Paul’s Letters
Manchester School of Theology
11.1.25
“Paul was the first and greatest Christian theologian” (J. Dunn 1939-2020)
Paul was dogmatic and humourless (Adolf Von Harnack 1851-1930)
Our questions about Paul? Him as a person? His theology?
Have we got the wrong guy?
1 Tim 1:2 “my true son in the faith”
Col. 9 “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have Got as far as the
not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with third heaven!
the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding
that the Spirit gives” Romans 9-11
wishes he was cut
Titus 1: 4 “To Titus, my true son in our common faith:Grace and off from the Mes-
peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.” siah for the sake
of those he loves
Philippians 3: 8-9 “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things
and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be “Labour in vain”:
found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from Gal 4:11,
the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ....” 1 Cor, 15, Phil
that we despaired of life itself.” 2:16
1 Thess. 3:5
2 Cor. 7 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that he
surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are hard
pressed in every way, but not crushed...”
Paul: the honest and humble missionary (theologian)
Group Discussion: Our favourite moments in the Pauline epistles?
“Paul’s theological breakthrough in 2 Corinthians was to understand this weakness of the
bearer of the gospel in relation to the content of the gospel. If God’s definitive salvific act
occurred through the weakness of the crucified Jesus, then it should be no surprise that
the saving gospel of the crucified Jesus should reach the Gentiles through the weakness
of his apostle. And just as the crucified Jesus proved, through his resurrection, to be the
power of God for salvation, so the weakness of the apostle had, as its reverse side, the
power of God effective for salvation through his ministry. Paul found the pattern of the
cross and resurrection of Jesus—death and life, weakness and power—reflected in his
own ministry and used it as the key to his own experience.”
(Richard Bauckham TGC ‘Weakness-Paul’s and ours’)
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1) Paul preached Christ as the Jewish Messiah
Paul’s biography
Tarsus (Stoicism, Epicureanism, big bustling pagan city)
Taught by Gamaliel (one of the greatest Rabbis of the period)
Persecutor, zeal
Acts 9: Damascus vision of the risen Jesus
“He is a chosen instrument of mine, to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and
the children of Israel.” (Acts 9: 15 to Ananias)
Jerusalem then....
Back to Tarsus “deepened his Scriptural reflection from which he would there after draw
the water he needed.” (Wright 69)
Group Discussion: what would you say are some of the main features (patterns,
themes, theology, strategies) of Paul’s ministry?
His missionary journey is not about starting a new religion but declaring that in Jesus
Christ, crucified and risen, the promised Messiah of the OT has arrived and IN Christ
(participation) we are made righteous.
Pauline Scholarship: The “New Perspective”
“Justification by faith”
E.P Saunders 1977 Paul and Palestinian Judaism : re-read Paul through C1st
Judaism, pistis Christou (Gk.) faithfulness of Christ
J. Dunn: works of law are ones which would separate Jews and Gentiles
Acts 26: 22-23 (speech in front of King Agrippa) “so I stand here testifying both to small
and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass;
that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would
proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”
Acts 28:23 “From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom
of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from
the Prophets.”
“Paul’s thought is most fundamentally shaped by the narrative of the Creator God and his
call of Israel as his special possession. Paul regards the hopes of Israel and the promises
given to the fathers as being fulfilled in Jesus Christ- in his being sent into the world by
God, his death, resurrection and ascension, and the sending of the Spirit. These climatic
events have both radically altered reality and are most faithfully understood as completely
in continuity with how God has always worked in the world with his people.” Timothy
Gombis Paul: a Guide for the Perplexed (2010)
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His strategy: preach the gospel (word spread: 6:7, 12:24, 13:49, 19:20)
be lead by the Holy Spirit (13.2, 13:9, 16:6-7, 19:21, 21:4)
focus on major population centres, ports, cities
begin in the synagogue
travel with others (Barnabus, Silas, Timothy, John Mark)
get to ROME (28:30)
IV) Begin in the synagogue
“Paul’s approach to mission, going into the synagogues in large influential places, wanting to
plant “flag of the messianic gospel in key points where another “gospel” was being flaunted,
namely the “gospel” of the Roman Empire, of Caesar and all his works.” (N T Wright Paul. P.139)
-Acts 13 in Antioch Pisidia central Turkey (different to Syrian Antioch where Paul went first cf. Acts
11 and which was effectively capital of eastern part of Roman Empire)
-Acts 17 in Thessalonica v. 1-3
-Acts 18 in Corinth v. 4 “And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade
Jews and Greeks.”
-Acts 19 in Ephesus v. 8 “And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reas-
oning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.” (Hall of Tyrannus)
Jewish Messiah: part of the humility of Paul and his message:
-Crucified Messiah: not what was expected, made no sense 1 Cor. 1: 18-25 (Isaiah in Romans)
-Not about circumcision or proving oneself (Galatians ch 2 and ch 3, Phil 3, Romans )
VI) Get to Rome
Why does Acts end in the way it does? “The answer is simple. It is no anti-climax at all- because
Paul is preaching in Rome. Because of the Roman Empire’s great might and extent, reach Rome
and you have reached the world. In effect, Paul had opened up access to the ends of the earth for
the gospel.” (Mark Meynell “What Angels Long to Read” p. 96)
The Outcome Salvation
Riot
Miracles
Churches
Imprisonment
Hardships
Character formation
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2) Paul followed Christ as the pattern for leadership
Philippians
Group discussion: Where do we see servant-hearted ministry and where does Paul challenge
its absence?
Philippians 2: 1-11
Harpagmon
Kenosis
2 Cor. 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet
for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”
“Throughout all this there is the same revelation of the ‘mind of Christ’. His are the eternal
glories, both by nature and by right, but they are not a platform for self-display, nor a
launching-pad for self-advancement; they are all for self-denial. Self is something to ‘pour-
out.’ (Alec Motyer)
“…this decision was not a decision to stop being divine. It was a decision about what it
really meant to be divine.” (N.T Wright)
“gentle space-making” (Sarah Coakley)
1 and 2nd Timothy
Group discussion: read the opening of 2 Timothy (chapter 1:1-14). Where do we see Paul
empowering Timothy in Timothy’s leadership?
2 Tim 4: 9-13 Paul’s need for others
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3) Paul urged the church to hold onto Scripture
2 Tim 3:16
Titus
Romans 15:4
Ephesians 6:17
“that they (Apostles) were conscious of a unique vocation to write Jesus-shaped, Spirit-led,
church-shaping books, as part of their strange first-generation calling, we should not doubt.” (Tom
Wright, Scripture and the Authority of God p.52)
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4) Paul encouraged the church to live like Christ in the
power of the Spirit
Ephesians and Galatians
“The letter of the Ephesians is Paul’s call to allow the gospel story about Jesus to reshape
every part of our own life story” (Read Scripture p. 112 by the Bible Project, Tim Mackie)
Identity
Ephesians 1
(Imperatives follow indicatives)
Unity (a communal call)
Ephesians 2
Pneumatology
Ephesians 1
Galatians 5
(On the Holy Spirit and Paul: Lucy Peppiatt, Simon Ponsonby)
Laura Gallacher
[email protected]
www.prisca.org.uk
Holiness
Manchester School of Theology
11.1.24
Core Text: 2 Cor 3:18
Group Discussion: The world’s ideas of holiness? Our ideas of holiness?
“Holiness is actually the shining dazzle of profoundest divine love exchanged continually within
the Trinity and poured out for creation in all its forms for our deepest and most joyful good.” (Ruth
Etchells, sermon 8th Feb 2011, St John’s College, Durham)
“Radical holiness is rooted in an optimism of grace; it is to believe that there are no limits on how
much God’s goodness and glory may be reflected.” (Calvin T. Samuel, More Distinct, p. 6)
“Holiness..is neither static nor passive. It is a state of increasing love to God and one’s neighbour,
and love is precisely a matter of doing what honours and benefits the loved one, out of a wish to
raise that loved one high. Holy persons, therefore, show themselves such by praising God and
helping others.” (J.I Packer, A Passion for Holiness, p.208)
“It is not great talents that God blesses, so much as likeness to Jesus.” Robert Murray M’Cheyne
Holiness: who God is
Holiness: the essence of who God is
Exodus 19:6
Isaiah 6
Leviticus 11:44, 19:2, 20:7
Walter Moberly ‘holy’ is tantamount to Yahweh’s nature (R.W.L Moberly, Holy, Holy Holy,
2003 p.127)
“God’s holiness is essential to his nature and fundamental to His being. His holiness is
what makes Him good, and loving, and kind, and faithful. Without holiness, God wouldn’t
be beautiful…” (Jackie Hill Perry, Holier Then Thou, p. 8)
Holiness: as vocation
Holiness: the call of God’s people
1 Peter 1:15-16 “Just as he who called you is holy; so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be
holy, because I am holy”
Kadosh (adj) kodesh (n) 1. Holy, commanding respect, awesome, treated with respect 2. Removed
from profane usage, singled out, consecrated for
Kadash (v) state or transition into/move towards a particular state of holiness or to dedicate use
before God
Lev. 10:10 “you must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and
the clean”
“More about a status indicating that a person or object is dedicated to the service of God” (Jay
Sklar, Tyndale Old Testament Commentary)
2 Tim 2:21 :an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to
do any good work.”
Set apart and stuck in
“A holy society should be marked by justice and compassion (especially towards the poor and
vulnerable). “The emulation of God’s holiness demands following the ethics associated with his
nature.” J. Milgrom
NB: Remember…..Imperative follows indicative (Exodus 19 then 20, Ephesians 1 first)
Holiness: ful lled in Jesus
Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 5: 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come
to abolish them but to fulfil them.”
“You’ve heard it said don’t even….”
Group Discussion: Matthew 5-7. What is going on here in relation to holiness and sanctification?
What is Matthew echoing? And what is Jesus’ teaching doing?
Job (integrity in suffering)
“In order to find the best example of human holiness one is best off looking outside of Israel.
Holiness can be found in unexpected places among unexpected people.” ( Calvin T. Samuel,
More Distinct, p.70)
fi
Hebrews 5:8 Jesus “learned obedience through what he suffered”
Temptation
Hebrews 4:15
James 1:13-15
Participation/incorporation
John 17
“Christlikeness is the result of Christ in us. It’s all grace; it’s always been grace. “Christ in you, the
hope of glory”. And us in Christ. In fact, “in Christ” is a phrase used all through the New
Testament, more than eighty times in Paul’s letters alone.” (John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way,
P. 79)
1 John 4:17
Holiness: empowered by the Spirit
Heb. 12:14 “Make every effort…to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord”
2 Cor 5
Romans 8:5-11
Eph. 2:22
Eph 3:14-21
Gk. dunamis (power)
“The supreme sign and wonder, giving the fullest credibility to Christianity, will thus always be the
changed life of the believer. Two conclusions seem to follow. First, a Christianity that is prepared
to go on cheerfully without any signs of God’s supernatural transforming power in people’s lives
shows a very unbiblical spirit. Second, this expectation of overall moral change is the frame into
which all hopes and quests for supernatural healing properly fit.” (J.I Packer, A Passion for
Holiness, p.202)
“A holy life is used by God to win people to himself. Practical holiness is a very beautiful and
wonderful thing. There is nothing that influences the ungodly man more than a pure and a holy
life. It is a magnet that draws, and causes people to desire what they see. There is something
irresistible about a life of holiness.” (Hugh D Morgan, Holy God Holy People, p.54-55)
What does it look like?
Eph. 4 putting off and putting on
2 Peter 1:5-8
Gal 5
How?
1 Tim 4:7: “train yourself to be godly”
“You become what you contemplate” (John Mark Comer, quoting Hwee Hwee Tan, In Search of
the Lotus Land)
“There is so much we can’t do in our spiritual formation; we cannot fix or heal or transform
ourselves. But we can do this: We can be with Jesus. We can pause for little moments throughout
our days and turn our hearts towards Jesus silent prayer and love.” (John Mark Comer, Practicing
the Way, p46)
2 Cor 3:18
Everyday ordinary
1 Thess 4:11-12
“Biblically, there is no divide between “radical” and “ordinary” believers. We are called to be
willing to follow Christ in radical ways, to answer the call of the one who told us to deny ourselves
and take up our cross. And yet we are also called to stability, to the daily grind of responsibility for
those nearest us, to the challenge of a mundane, well-lived Christian life…..we must also learn to
follow Jesus in this workaday world of raising kids, caring for our neighbours, budgeting, doing
laundry, and living our days responsibly with stability, generosity, and faithfulness.” (Tish Harrison
Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary, p.84)
Group Discussion: share the ways in which you feel invited into deeper holiness in 2025. Pray for
one another.
Laura Gallacher
[email protected]
www.prisca.org.uk
