Why I Love the Apostle Paul

“Besides Jesus, no one has kept me from despair, or taken me deeper into the mysteries of the gospel, than the apostle Paul.”

—John Piper

No one has had a greater impact on the world for eternal good than the apostle Paul—except Jesus himself. For John Piper, this impact is very personal. He does not just admire and trust Paul. He loves him. Piper gives us thirty glimpses into why his heart and mind respond this way.

Can a Christian-killer really endure 195 lashes from a heart of love? Can a mystic who thinks he was caught up into heaven be a model of lucid rationality? Can an ethnocentric Jew write the most beautiful call to reconciliation? Can a person who lives with the unceasing anguish of empathy be always rejoicing? Can a man’s description of the horrors of human sin be exceeded by his delight in human splendor? Can a man with a backbone of steel be as tender as a nursing mother?

If we know this man—if we see what Piper sees—we too will love him. Paul’s testimony is a matter of life and death. Piper invites you into his relationship with Paul in the hope that you will know life, forever.

• Explores 30 things the author admires about the life and teaching of the apostle Paul, including “Lover of God’s Sovereignty with Tears for the Lost,” “Steady in His Calling through Incomparable Sufferings,” “Unwavering Love for Those Who Scourged Him,” and “Admitting Imperfections and Turning Them for Love”
• Organized in the form of brief chapters that could be read devotionally
• Written by best-selling author and popular speaker John Piper, founder and teacher of desiringGod.org