Monday, January 22, 2018

The Apostle Paul Teachings, His Main Themes

By Kathleen Perry


Apostles of Jesus remained behind to amplify his message. Something stands out in the messages of each follower. The apostle Paul teachings focus on particular themes that can be traced in almost all his epistles. Here are some of these themes that stand out whenever one looks at the works of Christ.

Christ as Lord is a central theme whenever you read his epistles. Christ is not just regarded as the source of authority but as a king who is the source and reason for all authority. Chapter 16 and verse 22 of First Corinthians states that those who fail to recognize the authority of Christ as Christians must be accursed. It means that there is no claim of Christianity if it is not accompanied by recognition of Christ as the authority.

Paul taught the church to believe in resurrection. It must be noted that his background was a Pharisee. This explains his remarkable understanding and interpretation of the theme of resurrection. In reference to the work of Christ during the resurrection of Lazarus, he proclaims that even people in the grave hear the voice of Christ and respond. As such, all should respond in the same manner.

Justification is at the center of the themes handled by the works of Paul. A look at his works shows a repetition of justification and justified on numerous occasion. In his words, it is Christ who grants the world legitimacy, without which humanity is useless. This message is borrowed from chapter 1 of the Gospel of John where those who have accepted Christ are given the right to be called his children.

There is a lot of teaching about Grace in his works. The apostle is known for his salutation which captures the word Grace on numerous occasions. He also uses the same word during benediction. Ephesians 2,8 is a perfect example that salvation is a matter of grace which then comes with faith. In Romans chapter 3 and verse 24, he combines grace and justification to pass another strong message.

Faith also features prominently when one reads through the works of Paul. While the word and idea populate all his works, Romans 1, 17 is unique. The word is mentioned three times, which is a record. Scholars indicate that Hebrew 11 is the best chapter when one wants to pass the message about faith. His reflections on faith are heavily borrowed from the Old Testament, a book he studied deeply as a Pharisee.

A common characteristic of the message of Paul is its clarity. He is deep about the issues affecting the people he is writing to. Having traveled widely, he gave sufficient time to the people who hosted him along the way. His focus was to ensure that they understood the message deeply. His message was so powerful that it caused him to be kicked out of some cities. Because of concern for Christianity wherever he went, his message resonated intensely.

Paul did not deviate in any way from what Christ taught. It is his address of particular themes that made him standout and a source of great wisdom despite starting as Saul the persecutor. He was an incredibly travelled preacher who ended up in the hands of Emperor Nero in Rome Italy. He was martyred by beheading, alongside Peter who was crucified, albeit in a different position from Christ according to history books.




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