Acts 9:15

9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument ¹  to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. ² 

Ephesians 3:7-8

3:7 I became a servant of this gospel ³  according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by ⁴  the exercise of his power. ⁵  3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ⁶  – this grace was given, ⁷  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

Ephesians 3:1

Paul's Relationship to the Divine Mystery

3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus ⁸  for the sake of you Gentiles –

Ephesians 1:7

1:7 In him ⁹  we have redemption through his blood, ¹⁰  the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace

Ephesians 2:7

2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages ¹¹  the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward ¹²  us in Christ Jesus.

¹ tn Or “tool.”

² tn Grk “the sons of Israel.” In Acts, Paul is a minister to all nations, including Israel (Rom 1:16-17).

³ tn Grk “of which I was made a minister,” “of which I became a servant.”

⁴ tn Grk “according to.”

⁵ sn On the exercise of his power see 1:19-20.

⁶ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

⁷ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

⁸ tc Several early and important witnesses, chiefly of the Western text (א* D* F G [365]), lack ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) here, while most Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (Ì⁴⁶ א¹ A B [C] D¹ Ψ 33 1739 [1881] Ï lat sy bo) have the word. However, because of the Western text’s proclivities to add or delete to the text, seemingly at whim, serious doubts should be attached to the shorter reading. It is strengthened, however, by א’s support. Nevertheless, since both א and D were corrected with the addition of ᾿Ιησοῦ, their testimony might be questioned. Further, in uncial script the nomina sacra here could have led to missing a word by way of homoioteleuton (cMuiMu). At the same time, in light of the rarity of scribal omission of nomina sacra (see TCGNT 582, n. 1), a decision for inclusion of the word here must be tentative. NA²⁷ rightly places ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets.

⁹ tn Grk “in whom” (the relative clause of v. 7 is subordinate to v. 6). The “him” refers to Christ.

¹⁰ sn In this context his blood, the blood of Jesus Christ, refers to the price paid for believers’ redemption, which is the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.

¹¹ tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”

¹² tn Or “upon.”