Paul spent three years getting his sermon together. It was to be the message of his life. He lived by it: “woe is me if I preach not the good news of Jesus” (1 Corinthians 9:16). He died by it: “my life is poured out as an offering…” (2 Timothy 4:6). It was the driving force of his entire life. He had been set free from the law! He had been set free from religious slavery! He had been set free from radical extremism! He had been set free from both pride and shame! He had been set free and couldn’t help but share his message with the world. It was Christ that set Paul free from his religious chains and it is Christ who wants to set us all free. Paul’s whole life was dedicated to sharing that truth. In Ephesians 1:7 he explains, “We have been set free because of what Christ has done. Through his blood our sins have been forgiven. We have been set free because God’s grace is so rich.”
After his abuse in Damascus and the Jew’s attempt to murder him, Paul moves into the regions of “Syria and Cilicia” as recorded in Galatians 1:19-21. There are more gentiles there! The other Apostles seemed to have remained in Jerusalem. They did not appear to venture out into the world with the message that filled Paul’s heart so! As F.F. Bruce names his history of Paul “The Apostle of the Heart Set Free,” Paul was so overwhelmed with what Christ had done for him that he could not help but share it with everyone. Of all the Apostles, he made it clear to us that we too can be set free because “of what Christ has done. Through His blood our sins have been forgiven.” When we came to Christ ourselves it is just as true of us as it was for the Galatians and the Ephesians. “We have been set free because God’s grace is so rich.”
After Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery in 1849, she immediately became involved in the abolitionist movement, organizing meetings and speaking against slavery. But that was not enough; she returned to the South to help other slaves find freedom. If she had been caught, she would have been thrown back into slavery or killed as an example to other runaways. Tubman returned to the South nineteen times to rescue some three hundred fellow slaves. Each trip became riskier as slave catchers became more aware of her. But each time, with God’s help she said, she evaded the authorities. She was a slave who had been set free and could not help but want that freedom passed on to others. Paul was the religious slave who had been set free and could not help but want that freedom passed on to others. Many freed slaves owed their freedom to Harriet Tubman. Most Gentile believers in every generation from Paul owe their freedom to the Apostle Paul. Because of his passion for the Gospel it came our way!