The
Epistles
Each
epistle has distinctive features, but at the same time there is overlap as
there is in all four gospels. If the gospels and epistles were all using the same
wording, then sceptics would have some justification for saying that the
writers just copied one another. In fact some sceptics do say that or that the
writers used one or more common sources. However, if the writers all said
different things so that there was no overlap it could be argued that each
writer was putting forward a different doctrinal scheme.
As
far as the four Gospels are concerned see my article headed The Gospels.
As
to the Epistles one would say, starting with that to the Romans, that the
apostle Paul expounds in that epistle the gospel. In the Acts of the Apostles
we get the preaching of the gospel,
but in Romans the teaching of it. The
Roman epistle was written to persons who had received the gospel, but no doubt
needed to be established in it. Paul starts at the bottom so to speak and tells
us of the state of mankind and goes on to show how God has come in to meet
man’s need and towards the end of the epistle touches on the corporate
relations of Christians (chapter 12:4-8). Individual blessing comes first, for
without it persons cannot rightly be together corporately.
If
we go to the Ephesians we have, we may say, the top stone of Paul’s ministry.
Paul begins with God’s thoughts, that is, his purposes rather than man’s
condition as in Romans (Ephesians 1). He comes down to speak of man’s need and
how it has been met later (Ephesians 2). In this epistle Paul does not speak of
the coming of the Lord but rather stresses the dignified position that the
Lord’s people have been given (Ephesians 3) and stresses that they should walk
in accord with it (Ephesians 4). The fact that in chapters one and three he
prays for the saints shows that he realises that for the saints to be in the
gain of God’s thoughts for them there must be a work of God in them and not
only a formal acceptance of the truth. Acts 20 could well be read with this
epistle. John in Revelation speaks of how the Ephesians had fallen, though they
had outwardly maintained a respectable front (Revelation 2:1-7). One would note that Ephesus was in Asia as to
which Paul later says: “All who [are] in Asia,... have
turned away from me.” (2 Timothy 1:15).
Between
Romans and Ephesians we have the epistle to the Colossians (ignoring the order
of the books in our Bibles). In order to be in the gain of Ephesians we need to
see that Christ must have his right place with us. Colossians focuses on Christ
and our completeness in him (chapter 2:10), whereas Ephesians takes us to the
ultimate, which is God the Father (Ephesians 2:18; 3:20/21). We must always
remember that Christ is the mediator of God and men and it is through him we
have access to God. Paul speaks in Colossians of Christ and what He has done
rather than what He has been made or given. It appears that some copyist
imported from Ephesians the words “through his blood” found in the authorised
version of the Scriptures in Colossians 1:14. However, the point in Colossians
is to focus on Christ rather than, as in Ephesians, on what God has done and
the means by which He has done it (Ephesians 1:7). It is not, as some may
think, that a copyist or translator didn’t like the idea of the blood so left
that bit out. Actually the blood is mentioned in Colossians 1:20 anyway.
If
we consider the epistles to the Hebrews and Galatians; we can see that in the
case of the Hebrews they were in danger of giving up Christianity and reverting
to Judaism (Hebrews 6:1-8; 10:38/39). However, the Galatians were not actually
giving up their Christian profession, but rather bringing Judaism into their Christianity
(Galatians 5:1-10). In both cases the blessings of Christianity would be
effectively lost. Notice that Paul (assuming the writer to the Hebrews was
Paul) does not just speak to the Hebrews of the gospel in the way that he does
to the Romans, but rather contrasts the Christian’s blessings with what Israel
had under the law and at the same time shows that the law was only a shadow of
the good things that had now been brought to light in the gospel. As to the
Galatians Paul rather shows that if they bring law keeping into Christianity
they lose the liberty with which Christ has made us free. Again Paul brings
forward things that the Galatians had not considered, rather than simply
presenting to them the gospel as he did to the Romans. As has been well said:
“You will not bring back people who
have departed by what they know; you have to present something else to them” (F.E.R New Series Vol. 12
page 125).
To
the Philippians and Thessalonians Paul concentrates on the view before them,
that is, the Lord’s coming, and the fact that we should be pressing on
(Philippians 3; 1 Thessalonians 1:9/10 and other passages). In Ephesians Paul
writes of “the helmet of salvation”
as a present thing (Ephesians 6:17) whereas to the Thessalonians he also writes
of the helmet, but as “the hope of
salvation” a future thing (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Further, he is not
thinking so much of the assembly as a corporate body, but of the personnel that
compose that body. In the case of the
Philippians he was speaking to a mature body of Christians (Paul was at the
time of writing in prison in Rome – Philippians 1:12 et. seq.) whereas the
Thessalonians were relatively new converts. We should bear this in mind when
dealing with mature Christians as distinct from relatively new converts.
In
contrast to the epistle to the Ephesians where Paul expounds the truth of
Christ’s assembly as a spiritual body and its universal character, in the
epistles to the Corinthians he concentrates on the practical expression of the
assembly in local companies of Christians. In the first epistle he deals
largely with practical problems and in the second he brings in a more
comforting line. The first epistle has been likened to feet washing and the
second to the use of the towel (John 13:5).
The
epistles about which I have briefly written above are very important. Some may
dismiss them as simply being Paul’s ideas, though actually they are largely the
expression of the ministry given him by Christ Himself. Without them we would
have no real basis for a Christian assembly. We take the Lord’s Supper from
what Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11 rather than directly from the first
three gospels, which could be said to only apply to Christ’s immediate
disciples who knew him personally when he was here on earth. If we take the
Lord’s Supper from the gospels why not also make a ritual of the feet washing
spoken of by John in his gospel? However, if we take as our authority for
eating the Lord’s Supper what Paul says, let us not overlook what Paul writes
in the first part of chapter 11 which deals with headship.
As
to Paul’s epistles to Timothy, Titus and Philemon one would say that it would
appear that Timothy was a young man (1 Timothy 4:12), Titus was probably a
mature man and Philemon probably an older man. I judge this from the fact that
Titus was told to rebuke the Cretans severely
(Titus 1:13), and the fact that Paul writes very respectfully to Philemon. Paul uses wisdom in the way he writes to each
one. The first epistle to Timothy deals with practical assembly problems when
things were in order, while the second deals with the way we should meet
conditions when the assembly has become corrupted. Titus is instructed to deal
with conditions of a serious nature in Crete. Paul deals with Philemon himself
regarding a delicate practical matter.
It
is right to get the benefit of spiritual fresh air, such as we may get on the
mountain top, but at the same time we may have to deal with practical problems
in the Christian company, in our household circumstances and in our personal
path through this world. We should not mix these things up as has been well
said: “You must distinguish between the assembly and the individual path, else you get into confusion at every step” (F.E.R. New Series Vol. 12 page 208)
As
to the epistle of James, he has clearly a burden to bring before believers the
importance of fruit bearing. Our Christianity is not to be a dead orthodoxy. He
speaks of the wisdom that comes down from above and gives details of it. One
believes that he would have seen this in Christ when he was a child as it
appears that he was the Lord’s natural brother. Consider what Luke says as to
the Lord when He was a child (Luke 2:40 & 52).
As
to the two epistles of Peter we will find that he does not go into detail as to
assembly practices though he speaks of the house of God and stresses that our
service Godward should be spiritual (1 Peter 2:1-6).
However he speaks of God’s government here on earth, in the first epistle as
affecting Christians and in the second as affecting the wicked.
John
in his epistles concentrates more on what is in our hearts (what is often
spoken of as our state). If the state of our hearts is wrong it will sooner or
later show itself in our walk and ways. He writes of the Christian assembly (3
John 9/10), but does not go into detail about it.
As
to Jude’s epistle, as he was a brother of James he would no doubt have known
Christ before he entered on his public ministry. It is remarkable that God has
seen fit to use two of the Lord’s natural brothers to write epistles that have
been preserved to us and show that they were believers and in accord with the
apostles who proclaimed the gospel. It
appears that it was only after Christ’s death that they were converted
(consider John 7:5). Jude really shows that the evil things warned about by
Peter (2 Peter 2) had actually in Jude’s time been found to have blossomed
amongst professed believers. Read my article “2 Peter 2 and Jude Compared”.
. Revelation
is not exactly an epistle, though it contains letters (chapters 2 & 3).
Rather it is a book about judgment and leads on to the ultimate sorting out of
all things.
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December 2012