A story

Let me tell you a story.

It is about a stubborn man. One that believed that the only way to get rid of a ideology was to persecute and kill the people who believed in that one ideology. He killed them not because of who they were, but because of what they believed. He did so extensively without any reservation as to when and where these believers would die. No, he was a murderer. And not just one or two, but thousands of murders where attached to his name. He believed that these people were a sick perversion of there ancestry and needed to be thinned out. For the preservation of the strong will ultimately destroy any sign of the weak. The preservation of a species is dependent on the fact that the strongest will kill the weak. They will scorch the weak.
Strength in power.
Strength in terror.
Strength in a certain one ideology.
And the rest of the world will burn.


Who is this man? Who is such a wretch that would kill and destroy and plunder and try to get rid of an ideology?
Hitler?
Stalin?
Bin Laden?

No, none of these, although they would fit. No, this man is the most sinful of sinners. The most deserving of hell than arguably anyone else who came before and will come there after.

No, this man is Paul.
The Paul who was once Saul.
The Saul who was a murderer.
The Saul who believed Christ had died on a tree and thus was in Hades.
The Saul who persecuted any follower of the Christ who now was in Hell.

And yet, the Saul, who Christ met on the road to Damascus and called out "Why do you persecute me?" The Saul who was blind in unbelief, yet could see through any veil in belief. The Saul who once was blind but now could see. The Saul who we know as Paul. Paul, who wrote epistles that would be canonized. The Paul who was a missionary to the Galatians when so many would not go. The Saul, who is now Paul, who's ideas now define the religion he once persecuted.

And this is the power of the Gospel. That where there is perceived power, there is weakness. Where there is perceived weakness there is now power. And where we are all sinful and not one of us is justified in God's site, Jesus Christ became the curse for us. But this Christ was not condemned to hell, but God glorified Jesus to His right hand in raising the Christ from the dead. This Christ calls out to you and me, the most sinful of sinners, the saints, and any outcast to one course of action.

Repentance. Where we were once going in the wrong direction, we turn from the dark to the light. The Holy Spirit empowers us to call Jesus Lord and in doing so we claim the one true Son to be our Messiah. So we believe, not because we are able, but because Christ' faithfulness enables us to do so.

I do not know who is going to hell. I do not know who is going to Heaven. But I know that the power of the Gospel re-shapes and re-defines life and death. For Christ overcame death. And if Christ intercedes on our behalf, who/what shall we fear?