The apostle Paul was a busy, energetic, itinerant evangelist and church planter who traveled the Roman roads proclaiming the very gospel of Jesus Christ that he once persecuted. Paul suffered greatly in proclaiming the gospel, but persevered to see people saved and churches planted throughout the Greco-Roman world.
Paul experienced a powerful encounter with Jesus as he was on his way to Damascus to arrest believers in Jesus Christ. This encounter with the risen Jesus not only brought him personal salvation but also shaped his entire ministry outlook. Jesus called Paul to be his chosen instrument to carry his name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. Paul proved faithful to his calling.
Paul maintained a close connection with the churches he planted on his mission trips. Paul’s practice was to go to the largest city in a new area, make disciples, plant a church, see it established, and then move on to new areas. Once he planted a church, he visited it as often as he could to encourage and strengthen the believers. When he was unable to visit, he wrote letters to churches that experienced problems. These letters are called occasional letters, meaning that there was an occasion or reason for Paul to write the letter. Often, the churches would contact Paul with questions or problems they faced. Paul wrote letters to most of the churches he planted.
Paul’s passion and message emerge from the thirteen letters he wrote (in this article, we take it that Paul did not write the letter to the Hebrews). Paul’s message is the glory of God in salvation through the person and work of Jesus Christ. In all his letters, Paul talks about the salvation that comes through Jesus and the outworking of that salvation in the Christian life.
Paul’s letters are an exuberant expression of his passion for Jesus Christ and people. Through his conversion experience and the revelations he received from Jesus Christ, Paul had a deep concern for the glory of God and the need of sinful people to know God’s forgiveness through Jesus. As Paul writes letters to churches, these concerns overflow with his rich grasp of the gospel and its application to the human soul. We encounter this deep understanding of the gospel in various themes that are woven into the fabric of his letters. These themes bubble to the surface of his thoughts over and over again. We will examine twelve such themes that we find dominate the letters of Paul.
(1) Christ: Paul’s Damascus Road encounter with Jesus radically transformed his life. He was immediately changed from a hater and persecutor of Christ and Christians to a lover of Christ and a promoter of his kingdom. Jesus became the center of Paul’s life, mission, and purpose for being. In his letters, Paul uses the title Christ some 375 times, by far his favorite word. While this is the most used word in Paul for Jesus, he also uses other titles like Lord and the Son of God to express his understanding of Christ. Paul understood Jesus to be the long-awaited Christ (Messiah). He is the one who fulfilled all the covenant promises of God. In Paul, we see two closely related sides of Christ: his person (Romans 1:1-4; Philippians 2:5-11) and his work (Ephesians 1:3-7; Colossians 2:13-14). The person of Christ is who he is as the God-man. It is astonishing to find a monotheistic Jewish man proclaiming unapologetically the risen Jesus as God incarnate. The work of Christ is all that he did to complete the mission the Father sent him to accomplish for the redemption of the world. In Jesus, we see the salvific works of humiliation and exaltation. The works of humiliation are Jesus’ birth (taking on human flesh), life of obedience to the Father, death as an atoning sacrifice for sin, and burial. The works of exaltation are Jesus’ resurrection, ascension, and session at the right hand of the Father. Also under the work of Christ, we find the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King, fulfilling those ancient OT offices. Paul’s teaching about Christ, then, becomes the center around which all other teachings turn.
(2) Gospel: Paul’s understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ can be summed up in the word gospel. Gospel means good news. It became a special term packed with meaning. It is the good news of God’s love and saving activity in Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:17; 9:16; 15:1; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Galatians 1:6-8). Paul uses the word 73 times in his thirteen letters. The gospel is the power of God to salvation. It is the proclamation of life in Jesus. The gospel is prophetically promised in the holy Scriptures of the OT and fulfilled historically in the person of Jesus. For Paul, the gospel expressed God’s provision for the greatest need of every human soul. Ultimately, the gospel is a transformational message to be preached so that people can hear it and respond in faith.
(3) Salvation: Salvation is a key idea in Paul’s understanding of God’s relationship to humanity and Christ’s purpose for coming into the world. Salvation expresses the solution to the intractable problem humanity faces in its separation from God due to sin and being under his just condemnation. Paul uses a host of words to explain this huge concept, words like: salvation itself (Romans 1:16), which means the rescue of someone from a serious peril. That peril is the judgment of God that falls upon sin. He also uses the word justification (Romans 3:21-28), a major theme in Romans and Galatians, which means to declare righteous. It is a forensic term. People are declared righteous by God because their sin is paid for by the death of Jesus. God can be just in justifying guilty sinners. Another word Paul uses for the idea of salvation is redemption (Ephesians 1:7). The word basically means to purchase someone from the slave market, or to purchase from some enslaving situation. It connotes a ruined life made whole again. We also find the relational term reconciliation used by Paul (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). People are alienated from God by their sins. Christ reconciles them to a love relationship with God by his death (Romans 5:6-11). Next, Paul used the word propitiation just one time, but with deep meaning (Romans 3:25). Propitiation means the satisfaction of God’s just wrath against human sin by the blood of Jesus Christ. One of the most meaningful and therefore intimate words used to denote salvation by Paul is adoption (Galatians 4:4-5). Adoption is a family word. We are adopted into the family of God by the death of Jesus and can call God, “Abba Father,” (Romans 8:15). And finally, that grim and beautiful word cross is used by Paul to express the cost of our salvation (Colossians 2: 13-14). That torturous Roman instrument of death was transformed by Jesus into a beautiful symbol of divine love and salvation.
(4) Sin: If salvation is the solution to the greatest problem of human beings, then sin is the problem that calls for that solution. Sin is disobedience and rebellion against God’s good will. Paul reveals to us that sin is universal (Romans 3:23), passed on to us by the first man (Romans 5:12), and results in death (Romans 6:23). Paul uses the term flesh to express the deep-seated reality of sin. Sin is woven into the very fabric of fallen human nature (Ephesians 2:1-3). Sin destroys lives and is a barrier that separates us from God. God is too holy to abide sin. God hates sin; we love sin. This creates a problem only God can solve. He solves it through the cross of Christ.
(5) Righteousness: Sin is the problem people face, and salvation is the solution God gives. He gives salvation by providing what we desperately need to relate to him, but we do not have. Righteousness is the golden key that opens the storehouse of salvation, which was given to Paul to proclaim to the world. God has provided people with his righteousness through Christ. The idea of righteousness has rich and deep roots in the Old Testament. There, the righteous are those who fear the Lord and obey his commands. In Paul, righteousness has two aspects relating to human persons. The first aspect is a righteousness that is not our own, which we cannot get on our own. It is a righteousness God gives us through salvation in Christ (Romans 3:21-26; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:7-9). The second aspect of righteousness is the result of the first aspect and is the righteous acts people do because of God’s work in their lives (Ephesians 4:22-24). Saved people live out who they are, righteous.
(6) Grace: Paul’s understanding of God’s relationship with people through Jesus Christ can be expressed by the word grace. Grace is God’s disposition of favor toward undeserving sinners through Christ, and his power to be and do all he calls his people to be and do (Romans 3:24; 5:2; 1 Corinthians 15:9-10; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Galatians 2:21; 5:4; Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace expresses God’s love, mercy, and compassion towards people. The word grace is found 86 times in the letters of Paul. He often spoke of grace. It radically changed his life, and he knew it could radically change others’ lives. Because of that realization, Paul took the gospel of God’s grace in Jesus Christ to the far reaches of the world. He never tired of telling people of the grace in Jesus.
(7) Faith: In Paul’s proclamation of the gospel, faith is the means through which sinners are justified (declared righteous) by God. Faith carries the meaning of belief in facts or realities, but also trust in a person and/or the actions of a person. Faith in a person conveys the idea of commitment to that person. Throughout Paul’s letters, we see the object of faith to be Christ (Romans 3:21-26; 5:1-2; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:8-10). Those who come to God for salvation must have faith, childlike trust, in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Those who come to God in faith for salvation must also live by faith in their Christian lives. Believers are called to walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith, or trust, is a crucial attitude in a believer’s relationship with God. The word faith, in its noun and verb form, is used by Paul 196 times. It saturated the heart and pen of Paul. It distinguished those who know God from those who don’t.
(8) Love: Love is a complex and multifaceted idea in the letters of Paul. Love is something God has toward people (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 2:4), Christ has toward people (Romans 8:35; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 3:19), people have toward God (Romans 8:28; 2 Thessalonians 3:5), and people have toward other people (Romans 12:10; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:2). Paul defines genuine love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 in powerfully moving terms. “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” We find the word love 95 times in the letters of Paul. Love can be thought of as the fundamental virtue around which all others turn. Love is a powerful force in the plan of God.
(9) Holy Spirit: Paul’s teaching on the Holy Spirit is expansive (the word Spirit is used 143 times in Paul). The Holy Spirit is the agent of regeneration (Titus 3:5; 1 Corinthians 6:11). The Spirit comes to indwell the believer in salvation (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:19). He is the one who reveals and makes known the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-15; Ephesians 1:7; 3:16-19). The Spirit pours out God’s love into our hearts and bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God ( Romans 5:5; 8:16). He helps us to pray (Romans 8:26; Ephesians 6:18). The Holy Spirit endows each believer with their spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 12:4, 7). The Spirit produces in us the fruit of the Spirit so that we can live for Christ like Christ (Galatians 5:16, 22-23). These and many more are the works of the Holy Spirit. The Christian life cannot exist in its fullest form without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
(10) Christian Life: Paul wrote to all the churches about their salvation, but also much about their Christian lives. Paul wrote to encourage believers to live a life worthy of their calling in all holiness and humble service (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 12:4-7; Ephesians 4:20-24; 6:10-18; Philippians 3:10-14). Believers in Jesus Christ are forgiven of all their sins, but they still experience the power of sin in their daily lives. Paul writes to help believers grow in sanctification or holiness. Since they have been crucified with Christ for salvation, he encourages them to crucify sin in their present lives. The Christian life is lived on a spiritual battlefield. Believers in Jesus Christ experience this spiritual conflict every day of their lives, so it is critically important to take a stand against the devil’s schemes by putting on the whole armor of God, which is the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the readiness of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. Believers put on the armor and properly use it by Spirit-led and empowered prayer (Ephesians 6:10-20).
(11) Church: Paul traveled the Roman world, making disciples and planting churches. He wrote to those churches about what the church is and how it functions. The church is the body and bride of Christ. The church can be understood in three relationships. First, there is the local church and the universal church. The local church is the local gathering of believers for worship and mission, while the church universal is the church throughout the world and history. Second, there is the church triumphant and the church militant. The church triumphant is all those believers throughout the ages who are now in heaven with Jesus, while the church militant is those believers still living in the world who are engaged in the fight of faith and the mission of God. And third, there is the church visible and the church invisible. The visible church is all the people that assemble in churches or are on the rolls of churches, while the invisible church is the true believers in those churches, known only to God. In his letters, Paul addresses and gives the qualifications for the leadership roles in the church (Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; 8-13; 5:17-19; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Titus 1:5-9). The Pastoral Epistles of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus convey many aspects of the work of ministry in the local church. Paul had a deep affection for all the churches he planted.
(12) Christ’s Return: Paul was a man of action and hard work for the kingdom of God and the gospel of Christ in this world. He did all this with the future coming of Christ in view. It was always at the forefront of his mind. He believed and taught that Jesus would return for his church, defeat the enemies of truth and righteousness, and establish the eternal kingdom of God. Therefore, Paul looked forward to the resurrection and the appearance of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:23, 50-57; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 3:1-4; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:13-18; 5:1-11). In his last days on earth and in his final letter, knowing his time was near, Paul expresses his assessment of his ministry and his anticipation of seeing Jesus, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
Conclusion: Paul, Saul of Tarsus, was a man of passion. As a Jewish Pharisee, he was passionate about the traditions of the elders and demonstrated it in pursuing and persecuting the church of Jesus Christ. But subsequent to his encounter with the risen Lord Jesus Christ, the focus of his passion completely shifted to Jesus. That encounter radically changed his heart and the trajectory of his life. He was a man with a heart aflame for Jesus. He spent and was spent by an inextinguishable passion to know Jesus and make Jesus known to a lost and dying world that desperately needed Him. Paul, who lived so long ago, still speaks through the words of his letters to the present church. May we listen and heed his words, and like Paul be people with hearts aflame for Jesus.