Paul's new name was a sign of his personal sense of destiny

Pastor/Teacher
John Farley
Friday,
October 23, 2009

The Lord took Saul, the foremost of sinners and the persecutor of the Church, and produced Paul, the Lord’s specially chosen and finely crafted instrument!

The human author of the Book of Romans is the apostle Paul. The word “Paulos” means “little” in Latin.

Paul is the only Bible author who put aside his Hebrew name, which was Saul, and used his Roman name, Paul, instead.
This magnifies his unique calling as the apostle to the Gentiles.

ACT 13:9 is where the Bible takes the name of Saul off the apostle’s jersey and sews on the new name, Paul.

The whole book of Acts is a transitional book. It tells the story of how the Church Age got up and running.

ACT 13:9 is the FIRST time that the Bible calls our apostle to the Gentiles by the name of Paul.

In Act 7-8, he is still hyper-Jewish, persecuting the church, and the Bible refers to him by the name of Saul.

The Holy Spirit still calls him Saul in Acts 9-12 even after he is born again and saved.

ROM 1:1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

The Lord hand-picked Paul for a tremendous task, because the Lord elected Paul to the Lord’s highest and best for his life. He was called to great privilege and great blessing.

ROM 1:6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

ROM 1:1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

ROM 1:6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

The Lord has hand-picked you for a tremendous task. If you are a believer in Christ, the Lord willed His highest and best for you.

PHI 3:14 I keep on pressing on toward the objective (ultra-supergrace or the ultimate objective in time, living in resurrection life) for the purpose of the reward belonging to the upward call of God [Father], by means of Christ Jesus.

GAL 2:7 But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised

Paul has been set apart and elected in eternity past by God to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.

Saul and Barnabas arrive and minister to the Jewish and Gentile church in Antioch. They teach the word of God for a year here.

Finally, the day arrives when the Holy Spirit moves to set apart and call out Saul and Barnabas to leave Antioch and begin their specific and unique ministry.

The Lord will often confirm the direction He has called the believer to take through a striking and unusual event.

This encounter most certainly would have given a Paul a strong sense that he was on the right track with his plans to sail to Asia and begin his ministry to the Gentile peoples living there.

Cyprus is this transition point on the map between what was the Jewish world and what was clearly Gentile territory. It is the stopping off point between what is today called the Middle East and Turkey.

Cyprus is this transition point on the map between what was the Jewish world and what was clearly Gentile territory. It is the stopping off point between what is today called the Middle East and Turkey.

Cyprus is this transition point on the map between what was the Jewish world and what was clearly Gentile territory. It is the stopping off point between what is today called the Middle East and Turkey.

Chapter 13 in the book of Acts is a pivotal chapter when it comes to dispensational history.

Cyprus is this transition point on the map between what was the Jewish world and what was clearly Gentile territory. It is the stopping off point between what is today called the Middle East and Turkey.

Chapter 13 in the book of Acts is a pivotal chapter when it comes to dispensational history.

Until this episode he had been primarily trying to witness to the Jews. But from here forward he would live in his calling as the apostle to the Gentiles.

So it is no accident that it is here that the Bible stops referring to him as Saul and begins referring to him as Paul.

And while it is generally agreed that the name Paul is his Roman name, being the Latin word for “little,” it may also be derived from the Greek word Pau, meaning “pause or interval.”

GAL 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

PHI 3:8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

The Church Age is an interval that interrupts God’s dealings with Israel. God hits the “pause” button on his program for Israel while He calls out the Royal Family.

After this time in ROM 13:9, Paul is never known in the Bible as Saul ever again. The only time the name is ever used is when Paul recounts his Damascus conversion “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (ACT 22:7; ACT 22:13; ACT 26:14).

Paul’s new name was a sign of his personal sense of destiny.

It’s another thing for the narrator of the book of Acts to use Saul exclusively up to Acts 13, and then Paul exclusively thereafter.

In ACT 9:4 we have seen that the Lord calls him Saul.

In Act 27 an angel of God calls him Paul!

ACT 27:23 “For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me,
ACT 27:24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’”

The name change occurs not at the moment of regeneration but at the time of promotion by the Lord.