How religious was Paul before he was saved compared to other Jews?
Before salvation, Paul was a religious Jew par excellence, a law-keeping zealot whose devotion surpassed other Jews; the context says no one else could even come close. He intensely practiced Judaism, regarded the law, temple, and Old Testament as the epitome, and persecuted those who accepted anything contrary.
Les explains that Paul’s past was that of a religious Jew par excellence, the likes of which no one else could even come close to. He had been a law-keeping Jew, a religious zealot who even killed people because they were accepting something contrary to the law. He was a great practitioner of Judaism, believing the law, the temple, and the Old Testament were the epitome of everything. But when he realized all of that counted for nothing because the work of the cross had become preeminent, and salvation is only through faith in the finished work of the cross, he would not go back and rebuild what he had torn down.
For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
More Questions
What did Paul do as a law-keeping Jew before he became a Christian?
Before his conversion, Paul as a law-keeping Jew killed people because they accepted something contrary to the law.