What does it mean?

📖 1 Corinthians 15:8
“Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.”

When the apostle Paul penned 1 Corinthians 15, he was giving the most thorough explanation of the resurrection in all of Scripture. He walked through the foundational truth of the gospel—Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day (vv. 3–4)—and he listed eyewitnesses who saw the risen Lord. Then he said something deeply personal and theologically profound:

“Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.”
(1 Corinthians 15:8, NKJV)

What does it mean to be “born out of due time”? Why would Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, use such strange and abrupt language to describe himself?

A Different Kind of Apostolic Calling

The word Paul uses here—“ektroma“ in the Greek—literally refers to a miscarriage or premature birth. It’s an unsettling word. It implies something unexpected, out of order, and outside the normal process.

Paul wasn’t being poetic. He was being brutally honest. Unlike Peter and the Eleven, who walked with Jesus during His earthly ministry and saw Him after the resurrection on the road, in rooms, by the sea—Paul didn’t. In fact, he was actively persecuting the church when the risen Lord appeared to him.

Paul’s apostleship came after Christ had already ascended into heaven. He saw the risen Lord not in Jerusalem or Galilee, but on the road to Damascus. His encounter with the glorified Christ (Acts 9:3–6; Acts 26:12–18) was unique and unlike any other.

He wasn’t just late—he was out of sync with the timeline altogether.

Why This Matters

Paul’s use of “born out of due time” highlights something profound:

His calling and his gospel were not part of the prophetic program—but a mystery revealed later, directly by the risen, glorified Lord.

As he wrote in Galatians 1:11–12:

“But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Paul wasn’t an add-on or a backup plan if the nation of Israel would reject Jesus as their Messiah—he was the chosen vessel to reveal the mystery of Christ and His body, the Church (Ephesians 3:1–6). But this revelation came outside the due time, apart from the prophetic timeline, and after the risen Lord had already returned to glory. 

That’s why Paul calls it “my gospel” (Romans 2:16; 2 Timothy 2:8).
It was not the same gospel Peter and the Eleven preached in Acts 2 and 3, which was centered on the earthly kingdom promised to Israel. Paul’s gospel revealed the heavenly calling of the Church, the Body of Christ.

A Pattern of Grace

In 1 Timothy 1:16, Paul explains another reason for his out-of-order calling:

“However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.”

Paul was a pattern—an example of the abundant grace and mercy of God. He was the chief of sinners, in his brutal persecution of the Jerusalem church, yet was shown the riches of God’s grace through the direct appearance of the risen Christ. His life was an object lesson of salvation by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9), apart from the Law, apart from works, and apart from Israel’s prophetic promises.

Final Thoughts: Seen Last, But Not Least

When Paul says, “Last of all He was seen by me,” he means it. No other apostle after him was given a personal appearance of the risen Lord Jesus with a new revelation. Paul’s encounter was final. It marked the beginning of something entirely new—the dispensation of the grace of God (Ephesians 3:2).

So while Paul saw himself as “born out of due time”—outside the expected order—his calling wasn’t a mistake.

It was a revelation of God’s hidden plan, made known through the one who once tried to destroy the Church, but was transformed by the One he once persecuted.

🧾 Key Takeaways:

• Paul’s phrase “born out of due time” means he was called outside the prophetic timeline.
• His apostleship was not earthly and not from man, but from the risen, glorified Christ.
• Paul’s gospel reveals the mystery of the Church and the believer’s identification with Christ.
• He is a pattern of grace, showing that salvation is by faith alone through God’s mercy. Paul certainly didn’t work for his salvation!

📖 Study Passages:

• 1 Corinthians 15:3–10
• Acts 9:1–6; Acts 26:12–18
• Galatians 1:11–12
• 1 Timothy 1:12–16
• Ephesians 3:1–9
• Romans 2:16
• 2 Timothy 2:8

© 2025 Jamie Pantastico | MesaBibleStudy.com

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