Paul wrote more of the New Testament than any other author, and some of his lines have outlasted the centuries to become part of how Christians describe faith, love, and perseverance today. Best known as the apostle who carried the gospel across the Roman world through missionary journeys and letters to young churches, Paul wrote with a directness that still speaks plainly nearly two thousand years later. Here are some of his most quoted words, in their own context.
Paul’s Words on Grace and Salvation
Paul’s central theme, especially in his letter to the Ephesians, is that salvation is God’s gift rather than something earned. In Ephesians 2:8-9, he writes, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” This one sentence anchors a large share of Christian teaching on grace, and Paul returns to the theme again and again throughout his letters.
Paul’s Words on Love
Paul’s description of love in his first letter to the Corinthians is quoted at weddings and funerals alike, by believers and skeptics both. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 he writes, “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” “Charity” here translates the Greek word agape, self-giving love, the same word most modern translations simply render as “love.”
Paul’s Words on Strength in Weakness
Paul wrote from real hardship: imprisonment, shipwreck, and an unnamed “thorn in the flesh” he asked God three times to remove. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 he records God’s answer, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” That same confidence shows up in Philippians 4:13, written from prison, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Read in its full context, the verse follows Paul describing how he had learned to be content whether he had plenty or little, not a promise of success in any endeavor a reader chooses.
Paul’s Words on Finishing Well
Near the end of his life, writing to his protege Timothy, Paul looked back with a settled confidence rather than fear. In 2 Timothy 4:7 he writes, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” That same sense of a life fully given over to Christ appears earlier in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
Key Bible Verses
Philippians 4:13
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
2 Corinthians 12:9
“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
2 Timothy 4:7
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Paul in the Bible?
Paul, originally named Saul, was a Pharisee who persecuted the early church before encountering the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-19). After that encounter he became one of the most influential missionaries and writers in the early church, planting churches across the Roman Empire.
How many books of the Bible did Paul write?
Paul is traditionally credited with writing thirteen New Testament letters, from Romans to Philemon, addressed to churches and individuals he knew personally.
Related Bible Topics
What Are the Epistles in the Bible? | What Does Philippians 4:13 Mean? | What Does Faith Without Works Mean?
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