Was Paul God’s Choice for Replacing Judas?

I know that I am not the first person to have ever asked this question because I checked. If my estimates are correct, I would be the 8,143,484th person to have asked this question (little humour here, sorry, won’t happen again). (Pause for effect).

Actually, gotquestions.org has an article on this very question, which can be viewed here. If you read the article (go ahead, I’ll wait . . . .), you will note that the response they provide is inconclusive. I don’t disagree with their conclusion, but I do know that Saul/Paul was specifically selected by Jesus (which we know is a fact), to fulfill God’s purposes.

Can you imagine the New Testament without the letters that Paul wrote? Can you imagine the New Testament without the guidance and particulars that Paul provided? No, neither can I. I love the Gospels but what was lacking in one, at least to my mind, is provided in the other. It’s almost like the picture of a scale where the two parts form the whole, neither is complete without the other.

Can you imagine what Peter and the other apostles first thought when they came to hear and know of Paul’s witness and ministry? The fact that Paul deliberately went to Jerusalem twice to speak with Peter and the other apostles is indeed noteworthy. I found an interesting overview by Ed Bromfield of these two visits here, which I hope you will take the time to read.

And who of us hasn’t wondered about Peter’s statement about Paul as recorded in 2 Peter 3:14-16 NASB which reads as follows: “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

Interesting to note that Peter considered Paul’s written letters as Scripture (the rest of the Scriptures). That stands as a pretty authoritative acknowledgement of Paul and his witness, from my perspective. Can you even imagine the dialogue that was exchanged on their first meeting! Did they praise God? I’m sure they did. Did they hug one another? I don’t think that even deserves to be asked as a question. You just know that they did. Oh to be a fly on the wall for that meeting!

I know this, that I am indebted to God, who selected and sent Paul to be a witness to the Gentiles, of which I am. God in His wisdom, selected the right man, who God knew could and would fulfill His purposes. And who of us, as we read through his letters, does not come to admire and love this human being, who was consumed in serving Christ? One day we shall meet, and I oh so look forward to that!

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!