Lectures doctrinal and practical on the Epistle ... to the Romans

These examples help us see the urgency of the author's intentions. He was convinced that his audience faced a very serious situation and that it was time for them to make some very difficult decisions. So, he did all he could to urge and persuade them to make the right choices. Now that we've seen how the author's purpose was strengthened by the intensity of his exhortations, we should turn to a second feature of the book: As this definition affirms, the goal of the author's exhortations was twofold.

He wanted his audience to reject local Jewish teachings and he wanted them also to remain faithful to Jesus as the Messiah. Let's consider how the author urged his audience to reject local Jewish teachings. We've noted that the audience of Hebrews had suffered persecution and that this persecution was tempting them toward apostasy. But this temptation was not what we might first imagine. It seems that at the time Hebrews was written, Christians could find safety from persecution if they rejected their distinctively Christian beliefs and identified more closely with their local Jewish community.

The Letter to the Romans

In the first century, Jews often had to pay special taxes, and they suffered persecution from time to time. But often, Jewish communities in the Roman Empire were free to observe their faith. Early on, the same was true for Christians because they were closely identified with Judaism.

But as time passed, Christian identification as a Jewish sect began to disappear. In fact, the book of Acts reports that even in the days of Paul, Jewish synagogues rejected followers of Christ and encouraged local authorities to mistreat them. In all likelihood, this was the kind of situation facing the original audience of Hebrews. And their prolonged sufferings tempted them to accept teachings in their local Jewish community that were contrary to the Christian faith. Interestingly, the author of Hebrews didn't address the sorts of issues normally associated with Jewish hypocrisy and legalism.

As crucial as these matters were, they're not a major concern in the book of Hebrews. Rather, the author dealt primarily with erroneous beliefs and practices, specifically those that developed in Jewish communities outside the mainstream of Palestinian Judaism. Listen to what the author of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.

It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them Hebrews In this verse, the author contrasted being "strengthened by grace" with being strengthened "by ceremonial foods. But notice also that this was just one example of what he called "all kinds of strange teachings. So, what were these "strange teachings" that the audience was tempted to follow? In the second half of the last century, a number of helpful insights into this question came to light with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran.

This long-lost collection of documents included Old Testament texts, but also extra-biblical writings that represented the distinctive teachings of a disenfranchised Jewish community living near the Dead Sea. These books have a number of teachings that closely parallel the theological issues addressed in Hebrews. Now, it's important to note that these teachings were not exclusive to this community. Other Jewish groups in the Mediterranean world held to similar views. In fact, the books of Ephesians and Colossians deal with comparable issues in their locations.

Yet, it will help us understand many of Hebrews' exhortations against local Jewish beliefs if we note some of the similar subjects found in both Hebrews and the books found at Qumran. The Dead Sea Scrolls are fascinating documents found, of course, in the desert in Qumran, and they are the works of a radical Jewish sect who defined themselves over and against the Jewish mainstream, particularly the temple complex. And so, somewhat analogously to the book of Hebrews, the sectarians at Qumran seem to have regarded themselves as a new temple under a new covenant.

Now, there are just as many dissimilarities particularly because some of the more ritual aspects of the old covenant, the Qumran group really wanted to revitalize those rather than let them obsolesce in the way that the writer of Hebrews suggests. For this lesson, we'll briefly mention just four topics found in both the book of Hebrews and the documents at Qumran. In the first place, we've already noted that in Hebrews Many practices at Qumran are described in the book entitled The Rule of the Community.

Among many other things, the community at Qumran regularly held sacred communal meals in which they ate specially consecrated food.

New Testament Letters and The Letter to the Romans - Bible Gateway

In the second place, an assortment of basic teachings addressed in the book of Hebrews also appears in texts at Qumran. For instance, in Hebrews 6: Interestingly enough, The Rule of the Community and the War Scroll at Qumran give a great deal of attention to these and similar matters in ways that differed from the mainstream of Palestinian Judaism. In the third place, the literature at Qumran helps us understand the focus on angels in the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews addressed beliefs about angels in a number of passages. Apparently, the original audience of Hebrews had become attracted to these kinds of teachings.

In the fourth place, the documents at Qumran help us understand the unusual interest that the author of Hebrews had in the Old Testament character Melchizedek. For the longest time, interpreters had difficulty explaining why the comparisons between Melchizedek and Jesus were so important to the author of Hebrews.

But one text found at Qumran, often called 11QMelchizedek or The Midrash on Melchizedek , falsely taught that Melchizedek was a heavenly figure who was going to appear in the last days to proclaim the Day of Atonement and make final atonement for God's people. From all appearances, the original audience of Hebrews was tempted to hold these or similar false beliefs. Identifying the kinds of false teachings that circulated within Jewish communities helps us to understand why the author of Hebrews exhorted his audience to resist these teachings and remain faithful to Jesus.

There's a number of interesting parallels between the teaching of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the teaching in Hebrews. The most significant would be perhaps that both communities recognized that they were, or believed they were, living in the end times, that God's final salvation was about to take place. Of course, the difference is in Hebrews we see that God's salvation has arrived, whereas at Qumran — or the Dead Sea Scrolls — they're expecting it to happen at any time. But perhaps the most interesting comparison between the two is the role of the figure of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek, of course, in Hebrews, the author develops this theology of Melchizedek as Jesus' high priesthood is not according to the order of Aaron, not the traditional Old Testament one, but according to the order of Melchizedek, because we see Melchizedek was a legitimate high priest who met Abraham in the book of Genesis — and so, this Melchizedek comparison. Well, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, there is one of the Dead Sea Scrolls — known as 11Q Melchizedek because it was discovered in cave 11 of the Dead Sea Scrolls — portrays a figure, this Melchizedek, as a mighty heavenly, glorious, Messiah-like figure who brings salvation.

So, it's an interesting comparison since, of course, Melchizedek is a type of Christ in the book of Hebrews, that in the Dead Sea Scrolls he becomes a messianic figure. And so scholars puzzle over this relationship between the Melchizedek figure in Hebrews and Melchizedek as he appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The goal of Hebrews' exhortations was not only to urge the audience to reject the local Jewish teachings.

Even more, the author wanted them to remain faithful to Jesus as the Messiah. To accomplish the goal of calling his audience to faithful service to Jesus, the author of Hebrews organized his exhortations into five major divisions. We'll look in some detail at each of these divisions in our next lesson. But at this point it will help to summarize the central issues in each. We mentioned earlier in this lesson that the book of Hebrews spoke against false beliefs about angels. A number of Jewish writings often exalted angels as powerful, glorious creatures who brought divine revelations to inferior human beings.

This honor for angels raised a serious challenge against those who followed Christ.

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Jesus was flesh and blood. How then could anyone follow what he said instead of the revelations of angels? The author of Hebrews responded to this local Jewish teaching by demonstrating from the Old Testament, and from Jesus' life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return in glory, that he is actually superior to the angels. The second major division of Hebrews, in 3: It was obvious to everyone that followers of Jesus were not observing the sacrificial services God had ordained through Moses.

The local Jewish community called for Christians to return to Moses and his ways. The author of Hebrews responded by affirming that Moses was God's faithful servant. But Jesus was even greater because he was God's royal Son. After dealing with angels and Moses, the author of Hebrews turned to Melchizedek's priesthood in 4: In this division, the author argued that Jesus was the supreme Royal Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Apparently, the local Jewish community wanted the original audience to reject Jesus as the Messiah because of their beliefs about the appearance of Melchizedek as the great royal high priest in the last days.

In response, the author of Hebrews demonstrated that Jesus was the true Royal Priest who appeared in the last days to provide eternal atonement for sin. The teachings of the local Jewish community raised doubts about the Christian claim that Jesus had come to mediate the new covenant promised by Jeremiah. But the author of Hebrews pointed out that Jesus is, in fact, the mediator of the new covenant. In the last major division, in This division consists of a long series of exhortations, as well as explanations for these exhortations. In light of so many challenges to their faith from the local Jewish community and elsewhere, the author wrote to inspire and energize his audience.

He exhorted them to remain faithful to Jesus as the Messiah by reminding them of God's promises and blessings in Jesus. By his many exhortations, the writer to the Hebrews, to put it positively, is encouraging his readers to persevere. And some of his language is very gentle, entreating, encouraging, but some of it is, quite frankly, blisteringly frightening.

That starts as early as Hebrews 2 — "If Old Testament saints fell away, how much more dangerous is it if we, who are the heirs of the new covenant, who do know the Lord Jesus, ignore the great salvation that has been provided to us? And then there are two passages that are often referred to as "apostasy passages" in Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10 that warn against the danger of those who have professed profound faith in Christ — and apparently followed for some time — falling away. And so, even in reading the Old Testament narrative, as in the end of Hebrews 3, the author says, don't be like the Old Testament saints who were rescued from Egypt and escaped slavery but never did get into the Promised Land precisely because they didn't persevere.

They fell away in the desert. A whole generation was wiped out more or less. And, those are the sorts of pastoral parallels that show that his incentive to encouragement is not merely soft or cuddly, that there is warmth and encouragement and holding up the glories of Christ so as to be drawn to him. But there is also threat and warning that this is serious business and you don't want to play around with it.

In this lesson on the background and purpose of Hebrews, we've looked at the background of the book of Hebrews, including the author, the audience and the date of composition. We've also focused on the original purpose of Hebrews by examining how the author wrote his book to exhort his audience to turn from local Jewish teachings and to reaffirm their loyalty to Jesus as the Messiah.

The book of Hebrews is one of the most challenging books of the New Testament. It offers so much that we may never uncover more than a small portion of what it teaches. Yet, we can benefit in many ways from these complex teachings. As modern followers of Christ, we also face temptations to avoid troubles in this life by compromising our commitments to Jesus. But if we'll open our hearts to hear how the author of Hebrews urgently exhorted his original audience, we'll see how crucial it is that we stand strong in our faith, no matter what opposition we may face.

Um earned his Th. Keener is the F. Eckhard Schnabel is the Mary F. How do I use these resources? Are these resources really free? Is there a Third Millennium mobile app? Foundations of Interpretation Making Biblical Decisions. Authorship From the earliest times, there have been a variety of positions on the authorship of Hebrews. Identity Identifying the author of Hebrews is not as simple as it is with many other New Testament books because the author never identified himself.

As we read there: Witmer] We've explored the authorship of the book of Hebrews and seen that the author's identity remains unknown. Profile For the sake of time, we'll point out just two rather obvious features of the author's life. Keener] Even though the author of Hebrews should be considered an intellectual, he was not a cold, detached academic. Listen to the way he empathized with his audience in Hebrews In a similar way, in Eckhard Schnabel] So far in our discussion of the background of the book of Hebrews we've focused on the book's authorship.

Original Audience The book of Hebrews doesn't clearly identify its audience by name, city or region. Jewish First, there's reason to think that at least a good portion of the original audience was Jewish. Immature Third, the original audience of Hebrews was immature. This suggestion is confirmed by Hebrews Persecuted Fourth, the original audience of Hebrews was persecuted.

Listen to this exhortation: Johnson] Near Apostasy Fifth, as the audience of Hebrews faced persecution, at least some of them were near apostasy. Date Although the exact date for Hebrews remains uncertain, the earliest and latest dates for this book can be established rather firmly. In this verse the author wrote: But for this study, we'll describe the original purpose of Hebrews in this way: Fredrick Long] Every epistle or letter in the New Testament contains exhortations to its audience. Intensity of Exhortations To look further at what we mean by the intensity of the author's exhortations, we'll look at two issues: Frequency The frequency of the author's exhortations helps us understand the urgency of his message.

Rhetorical Style The book of Hebrews has often been characterized as highly rhetorical.

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The grace of God through the power of the Holy Spirit is able to do that which the old covenant law through self-effort of the believer is not able to do — free the believer from the controlling power of his sinful disposition. So, the problem was not with the law, but with fallen human nature. Those who walk according to the power of the Holy Spirit will have the holy life required by the law fulfilled in them.

The key is depending upon or relying upon the power of the Holy Spirit. The actual strengthening depends upon the appropriation of the power of the Spirit by the believer by faith. The Spirit comes to reside in each believer at regeneration, but must be relied upon continually to furnish power for Christian living. The transformation of the believer into the image of Christ is not an instantaneous, once-for-all event. It is a gradual, step-by-step process throughout the life of the believer. Paul says in 2 Corinth 3: The process is emphasized again in Col 3: During this life it is impossible to reach the perfection to which the believer shall attain when he sees Christ in heaven 1 John 3: Paul himself tells us in Phil 3: Although perfection is impossible during this life, steady progress toward that final goal is to be made.

But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. Furthermore, his sinful, fleshly mind does not subject itself to the law of God — it neither wants to do so, nor is not able to do so. Verses — A test of saving faith is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The person who demonstrates no desire for the things of God and does not avoid sin i. However, if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of divinely-imparted righteousness. To live according to the flesh is to be ruled and controlled by that evil complex.

Those who live that way are spiritually dead and are not true Christians Eph 2: By the power of the Holy Spirit, Christians are able to successfully resist and destroy sin in their lives. It was confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit that gave hope to the frustration Paul experienced in Rom 7: The Christian who neglects the study of Scripture, Prayer, Fellowship, and who is careless about his obedience to God, will invariably have doubts about his salvation, because he is somewhat indifferent to God and the things of God.

Satan is always ready to take advantage of such circumstances and plant seeds of uncertainty. Those who see victory over sin in their lives, who see their sinful desires and practices diminishing, will have the incredible confidence that they indeed are sons of God. It is through our faithful obedience to Christ that we experience the gracious working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This Aramaic term connotes relational intimacy, tenderness, dependence, and a complete lack of fear or anxiety.

Believers will one day enter into the eternal joy of their Master Matt In His great high priestly prayer, Jesus spoke to His Father of the incredible and staggering truth that everyone who believes in Him will be with Him and will share His full glory John It is not that believers will become gods, as some cults teach, but that we will receive, by our joint-inheritance with Christ, all the blessings and grandeur that God has. Because we suffer with Him, we know that we will ultimately be glorified with Him.

The more a believer suffers in this life for the sake of his Lord, the greater will be his capacity for glory in heaven cf. Our suffering is short, whereas our glory is forever; our suffering is trivial, whereas our glory is limitless. The entire created order outside of humanity is standing on tiptoes , as it were, as it waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. It was common in Jewish literature to personify nature cf.

At the fall, God executed a curse on the entire created order; yet in spite of this curse, much of the beauty, grandeur, and benefits of the natural world still remains. Although everything is deteriorating law of entropy , it still possesses an incredible level of majesty and beauty. At that point when all believers are liberated from sin and humanness, all creation will be set free. We live in a sighing, sobbing, suffering world. We groan within ourselves over the dreadful curse of sin that is still manifested by our remaining humanness.

Paul grieved over the remnants of his humanness that clung to him like a rotten garment that could not be cast off. As believers, we therefore find ourselves waiting eagerly in anticipation of our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. We did not receive all the benefits of our salvation at the moment of conversion. From the outset we have looked forward to full and final deliverance from sin, suffering, disease, and death.

The point is that, even after salvation, we are characterized by spiritual weakness. The Holy Spirit supplies us with all we need to be faithful, effective, and protected children of God. If the Father knows the hearts of men, how much more does He know the mind of the Spirit. It is a great mystery to our finite minds. For Christians, this verse contains one of the greatest promises in Scripture.

Paul is saying that the Lord takes all that He allows to happen to His children, even the worst things every sinful failure, every trial, every evil, every painful experience, every lack of faith , and turns those things ultimately into blessings! Sometimes when we are suffering heartbreak, tragedy, disappointment, frustration, and bereavement, we wonder what good can possibly come out of it.

In short, whatever God permits to come into our lives is designed to conform us to the image of His Son. When we see this, it takes the question mark out of our prayers. In the physical world , the right combination of otherwise harmful chemicals can produce substances that are extremely beneficial — for example, ordinary table salt is composed of two poisons: In the spiritual realm , God can take the worst of all experiences and combine them together to produce indescribable blessing.

Joseph in Gen As evil as it is, sin can bring us good by stripping us of our pride and self-assurance. Note the emphatic words in these two verses. Why is the foregoing Rom 8: Because God has predestined us to become conformed to the image of His Son! Throughout history there have been factions in the church that have debated the possibility of a believer losing his salvation.

It is important that believers know that Scripture is unambiguous in teaching that every person who is genuinely saved is eternally saved. No believer is in danger of losing the spiritual life God has given to him. Furthermore, not one believer will be missing! If God is for us, who is against us?

God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. With all the apostle has said previously in this chapter about the security of the believer , it would seem there was nothing left to add. Paul realizes that many fearful believers will still have doubts about their security and false teachers would be ready to exploit those doubts. So this closing passage is a crescendo of questions and answers regarding issues that some objectors might still raise. If omnipotence is working on our behalf, how can any lesser power defeat us?

Would God do less for believers after they have already been saved? Would He do less for us as His children than He did when we were His enemies? If God has already given us the greatest gift, is there any lesser gift that He would withhold? After all He went through to redeem us… would He still at some point turn His back on us? That is why it is called Amazing Love! He has declared us eternally guiltless and no longer under condemnation because of the cross of Christ!

We might wonder if our Savior Himself would take back our salvation? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? In verse 35, Paul lists a representative few of the countless circumstances that faithful believers may encounter while they still live in the world.

But nothing has ever been able to separate us from the love Christ has for us. As the letter states, Paul is the author see 1: With almost no exception, from the early church this epistle has been credited to Paul. A few examples must suffice: Understandably, Paul makes fewer references to himself and to his readers in Romans than in 1 and 2 Corinthians and Galatians, since he had not founded the Roman church and guided its struggles to maturity as he had the others.

The only question concerning the authorship revolves around chapter The mention by name of 26 people in a church Paul had never visited and particularly Priscilla and Aquila, who were most recently associated with Ephesus, Acts It would be natural, however, for Paul to mention to a church to which he was a stranger his acquaintance with mutual friends. Paul did not establish the church in Rome, but as the apostle to the Gentiles, he had longed for many years to visit the believers in Rome Being anxious to minister in Rome, he wrote Romans to prepare the way for his visit It was written from Corinth, while completing the collection for the poor in Palestine.

From there he went to Jerusalem to deliver the money, intending to continue on to Rome and Spain Paul did eventually get to Rome, but as a prisoner. It appears that Phoebe, who belonged to the church at Cenchrea near Corinth Romans was written in about A. This means he had already been at Corinth and since he had not yet been at Corinth when he wrote to that church cf. Unlike some of his other epistles, Romans was not written to address specific problems.

Rather, three clear purposes unfold for the writing of Romans. Paul wanted to inform them of his plans and to have them anticipate and pray for their fulfillment A second purpose was to present a complete and detailed statement of the gospel message God had called him to proclaim. A third purpose is related to the questions that naturally arose among the Jewish and the Gentile Christians at Rome like what does the gospel do to the Law and such Old Testament rites like circumcision?

And what about the Jew? Has God set the Jew aside? Had He forgotten His promises to the Jews? In this the apostle shows how God saves the sinner. In these verses, the great themes of the epistle are gathered together— the gospel, the power of God, salvation, everyone, who believes, righteousness from God, Jew and Gentile. Ryrie has an excellent summary of the theme and contents:. The theme of the epistle is the righteousness of God 1: A number of basic Christian doctrines are discussed: Picking out key chapters in Romans is indeed difficult for in this great treatise on doctrine and its application to life, one wants to say every chapter is key.

But certainly two sections of the book do stand out. Paul presents Jesus Christ as the Second Adam whose righteousness and substitutionary death have provided justification for all who place their faith in Him. Apart from the introduction 1: That Paul is the author of this epistle is supported by both external and internal evidence.

From the first century onward A. The internal evidence is obvious. The writer calls himself Paul in several places cf. Being written to the church at Corinth, this epistle came to be known as Pros Corinthious A , which in effect means First Corinthians.

The A or alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, was undoubtedly a latter addition to distinguish it from Second Corinthians which shortly followed this epistle. Paul first preached the gospel in Corinth while on his second missionary journey, about A. While there he lived and worked with Aquila and Priscilla who were of the same trade, tent-makers Acts As was his custom, Paul first preached in the synagogue but was eventually forced out by Jewish opposition.

However, he simply moved next door to the house of Titius Justus where he continued his ministry Acts Though accused by the Jews before the Roman governor Gallio a charge that was dismissed Paul remained 18 months in Corinth Acts This letter was written about A. From his reference that he stayed at Ephesus until Pentecost To grasp the theme and purpose, a little background is necessary. Corinth was a large metropolis approximately ,; about two-thirds of whom were slaves located on a narrow isthmus between the Aegean Sea and the Adriatic Sea that connected the Peloponnesus with Northern Greece.

As a city, it had a reputation for gross materialism and deep sinfulness. The city was filled with shrines and temples with the most prominent being the temple of Aphrodite that sat on top of an foot promontory called the Acrocorinthus. In the earliest Greek literature it was linked with wealth Homer Iliad 2. The playwright Philetaerus Athenaeus From the account in Acts it would appear as if Paul had little fruit among the Jews and that nearly all of his converts were Gentiles. Most of these came from the humbler ranks, although there appear to have been some of the nobler class also 1: Marked social and economic differences existed among them 7: Yet as Greeks they prided themselves on their intellectualism, although in their case it had degenerated into a crude and shallow type 1: One can certainly see, then, how the immoral and religious conditions of Corinth had negatively impacted the life of the church spiritually and morally.

This new life in Christ calls for a new way of living through the Holy Spirit 3: Thus, 1 Corinthians was written as a pastoral corrective to the news he had received to the many problems and disorders in the church there. The problems included divisions in the church 1: Undoubtedly, because of their religious and immoral background, aberrant beliefs and practices of an extraordinary variety characterized this church. Chapter 13 , the great chapter on agape love, undoubtedly stands out as the pinnacle chapter of this book.

Certainly, there has never been a greater explanation of love written. The centrality of Christ as the essence, source, and means of the Christian life is stated in 1: Again as indicated in the opening salutation, Paul is the author of this letter. Both external and internal evidence is very strong in support of Pauline authorship. Some critics have claimed that chapters 10—13 were not a part of this letter in its original form because of a sudden change of tone.

A popular theory claims that chaps. Further, there is no evidence for so partitioning 2 Corinthians. To distinguish this letter from the First Epistle to the Corinthians, this letter received the title, Pros Corinthians B. The B represents the Greek letter beta , the second letter of the Greek alphabet.

This was then followed by 3 the second letter to Corinth 1 Cor. It should be pointed out that the two lost letters were lost only because they were not intended by God to be part of the biblical canon. Because of the riot caused by silversmiths Acts In the process, he made a preliminary stop at Troas hoping to rendezvous with Titus 2 Cor. There he met Titus, who brought good news about the general well-being of the Corinthian church but bad news about a group who were standing in opposition to Paul and his apostleship. From Macedonia Paul wrote a fourth letter, 2 Corinthians.

Paul then made his third visit to Corinth during the winter of A. In it he bared his heart and declared his steadfast love for the Corinthians even though some had been extremely critical and very fickle in their affection for him. The major theme is summoned by James K. Lowery in the Bible Knowledge Commentary. What concerned Paul preeminently was the presence of false teachers, claiming to be apostles, who had entered the church.

They promoted their own ideas and at the same time sought to discredit both the person and message of the apostle. Second Corinthians was written to defend the authenticity of both his apostleship and his message. As we face the various dilemmas of life, we must all learn to find our comfort in God who is the God of all comfort. Contained therein are the principles for giving 8: All we need for life is found in Him.

In this epistle, we see Him as our comfort 1: Further, his authorship is virtually unchallenged. The date when Paul penned this letter depends on the destination of the letter. Ryrie summarizes this and writes:. The former referred to north-central Asia Minor, north of the cities of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe; the latter referred to the Roman province organized in 25 B. If the letter was written to Christians in North Galatia, the churches were founded on the second missionary journey and the epistle was written on the third missionary journey, either early from Ephesus about A.

If the letter was written to Christians in South Galatia, the churches were founded on the first missionary journey, the letter was written after the end of the journey probably from Antioch, ca. In favor of this dating is the fact that Paul does not mention the decision of the Jerusalem council that bore directly on his Galatian argument concerning the Judaizers, indicating that the council had not yet taken place. They taught, among other things, that a number of the ceremonial practices of the Old Testament were still binding on the church.

Thus, the apostle writes to refute their false gospel of works and demonstrates the superiority of justification by faith and sanctification by the Holy Spirit versus by the works of the Law. In the first two chapters Paul vindicated his apostleship and message. In these two chapters Paul demonstrated convincingly that his apostleship and his message came by revelation from the risen Christ.

Then, in chapters 3 and 4 he contended for the true doctrine of grace, the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Some, however, would immediately claim such a doctrine leads to license, so the apostle demonstrates that Christian liberty does not mean license. Thus, chapters 5 and 6 show that Christians must learn to live by the power of the Spirit and that the Spirit controlled walk will manifest not the works of the flesh but rather the fruit of the Spirit.

In this sense, chapter 5 is a key chapter. Through His death by which believers have died to the Law and through the Christ exchanged life 2: The power of the cross provides deliverance from the curse of the law, from the power of sin, and from self 1: The Experience of the Galatians: Ephesians along with Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon are sometimes referred to as the prison epistles because they were each written while Paul was confined or in chains.

Each of these letters contain references to this situation Eph. Whether he was imprisoned once or twice in Rome is debated, though two imprisonments seem to fit the facts better. During the first, Paul was kept in or near the barracks of the Praetorian Guard or in rental quarters at his own expense for two years Acts He anticipated being released Philem.

These, then, are the first Roman imprisonment letters, whereas 2 Timothy is the second Roman imprisonment letter. The fact these great epistles were written while Paul was imprisoned, either in Roman barracks or chained daily to a Roman soldier in his own rented house Acts It shows how we may be chained and hindered, but that the Word of God is not imprisoned see also 2 Tim. As clearly stated in the opening verse of each of the prison epistles, Paul is declared to be the author.

That the apostle is the author of Ephesians is strongly supported by both internal and external evidence. Twice, the writer calls himself Paul 1: As to external evidence, several church fathers Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp, Clement of Alexander, and others either quote from or use language closely resembling that found in Ephesians. In recent years, however, critics have turned to internal grounds to challenge this unanimous ancient tradition.

There is some debate as to the title and destination of this epistle. Several things indicate that Ephesians was a circular letter, a doctrinal treatise in the form of a letter, to the churches in Asia Minor.

Epistle to the Colossians

Some good Greek mss. There is an absence of controversy in this epistle, and it does not deal with problems of particular churches. Since Paul had worked at Ephesus for about three years and since he normally mentioned many friends in the churches to whom he wrote, the absence of personal names in this letter strongly supports the idea of its encyclical character.

It was likely sent first to Ephesus by Tychicus Eph. As previously mentioned, the apostle was a prisoner when he wrote this epistle Eph. Though scholars differ on whether Paul wrote Ephesians while he was imprisoned at Caesarea Acts As also mentioned, it is believed that Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon were also written during the same time period cf. After he was released he wrote 1 Timothy and Titus, was arrested again, wrote 2 Timothy, and was martyred in Rome.

No specific purpose is stated and no particular problem or heresy is addressed. Out of this, two great purposes emerge in the epistle. The first is to set forth something of the wealth of blessings that believers have in Christ, and how, through them, the eternal purposes of God are summed up in the person of Christ, the things in heaven and on earth 1: While not written to be remedial or to correct any specific errors, Paul designed this epistle as a prevention against those problems that so often occur because of a lack of maturity or a failure in grasping and applying what believers have in Christ.

While we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ 1: These are common Pauline expressions, but they appear in this epistle more than in any other. By this, we see much of what believers have through their position in the Savior. They are in Christ 1: Both the internal and external evidence again points to Paul as the author. Internally the letter reveals the stamp of genuineness. The many personal references of the author fit what we know of Paul from other NT books. As with Ephesians, this epistle was written while Paul was imprisoned. His reference to the Praetorian guard Phil.

Though death was possible, Paul also seemed confident of his release. This suggests Philippians was written after Ephesians later in A. Philippians guards against the failure to practice Christ-provided unity and against the failure of believers to rejoice in their blessings and position in Christ Phil. Paul had several obvious purposes in writing this letter to the Philippians: Chapter 2 is certainly a key chapter in the way it sets forth Christ as our example in putting others before ourselves by having the mind of Christ.

In the process of this, Paul then launches into a grand revelation regarding the humility and exaltation of Christ in 2: No passage is clearer and more declarative regarding the nature, fact, and purpose of the incarnation of Christ as is found in this book, the great kenosis passage 2: Because of the greetings in 1: But the authorship of this epistle has been doubted by some on the grounds of the vocabulary and the nature of the heresy refuted in this epistle.

That Colossians is a genuine letter of Paul is not usually disputed. In the early church, all who speak on the subject of authorship ascribe it to Paul. In the 19th century, however, some thought that the heresy refuted in ch. But a careful analysis of ch. Also, the seeds of what later became the full-blown Gnosticism of the second century were present in the first century and already making inroads into the churches.

Consequently, it is not necessary to date Colossians in the second century at a time too late for Paul to have written the letter. Paul wrote all four prison epistles during his first Roman imprisonment. This means he wrote it in A. The theme is the fruitful and effective power of the gospel message which heralds the supremacy, headship, and the utter sufficiency of Christ to the church which is His body.

It is a cosmic book, presenting the cosmic Christ: Chapters 2 is key in that it demonstrates why and how the believer is complete in Christ and needs nothing added to the saving person and work of Christ. Chapter 3 then builds on this as root to fruit or cause and effect. Because believers are complete in Christ 2: As declared in 1: Those things that characterize Paul are evident throughout cf.

The first epistle was written during the earlier part of that period just after Timothy had returned from Thessalonica with news of the progress of the church. The second letter was dispatched just a few weeks or at the most a few months later. Any date assigned will have to be approximate, though probably A. The purpose and burden of the apostle in writing to the Thessalonians can be summarized as follows: Two key words and concepts stand out in this short epistle: The coming of the Lord should not only comfort our hearts, but stir us to godly living.

Chapters 4 and 5 undoubtedly stand out as key chapters because of their teaching on both the coming of the Lord for the church, the rapture 4: When He comes, He will deliver us from wrath undoubtedly a reference to the Tribulation 1: As with 1 Thessalonians, this letter was also written by Paul cf. There is no evidence among the writings of the early church fathers that his authorship was ever doubted. In fact several fathers mentioned Paul as the author of this epistle in their writings. It was not until the 19th century that certain questions were raised about the authorship of this epistle.

Regardless, external and internal evidence support Paul as the author. Objections are based on internal factors rather than on the adequacy of the statements of the church fathers. However, such arguments have not convinced current scholars. Because the historical circumstances are very similar to those of 1 Thessalonians, most believe it was written not long after the first letter—perhaps about six months.

While conditions in the church were similar, the persecution seems to have grown 1: Second Thessalonians was evidently prompted by three main developments that Paul heard about: This belief was still being used as a basis for shirking their vocational responsibilities. So the apostle wrote to deal with the condition of idleness or disorderliness which had increased 3: To meet the needs that occasioned this epistle, Paul wrote this epistle to comfort and correct.

In doing so he pursued three broad purposes. In fact, in this epistle, 18 out of 47 verses 38 percent deal with this subject. In 1 Thessalonians, the focus was on Christ coming for His Church 4: Chapter 2 is key in that it corrects a serious error that had crept into the Thessalonian church which taught that the day of the Lord had already come.

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A major theme of this book, especially chapters , is the return of Christ in judgment when He will put down all rebellion and bring retribution. Second Thessalonians anticipates Christ, the coming Judge. Apart from the salutation and benediction, the book easily divides up into five sections:. Paul addressed them to Timothy and Titus to guide them in matters concerning the pastoral care of the church, which is the household of God cf. These epistles deal with church polity , policies , and practice , all of which are concerns vital to the pastoral health of the church.

However, the term pastoral is inaccurate in the sense that Timothy and Titus were not pastors in the present-day sense of the term.

Original Audience

So what were they? First, they were official representatives of the apostle Paul whom he dispatched to various churches like Ephesus and Crete. Once there, they functioned in an official capacity to deal with special situations and meet special needs. During the interim from the time of the apostles to the more complete transition to elders and deacons, these men were sent by Paul as his apostolic representatives to repel and deal with certain conditions and people who were threatening to hurt the work and ministries of these churches. Second, Timothy and Titus undoubtedly possessed the gifts needed for pastoral ministry and while there was an element of pastoral care in what they did, they were not elders or pastors who are given by the Lord to various churches for more long-term ministries 1 Pet.

Rather, as official delegates of Paul, they were sent to assist churches in establishing their ministries pastorally speaking cf. All in all, in their content, these books are pastoral in nature and give directions for the care, conduct, order, ministry, and administration of churches or assemblies of believers. This is true whether they deal with personal matters or the corporate ministry of the church. In summary, then, these books were designed by God to aid us in our pastoral responsibilities and in organic development and guidance for the life of local churches.

In this regard there is an important observation that might be made. What is so significant about that? Since these books deal with church order, ministry, and organization, why were they not first? If you or I were doing this especially today we would probably first try to get the administrative organization in order, the structure, and then worry about the doctrine. So here are some suggestions to think about:. Of course, organization and order is important. The church is a spiritual body, an organism, and each believer is a member with special functions and tasks to carry out, but the primary need so essential to functioning as God has designed the church is right theology teaching and understanding of the Word, along with its personal application for Christ-like living.

This provides us with the spiritual and moral foundation on which we base our methods, strategy, and administration. So, while our methods will often vary, they must never contradict the moral or spiritual principles of the Word of God. Giving, for instance, is a corporate and individual responsibility, but our giving and the collection of money must be so done that it does not violate certain biblical principles such as giving voluntarily rather than by methods that employ coercion or manipulation. Organization, or better, the organic and unified growth of a church, must be based on right teaching, which is based on rightly handling the Word, i.

When we try to run an organization based on tradition or background, we end up with an organization that is not only not biblical, but which will lack the spiritual fervor and capacity to function as God intends. These books, then, deal with matters of church order or ecclesiology not hitherto addressed, but before God gave the church directions for church organization or order as specific as those we find in the pastorals He gave us Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.

Is this because organization is unimportant? It is because organization and administration are not primary. Closely related to this is another concept. Some areas of ecclesiology are more difficult to determine than others. As a result, students of the Word have debated certain issues for years like the exact form of government or how we select and appoint men to leadership.

Is this selection to be carried out by the board of elders, by the congregation, or by both working together? Since there is such a divergence of opinion does this mean we should give up on matters of church government? We should carefully study these issues and seek biblical answers so we might come to conclusions based on our study of the facts of Scripture. But the point is simply this: Because of their close relationship in thought and focus, the attestation and authorship of all three pastoral epistles will be dealt with here.

It has also been pointed out that because all three are so closely connected in thought and style that they usually are either all accepted or all rejected as being written by Paul.