading to the modern Rabbinic law, authority, and the writing of oral tradition into the Mishnah.

Plainly speaking they were the guardians of the oral law and traditions of the Jews.

However, information about the Pharisees is limited in scripture and mainly comes from the works of the historian Josephus.

“the Pharisees are those who are esteemed most skillful in the exact explication of their laws, and introduce the first sect.

These ascribe all to fate [or providence], and to God, (163) and yet allow, that to act what is right, or the contrary, is principally in the power of men, although fate does cooperate in every action.

They say that all souls are incorruptible; but that the souls of good men are only removed into other bodies,—but that the souls of bad men are subject to eternal punishment.

Josephus, Flavius, and William Whiston.

The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged.

Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987.

Print.”

Interestingly enough, when the opposition to Christianity was getting started, Paul’s mentor Gamaliel made this statement at the trial of the apostles:

Now, we see the first mention of Saul at the stoning of Stephen:

Not only do we see his name, but we get a feeling of his animosity towards Christians:

At this time in his life, Saul emphatically felt as though he was doing God’s word of cleansing the world of these “Christians”.

But there were major changes about to take place in this young Pharisees life.

Saul met Jesus Christ face to face on the road to Damascus, and his life was forever changed.

His conversion was not taken well by those with whom he used to be acquainted with:

The man who was once a persecutor of Christians, now was one…but everyone wasn’t convinced.

One man stood up as his mentor:

But he still was not respected by the Jews:

(The Hebrews were Jewish Christians who spoke almost exclusively Aramaic, and the Hellenists were also Jewish Christians whose mother tongue was Greek.)

As a result, he spent 3 years SE of the Dead Sea in Arabia:

He would admit he had been convinced he should oppose Christ: HE THOUGHT HE WAS DOING THE RIGHT THING IN THE NAME OF “RELIGION”.

But found himself falsely accused:

He would be beaten by an angry mob:

Ultimately he would be be arrested: He was held through the reign of Felix, Festus, and King Herod Agrippa ALL of which could find no fault with Paul.

After being held for nearly 2 years, Paul appealed to Caesar for a trial.

On his way there, there was a 2 week long strong storm that eventually shipwrecked the boat Paul was on ALMOST leading to his death.

Acts 27

Acts 28

Eventually Paul would be released, continue a brief ministry, would be arrested again, and according to historical records would be martyred by beheading around 65-67 A.D.

While the end was not unexpected, it is the end results of Paul’s letters to the churches providing direction, correction, and praise that remains with us today.

They give us the opportunity to see how God wants His people and His church molded.

But Romans gives us something a little more than just that, it gives us an awesome opportunity to look at Paul’s heart for all of humanity.

Romans 1:16 (ESV)

16 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.