{"id":4335,"date":"2016-07-30T12:56:31","date_gmt":"2016-07-30T18:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=4335"},"modified":"2024-02-12T07:38:54","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T13:38:54","slug":"pauls-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=4335","title":{"rendered":"Paul&#8217;s Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">The apostle Paul must have been an egomaniac, right? Consider these points:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h3>In his gospel, the apostle John never refers to himself by name and only once by the personal pronoun \u201cI.\u201d Paul, in his letters, refers to himself by name about 30 times and by personal pronouns a few hundred times.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h3>Paul\u2019s conversion on the road to Damascus is told in detail three times in Scripture (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=1454\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Acts 9:1-18<\/span><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=1933\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Acts 22:6-16<\/span><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=1993\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Acts 26:12-18<\/span><\/a>).<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h3>Three times, Paul refers to his message as \u201cmy gospel\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=269\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Romans 2:16<\/span><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=504\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Romans 16:25<\/span><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=3536\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">2 Timothy 2:8<\/span><\/a>).<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h3>Three times, Paul refers to his message as \u201cour gospel\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=4951\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">2 Corinthians 4:3<\/span><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=4148\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">1 Thessalonians 1:5<\/span><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=6182\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">2 Thessalonians 2:14<\/span><\/a>). The three letters in which this phrase appears are signed by Paul and Timothy and, in the case of the Thessalonians letters, Silas.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h3>In two places (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=2460\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">1 Corinthians 15:1<\/span><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=980\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Galatians 2:2<\/span><\/a>), Paul refers to \u201cthe gospel which I preach(ed). And once to \u201cthe gospel which was preached by me\u201d in <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=960\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Galatians 1:11<\/span><\/a>.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h3>Extensively (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=3706\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Ephesians 3:1-12<\/span><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=2059\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Colossians 1:24-29<\/span><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=3424\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">1 Timothy 1:12-16<\/span><\/a>) Paul talks about how God chose him especially to take a new message to the Gentiles.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h3>Paul does something no other apostle dares to do \u2014 he tells his readers to pattern their behavior after his (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=2252\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">1 Corinthians 4:16<\/span><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=1202\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Philippians 3:17<\/span><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=1212\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Philippians 4:9<\/span><\/a>).<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h3>Paul uses the word \u201cmystery\u201d 17 times to refer to doctrines that God gave him that had never been given to anyone else.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<h3>Frequently, Paul uses the term \u201cbut now\u201d to refer to things revealed by God through him that were previously hidden. For example, <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Romans 16:25-26<\/span>.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">No other writer of Scripture ties his message and his ministry so closely to his own person. It almost seems like Paul himself is part of the message. That can\u2019t be a good thing, right? Paul must have been conceited.<\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">OR, <strong>as is the case<\/strong>, Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to make it very clear that his particular message was new and important and that Paul himself was the key to understanding it.<\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">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 (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=3426\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">1 Timothy 1:16<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Some say that\u2019s Paul message was simply that Gentiles could now be saved as Jews were saved. That is certainly part of it, but just as certainly not all of it. After all, the Old Testament prophets foretold that the Gentiles would someday be blessed (Isaiah 49:6 for example). But those prophecies look to a time, still future, when the Gentile nations will be blessed <em>through<\/em> Israel during the millennium. Paul\u2019s message \u2014 a mystery that was not foretold \u2014 is that Gentiles can be saved <em>apart<\/em> from Israel.<\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Jesus Christ, when He was on earth, ministered only to Jews (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=2827\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Matthew 10:5-6<\/span><\/a>). The Gentiles were <em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=3698\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Ephesians 2:12<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Now Jesus Christ, through Paul, makes salvation available to all, Jews and Gentiles alike (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=472\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Romans 15:8-12<\/span><\/a>).<\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">For Gentiles to be saved during the Old Testament period, they had to become Jews. Now there is no longer a distinction. Both are joined together in the Body of Christ, another revelation given only to Paul. He says: <em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=2059\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Colossians 1:24-26<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Peter spoke of the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Pentecost, but apart from the basic fact of the resurrection, his message wasn\u2019t much different from that of Christ Himself before the cross. It was through Paul that the Lord revealed exactly what Christ\u2019s death and resurrection mean (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=310\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Romans 5:6-11<\/span><\/a>).<\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">So, a new audience, a new body of believers, a new emphasis on the cross. But that\u2019s not all. Paul also was the messenger of a new way to live.<\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Salvation, since Adam and Eve, has always been by faith. But prior to Paul\u2019s ministry, that faith had to be demonstrated. In the Old Testament, God made it clear: <em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD (Leviticus 18:5).<\/span><\/em> The law was still in effect when Christ was on earth: <em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=2731\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Matthew 5:20<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">And for those Jews saved under the kingdom gospel, the law was still in effect after the resurrection, which is why James, in his book to the Jews says, <em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">f<\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">aith without works is dead (James 2:20).<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Yes, the purpose of the law was to teach us that we couldn\u2019t be saved by obeying the law but only by trusting in Jesus Christ. But it wasn\u2019t <em>until Paul<\/em> that this was revealed. <em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=1045\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Galatians 3:23-25<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Now, Paul explains, instead of trying and repeatedly failing to keep a law we are incapable of keeping, we are simply to walk in the Holy Spirit. <em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (<a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=1091\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Galatians 5:16<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">There are many other aspects of Paul\u2019s ministry. We\u2019ll get to them in a future post on the \u201cmysteries\u201d that he mentions.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The apostle Paul must have been an egomaniac, right? Consider these points: In his gospel, the apostle John never refers to himself by name and only once by the personal pronoun \u201cI.\u201d Paul, in his letters, refers to himself by &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=4335\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4335"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8763,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4335\/revisions\/8763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}