For this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. Ephesians 3:1
The four Gospels make no mention of Saul of Tarsus, or Paul the apostle as he became. Many details are given about the activities of the disciples, and of other characters during the period leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection. And it is the disciples, now identified as apostles, who feature largely in the early part of the book of Acts, as the primary emphasis on the Gospel is toward the Jewish people. But Saul of Tarsus is identified, at the time of his conversion, as the apostle to the Gentiles. And the emphasis in the book of Acts from that point is largely on Paul. And most of the epistles that were written as part of the canon of Scripture came from Paul’s pen. Can you imagine how different things would be if God had selected Peter or one of the other disciples for this great role?
Peter’s message to Cornelius was the first Gospel presentation to a primarily Gentile audience. But Peter was not given the role of carrying the Gospel to the far reaches of the empire like Paul was. Because Paul had established assemblies in many localities, it was proper than he should write letters to those assemblies, letters that would provide much of the doctrine for Christians and Assemblies from that point until now. If Peter had been given the role of apostle to the Gentiles, his missionary endeavours would have taken different routes, and his epistles would have much different in emphasis and tone. Peter did not have the educational background that Paul did in the Old Testament, and would have been unable to unfold the New Testament truths in the same way that Paul was so skillfully enabled to do. Peter would have had a much greater emphasis on the Jewish component of Christianity, with less ability to present the truths that applied specifically to the Gentiles. So we owe the very character of Christianity to God’s choice of Paul rather than Peter as the apostle to the Gentiles.
The first words of our text – for this cause – indicate to us that Paul is explaining his selection as the apostle to the Gentiles. In the previous verses, he is referring to the Christians as being a building that is fitly framed together as a holy temple in the Lord. None of the other apostles would have been capable of creating this type of imagery regarding the Lord’s people. With his deep knowledge of the Old Testament, Paul was able to compare and combine those Scriptures with the teachings of Jesus Christ and with the revelations he received from the Holy Spirit. Could Peter have done that, or John, or any of the disciples? Probably not, or if they could, the wording would have come out much different from Paul’s delivery. Many of the wonderful texts that we use in the Gospel and in our doctrine come from the creative and fertile mind of Paul.
We owe much of our expressions to Paul’s apostleship. God selected the right man to be our apostle, just as He selected us to heed Paul’s teachings. -Jim MacIntosh