Monday

A Bridge To Clarity

Romans 15:20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named,

The Apostle Paul, the writer of this verse, was chosen by God for a special kind of work. He was the first pioneer missionary. This means he was sent to work with people who had never heard the name of Jesus Christ, and had no cultural context or influence from Christianity.

Because Paul was a pioneer missionary his books take on a special value to modern Christ followers. They were written to first generation churches. So Paul's writings are a bridge to clarity unburdened by centuries of tradition. If there is a form of Christianity which doesn’t look like this record then we can be fairly sure it is loaded down with traditions not found in the churches started by Paul.

Paul also had to work through the complex merger of two types of people in some of these early churches: Jews, who had a long history of customs and traditions, and non-Jews, who had no knowledge of ancient Jewish customs. So in Paul's letters we have a record of this cultural clash. Because of this clash the writings of this missionary Apostle give us a clear guide to resolving differences between the New Covenant and the Old. His writings are also a guide to handling the traditional, cultural, and doctrinal differences between people who serve the same Lord.

The Bible becomes a bridge over the chasm of the centuries. We can cross that bridge to Paul's writings and bring a purity back with us into today. An uncluttered reality. And for those who are not willing to cross that bridge, we have guidance on how to structure and maintain a vibrant relationship with them.

This Apostle has become a dear friend and counselor to me through the years. His writings have changed my life and thinking in so many ways. I have a list of Paul's confirmed writings below:

Romans
1 & 2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 & 2 Thessalonians
1 & 2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon

1 comment:

  1. "An uncluttered reality." If we just looked at the Book and nothing else as our guide...! Thx for this!!

    ReplyDelete

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