"For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it." (NIV)
These next five verses refer back to the previous three. Verse 13 refers specifically to verse 10 in saying that Paul's former way of life was a life of pleasing himself as a Pharisee and pleasing the masses. If he had continued to be a slave to his own pleasure, he would have continued in his self-glorifying ways as a Pharisee. But clearly he gave up that life in favor of a more rewarding one in Christ. Thus, we have the Pauline letters that make up half of the New Testament.
In this verse Paul makes sure the Galatians have no doubt whatsoever as to who he was before his encounter with Christ and his introduction to the gospel in order to prove the miraculous nature of his conversion.
No comments:
Post a Comment