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Acts 15 shows the apostles commissioned Paul and gave him authority:

Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

http://usccb.org/bible/acts/15

Acts 15 is about the Council of Jerusalem. LOL!

So did St. Paul do nothing before that?

So wrong.

Christ in the vision that Paul had gave Paul authority, in fact Christ commanded him to stop persecuting the Christians and go talk to Ananias in the next town.

RE: Acts 15 shows the apostles commissioned Paul and gave him authority

Yep, and Peter himself, one of the disciples closest to Christ EQUATES Paul’s epistles to SCRIPTURE.

“14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures” ( 2 Peter 3:14-16 )

http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1351

St. Ananias II

Missionary, martyr, and patron of St. Paul. A Christian in the city of Damascus, Ananias was commanded by Christ in a vision to seek out Saul, the future Paul, who had staggered his way into the city following his dramatic encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus. Finding Saul blind, Ananias cured him and baptized him. After seeing Paul start his missionary work, Ananias went to Eleutheropolis, where he was martyred for the faith.

Acts 15 shows the apostles commissioned Paul and gave him authority:

No man gave Paul authority to preach and evangelize, which he did before he even met Peter, after being filled with the Spirit of Christ thru a certain devout disciple.

And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. (Acts 9:20)

But as part of the body, he was commissioned to do certain missions, even before Acts 15 and not by known apostles:

Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. (Acts 13:1-3)

Likewise in Acts

And his apostleship and preaching being attacked, he finally presented himself to those, "who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: (Galatians 2:6 )

And Paul himself states that

I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. (2 Corinthians 12:11)

Acts 15 shows the apostles commissioned Paul and gave him authority:

But you left out the LETTER...

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers
²² Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. ²³ With them they sent the following letter:
   The apostles and elders, your brothers,
   To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
   Greetings.
²⁴ We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. ²⁵ So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— ²⁶ men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷ Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. ²⁸ It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: ²⁹ You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
   Farewell.