Galatians 1:13 Cross References

Galatians 1:13

13: You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion--how I violently persecuted the Christians. I did my best to get rid of them.

Saul was going everywhere to devastate the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into jail.

When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They thought he was only pretending to be a believer!

For I am the least of all the apostles, and I am not worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted the church of God.

All who heard him were amazed. "Isn't this the same man who persecuted Jesus' followers with such devastation in Jerusalem?" they asked. "And we understand that he came here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests."

"As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem.
If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion.

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. At his feet I learned to follow our Jewish laws and customs very carefully. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just as all of you are today.
And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, binding and delivering both men and women to prison.
The high priest and the whole council of leaders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the Christians from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.

Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath. He was eager to destroy the Lord's followers, so he went to the high priest.
He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them--both men and women--back to Jerusalem in chains.

"But Lord," exclaimed Ananias, "I've heard about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem!
And we hear that he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest every believer in Damascus."

Saul was one of the official witnesses at the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem, and all the believers except the apostles fled into Judea and Samaria.

And zealous? Yes, in fact, I harshly persecuted the church. And I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault.

"I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the followers of Jesus of Nazareth.
Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many of the believers in Jerusalem to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death.
Many times I had them whipped in the synagogues to try to get them to curse Christ. I was so violently opposed to them that I even hounded them in distant cities of foreign lands.

even though I used to scoff at the name of Christ. I hunted down his people, harming them in every way I could. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief.

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