Not to put too fine a point on it, but the writer might do well to actually READ the New Testament, and Acts 9 in particular. God arrested Paul, nee Saul, when he was enroute to Damascus to wreak additional havoc on Christianity, as was his wont at the time.
Immediately after Paul’s surrender to Christ, God sent Annanias to meet Paul, stating that Paul was “a chosen instrument to proclaim my Name to the gentiles, their kings, and to Israel. I will show him (Paul) how much he must suffer for my Name.” Acts 9:15. NIV To my understanding, Paul had no choice in the matter. God “volunteered” him, and he could refuse at his own peril!
This kind of silly, trumped up faux dispute on a subject such as this is exactly the kind of “vain disputation” God warns us not to waste time discussing.
Amen!
Well stated.
Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles and explicitly sent to the Romans.
It is interesting to note that as a Pharisee, Paul’s soul was still scarred by his past associations with fellow Jews and always planned to return to Jerusalem to teach the Jews about Christ, but in God the Father’s Plan, Paul was an Apostle to the Gentiles, not an Apostle to the Jews.
Nearly every time Paul tried to return to Jerusalem or change his travel itinerary, God’s Providence in logistics drove events, whether they were earthquakes or storms or being freed out of prison.