“For
I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I
magnify mine of office.”
Jesus’ ministry was distinctively Jewish, as were the apostles;
the exception being Peter’s initial opening the door to the Gentiles. All
church truths are to be found in the Pauline epistles. As I often say, “All the
Bible is for us, but not all the
Bible is to or about us.” In the Gentile’s classroom, our professor and teacher is
Paul, “Whereunto I am appointed ...a
teacher of the Gentiles.”
Lift Paul’s fourteen letters (I include Hebrews) from their
setting, and you’re left with utter confusion. He is the one person ordained by
our Lord to reveal to the Gentiles all the truths Jesus Himself was not able to
communicate to His followers while here on earth. The Gospels tells of the
earthly historic Christ, but Paul’s epistles reveal the eternal heavenly
Christ.
Without Paul’s writings we would know nothing of great
doctrines like justification, sanctification, adoption, regeneration, etc. We’d
be totally ignorant of such things as the Holy Spirit’s ministry, and our in-depth
relationship to the risen Christ. Such as being “in Him” and “raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly
[places] in Christ Jesus.” It is Paul alone who explains all these intricacies,
along with a host of other blessings that belong to Gentile believers in the
Body of Christ.
O, my friends, I am aware I have written on this theme on
several occasions, but know this; I will continue to do so till taken Home.
After seeing the Lord, I want to meet this “little Jew” who saved me from so
great heartache and anguish on my pilgrim journey. Francis A. Schaeffer has a
book entitled, “How Then Shall We Live?" If you want to know the answer to this,
begin now to read Paul’s letters. And then, continue to do so!