Forgiveness and SinThe general theme of the Bible is easy to find, as it is on almost every page. It is that of man's sin and God's attempt to forgive him for this sin while remaining absolutely holy and absolutely just. First, God gives man His Law. These are the same rules and regulations that many Orthodox Jews still follow today. Then, in the supreme act of love, God sends His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for man's sins in a final act of forgiveness. These two acts are seen through the life of a single person, the essential founder of the Protestant faith and one of the principal founders of Christianity throughout the ages - the Apostle Paul. Paul was raised as a Roman Jew from Tarsus known as Saul. He was a free-born Roman citizen who was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, as prescribed by Jewish law. His father was a Pharisee and he would eventually become one himself. His early training included being a tent maker and the study of Jewish law under the famous Pharisee of his day, Gamaliel. As a Jew, Saul was “a Hebrew of the Hebrews.” According to Jewish law, he had never committed a fault. Saul had all the laws memorized and never broke a single one. He was a zealous man, persecuting those who proclaimed Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. He sent many of them to prison and had even more of them tortured and executed. He was holding the coats of the men who had stoned Stephen the blasphemer and was on his way to Damascus to destroy the blasphemers there when his life changed. On the road to Damascus, Saul saw a light coming out of the sky so bright that it blinded him. He heard the voice of Jesus Christ asking him why he was persecuting him. At that point, Saul's life was in the middle of a paper run. His intimate knowledge of what he had been like showed him God's incredible power of forgiveness and all the joy he brings. This is how he could proclaim that God's grace was sufficient in any situation and that God's power was unlimited. In conclusion, through the life and eyes of the Apostle Paul, we see both Old Testament thinking on sin and forgiveness, and New Testament views on sin and forgiveness. these same problems. According to the Old Testament, Jewish law was the standard by which man should live, and only through ritual sacrifice could man be forgiven for breaking any of these laws. We see this through the eyes of Saul, Paul's life before Christ. Through Paul's eyes we see the New Testament approach to sin and forgiveness, that sin is all that separates man from God. Forgiveness of sins comes only through faith in Jesus Christ and his resurrection..