Religion and Theology

In Galatians 1 v 11, 12 Paul tells his first century readers
I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something
that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught itrather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

There is of course no book entitled  The Gospel of Paul . Nevertheless, Pauls writings, which take up a considerable part of the New Testament, are full of gospel in the sense of good news about Jesus Christ. Also available to us are his words as recorded  by Luke  in the Book of Acts. William Newell in his article  Paul s Gospel  names those he considers to be the greatest revealers of the truth of God   Moses in the Old Testament and Paul in the New Testament. Polycarp, a second century bishop, born at about the time of Paul s martyrdom, called him, as quoted by Roetzel (1991)  blessed and glorious . What Paul did was turn a message, that was Jewish in its idioms and concepts, into an understandable and attractive gospel for the Hellenistic world in which he moved.

The Gospel in His Letters
The letters are arranged in the main by order of size, not chronologically or in order of importance. That being said, Romans, the first, is important.  In it, much of the future doctrinal basis of the church down the ages can be found.

Right at the beginning of his letter to the Roman church, Paul tells them that he has been commissioned to preach the good news. The Bible, New International Version, uses the words, Set Apart for the Gospel  (Romans 1 v 1) so what was the gospel he taught What does he include He speaks in Romans 1 v 3, 4 of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

What is this good news Romans 1 v 16, It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

Who is it for Both Jews and Gentiles. The message of the gospel is for everyone, Romans 1 v 16. As he explains clearly in Romans 10 v 13, it is necessary to call upon the name of the Lord in order to be saved. He then explains (10 v 16, 17) that it is necessary for people to hear the message in order that they can believe. Paul was of course not the only person preaching about Jesus, but Paul s special mission is to those who have not heard   the Gentiles. Romans 15 v 9,  So that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy.

In 1 Corinthians, he again described the gospel. In 1 Cor 1 v 18, he describes the gospel - foolishness to those who perish, but to the saved it is the power of God. He knows that everyone will not understand I Cor 1 v 23,  We preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. In 1 Corinthians15,  he sets out in detail his message, especially in v 3-7 where he speaks of Christ dying for the sins of the people, and how, on the third day, he rose again and appeared to his followers many times, finally appearing to Paul. In v 14, he says that if this is not true, if Christ did not rise, then his preaching is in vain. In Philippians 2, he uses an early Christian hymn to give more details, telling of Christ before his birth, of his humility, his obedience and finally his glory.

In the letter known as 2 Corinthians, Paul speaks of the promises of God (2 Cor 1 v 20). Many of these would be known to Jews from their scriptures. All these he says are  Yes in Christ , i.e., he fulfills all the promises of God.

Paul is absolutely certain that the gospel he preaches is the true one as he makes clear to the Galatians 1 v 8 makes this plain.

Paul s gospel is necessary for Christian belief. If we did not have the letters from Romans to Philemon, much of Christian doctrine would be missing.

His gospel includes the following points
The sinfulness of all men.  Romans 3 v 23   All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
The impossibility of man  by any acts of his own, obtaining righteousness.  Paul tells the Jews (Galatians 5 v 4),  You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated  from Christ.  However, (Romans 6 v 23) The gift of god is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That, by being a willing sacrifice in an act of propitiation, Christ fulfilled God s law. Romans 3 v 25  God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice.

Reconciliation. There is no longer a barrier between God and men.  Colossians 1 v 20  Through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth  or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

There are to be no distinctions. Colossians 3 v 11  Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free.   This is revealed in practice in Philemon where the runaway slave Onesimus is described as no longer a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother ( Philemon v 16).

Justification by faith, the doctrine of which Luther stood firm. It is what the Sunday school teachers used to call  Just as if I d never sinned.  Romans 5 v 1  We have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through  our Lord Jesus Christ.

Redemption. Ephesians 4 v 30  Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for
the day of redemption.  Also, 1 Thessalonians 5 v 9 speaks of receiving salvation through Christ.
Forgiveness. Ephesians 1 v 7  In him we have .forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God s grace.

The remission of sins,  that is, they are actually removed from the sinner. In 2 Colossians 2 v11, Paul speaks of how, because of Christ, sinners can put off their sinful nature.
Identification with Christ. Philippians 2 v 5  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

Newell uses the word  incorporation  by which he means the doctrine that is Paul s alone  is that all those who are saved are part of the one  body   the church, the body of Christ. This is important to him. He mentions it frequently in Romans ( 12 v 5) 1 Corinthians (12 v 27) Ephesians (1 v 23 and 4 v 12) Colossians (1 v 24 and 2 v 19). Often the allusion is to a spiritual building or temple, the habitation of God, as in Ephesians 2 v 20 and 21, where Christ is mentioned as the cornerstone. Ephesians 2 v 22 In him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. This idea of being joined together harks back in modern minds to John 15 and especially v 5 perhaps I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me he will bear much fruit. But it must be remembered that Paul did not have the privilege of reading those words, which, despite the order of the New Testament books, was written much later.  In his book (originally published in 1953) The Household of God, Lesslie Newbiggin has sections entitled  the congregation of the faithful ,  the body of Christ  and  the congregation of the holy spirit  which expound on such ideas.

Paul speaks of the destiny of the church in Ephesians 4 No longer infants, but speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the
 head, that is Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by
 every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love , as each part
does its work.

The church is there not just for its own benefit. It was described in the 19th century as  a club for the benefit of none members ,  which Newell refers to as  Divine exhibition . In Ephesians 2 v 7 and again in 3 v 10,  Paul speaks of how the church will show to future ages and to those in authority  the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus  ..His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known.

Paul sets out clearly for his readers which things belong to the kingdom of God  - the fruits of the spirit listed in Galatians 5 v 23 love , joy, patience, peace and all the rest.  The word fruit is meant to be singular  - these are all part of one experience, all coming out of the love of God. He also cites, in the verses immediately before,  the things that are not of God  (Galatians 5 v 19 - 21) and Paul makes clear that the church, and the individuals within it are in a spiritual battle as described in more detail by David Watson in a chapter entitled  The Army of God  in his 1978 work I Believe in the Church.

Any text should be taken in context, and Paul s writing is in the context of the whole of God s revelation in his word - a revelation that is quite clear from the opening chapters of Genesis onward - that God wants a relationship with his creation. In one sense, the whole of Paul s gospel can be summed up in his words in 2 Corinthians 5 which are concerned with the  restoring of that relationship

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation ..all this is from God who
reconciled us to himself through  Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men s sins against them. We are therefore Christ s ambassadors,
as though God was making his appeal through us (2 Corinthians 2 v 17-20).

In this quite short section, we have both the good news and the great commission.

Conclusion
Paul has always been a controversial and confusing figure. Even within the churches that he founded, he summoned up a variety of opinions   by no means all positive. In more recent times, modern women (feminist or not)  find some of his teaching difficult to accept, not just in his letter to Timothy, but in passages such as 1 Corinthians  7 v 1 where men are told that it is better if they do not marry, or , as in chapter 14 v 35 of the same letter where he claims that it is disgraceful for a woman to speak out in church - something that has been used against women for centuries, as has his assumption  ( 1 Corinthians 11  v3) of a divine order that places women below men. This from the apostle who also stated that there was no distinction among Christians. In Galatians 3 v 28, he says   There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female , for you are all on e in Christ Jesus   and further on in the same letter (5 v 1).  It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Yet without his careful explanations of the various doctrines as described above,  the church would be a much poorer body and would be possibly bereft of the important idea of the unity of the church as the body of Christ. The Bible and the church needs the Gospel of Paul.