A number of times in Paul’s letters he talks about being sure of what he is saying. He is persuaded in the truth that he is proclaiming to the churches. Each time Paul speaks of being persuaded about something, we see that his persuasion comes from the same source. It is the most powerful source imaginable. He is persuaded by the person of Christ.
Gal 5:10 I have confidence (persuasion) in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. When Paul is writing to the Galatians, he is writing to churches who have come under the influence of people pushing a false gospel. He carefully and methodically deals with all the false claims and accusations. Why is he so confident that the believers in this church will reject a false gospel? Paul is confident in the Lord that they will hold firm. His confidence in the believers of the churches of Galatia is in the fact that they have been saved by the grace of God in and through Jesus. If God has saved them, Christ has died for them, and Paul can be persuaded by God’s saving power.
Philippians 1:6 And I am sure (persuaded) of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Paul is persuaded that the Philippian church will continue to mature in Christ, and they will hold strong in the faith until the day they stand before him. His confidence in this is not in their fallible ability to live in Christ but in God’s purpose for them in Christ. It is God’s work from beginning to end.
2 Timothy 1:12…which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced (persuaded) that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Paul is willing to go to prison and even death for the sake of Christ. His persuasion for doing so without any shame is that he is in God’s hands from beginning to end.
Romans 8:38-39 For I am sure (persuaded) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul is completely persuaded that there is nothing in this universe that can take any believer out of God’s loving hold. His confidence for this comes in the fact that the person and work of Christ is more powerful than any other power. Everyone in Christ will stand before Christ in glory on the last day. There is nothing that can stop it.
Humans can be persuaded in any number of ideologies, but Paul puts forward an argument that absolute confident persuasion can only come from unlimited power and a completed work of redemption in Christ. Christ is Paul’s power of persuasion. Christ is every Christian’s power of persuasion.