Paul’s Greeting (ch. 1:1-2)
As in most of Paul’s writings he
says who he is and what he does. This
letter is no exception. Verse 1
says, "Paul and apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God".
Paul is an apostle, meaning one who is sent out.
Acts 13:1 - 5 tells us that the leaders of the community of believers
in
Antioch
sent Paul and Barnabas on their first apostolic journey.
They did so after they heard the Holy Spirit tell them to separate
Paul and Barnabas unto the work of the Lord.
They prayed and fasted and then they sent Paul and Barnabas on their
way. That being said, it was
Jesus who called Paul to be an apostle in the first place as we will see in
the following article that I have inserted here.
In typical western world Evangelical
tradition a young man graduates from Bible College, gets hired on as a youth
pastor and in a couple of years is promoted to assistant pastor.
As time goes on he becomes dissatisfied with the direction things are
heading so he and a number of others leave the congregation to plant a new
church where he has been for two decades.
He now considers himself an apostle because as is often understood
these days, an apostle is a church planter.
Our English word "apostle"
is transliterated from the Greek word "apostolos", which means
"one who is sent". Inherent
in this word is the idea of moving from place to place.
Apostolos wasn't a religious word.
If a mother sent her son to the market to buy bread, he would have
been on an apostolic mission. It's
that simple. Let's learn a bit
more about apostles by asking a few questions about one important apostle in
history. If I had a human hero,
it would be the Apostle Paul.
Who sent Paul on his apostolic
journey? After praying and
fasting the leaders of the Antioch community of believers laid hands on Paul
and Barnabas and sent them off on their first mission (Acts 13:3).
Why did these leaders send Paul and
Barnabas out as apostles? The
Holy Spirit told them to set Paul and Barnabas aside for the work of the
Lord (Acts 13:2).
Who appointed Paul as an apostle?
Jesus appointed Paul to be an apostle (Acts 9:15 - 16), or, as Paul
put it in 1 Timothy 1:1, Jesus commanded him to be an apostle.
What was Paul's apostolic mission?
Jesus told Paul that he was to proclaim His name to Gentile kings and
to the children of
Israel
, and in the process he'd suffer greatly (Acts 9:15 - 16).
In short, Jesus commanded Paul to
proclaim His name as an apostle. The
Holy Spirit told him when to begin his apostolic journey.
The leaders in
Antioch
sent him on his way.
How did Paul view his apostleship? "Paul,
a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle … (Romans 1:1)."
Paul viewed his apostleship as being a servant of God.
Did Paul have apostolic authority?
"This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I
come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority - the authority the
Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down (2 Corinthians
13:10)." "… the
authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down
… (2 Corinthians 14:8)." Paul
had apostolic authority.
Did Paul use his authority in a
dictatorial fashion? "I am
not commanding you … (2 Corinthians 8:8)."
"I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with
many tears … (2 Corinthians 2:4)."
Paul did not abuse his authority.
He was not a dictator. He
was a care giver, encouraging, teaching, and admonishing those belonging to
Jesus.
Did Paul have the mark of a true
apostle? "The things that
mark an apostle - signs, wonders, and miracles, were done among you (2
Corinthians 12:12)." Paul's
apostleship was validated by miracles. See
also Acts 19:1- 7 and Acts 28:1 - 6.
Was Paul's mission as an apostle to
plant churches? Jesus
specifically called Paul to proclaim His name (Acts 9:15 - 16).
Of course, Paul's hope in preaching Jesus was to lead people to Him
which would give birth to communities of believers.
Only then did he concern himself with church structure and ask men
like Titus to appoint elders in these communities (Titus 1:5).
To be Biblically precise; I believe
Paul's apostolic priority was to preach Jesus, not plant churches.
Similarly, Jesus commanded the eleven apostles in Matthew 28:18 to do
the same. The creation of
Christian communities was a result of Paul's apostolic mission.
It wasn't the goal of his mission.
I don't believe I'm splitting hairs here.
I've seen, and have been involved in, so-called church plants that
have not been successful because of the preaching of a particular style of
church and not the preaching of Jesus.
So, was our pastor friend in my
opening paragraph an apostle or might have he been a pastor?
Was he sent out on a journey by the leaders of his congregation after
being told to do so by the Holy Spirit?
No. He left on his own
accord out of frustration. Did
Jesus command him to be an apostle? I
don't know, but if He did, I suggest that he should not have stayed in the
same locality for two decades. By
definition, an apostle is one who is on the move.
Did he plant a new church from scratch?
No. He had a ready made
church consisting of those he took with him from a church split. You can
decide whether he was an apostle or not.
There
are many apostolic movements these days.
I've met some of their leaders. I
do believe the apostolic ministry is a valid ministry in the Body of Christ
today. I also believe that if we
are to follow Jesus' instructions concerning apostles, and really,
concerning all of the Ephesian 4:11 ministries, we should try our best to
understand His instructions as He understood them.
Not everyone who calls himself an apostle is an apostle.
In somewhat of a sarcastic tone, Paul called some so-called apostles
"super-apostles" (2 Corinthians 11:5, 12:11).
As in every generation, there are some super-apostles who enjoy
exercising their dictatorial authority.
Jesus doesn't appoint "super-apostles".
He appoints "servant-apostles".
I now return to my commentary.
Paul
was not alone. Timothy, who was
like a son in the Lord was with him. They
were together, sharing in the work of the gospel.
Paul calls him "our brother".
So, he seems to have been known by those to whom Paul is writing. We know that Paul viewed Timothy as a son in the Lord
(2 Timothy 1:2), but here, we see Timothy as a fellow brother, a fellow
co-worker in the Lord.
Paul calls the brothers to whom he is
writing holy and faithful. Holy
simply means these people are set apart unto Jesus.
They belong to Him. They
are special, and, they are faithful, meaning they trust their lives with
God.
The
words brother and sister are often seen in the New Testament.
They are applied to fellow believers in Christ.
They show us that our fellow believers are really a family where God
is our Father and Jesus is our older brother.
Too often in the western world church the concept of church being a
family is lost in our heavily organized and structured church of today.
Church is really family, and, in many cases, our brothers and sisters
in Christ feel like family more than our biological familie
In verse 2 Paul says, "grace and
peace to you from God." Paul
was truly sent from God. If he
were not, then he could not say "grace and peace from God."
He is not just saying words here.
He is extending God’s grace and peace to these people as they read
this letter. God has given Paul
the authority to do this. With
the help of the Holy Spirit Paul is representing God to these people.
I've said it before, but there are
two definitions of grace. One is
God's unmerited favour while the other is God's divine ability to do His
will. There are also two
definitions of peace. We have
peace with God, meaning, we are on His side.
We also have peace in God, meaning, we have an inner peace because of
the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
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