Welcome and thank you for taking a bible break to test your knowledge of God's word.
This week's question:

Although Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-7) He was called up out of Egypt after being sent there to avert the killing by king Herod (Matthew 2:13-20), and then when King Herod died, they were told in a dream by an angel of the Lord that king Herod was dead and to bring the Child back into Israel. So they came back to think about settling in the Judea area-since He was a King as the Magi told king Herod and when they found Him, the Magi worshipped Him (Matthew 2:2 & 11), "And he arose and took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he departed for the regions of Galilee, and came and resided in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, 'He shall be called a Nazarene.'" (Matthew 2:21-23)

After Jesus was crucified and Peter and John were coming into the temple through the gate that was called Beautiful Gate. There was a man who was brought there each day to beg for alms and was lame from his birth. "And Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze upon him and said, 'Look at us!' And he began to give them attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, 'I do not possess silver or gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!' And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened. And with a leap, he stood upright and began to walk; he entered the temple with them, walking and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened." (Acts 3:4-10)

That brings us to our question, "Where is Paul's home town?". There was a man named Saul who was later called Paul who said about himself to his Hebrew brethren as he stood on trial before the Council, "Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day." (Acts 23:1). This same man was, earlier in his life, a persecutor of the church and as he gave his defense before king Agrippa, "Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead? So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities." (Acts 26:8-11). Paul spoke of his life as a Hebrew before becoming a Christian, "For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. But when He who had set me apart, even from my mother's womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus." (Galatians 1:13-17) When Stephen was stoned, they laid their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul (Acts 7:58), he was given a letter to go into Damascus and arrest Christians who had fled from before his ravaging the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:3), but along the way he was confronted by a light and the vision of Jesus the Nazarene, who told him to go into Damascus and wait for instructions on what to do and was led by the hand as he was struck blind. (Acts 9:3-9)

So then, for the answer to our question we turn and read, "And he was three days without sight, and neither ate or drank. Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, 'Ananias.' And he said, 'Behold, here am I, Lord.' And the Lord said to him, 'Arise and to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he may regain his sight.'" (Acts 9:9-12). So there we have the answer to our question as Paul's home town is none other than a city named "Tarsus"!

Although Paul became a believer on the road to Damascus, it was three days later he was confronted by Ananias who asked him, "Now why do you delay, arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." (Acts 22:16). And so, we can see that faith only will not wash away your sins, but baptism does. (Romans 6:1-6 & 1 Peter 3:21) "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:24)!