Paul’s Gospel

[WordSword]

In my personal assumption the phrase “Paul’s Gospel” is generally the same declaration of the Gospel of Christ that any of the other Apostles would bring forth, which was “entrusted” to each (1Tim 1:11); and is what is intended by his use of the phrase “my gospel” (Rom 2:16; 16:25; 2Ti 2:8). But there is that which Scripture makes clear, which is to be given humble regard that Christ chose only Paul to introduce the doctrine of His Body—the Church, and all the growth truths deriving from this relationship (Eph 5:32; Col 1:18); which wasn’t even mentioned in the prior dispensation (excluding types, e.g. Adam and Eve representing Christ and His Church). 

The sole mention regarding His Church before Paul, was by the Lord Jesus when speaking to His disciples about Peter’s admission of faith in Him. Jesus was alluding to the fact that faith in Christ was the Rock from which He would build His Church, seen in Matthew 16:16-18. Of all the “mysteries” of Scripture which reveal God and His operations, the union of man unto Himself through His Son is doubtless the most important of all knowledge, and designs the intention of the entirety of Scripture!
NC

 

 

Paul’s Gospel

It is essential to keep in mind that Paul preached and taught and ever insisted upon resurrection. He himself was converted to the risen and glorified Lord Jesus (all the Apostles saw Him after His resurrection but before glorification, i.e. His return to the Father (Jhn 7:39; 20:17). The “light” - Act 9:3 – which Paul saw was Christ glorified—NC). The very glimpse he caught of Jesus of Nazareth was the risen Man in glory. It is only thus he knew Him, as he tells us in 2Corinthians 5:16, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more.”

Paul preached a resurrection gospel. He labored to present every man perfect (i.e. complete - Col 1:28—NC) in the risen glorified Lord Jesus Christ. He did not confine himself to the mere question of forgiveness of sin and salvation from hell—blessed, beyond all price, as are these fruits of the atoning death of the Savior—he aimed at the glorious end of planting the believer in Christ, and of keeping him there. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” “Ye are complete in Him”—“Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him”—“Quickened together with Him” (Col 2).

Such was Paul’s preaching and teaching. This was his gospel. This is true Christianity, in contrast with all the forms of human righteousness and fleshly pietism under the sun. Life in the ascended Lord Jesus was Paul’s theme. It was not merely forgiveness and salvation by Christ, but union with Him (and growth in His fellowship—NC). Paul’s gospel planted the believer at once in the risen and glorified Lord Jesus, in the very presence of the Father (positionally now - Eph 2:6, literally later—NC). This is “the glorious gospel of the blessed God, “which was committed” to Paul’s “trust” (1Ti 1:11).

If the resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus is the Source of our life, the Savior who lived and died down here in this world is our pattern. The features of our Christian life are those selfsame features that shone in Him as a Man here below. Through death, He has made His Life to be our Life. He has linked us with Himself on high by a bond that can never be severed, and now we are privileged to go back and study the Gospels in order to learn of Him, to see how He walked, that we may, through the grace and enablement of the indwelling Spirit of Christ (“Spirit of God”; “Holy Ghost”; “Spirit of the Father”—NC), “walk even as He walked” (1Jo 2:6).

It is a very blessed though a very solemn truth, that there is nothing of value, in God’s account, save the outflow of the Life of the Lord Jesus from His members here (Church—NC). All that is not the direct fruit of that Life is utterly valueless to the Father. The activities of the old man are not merely worthless but sinful (Tit 1:15—NC). We are recognized, for example, as parents and children, masters and servants, and instructed as to our deportment in these blessed relationships; but all this is on the new ground of risen Life in Christ (Col 3; Eph 5 and 6). The old man is not recognized at all (e.g. Act 17:30—NC). It is viewed crucified (Rom 6:6), dead and buried (concerning its “dominion” and “condemnation” but not its “indwelling” – Rom 6:14; 7:17, 20; 8:1—NC); and we are called upon to reckon it so (reckoning doesn’t make it so but shows it’s so—NC), and to “mortify our members which are on the earth” (Col 3:5)—to live a life of manifesting the Life of the Lord Jesus (2Cor 4:11). This is practical Christianity. May we understand it better!

May we, at last, remember that nothing is of the smallest value in the Father’s estimation save the life of His Son manifested in the believer, from day to day, by the enablement of the Holy Spirit. The feeblest expression of this Life is sweet incense to the Father. The mightiest efforts of mere religious flesh (man-centered—NC)—the costliest sacrifices—the most imposing ordinances and ceremonies, are but “dead works,” in the sight of the Father. Religiousness is one thing; Christianity is quite another.

—Charles Andrew Coats (1862-1945)

 

 

MJS devotional excerpt for June 10

““We are the objects of the continual care and discipline of our heavenly Father. If we walk after the flesh, instead of after the Spirit, this may call for His loving rebuke and chastening (child training); but that in no way interferes with the precious truth of our continual acceptance and position in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, by whose one offering we have been perfected forever.

“Through grace, we are not in the flesh, but in Christ, yet the flesh is in us; but our part is to reckon it as having been, before God and to faith, judicially put to death in Christ crucified, thus setting us free to be so constantly occupied with the triumphant Son of God, as to find all our resources, all our strength, all our springs, in Him.” - Hugh Henry Snell (1817-1892)
http://www.abideabove.com/hungry-heart/day/2022/06/11/
 

[branchesofHim]

19 hours ago, WordSword said:

Of all the “mysteries” of Scripture which reveal God and His operations, the union of man unto Himself through His Son is doubtless the most important of all knowledge, and designs the intention of the entirety of Scripture!

Agreed that the unrestricted union of man with God is purpose of all scripture. That is what was lost in Eden and is restored through Christ Jesus! Shalom

Colossians 1:[12] Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
[13] Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
[14] In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
[15] Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
[16] For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
[17] And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, branchesofHim said:

Agreed that the unrestricted union of man with God is purpose of all scripture. That is what was lost in Eden and is restored through Christ Jesus! Shalom

Hi and thanks for your reply. I like your comment, and it's my understanding that all that transpires in this life, from Adam until this life is over, is all part of God's plan and how He desires it to go, otherwise He would have done it another way. Being omniscient He knew how it was going to be with Adam and Eve and wanted to teach us in that way. His act of allowing everything to occur the way they do is His way of teaching us.

 

For example, God desire more than to just be with us, He desired to be in us.

[JohnD]

The Tanakh / Old Testament

Deuteronomy 6:5 (AV)
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Luke 10:27 (AV)
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

Matthew 22:40 (AV)
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Brit Chadashah  / New Testament

Jeremiah 31:31–34 (AV)
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Ephesians 2:8–21 (AV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:

1 Corinthians 3:16 (AV)
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

 

 

[Guest]

23 hours ago, JohnD said:

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Thanks for the reply! God bless and God be blessed!!

Edited June 13, 2022 by WordSword

[AdHoc]

On 6/10/2022 at 5:51 PM, WordSword said:

In my personal assumption the phrase “Paul’s Gospel” is generally the same declaration of the Gospel of Christ that any of the other Apostles would bring forth, which was “entrusted” to each (1Tim 1:11); and is what is intended by his use of the phrase “my gospel” (Rom 2:16; 16:25; 2Ti 2:8). But there is that which Scripture makes clear, which is to be given humble regard that Christ chose only Paul to introduce the doctrine of His Body—the Church, and all the growth truths deriving from this relationship (Eph 5:32; Col 1:18); which wasn’t even mentioned in the prior dispensation (excluding types, e.g. Adam and Eve representing Christ and His Church). 

The sole mention regarding His Church before Paul, was by the Lord Jesus when speaking to His disciples about Peter’s admission of faith in Him. Jesus was alluding to the fact that faith in Christ was the Rock from which He would build His Church, seen in Matthew 16:16-18. Of all the “mysteries” of Scripture which reveal God and His operations, the union of man unto Himself through His Son is doubtless the most important of all knowledge, and designs the intention of the entirety of Scripture!
NC

 

 

Paul’s Gospel

It is essential to keep in mind that Paul preached and taught and ever insisted upon resurrection. He himself was converted to the risen and glorified Lord Jesus (all the Apostles saw Him after His resurrection but before glorification, i.e. His return to the Father (Jhn 7:39; 20:17). The “light” - Act 9:3 – which Paul saw was Christ glorified—NC). The very glimpse he caught of Jesus of Nazareth was the risen Man in glory. It is only thus he knew Him, as he tells us in 2Corinthians 5:16, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more.”

Paul preached a resurrection gospel. He labored to present every man perfect (i.e. complete - Col 1:28—NC) in the risen glorified Lord Jesus Christ. He did not confine himself to the mere question of forgiveness of sin and salvation from hell—blessed, beyond all price, as are these fruits of the atoning death of the Savior—he aimed at the glorious end of planting the believer in Christ, and of keeping him there. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” “Ye are complete in Him”—“Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him”—“Quickened together with Him” (Col 2).

Such was Paul’s preaching and teaching. This was his gospel. This is true Christianity, in contrast with all the forms of human righteousness and fleshly pietism under the sun. Life in the ascended Lord Jesus was Paul’s theme. It was not merely forgiveness and salvation by Christ, but union with Him (and growth in His fellowship—NC). Paul’s gospel planted the believer at once in the risen and glorified Lord Jesus, in the very presence of the Father (positionally now - Eph 2:6, literally later—NC). This is “the glorious gospel of the blessed God, “which was committed” to Paul’s “trust” (1Ti 1:11).

If the resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus is the Source of our life, the Savior who lived and died down here in this world is our pattern. The features of our Christian life are those selfsame features that shone in Him as a Man here below. Through death, He has made His Life to be our Life. He has linked us with Himself on high by a bond that can never be severed, and now we are privileged to go back and study the Gospels in order to learn of Him, to see how He walked, that we may, through the grace and enablement of the indwelling Spirit of Christ (“Spirit of God”; “Holy Ghost”; “Spirit of the Father”—NC), “walk even as He walked” (1Jo 2:6).

It is a very blessed though a very solemn truth, that there is nothing of value, in God’s account, save the outflow of the Life of the Lord Jesus from His members here (Church—NC). All that is not the direct fruit of that Life is utterly valueless to the Father. The activities of the old man are not merely worthless but sinful (Tit 1:15—NC). We are recognized, for example, as parents and children, masters and servants, and instructed as to our deportment in these blessed relationships; but all this is on the new ground of risen Life in Christ (Col 3; Eph 5 and 6). The old man is not recognized at all (e.g. Act 17:30—NC). It is viewed crucified (Rom 6:6), dead and buried (concerning its “dominion” and “condemnation” but not its “indwelling” – Rom 6:14; 7:17, 20; 8:1—NC); and we are called upon to reckon it so (reckoning doesn’t make it so but shows it’s so—NC), and to “mortify our members which are on the earth” (Col 3:5)—to live a life of manifesting the Life of the Lord Jesus (2Cor 4:11). This is practical Christianity. May we understand it better!

May we, at last, remember that nothing is of the smallest value in the Father’s estimation save the life of His Son manifested in the believer, from day to day, by the enablement of the Holy Spirit. The feeblest expression of this Life is sweet incense to the Father. The mightiest efforts of mere religious flesh (man-centered—NC)—the costliest sacrifices—the most imposing ordinances and ceremonies, are but “dead works,” in the sight of the Father. Religiousness is one thing; Christianity is quite another.

—Charles Andrew Coats (1862-1945)

 

 

MJS devotional excerpt for June 10

““We are the objects of the continual care and discipline of our heavenly Father. If we walk after the flesh, instead of after the Spirit, this may call for His loving rebuke and chastening (child training); but that in no way interferes with the precious truth of our continual acceptance and position in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, by whose one offering we have been perfected forever.

“Through grace, we are not in the flesh, but in Christ, yet the flesh is in us; but our part is to reckon it as having been, before God and to faith, judicially put to death in Christ crucified, thus setting us free to be so constantly occupied with the triumphant Son of God, as to find all our resources, all our strength, all our springs, in Him.” - Hugh Henry Snell (1817-1892)
http://www.abideabove.com/hungry-heart/day/2022/06/11/
 

I cannot agree more with the author - brother Coats. And I am a little perplexed that not more saints have responded. Mr. Coats makes some very blunt statements to a Christianity that is very service and ministry orientated about things outside of the life of Christ.

I am immediately constrained by two glorious points, but would like to point out that Adam in Eden was a perfect specimen of HUMANITY. But he lacked something. The duties given to him were too high for humanity alone.

1. To be in the image and likeness of God a man must partake of the divine nature - the divine life
2. To be a "help meet" for Jesus we, like Eve was for Adam, had to partake of the nature of Christ
3. To subdue and rule this earth when "made a little lower than the angels" needs something more than humanity
4. To "dress and keep the Garden" with the serpent already ensconced there would take more than mere humanity

And so God puts man in front of the Tree of Life and "commands" him to eat. If Adam had obeyed and eaten from the Tree of Life, He would have taken in the divine life and nature of Christ and been equipped to achieve the four things above. Well, we know he didn't and the ensuing mess is there for all to see. But the Bible ends with some men eating freely of the Tree of Life and I judge that John's gospel is the bridge between Eden lost and New Jerusalem gained. And if we read John 20:29-31 we can safely say that all things written that our Lord did, are written so that we can, through faith, come to the LIFE of Christ.

A dog barks because it has dog-Life, or, dog-nature. He can effortlessly bark for an hour and provoke the other dogs in the neighborhood to join in. But a man can bark too, but it is not natural. He does not have the dog-nature and his barking sends no coherent message to other dogs. For men to do the things of God, he does not need rules and laws. He needs God's Life and nature. And this brings me to my first point - John 7:39.

(1) John 7:39 is a decisive verse. It reads within its context of verse 38, He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Notice the word "given". I made it stand out because it does not appear in the original texts. And when removed, it alludes to the Holy Spirit "NOT YET" - an absurdity for the Eternal Holy Spirit. How can we resolve this apparent anomaly? The answer is that it is NOT the Holy Spirit that was not yet, but "the Holy Spirit WHICH THOSE THAT WOULD BELIEVE ON JESUS CHRIST WOULD RECEIVE. The Holy Spirit is 100% God, but is called by various names - like "Comforter" - because He possesses attributes. And the one attribute that the Holy Spirit could not have was the experience of death. God cannot die. But through Jesus Christ being 100% MAN, when He died, He could add the human experience to God. This is not simple, and I will not spend more time on it, but get to the point. Christ is added to us in His COMPLETENESS.

When we are born again of the Spirit, we are made partakers of the divine nature (2nd Pet.1:3-4). God does not sit on High and send bolts of lightening to us to energize and motivate us. He INFUSES the whole Person of Christ INTO US via the Person of the Holy Spirit. And we receive intrinsically EVERYTHING THAT CHRIST HAS ACHIEVED (Jn.14:16-18). The Living Water is not added to us. Christ has accomplished all and then takes up residence IN US. He IN US is the source of everything that God wants from us. Colossians reveals that Christ is complete with the "fullness of the Godhead" and "we are complete in Him" (Col.2:9-10). And Chapter 1:27 says it all; "Christ IN you - the hope of glory"!

Well has brother Coats explained that OUTSIDE of the LIFE of Christ, God recognizes NOTHING. Only that which proceeds from Christ and pours out of you is acceptable to God. The rest is rebellion.

(2) My second point is that when our Lord Jesus introduced the Church in Matthew 16, He only mentioned two things regarding it. One was that the Church would wield the keys of the coming Kingdom for its members. That is a another matter for another posting. the other point that our Lord Jesus connected with His Church was "the Gates of Hades". It is not "hell" that stands opposed to the Church - as many preachers teach. It is HUMAN DEATH. At death, a man is torn apart and while his SOUL languishes in Hades, it cannot be reconciled with His BODY AND HIS BODY IS THE MEMBER OF CHRIST. Christ's BODY - the Church is made of our BODIES (1st Cor.6:15). No wonder Paul connected the gospel with resurrection. And no wonder brother Coates did the same. Without the pillar of resurrection the whole House of God, the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ collapse and disappear.

1. We vitally need the the saving work of Christ, for without it God cannot release men from their sins.
2. We vitally need the LIFE of Christ, for all God's plans and purposes proceed from it
3. We vitally need resurrection, for without it God cannot have a people with which to achieve His goals

Well has brother Coates reported these crucial pints.

[branchesofHim]

On 6/11/2022 at 7:03 AM, WordSword said:

God desire more than to just be with us, He desired to be in us.

Indeed. Shalom

Colossians 1:[26] Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
[27] To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

[Guest]

13 hours ago, AdHoc said:

 

1. To be in the image and likeness of God a man must partake of the divine nature - the divine life

Yes, and we partake of Christ's nature (2Pe 1:4) by what it provides, and it's important to note that we receive not of the nature itself, which is inherent only to the Trinity. 

J Gill: "Not essentially, or of the essence of God, so as to be deified, this is impossible, for the nature, perfections, and glory of God, are incommunicable to creatures."

https://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary/john-gill/2-peter/1

[AdHoc]

6 minutes ago, WordSword said:

Yes, and we partake of Christ's nature (2Pe 1:4) by what it provides, and it's important to note that we receive not of the nature itself, which is inherent only to the Trinity. 

J Gill: "Not essentially, or of the essence of God, so as to be deified, this is impossible, for the nature, perfections, and glory of God, are incommunicable to creatures."

https://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary/john-gill/2-peter/1

You address an important point. I don't get the chance to bounce ideas off capable scholars much, so if you can, could you give your views of this.

In Genesis 1:11-12 God established an immutable Law - the Law of KINDS. Everything that carries its seed within itself will produce the same kind. This Law is so profound that Christ's deity hangs on it. In Matthew 1:18 and Luke 1:35 we have the path that makes Jesus divine. Equally, we have the path that made Him 100% human - Him being "the seed of the woman". Now, 1st Peter 1:23 says;

23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever

My question is, if our Lord Jesus is born by this Spirit and is divine, how are we less than divine after being born of this same Spirit? And if our Lord Jesus, being born of this Spirit, has the divine nature essentially and intrinsically, where do we get less of this nature, and/or not have it intrinsically?

I have a theory, but I'd be interested to hear your take, plus your scriptures. Of course, anybody is welcome to comment.

[WilliamL]

5 hours ago, AdHoc said:

My question is, if our Lord Jesus is born by this Spirit and is divine, how are we less than divine after being born of this same Spirit? And if our Lord Jesus, being born of this Spirit, has the divine nature essentially and intrinsically, where do we get less of this nature, and/or not have it intrinsically?

The difference between Jesus and us is our fathers: His was God, and ours was Adam. So Jesus' nature was pure from its origin as a Son of God. Whereas we must be "adopted" into the God-family. Rom. 8:15, 23; 9:4; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5

An adoption that is not fulfilled until our bodies are transfigured at the Parousia.