Peace in the Early Church

Not long after coming to faith in Jesus Christ, Saul began his public ministry, skillfully demonstrating to the Jews that Jesus is the promised Messiah (Acts 9:1–30). The Holy Spirit empowered Saul for this work, but in God’s providence Saul had been preparing for service for many years before his formal calling by Christ. His background in the city of Tarsus and his religious education certainly helped to ready him for ministry.

The ancient city of Tarsus was located in modern-day southern Turkey, and it was the chief city in Cilicia, part of the Roman province of Syria and Cilicia. An important cultural center, Tarsus had many schools of rhetoric, law, and philosophy, giving its residents access to training in these areas that people who lived in other towns in the Roman Empire did not. Saul may have received some education in Tarsus, but his most formative schooling occurred in Jerusalem. He spent many of his younger years there, learning the Scriptures at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the leading rabbis of the first century (22:3). Clearly, God arranged the circumstances of Saul’s early life to equip him with biblical and rhetorical knowledge that would be useful in his public ministry.

When some people tried to kill Saul during his first visit to the Apostles in Jerusalem, he was forced to return to his native Tarsus (9:26–30). Galatians 1:11–24 features Paul’s own description of this early ministry, and he briefly refers to the work he did in “the regions of Syria and Cilicia” after leaving Jerusalem (v. 21). Meanwhile, at this time, back in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, Luke reports that the church was enjoying a period of peace and of being built up in the faith (Acts 9:31). Although Christians can expect to suffer persecution, Luke’s comment indicates that there can also be times of respite from persecution. That the churches were being built up in a time of peace means, as Matthew Henry comments, that the Christians were making good use of their time, not using it frivolously. It is particularly important for the church to study the Scriptures and to seek edification during peaceful seasons so that we will be well equipped to stand for Jesus when suffering comes.

The church was at peace in the world and within itself in the early days after Saul’s conversion. Certainly this was because the believers were “walking in the fear of the Lord” and following the comforting lead of the Holy Spirit (v. 31). May we do the same today.