First, a simple observation, but
one that, nowadays, is often lost on those among the various churches that
style themselves to be of the one catholic body of Christ: Paul was writing to Christians.
This should be obvious, but at
times, it is not for many who are professing Christ, for as they come to the
warning passages in these epistles, they often forget that Paul begins and ends
his letters to the churches with this assumption (if the inspired writing of Scripture may be said to contain assumptions
by those who were moved along by the Holy Spirit to pen God’s divine words to
His church; I contend strongly that such assumption, or presuppositions, are
inherent and purposed of God for our edification)
The second thing to notice in
Paul’s letters is that he is writing to
churches.
The frequent use of plural
pronouns in the letters cannot be ignored, nor the particular use of direct
address to the churches that begin many of his letters, and permeate them
throughout, nor the direct allegories concerning the structure and membership
of the church, especially in its local form.
The third thing to notice, in a
general overview which is addressing only specifics such as this one, is that
those assumptions, or presuppositions, which I strongly asserted above are
definitely intended by God to be present within the body of the letters, is
this: Paul did not assume that all those he addressed, either individually or
corporately, were making the true confession of faith in Christ Jesus as their
Lord and Savior, though he always weighted this assumption with that love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes
all things, endures all things. This gives us the reasons for many of the
warning sections, which, in a synopsis statement by Paul, may be understood as if indeed you continue in the faith (that is, the body of Christian doctrine
which comprises all things for our rule of knowledge and practice in living out
the grace of God which is in Christ Jesus), as in Colossians
1:23. He indeed does give even stronger warnings, but as said,
this statement can be taken as a synopsis of those warnings. The assumption is
that those who do not continue in the faith are not of the faith; the
certainty, in any harmonious considerations of God’s teaching through Paul’s
writings, is that those who are called to be saints will indeed continue in the
faith, since it is God who both wills and works within them to do of His good
pleasure.
Therefore, the last thing to
focus on in such a short article as this, regarding Paul’s letters, is that He
strongly affirms that doctrine of the saints indeed persevering, not because of
any valor or value in their character or actions, but by the sovereign keeping
in the love of Christ and all Christian graces of the God who cannot fail to
keep His own covenant for His people which He made within Himself. Paul powerfully
asserts that powerful working of God to keep His people because of His being
their God – God cannot lie, and Paul shows that the character of the God who
saved those who are His saints, or called ones, is the sole basis for not only
the burgeoning of faith in their regenerate natures, but also for the
completion of their salvation. He asserts that all things, however we may
regard them according to the flesh, are working together for those who love
God, and nothing created can separate them from the love that God has given to
them and holds them within.
Peter states of Paul’s letters: “And count the patience of our Lord as
salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the
wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks
in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to
understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as
they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this
beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people
and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of
eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:15-18).
It is just here, as with all the Scriptures,
the apostle Peter states, that those who have a form of knowledge which is no knowledge at all twist the truth of
God so out of context that it is distorted beyond recognition.
First to be sacrificed in such false
knowledge is their own salvation, for
there is no salvation apart from the true knowledge of God in the Scriptures,
all of which speak of His Son, our Lord.
I say, above, first to be sacrificed, but it may well
be that the error of the first part is rather that they serve the creature rather than the Creator; that is, they deny
God’s sovereignty in all things, and especially in the matter of salvation and
ongoing sanctification, while affirming man’s responsibility in such things to
that point where God is made a helpless bystander waiting to see if they will
keep themselves in His love and faith, citing numerous passages that state we
must make our calling and election sure
(which indeed is true, but not as they
perceive it), and other imperatives which are not to be seen as man
dictating to God that which He surely does, but obeying God out of a sincere faith from a good
conscience from a heart made pure to love God and brethren with that love
that has been poured out in our hearts
by the Holy Spirit (1
Timothy 1:5: Romans
5:5; cf. Ephesians 2:10). Such do
not rightly divide the word of truth –
they do not count the precious promises of God to either rule over their own
efforts which proceed from that faith given by God’s grace, or to keep them
zealous for good works despite their flawed attempts: It is not too strong a
thing to say that such false believers have
no understanding of God’s grace whatsoever. Subverting the commandments of
our Lord to a place above even Him (as if
God would contradict Himself), as said before, they place the created
creature in the primacy over God, and that this is very much done in Paul’s
epistles by these people shows that not only do they not know the grace of God, but that they truly have no knowledge of God as
sovereign.
I listed various elements of Paul’s
letters to show that disharmony of those who twist his (and other Scripture) words out of context, for when all these
things (and this is very basic) are
considered together, by God’s Spirit enlightening the understanding of those He
has infallibly called to be saints in the formation of local bodies of His
church universal, such errors cannot stand. Harmony in reading and study and
meditation of our Lord’s Scriptures – the
analogy of the faith – leads to those sure conclusions by which He both
states His glory and holiness, and gives us to be able to show some of that
inestimable radiance of His perfection through our yet-flawed lives, as we
progress in this pilgrim’s progress, together.
Grace and peace in the love of
God in Christ Jesus,
SDG - Bill
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