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Christian Religious Studies

(CRS) Lesson Notes JSS3
Second Term
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Lesson Note on Christian

Religious Studies (CRS) JSS3
Second Term – Edudelight.com
SCHEME OF WORK JSS 3 SECOND
TERM
PAUL’S EARLY LIFE AND HIS CONVERSION

1. Paul’s Nativity and Education

2. Paul’s Persecution of the Early Church

The Conversion of Paul

Exercises

THE MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES OF PAUL

3. Paul’s First Missionary Journey

4. The Church Council at Jerusalem

5. Paul’s Third Missionary Journey

Exercises

SOME OF PAUL’S TEACHING

6. Paul’s Teaching on: The Dignity of Labour

7. Paul’s Teaching on Obedience to Constituted

Authority

8. Paul’s Teaching on Love

Exercise

PAUL AND HIS TRIALS

9. Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem and His Arrest

10. Paul Before the Jewish Council (Sanhedrin) and the

Plot to Kill Him

11. Paul Before Roman Governors

Exercise

WEEK 1

PAUL’S NATIVITY AND

EDUCATION
Paul was born in Tarsus in Cilicia to a Jewish Family.
Tarsus in the city of Cecilia is in Asia Minor, which is
present day Turkey. He was brought up in Jerusalem
by a Greek teach called Gamaliel. Paul was a Jew and
at the same time a Roman citizen. His father purchased
Roman citizenship. This citizenship allowed one to
have access to certain right. For example, anyone with
Roman citizenship could not be molested or flogged
when arrested.

Paul was a Jew by birth, but Roman by citizenship.

Therefore he had two names, Jewish name called Saul
and the Roman name known as Paul. He spoke Hebrew
language fluently and also spoke Greek language
fluently. As at that time, Greek language was widely
used to communicate in Aramaic.

The family of Paul was a disciplined Jewish family who

obeyed the rules and regulations of the Jewish religious
laws. They trained their children in the way of the Lord.
Paul learnt obedience and discipline as he was growing
up and lived a disciplined and obedient life.

Paul’s father was a Pharisee of the Pharisees’ party.

The Pharisees were member of one of the religious
groups among the Jews who observed the laws of
religious very strictly so that people could see them,
but they did not practice the spirit of the religion.
Therefore, they were described as hypocrites or self
righteous people. Paul was trained to become a
Pharisee. Paul confirmed this himself, he said:
“Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisee”. At the
age of twelve, Paul went to the synagogue school and
spent a year there. He was taught about the history
and religion of Israel and also taught how to read in
Hebrew. At the end of the course, he attended a
special synagogue ceremony and wore a Cap and Talith
which is prayer shawl and read the scripture. This
graduation conferred on him the title of the son of the
law and became a full member of the synagogue.

Paul later went to Jerusalem to further his studies. He

studies the Jewish religion and law under the great
Greek teacher called Gamaliel. Paul referred to this
himself during his defense, he said: “I was brought up
in this city (Jerusalem) at the feet of Gamaliet,
educated according to the strict manner of the law of
our fathers, being Zealous for God as you all this day”.

Edudelight.com lesson note

WEEK 2

Paul’s Persecution of the Early

Church (Acts 7:57-58; 8:1-3;
9:1-2)
After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the
apostles were spreading the Gospel and the power of
the Holy Spirit was at work. Many Jews were converted
to Christianity and the church kept on increasing.

Paul was among the Jews who did not believe that
Jesus was the messiah. They did not believe in the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. They believed that God
would send the messiah to them and save them. They
saw that the Gospel Message about the resurrection of
Jesus Christ was dangerous and must be stopped.

Read Also

SECOND TERM PHYSICAL AND

HEALTH EDUCATION SCHEME OF
WORK FOR JSS 2 (Basic 8)

God Shows Mercy to Us

These people believed that what the Christians were

doing was not right in the sight of God and that God
would back them up for punishing them. It was some of
these Jews who arrested Stephen and stoned him to
death.

When Stephen was being stoned, Paul was present.

The Bible referred to him as young man whose feet the
witness laid down their clothes. That is, Paul was the
ring leader of the mob. Paul’s plan was to eradicate
Christianity and therefore consented to Stephen’s
death. He himself said: “I persecuted this way
(Christianity) to death, binding and delivering to prison
both men and women, as the high priest and the
council of elders bear me witness”. (Acts 22:4)

The death of Stephen resulted to mass persecution of

Christians in Jerusalem and Paul was among the great
persecutors of the disciples of Jesus Christ. He
imprisoned many of them. He went to the high priest
and took letter of permission to arrest those Christians
who had fled from Jerusalem to Damascus and bring
them in chain to Jerusalem for trial.

The Significance of Paul’s Early Life: Paul succeeded

as a young man because of his attitude of obedience,
discipline and hardworking. This helped him to
succeed in his studies to graduate with a good grade.

Paul also took his religion very seriously. He was a

devoted Jew who faithfully defended his religion by
attacking those who he thought opposed it.

ASSIGNMENT

State Paul’s former name, nationality and religion

The Conversion of Paul (Acts 9:1-

19)
Conversion simply means changing from one religion to
another Paul was converted from his religion, Judaism
(the Jewish religion) to Christianity when he
encountered Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.
Paul persecuted the Christians in Jerusalem and later
heard that many of them had run to Damascus, in
Syria. He also got the information that the Christians
had made converts, established churches had made
converts, established churches and got settled down.
Paul was sad at the development because his purpose
was to eradicate Christianity.

He therefore went to the high priest and took letters of

permission to arrest Christians in Damascus and bring
them bound to Jerusalem for punishment. The high
priest supported the idea and gave Paul a letter of
introduction to the synagogue in Damascus.

Paul and some of his colleagues left Damascus the

following day to execute his plan against Christians. As
he w as about to get to the city of Damascus in the
afternoon, something strange happened to him that
was to transform his entire life.

As Paul was riding on his horse, a bright light from

haven shinned on him and got him blinded. When this
happened, he fell on the ground and heard the voice of
Jesus Christ that said: “Saul, Saul, why do you
persecute me?” then Paul looked up and asked: Who
are you, Lord?”And the voice answered” I am Jesus,
whom you are persecuting”. Jesus Christ asked Paul to
enter the city of Damascus and that Paul would be told
what to do.

Those people travelling with Paul were silent and

became afraid because they heard the voice speaking,
but did not see anybody. When Paul rose up from the
ground, he could not see anything because the light
from heaven had blinded him. He was led by his
companion into the city of Damascus; he stayed in the
city for three days without food and water.

There was one of the Christians who lived in Damascus

called Ananias. The Lord appeared to him and said to
him: “Rise and go to the street called straight, and
inquire in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus
named Saul: for behold, he is praying, and he has seen
a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him
so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias said:
“Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how
much evil he has done to thy saints in Jerusalem, and
here he has authority form the Chief priests to bind all
those who call upon thy name.” but the Lord replied
him: “Go for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry
my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of
Israel: for I will show him how much he must suffer for
the sake of my name.”

Ananias left for the house of Judas and saw Saul. He

laid his hands upon him and said: “Brother Saul, the
Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which
you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight
and be filled with the Holy Spirit”. Immediately after
this, something like a scales fell from his eyes and Saul
regained his sight. Then he got and was baptized, and
when he ate, he strengthened. Saul then became a
Christians and preached his first message in the city of
Damascus.

The Significance of Paul’s Conversion: when Paul met

with Jesus and was filled with the Holy Spirit, his life
was transformed. He did not persecute the Christians
any longer. Rather, he committed the rest of his life to
Christian service. Through him, many people were
converted to Christianity. The most interesting thing is
that the chief persecutor of the church became one of
the greatest shepherds of the church he formerly
persecuted and defended it to the point of death.

Paul’s call and how he worked tirelessly in the vineyard

of God brings to mind the call and work of great people
of old like Abraham, Moses, David, Samuel, the
apostles of Jesus and those committed and dedicated
Christians of today.

Their work proofs their faithfulness and trust in the

living God.

Edudelight.com lesson note

WEEK 3

Paul’s First Missionary Journey

(Acts 13 and 14)
Shortly after Paul encountered Jesus and was
converted to Christianity, he started preaching the
Gospel in Damascus and confirming that Jesus Christ
was the son of God. The Jews who were in Damascus
was not happy that Paul had joined the Christians and
was preaching that Jesus was the son of God. They
planned to kill him, but some Christians in Damascus
put him in a basket in the night and let him down over
the walls of Damascus and he escaped to Jerusalem.

When he got to Jerusalem, he wanted to mix the

Christians but they were afraid of him. Then Barnabas
went to the people and explained to them how Paul met
Jesus and was converted on the road to Damascus.
When some Jews later saw that Paul was preaching
about Jesus Christ, they attempted to kill him. Se this,
the Jerusalem church took Paul to Caesarea and from
there to Tarsus where he was born. After he had spent
two years there, Barnabas brought him down from
Tarsus to Antioch in Syria.

It was while Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch that one

of the prophets from Jerusalem named Agabus came to
Antioch. Through the Holy Spirit, Agabus prophesied
that there would be a famine all over the world. This
prophecy came to pass during the reign of the Emperor
Claudius. The Christians in Antioch raised money
among them and sent it down through Paul and
Barnabas to the church in Jerusalem and Judea.

After the return of Paul and Barnabas from Jerusalem

to Antioch, certain teachers of God’s word and
prophets of the church in Antioch gathered together
and were engaging in fasting and the work of ministry.
They were Barnabas, Simeon, who was caller Niger,
Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen and Paul. The Holy Spirit
spoke to them to: ‘set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work which I have called them’.

When the apostles had prayed and fasted, they laid

hands on Paul and Barnabas and sent them forth. After
this, Paul and Barnabas embark on their first missionary
journey. The place they went to were Paphos, Perga in
Pamphilia, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.

ASSIGNMENT

Why is Paul having two names and two citizenship

PAUL AND PAPHOS (ACTS 13:6-12)

From Seleucia, Paul and Barabbas sailed to the town
called salamis which is on the island of Cyprus. They
brought John Mark along with them as their assistant.
They went to many towns on the island and preach the
Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people. They later came
to Paphos and met the ruler of the island named
Sergius Paulus. They preached to the ruler about
Jesus, but a certain man who was a Jewish sorcerer
and a false prophet tried to discourage the ruler so that
he would not listen and be saved.

Bar-Jesus thought he would not be reckoned with

anymore if the ruler should be converted to
Christianity. This made Bar-Jesus to speak against the
apostles’ preaching. Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit
looked intently at him and said: “O full of all deceit and
all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all
righteousness, will you not cease perverting the
straight ways of the Lord? And now, indeed the hand of
the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing
the sun for a time”.

Immediately Paul declared these words, Elymas could

not see again and began to look for somebody to lead
him by the hand. When the ruler, Sergius Paulus, saw
what had happened, he believed the Gospel message
of Paul about Jesus Christ and he was converted to
Christianity.

Paul in Perga in Pamphilia (Acts

13:13)
After Paul and his companions planted the church in
Paphos, they sailed to the mainland and arrived at
Perga in Pamphilia. When they reached there, John,
Mark left them and wet back to Jerusalem.

Paul in Antioch in Pisidia (Acts

13:14-52)
Paul and Barnabas left Perga in Pamphilia and came to
Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day, they went to
the Jewish synagogue. After the scriptures were read,
Paul was called upon to preach to the people. Paul
spoke to them about the history of the people of Israel
right from the time they were enslaved in the land of
Egypt and got delivered through Moses. He told them
how the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty
years and how they were led by Joshua to conquer the
land of Canaan.

After they settled down Canaan, the people were ruled

through Judges until the time of Prophet Samuel. When
they demanded for a King and God gave them Saul as
their first King. God then removed Saul and enthroned
David as the next king of Israel. Paul continued by
telling them that from the descendants of David, God
had been ginning them a Saviour as he had promised
and that the Saviour was Jesus Christ.

Jesus was condemned to death and crucified but was

raised from the dead by God. Paul quoted from the
book of psalm 16:35 to establish the resurrection of
Jesus Christ: “thou will not let thy holy one see
corruption”.

Paul further said that forgiveness of sins was given

through Jesus Christ and by him those who believed
was freed from the bondage of the Law of Moses. Paul
also told them the consequences of not accepting the
message of salvation.

When Paul finished speaking, the congregation liked his

preaching so much that they demanded that he should
repeat it on the following Sabbath. On the following
Sabbath, when the Jews saw that many people came to
listen to Paul, they were filled with envy and began to
contradict and blaspheme. They opposed the things
spoken by Paul. Some people supported Paul and
other rejected his message. Paul was able to convert
both the Jews and Gentiles. Later, there was riot, and
then Paul and Barnabas fled to Iconium.

Paul in Iconium (Acts 14:1-7)

When Paul and Barnabs got to Iconium, they went to
the Jewish synagogue on the same day and preached.
Many people in the congregation accepted their
message and as a result many Jews and Gentiles
believed in the Gospel message and they were
delivered. Meanwhile some Jews did not believe their
message and poisoned the minds of some the gentiles
against Paul and Barnabas. The apostles stayed there
for a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, performing
sings and wonders among the people. Later, a violent
attempt was made by both the gentiles and Jews, with
their ruler to persecute them, when they became aware
of it; they fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia.

Paul in Lystra (Acts 14:8-20)

Paul and Barnabas preached the Gospel of Jesus to the
people of Lystra on a certain day, as they were
preaching; there was a certain man who was crippled
from him mother’s womb who had never walked. The
man listened attentively to Paul as he was preaching
the word of God voice: “stand up straight on your feet”.
When the people saw what had happened, they said
their gods had visited them in the form of human
beings and healed the crippled man. They shouted in
Lycaonian language: “The gods come down to us in the
likeness of men”. They called Barnabas, Zeus (or
Jupiter). They called Paul, Hermes (or Mercury)
because he was chief speaker. Zeus or Jupiter was the
father of the Greek gods while Herms or Mercury was
the messenger of their gods.

The priest in-charge of the temple of Jupiter brought

out oxen and was ready to make sacrifice to Paul and
Barnabas who they thought were gods. Immediately
Paul and Barnabas saw this, they felt bad and quickly
restrained the people by saying: “Men, why are doing
these things? We also are men with the same nature as
you, and preach to you that you should turn from these
useless things to the living God, who made the heaven,
the earth, sea, and all things that are in them”.

Pauls and Barnabas admonished them to turn from

their superstition to the living God. They continued by
telling them that God who crated them was merciful
and the supplier of their needs. When the apostles had
finished their admonition, the Jews who persecuted
them in Iconium and Antioch appeared and poisoned
the minds of the people against the apostles. They
therefore stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city,
thinking he had died. However, when the enemies had
left him, the disciples (Christians) gathered around him,
he then rose up and went into the city. And he
departed with Barnabas to Derbe the following day.

Paul in Derbe (Acts 14:21-28)

The apostles left Lystra for Derbe the following day.
When they got to Derbe, they preached the Gospel to
the people of the city and got many people converted
to Christianity. They later returned to Antioch through
Lystra and Iconium, where they strengthened the faith
of the Christians, exhorted them to continue in the
faith. They also appointed elder in every church they
got to which they established.

The Significance of Paul’s First

Missionary Journey
The first missionary journey of Paul caused the church
outside Jerusalem to grow and expand rapidly. Also,
through Paul’s ministry,, many gentiles and some Jews
were converted to Christianity.

The work of God is a difficult task. The apostles

encountered much opposition from Satan and his
agents. They faced persecutions in their attempt to win
souls for Jesus. The apostles were able to overcome
the opposition because of their faith in CHRIST JESUS.
They often pray and fast for God to crown their efforts
with success. To be successful in the work of God,
those who are called should follow the steps of the
apostles. They should have strong faith in Jesus Christ,
be fervent in prayer and fast often.

Edudelight.com lesson note

WEEK 4

The Church Council at

Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-35)
Paul’s first missionary journey gave room to the
conversion of many Gentiles who became members of
the church. Some of the Jewish Christians who came
for Judea taught that unless the foreigner were
circumcised according to the Law of Moses they would
not be saved. They tried to resolve the matter in
Antioch but the matter could not be solved then a
delegation was sent to the church in Jerusalem which
included Paul and Barnabas. On their arrival some of
the Jewish Christians who were among the Pharisees’
party said that the gentiles should obey the Law of
Moses in order to be save.

But the apostles agreed together and concluded that

one could only be saved by the grave of our Lord Jesus
Christ and not by circumcision or the Law of Moses.
The whole issues that was causing confusion and the
Law of Moses or by grace. When they did not agree,
there was a controversy and division among the
church. In order to solve the problem, the first
Christian council was set up in Jerusalem.

The Jewish Christians sent their representatives. The

apostles and elders were also present for deliberation.
James, the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ presided
over the meeting.

The council was first addressed by Peter who rejected

the idea that the gentiles should be circumcised and
must obey the Law of Moses before they could be
saved. He brought to their understanding how God had
sent him to Cornelius who was a gentile and how he
and the people with him received the Holy Spirit as they
themselves had on the day of Pentecost. He therefore
concluded that salvation could only come by the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ and not by circumcision or the
Law of the Moses.

After Peter’s speech, Paul and Barnabas also

addressed the council. They explained how God had
called them to minister to the gentiles without
considering circumcision or the Law of Moses.

When it was the turn of James, who presided over the '
council to speak, He condemned the attitude of
imposing the Jewish traditions, laws and customs on