Many have false hope in St. Paul

Many people I know delude themselves that they can use Saul's conversion to Paul as their role model. They are wrong and have self centered false hope. Remember that Saul was a very pious and God fearing Jewish man who was a Roman citizen. He persecuted Christians out of his misplaced but totally sincere fear of God and his personal piety and zeal for God. Saul was not a pagan, an atheist, a gnostic, or someone who persecuted Christians out of spiritual or material jealousy. Saul was already on a firm foundation of believing in the one true God and being very God fearing and pious.

Those I refer to today think that they can become new age "St. Pauls" by getting around to deciding that Christians are correct when they feel like it. They have no faith in God of even a particle in size of what Saul had at his worst. So people today who are gravely sinning and disrespectful toward individuals or groups and who "plan" to "someday convert" are in deep error in thinking that they are following Saul's road. Saul already believed in the fullness of God; he just did not understand that Jesus was the Messiah until Jesus revealed himself. Today's "new age" and other profaners do not believe in the God that Saul deeply believed in and defended. So they cannot compare themselves to even the hem of his garment. They cannot "convert" and be forgiven as Saul was until they achieve the fullness of baseline belief and piety toward God that Saul had in the very beginning. That is unlikely from what I have seen, as people have dirtied their already weak faith to an alarming degree. No one can promise forgiveness from God; even Jesus could not do that except when he was specifically speaking on behalf of "the Father," by whom he meant God. Why do those of you who do not even believe in the fullness of God believe that you can be new Pauls? You cannot. If you are parceling out your "faith in God" based on scripts, calendars, agendas and timetables then you do not believe even a particle of what Saul believed in God during his worst persecutions of Christians. Saul was already a saint compared to those of you who script your faith to a diminished God.