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PAUL & HIS LETTERS

PAUL & HIS LETTERS. THE GENUINE LETTERS OF PAUL Place and time of the composition of the Pauline homologoumena (Proto-Pauline). A. THE PAULINE LETTER FORM Paul’s letter follows the format of the ancient Greek letters. B. 1 Thessalonians. OTHER GENUINE LETTERS.

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PAUL & HIS LETTERS

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  1. PAUL & HIS LETTERS

  2. THE GENUINE LETTERS OF PAUL Place and time of the composition of the Pauline homologoumena (Proto-Pauline)

  3. A. THE PAULINE LETTER FORM Paul’s letter follows the format of the ancient Greek letters.

  4. B. 1 Thessalonians

  5. OTHER GENUINE LETTERS

  6. PAUL: AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST

  7. . St. Paul introduces himself as an “apostle of Jesus Christ.” The English word “apostle” is a transliteration of the Greek word “apostolos” which means “one who is sent.”

  8. Rom 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, Rom 11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry 1 Cor 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 1Cor 9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 1 Cor 9:2 If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. 1 Cor 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 2 Cor 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is in Corinth, including all the saints throughout Achaia: 2 Cor 12:12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works. Gal 1:1 Paul an apostle-- sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead-- Gal 1:19 but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord's brother. Gal 2:8 (for he who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the Gentiles), Eph 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

  9. Col 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, • 1 Tim 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, • 1 Tim 2:7 For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. • 2 Tim 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, • 2 Tim 1:11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, • Tit 1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that is in accordance with godliness,

  10. THE CLAIMS OF THE APOSTLE What does it mean for Paul to be an apostle of Jesus Christ? In his genuine letters he describes his call to be an apostle in these terms: • Servant of Jesus Christ (Rom 1:1) • Called to be an apostle (Rom 1:1; 1 Cor 1:1) • Set apart for the gospel of God (Rom 1:1) • Apostle to the Gentiles (Rom 1:13) • By the will of God (1 Cor 1:1) • Seen the Lord Jesus (1 Cor 9:1) • Work in the Lord (1 Cor (9:1) • Apostle to the Corinthian Community (1 Cor 9:2) • With Corinthians as seal of his apostleship (1 Cor 9:2) • Least of the apostles (1 Cor 15:9) • True apostle – performed signs and wonders, mighty works (2 Cor 12:12) • Sent neither by human commission, nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father (Gal 1:1)

  11. “For I would rather die than have any one deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my preaching I may make the gospel free of charge, not making full use of my right in the gospel.” (1 Cor 9:15-18).

  12. INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST • “I know through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I shall not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

  13. “Christ Jesus has made me his own.” Or he felt “taken over” by Christ Jesus. In Gal 2:20, he exclaims, “The Son of God loved me and gave himself to me.” Rom 8:35-37 Paul emphasizes: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or the sword?...In all these things we are conquerors because of him who loved us.”

  14. This love of Christ became the motivation and the driving force of Paul’s life: “The love of Christ impels us once as we come to the conviction that one died for all” (2 Cor 5:14). Thus if the love of God was manifested in the self-giving of Christ, how could the love of Christ be expressed except in the same way: “We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves” (1 Thess 2:8).

  15. THE RADICAL COMMITMENT OF THE APOSTLE TO CHRIST “Are they Hebrew? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I? Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I have been neaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in toil and hardship, though many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches.” (2 Cor 11:23-28)

  16. “Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law a Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of e church, as to righteousness under the law blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil 3:4-11)

  17. THE JOY OF THE APOSTLE (EVEN IN AFFLICTION • “It is right for me to feel this about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:3-8)

  18. THE JOY OF THE APOSTLE “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I shall rejoice. For I know that through your payers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I shall not be ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” (Phil 1:18-20) “Even if I am to be poured as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.” Phil 1:17)

  19. LOVE FOR THE COMMUNITY HE FOUNDED “For we never used either words of flattery, as you know, or a cloak for greed, as God is witness; nor did we seek glory from men, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse taking care of her children. So being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” (1 Thess 2:5-8)

  20. “You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our behavior to you believers; for you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (1 Thess 2:10-12).

  21. “It is right for me to feel this about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” ( Phil 1:7-8) “Therefore, my brethren, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.” (Phil 4:1)

  22. CO-WORKERS In his missionary journeys, Paul always collaborated with fellow workers. In 1 Thess he was closely connected with Silvanus and Timothy. When he was in Athens after visiting Thessalonica, and he could no longer bear to know about their faith, he sent Timothy, his “brother and God’s servant in the Gospel” to establish their faith and exhort them (1 Thess 3:1-2). In the Corinthian correspondence, we find Paul collaborating with Sosthenes (1 Cor 1:1), Timothy (1 Cor 16:10; 2 Cor 1:1; Phil 1:1), Apollos (1 Cor 16:12), Aquila and Prisca, “my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life” (Rom 16:3-4; cf. 1 Cor 16:19; Philemon 1),

  23. CO-WORKERS Titus, “my partner and fellow worker in your service (2 Cor 8:16-23, cf. 2 Cor 12:18; Gal 2:1), Euodia and Syntyche, who “labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers (Phil 4:2-3), Philemon, “our beloved fellow worker” (Philemon 1), Apphia “our sister” and Archippus “our fellow soldier” and “the church in your house” (Philemon 2), Barnabas (Gal 2:1), Phoebe, “a deaconess of the church at Cenchrea…a helper of many and of myself” (Rom 16:1), Epaenetus, “the first convert in Asia for Christ”; Mary, “who worked hard among you”, Andronicus and Junias, “my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners”, Ampliatus, “my beloved in the Lord”, Urbanus, “our fellow worker in Christ,” Stachys, “my beloved,” (Rom 16)

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