The Apostle Paul's Discipleship Program
11085 words long.
Published on 2024-04-23
Buried in the Noise
For a decade or more, I taught Sunday School. I knew a lot about the Bible and Christianity, so I was never at a loss for something to teach. Nevertheless, I didn't have any idea whether I was overlooking important topics. Did my lessons have gaps? If I were to disciple an adult, would I be able to present the whole gospel?
The church has experts in systematic theology. Denominations create creeds, catechisms, lesson plans and curricula to assist. You can get lost in it all. I know I did. Wouldn't it be nice if the Bible were more systematic instead of historical and all over the map? The arrangement of stories and ideas is almost as messy as my tool shed!
It was while studying Job for my book on resilience that I detected the first hidden sign of coherence. Sprinkled among his nine speeches, Job issued a series of pleas, setting forth all the qualities he needed in a savior. While researching that book I found eight; a ninth turned up while I was preparing my book on Ecclesiastes. Those nine requirements I called Job's "job requirements for a savior". They not only fit Jesus to a T, they matched nine events in the Lord's ministry in chronological order.
That is systematic. A careful student of Job will therefore come to understand the many dimensions of salvation. Of course, different denominations argue about the Ordo Salutis, or order of salvation. Which parts of the process happen in which sequence? To answer that question you need to wade into another round of scholarly debates. Much to my surprise, when studying Psalm 19 for Plague, Precept, Prophet, Peace, I was stunned to discover the whole order of salvation present. (In other parts of the Bible, only a few steps are listed. That is why it is a puzzle to fit them all together.) That Psalm 19 order comes closest to matching the Reformed sequence, but when you compare the two, one item is out of place. I am putting my money on Psalm 19. (See the chapter "Psalm 19: The Glory of God's Law" for the analysis.)
What about sanctification? What must you teach a new convert to bring them to full maturity in the faith? Better yet, do you know if you know all that you should know to consider yourself fully mature? Where is the checklist? Years of reading Christian books, hearing sermons, attending seminars and classes, studying the Bible, and putting it into practice always and only gave me a single expectation. The Bible has all the answers, but leave it to the experts to mine it for silver and gold and package it for you in a best seller.
The experts must have overlooked Solomon - and Paul.
As I saw the pieces of Lady Wisdom's house start to assemble before my mind, interlocking perfectly, I saw where Paul's letters should fit - as the roof of peace - but I saw little structure to them. The letters to Timothy were my first break. They were structured both by the commandments (the Law Pattern) and by the Growth Pattern. What of the other letters? I had no clue, until that recent evening when I was lying on the couch, coughing and wheezing. Without a Bible or pen and paper in front of me, in the dark, feeling miserable, it all became so clear. It can't have been my doing; it must have been another gift.
The structure was so simple that I never would have thought of it. Sure, I spotted the Growth Pattern in Matthew's Gospel, but that was a single document written by a single hand who set it all in order. Paul's letters were partly collaborative, being dictated to a scribe, and they were written over the course of decades, then inserted into the Bible in order by descending length. By length? How random! There was no reason to expect that the current order was THE intended order. It was too easy, too perfect. Surely if the first seven letters of Paul were set in their current order on purpose to follow a special pattern, someone besides me would have noticed it before now!
Spiritual growth. Sanctification is all about growing up to the measure and stature of Christ. Naturally, theologians look to the gospels and Paul's letters for the details, as they should. I got lost in those details for years. So many topics are covered in Paul's letters. Teasing the signal out of the noise is hard. That is where Solomon is necessary. He tells us almost nothing BUT the structure. He omits the content and lists the steps in his twenty-eight times. Only by laying out his times, by fours, and matching them to Paul's letters can you at last see the beauty and simplicity of what Solomon, Paul and the Holy Spirit have done.
A Course for Disciples
To gain a basic grasp of all the steps in the process of sanctification, all you have to do is read Paul's first seven letters in the order they appear in most Bibles:
- Romans
- 1 Corinthians
- 2 Corinthians
- Galatians
- Ephesians
- Philippians
- Colossians
Those letters are your basic discipleship class. Solomon created the course syllabus and Paul wrote the lecture materials. There are seven stages of growth. Since Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived (besides Jesus), we know he didn't miss any steps. This course of study it therefore objectively complete, lacking nothing.
Since spiritual truths are difficult to master, every step has supplemental material to aid in comprehension and mastery:
- Emotional Support. Each phase is supported by a matching psalm, to help the student find emotional strength to breakthrough.
- Grief Counseling. Each phase is supported by a matching chapter from Job, to help the student overcome past traumas that impair progress as well as build an ethical core.
- Career Counseling. Each phase is supported by a matching chapter from Proverbs, to help supply motivation and advice on surviving in the marketplace.
- Relationship Counseling. Each phase is supported by a passage from the Song of Songs to help with the loneliness and confusion of not understanding the proper timing in dating and romance.
- Life Coaching. Each phase is supported by a passage in Ecclesiastes on how to plan for the big picture.
- Spiritual Mentoring. Each phase is supported by a chapter in Matthew where the Savior of the universe has words of wisdom and comfort to impart.
- Crisis Management. Every phase is supported by a section in Revelation with advice on how to overcome the worst crises imaginable.
The above correspondences are described in detail in my books, but summarized in a table in There is a Season. The rest of this article will supply the proof that Paul's letters really do conform to the Growth Pattern.
Romans: From Earthly Security to Eternal Security
The Apostle Paul speaks of peace more than any other Bible writer. It is the final step in both the Growth and Harvest Patterns, the pinnacle and roof of Lady Wisdom's house. He declares this overarching theme for all his writings with his first blessed greeting:
To all those in Rome who are loved by God
and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Romans 1:7
Paul then plunges into the legal case against mankind, declaring that all people, Jew and Gentile alike, are under God's wrath, because lacking faith, they prove by their actions that the peace of God is not in them:
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
- Romans 3:15-17
Then he declares the good news, that we can be saved from God's wrath, being justified by faith in Jesus Christ, and so find peace:
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him we have also obtained access by faith
into this grace in which we stand,
and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
- Romans 5:1-2
In Solomon's list of times, the first life phase of Security includes the times to be born, to die, to be planted, and to be uprooted. In Romans, the first two times, birth and death, are monumental. While every human selfishly clings to their own life as though it was the most important thing in the universe, Paul declares that what saves our life is Christ's death, and what reconciles us to God in peace is Christ's resurrected life:
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God
by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled,
shall we be saved by his life.
- Romans 5:10
He then reiterates the strong connection between Christ's death and resurrection and our dying to self and being reborn, via the mechanism of baptism:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized
into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death,
in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his,
we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
- Romans 6:3-5
This dying to self and being raised to life in Christ is the taking on of a new identity. It is such a wonder when new Christians learn that they are "set free from sin, [and] have become slaves of righteousness." as it says in Romans 6:18. This is one of Paul's most important teachings, one which revolutionized my life when taught to me by Pastor David Hill Sr in a seminar many years ago.
After this marvelous revelation, Paul proceeds to tackle the heart of the matter and the defining quality of this phase in Solomon's Growth pattern, the eternal security of the believer. In Romans 7, Paul addresses the problem that sin remains at work in the believer and must be opposed for the rest of our earthly life. He admits that this internal war in his flesh between his good desires and his weak character is disheartening and almost persuades him that he has lost his salvation, until a blessed though rallies his spirit:
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right,
evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God,
in my inner being, but I see in my members another law
waging war against the law of my mind and making me
captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from
this body of death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind,
but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
- Romans 7:21-25
Jesus will prevail! Thus nothing inside us can destroy the security that we have in Jesus. Then what about external forces? Are there Satanic or political or natural forces that can overthrow the faith of the believer and tear from them this blessed assurance? In Romans 8, Paul answers with a resounding, "No!"
What then shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up
for us all, how will he not also with him
graciously give us all things?
Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?
It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn?
Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that,
who was raised—who is at the right hand of God,
who indeed is interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation,
or distress,
or persecution,
or famine,
or nakedness,
or danger,
or sword?
As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us. For I am sure that
neither death nor life,
nor angels nor rulers,
nor things present nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from
the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Romans 8:31-39
If any book in the Bible declares the doctrine of eternal security, it is this one.
If being born and dying are about our identity, then being planted and uprooted are about our relationships and our community. In Romans 11, Paul speaks at length about how the Jews in unbelief were cut from the natural olive tree (Israel) so that new branches might be grafted in (the Gentile believers). Yet he holds out hope that they might be grafted back in and cautions humility, lest by pride a believer offend God and be cut out. Cutting and grafting are direct analogies to plucking and planting. Our shelter is not a house but the Church, and our food is not meat and potatoes but the wine and bread of communion.
The surface meaning of Solomon's times is the growth of an individual from infancy to full maturity, the maturing of our earthly bodies. Paul in Romans 12 then applies this metaphor to the Church as the body of Christ.
For as in one body we have many members,
and the members do not all have the same function,
so we, though many, are one body in Christ,
and individually members one of another.
- Romans 12
Taking all this together, Romans, though it covers many topics, devotes the core of the argument to addressing the security of believers in their individual salvation and incorporation into the body of Christ. The apostle does this as one of his exhortations that the gospel given to him leads ultimately to a life of peace with God, eternally.
1 Corinthians: From Human Ability to Spiritual Gifts
Solomon's second phase comprises the times to kill, heal, tear down and build up. Identifying that as a metaphor for a parent teaching their child how to use their mind and hands productively was one of the trickier bits of sleuthing. It was a cultural reference to American military training that pointed me in the right direction. Basic training is intended to break the new recruit down, then stabilize them, then build them up.
It is principally by reference to other books that follow Solomon's pattern that I found internal support from the Bible. For example, Proverbs 8-11 matches this phase, and has these words:
A wise son makes a glad father,
but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.
- Proverbs 10:1,4-5
Proverbs 8 is about Wisdom's role in creating the universe, and Proverbs 9 is about building Lady Wisdom's house. It is not rocks, trees, and buildings that need the most care in construction, it is children. Also, consider the shifting fortunes of the righteous and wicked:
When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.
- Proverbs 11:10
Though this applies to communities and nations, it also applies to individuals. It is good when the desire and inclination inside a child to do evil is killed, and the desire to do good takes root. The part of Ecclesiastes that addresses this era does so with a despairing tone that makes the connection clearest:
I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun,
seeing that I must leave it to the man who will
come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise
or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled
and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.
- Ecclesiastes 2: 18-19
Solomon is tormented that the one who inherits all that he built, likely his son, will be a fool. In that case he will have failed to teach that son the abilities needed to make wise use of his inheritance.
What then of 1 Corinthians? It does not speak of training children in earthly talents. Its focus is on training church members in how to develop their spiritual gifts to build up the church in unity, not tear it down in chaos, pride and selfish ambition. Paul is trying to guide that church from infancy to the next phase of growth, but is encountering difficulty:
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people,
but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were
not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready...
- 1 Corinthians 3:1-2
Paul continues, speaking of planting, watering and growing, calling the church "God's field, God's building." In his stern language, Paul uses the language of a father disciplining his son, saying:
What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod,
or with love in a spirit of gentleness?
- Romans 4:21
After addressing conflicts over leadership, sexual immorality and other topics, including idolatry and the proper way to celebrate communion, he gets at last to spiritual gifts in chapter 12, beginning with "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed..." He says that these gifts were given by God to bring unity and not cause division:
Now there are varieties of gifts,
but the same Spirit;
and there are varieties of service,
but the same Lord;
and there are varieties of activities,
but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
- Romans 12:4-5
Paul speaks at length about how the church is one body, and each part needs all the others. Thus the idea from Solomon of a single person growing to maturity is now translated into the whole Body of Christ growing to maturity, for "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." (Romans 12:27)
After this, he defines love in chapter 13, which is the spirit in which those gifts must be exercised. The gifts are wonderful, but love is better for those gifts are temporary as "Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away." (Romans 13:8)
Paul resumes speaking about spiritual gifts in the next chapter, before progressing to the glorification of the saints in Romans 15, the resurrection from the dead. Solomon's references to "a time to tear down and a time to build up" now come full circle in Paul's message. He faulted the Corinthians for being immature, proud, divisive, individualistic people whose actions were tearing the church apart. His appeal was to them to be unified, like a single body, not selfish but loving each other. However, now he also addresses the individual aspect of salvation. Each believer will be glorified individually, when they die and are resurrected into their new bodies. This distinguished Christianity from many other religions. It is either/or: an individual reward or dissolution into a collective entity. In Christ you both retain your identity and are able to commune closely with others in love.
In direct fashion, Paul speaks three times to one of Solomon's times for this era, "a time to heal":
- 1 Corinthians 12:9: to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
- 1 Corinthians 12:28: And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
- 1 Corinthians 12:30: Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
However, taken in totality, the main thrust of this letter is Solomon's "a time to build up", as Paul seeks to build up the church. Eleven times he uses the analogy of a building, or describes the act of building upon or building up:
- 1 Corinthians 3:9: For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
- 1 Corinthians 3:10: According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.
- 1 Corinthians 3:12: Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—
- 1 Corinthians 8:1: Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.
- 1 Corinthians 10:23: “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.
- 1 Corinthians 14:4: The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
- 1 Corinthians 14:12: So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
- 1 Corinthians 14:26: What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.
So be healed and built up!
2 Corinthians: From Emotional Stability to Godly Comfort
The third phase of Solomon's Growth Pattern is the clearest of the lot, gaining emotional stability. The times to weep and laugh are about gaining verbal self control, while mourning and dancing are about physical self control, namely learning not to act out in violence against every slight on the one hand, or curling up in a ball in terror on the other. It is therefore no surprise that the thrust of 2 Corinthians is a discussion of those fruits of the spirit needed most by the Christian undergoing painful trials.
It is easy to confuse the former and the latter. Solomon's wisdom is for learning to deal with the normal trials of life and the teen years. The lessons to be taught by the Holy Spirit and described by Paul are not about mastering natural trials but supernatural. We need faith, hope, peace and perseverance from a source and to a degree that cannot be acquired through natural means.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we
may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction,
with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings,
so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation;
and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort,
which you experience when you patiently endure the
same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you
is unshaken, for we know that as you share in
our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
- 2 Corinthians 3-7
Paul turned the comfort setting up to ten. (Comfort in its various forms occurs nineteen times throughout the letter.) This is comfort flowing from Christ to us, from us to each other, and even from one suffering person to another suffering person. I was delivered from a decade of depression by the mediation of a woman on her deathbed. I visited her to comfort her, but it was I who left her room first in tears, then in joy as the Holy Spirit set me free. This is miraculous comfort. This is the comfort that flows into and between believers because we are one in the Lord. I could not believe or understand it until by God's grace I experienced it.
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.
But that was to make us rely not on ourselves
but on God who raises the dead.
- 2 Corinthians 1:9
Only faith in this God of all comfort can cause people to willingly undertake tasks on behalf of others that strains them to the breaking point, hopeful that Jesus will supply their needs eventually. In chapter 2, Paul has such concern for the soul of the church member he insisted be disciplined that he offers his forgiveness. A man under severe trials cares for the soul of a sinner who injured the church! That is divine comfort that no man may counterfeit.
Is comfort all that Paul speak about? The letter would be one-sided if that were so. These times are not just to laugh and dance, but to weep and laugh, to mourn and dance. The Apostle draws attention to the critical place of mournfulness, of "godly grief", which produces a superior result to "worldly grief":
For even if I made you grieve with my letter,
I do not regret it—though I did regret it,
for I see that that letter grieved you,
though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice,
not because you were grieved, but because
you were grieved into repenting.
For you felt a godly grief,
so that you suffered no loss through us.
For godly grief produces a repentance
that leads to salvation without regret,
whereas worldly grief produces death.
For see what earnestness this godly grief
has produced in you, but also what eagerness
to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear,
what longing, what zeal, what punishment!
At every point you have proved yourselves
innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you,
it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong,
nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong,
but in order that your earnestness for us
might be revealed to you in the sight of God.
Therefore we are comforted.
- 2 Corinthians 7:8-13
In a letter that speaks about disagreements, a difficult visit, harsh words, grief, and great trials, what word stands out? Rejoice! Six times Paul speaks of his preference to rejoice over them, not cause them grief, and so he includes it in his final command, along with more talk of comfort and continuing to shine a light on the path to peace.
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration,
comfort one another, agree with one another,
live in peace; and the God of love and
peace will be with you.
- 2 Corinthians 13:11
Galatians: From Amity to 'The Right Hand of Fellowship'
On Solomon's clock, we first have gathering and scattering stones, which speak of cooperation in tasks (or the lack). Then we have times to embrace and refrain from embracing. This embracing can be of people, of ideas, or of which leader's direction to take. This letter of Paul touches on all these facets. The "peace" has hardly left his mouth before he jumps into his complaint:
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting
him who called you in the grace of Christ and are
turning to a different gospel...
- Galatians 1:6
The charge of cooperating with the wrong people and listening to the wrong voices is stark. The Galatians have stopped cooperating with Paul. He contrasts their behavior, of leaving the truth to follow a lie, with his own transformation, from persecutor to professing Christian:
They only were hearing it said,
“He who used to persecute us is now
preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
- Galatians 1:23
If people are going to form factions, he points out how the leaders in the church in Jerusalem extended to him the right hand of fellowship:
and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed
to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me,
they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me,
that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
- Galatians 2:9-10
What about issues in which Paul disagreed with those leaders of the church? Later in the chapter Paul talks about how he called out Saint Peter himself for his hypocrisy of pretending to keep kosher, but only when the circumcision party was around. Paul was proved right. Thus Paul shows the Galatians that the church that once feared him embraced him and the leaders of the church were forced to admit that he was right on a critical matter. Was Paul insisting that they listen to him uncritically, without reservation, as cult leaders do? No! He told them not to listen to him or even an angel if anything he or it says today is different from what he first preached:
But even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach to you a gospel contrary
to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
- Galatians 1:8
Paul tells them you can have works of the law or works of faith, but not both. It is a bright line of embrace or don't embrace. Then wonder of wonders, he tells them that there are divisions you can cross, worldly considerations that are no impediment to the right hand of fellowship:
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ
have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free,
there is no male and female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you are Christ's, then you are
Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.
- Galatians 3:27-28
At the same time that Paul maps out a narrow road for them to follow about matters of truth, he also opens up a wide road, free from racism, classism, and sexism. In one verse, Paul's notion of whom we may embrace or not embrace has turned the world upside down.
If Paul's original hearers (or we moderns) miss the point, WE WERE THOSE SLAVES.
But when the fullness of time had come,
God sent forth his Son, born of woman,
born under the law, to redeem those who
were under the law, so that we might
receive adoption as sons.
And because you are sons,
God has sent the Spirit of his Son
into our hearts, crying,
“Abba! Father!” 7
So you are no longer a slave, but a son,
and if a son, then an heir through God.
- Galatians 4:4-7
When it comes to embracing, do not think first about your decisions about whom to embrace, your reasons for whom to refrain from embracing, think first of the one who embraced you.
Father. Son. Holy Spirit.
Knowing who embraced you makes all the difference. And how do you know who around you is embracing God? You know by these unmistakable signs:
But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;
against such things there is no law.
- Galatians 5:22-23
And when you embrace, you must also "gather stones together", cooperating by doing this:
Bear one another's burdens,
and so fulfill the law of Christ.
- Galatians 6:2
Do this, and you earn Paul's final blessing of peace:
And as for all who walk by this rule,
peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
- Galatians 6:16
Ephesians: From Material Opportunity to Spiritual Blessing
Solomon's times in this case are easy to grasp.
- What do people seek? Wealth, power, prestige, fame...
- What do people give up seeking for? For many, it is heaven, or God, or truth or morals.
- What do people keep? As much as we can, because we are selfish.
- What do people throw away? Broken things. Broken people. Broken dreams.
This phase of life is about advancing your career, rising in your position in society, and acquiring wealth and possessions. However, Jesus told us to store up treasures in heaven. Paul in Ephesians tells us how to go about doing that. He begins by telling us of the gracious gifts of God. They are so many, I can't even give the full quote!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places...
... be holy and blameless ... predestined ... for adoption
... blessed us in the Beloved ... redemption
... forgiveness ... grace ... lavished
... all wisdom and insight
... making known to us the mystery
... a plan for the fullness of time
... an inheritance, ... predestined
... to the praise of his glory.
... you heard the word of truth
... the gospel of your salvation
... believed ... sealed with the promised Holy Spirit
... guarantee of our inheritance
Despite all this, Paul prays that his hearers would receive even more:
... the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him
... eyes of your hearts enlightened
... know ... the hope to which he has called you
... the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints
... the immeasurable greatness of his power
We do not receive these gifts by striving selfishly like the heathen. Instead, we receive them by faith, a gift of God's grace.
For by grace you have been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them.
- Ephesians 2:8-10
Again we hear Paul trumpet the clarion call of peace between Jew and Gentile, man and God:
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one
and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall
of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments
expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself
one new man in place of the two, so making peace,
and might reconcile us both to God in one body
through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off
and peace to those who were near.
- Ephesians 2:14-17
Surely peace with God is a great heavenly treasure! Yet in the next chapter, Paul discloses the greatest treasure of all:
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
that according to the riches of his glory he may
grant you to be strengthened with power through
his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ
may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you,
being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength
to comprehend with all the saints what is
the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
- Ephesians 3:14-19
No matter how long a list of heavenly treasures we itemize, we shall never reach the full count, for the fullness of God is the ultimate treasure. And unlike those who live solely by Solomon's times "under the sun", we do not have to work to get these treasures. Instead, like Paul, we work to give them away:
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints,
this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles
the unsearchable riches of Christ...
- Ephesians 3:8
And how much are we each apportioned to distribute:
But grace was given to each one of us according
to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
- Ephesians 4:7-8
There are two ways to read the preceding. Maybe Jesus divvied up the pie and gave you one slice, which might be large or might be small. Or maybe it is in proportion to "the measure of Christ's gift" which was infinite, meaning every time you give some grace away to others there is another portion waiting for you when you come back for seconds. All I know is that I keep going back to Jesus for more, and have not yet come away empty.
This fifth phase is about work and career when speaking of this world, but about divine calling when speaking of the next. Paul does not fail to speak of this:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,
the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints
for the work of ministry, for building up the
body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of
the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer
be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried
about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning,
by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up
in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
from whom the whole body, joined and held together
by every joint with which it is equipped,
when each part is working properly, makes the
body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
- Ephesians 4:11-16
Here the divinely called workers are helping to bring the church to full maturity in the faith. This directly ties the theme of work and career to the task of discipleship. Paul even gives practical, moral advice on the subject of work and possessions - do not steal!
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor,
doing honest work with his own hands,
so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
- Ephesians 4:28
Paul expands this to include covetousness in 5:3. We cannot covet the things of this world if we are to expect to receive the things of the next:
For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is
sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous
(that is, an idolater), has no inheritance
in the kingdom of Christ and God.
- Ephesians 5:5
Paul goes on to speak about how to be charitable and kind in our working relationships, between husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and slaves. Then he reaches a great climax by showing how these heavenly treasures are not for show. We don't display them in a glass case or on a mantle. No, they constitute the very armor of God and will enable us to resist the attacks of the evil one, even serving as "shoes for your feet, ... the readiness given by the gospel of peace." (Ephesians 6:15)
And again, Paul ends his letter with a blessing of peace, along with love, faith and grace.
Philippians: From Secular Community to Church Community
The sixth phase of the Growth Pattern encompasses the times to tear and mend, be silent and speak. It is about conflict and its resolution through forgiveness, and about maintaining open lines of communication by listening before speaking. This is all about fostering a healthy community. In Solomon's application to normal human society, this makes sense as a distinct phase. However, in the context of the church, it becomes confusing to distinguish the unique focus of Paul's letter to the Philippians. The church is already a community, so every one of his letters to the churches is about building and maturing that community.
The letter's surface opacity is countered by its power. This letter was both singularly difficult for me to understand and uniquely powerful in the effect it had on my life. It occupies my blind spot as a human being who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome; this letter is all about empathy. People on the Autism spectrum struggle with empathy, because it requires observing the people around you, forming a mental model of their inner emotional states and by intuition determining how to respond appropriately. That is a skill we possess in a limited form. It is the skill of empathy that opens up the world of community. Lacking it isolates you from many forms of human interaction. This loneliness shapes your identity and can make assimilation into the church painful. For me, this was doubly difficult, as I did not receive the diagnosis until I entered my forties. I was blind and didn't know it.
What I will now share is a more complete account of my struggle with Philippians than I normally give. It is deeper because Solomon has only recently helped me see beyond the smaller consequences that were obvious to me as a young Christian. Now I see things clearer, so understand how long the road can be for a neurodivergent outcast to fully enter into communion with other believers.
In February 1986, I journeyed to New Hampshire with fellow students from MIT for a Christian retreat. It may have been at Camp Berea, but my recollection is poor. We were to study the Book of Philippians. After a day of reading and discussion, I was confused. I couldn't understand what it was about. During break time, I took a long walk on the frozen lake. It was cold and desolate, but I liked the silence. Too much time with people was exhausting. The next morning I said I had to return to campus at MIT and another student agreed to drive me. I quit the retreat early, frustrated that it made no sense to me.
Years later, I would understand why. Philippians uses words like joy, rejoice, and rejoicing fourteen times. I was just past the halfway point of a decade of deep depression. I longed for joy. I just couldn't see how anything in Paul's letter could get me there. You see, it says, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." (Philippians 2:3) It is all about sacrificing yourself for others, just like Jesus did for us. The emotional energy! The empathy! The endurance! Those necessary qualities were the things I lacked. At the time I had no conscious idea that this was the cause of my unbelief. I was just empty and in my heart and subconscious believed it impossible to live as Paul told us to live.
Last night I watched a movie called "Tyson's Race", about an autistic marathon runner. At the end of the film, they flash this verse up on the screen:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,
but only one gets the prize?
Run in such a way as to get the prize.
- 1 Corinthians 9:24
That film explains it all so well. This poor boy, misunderstood, ridiculed, found a dream: to win a marathon and run faster than some of the fastest runners in the world. He pursued that dream and he was victorious, but he did not get there on his own. Another runner coached him, his mother fought for him to be given the chance to train, his father put his career on hold to encourage him, and finally the community rallied behind him, handing him water as he ran to a remarkable finish.
That was what I could not see. 1 Corinthians only challenges us to run the race; Philippians tells us how to win.
As a team.
All my spirit could see was the cost. I could not see the cheering bystanders, coaches, parents and doctors working together to make it a reality. I never had that. I could never see that. I could not imagine that. I could not dream that. So what happened? A few weeks after leaving that retreat in defeat, I accompanied my Bible study leader as he visited a new church. It was early March, 1986, the day I first walked through the doors of Ruggles Baptist Church. That month, I was filled with joy. I didn't know the cause then, but I do now. That was not the end of my struggle with depression, but it was the beginning of the end. I was finally home.
It would be decades before I connected my reading but not understanding Philippians to this breakthrough. There is joy in entering the Church and there is joy in going forth from the Church. The first joy comes from receiving the grace that God pours into His body. The second, greater joy comes from carrying that grace to others. I had just received the lesser joy of fellowship. Thirty-eight years later, I am still at that church; I am still receiving that joy.
It was this miracle (and others) of the Bible changing me even though I could not understand it that taught me the meaning of this parable from Mark:
He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like.
A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day,
whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows,
though he does not know how. All by itself
the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head,
then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the
grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it,
because the harvest has come.”
- Mark 4:26-29
Over the course of the next several years, I returned again and again to Philippians, rebuffed each time with confusion. Then in the Fall of 1988, pastor Larry made a fateful appeal. He asked members of the congregation to visit Janet Sullivan, who suffered rheumatoid arthritis and was confined to a nursing home. The last time I had visited a hospital with a charity was traumatic; I helped throw an Easter party for the children at the Shriner's Burn Unit. I hardened my heart and refused to visit Janet.
Week after week, Pastor Larry repeated his appeal. When I learned the address of her facility, I was cut to the heart. She lived a block from my apartment in Somerville, two towns removed from the church. Of everyone at Ruggles, I was was her only neighbor. One Sunday morning I mustered the courage. I brought a worship music cassette recorded by the church, introduced myself, read her some scripture, and prayed for her. I had never seen someone with such intense, constant pain. After I left, I sobbed for a half hour as I walked to church. I have never cried so hard for somebody other than myself as I did for Janet that day. This autistic kid with a paucity of empathy suddenly got a full dose and it broke me. After I passed Central Square, peace settled into my heart. A few minutes later, as I crossed the BU Bridge over the Charles River, joy flooded my soul. It far exceeded the joy I experienced the month after I started coming to Ruggles Baptist. This joy would remain for a week. This joy ended my decade of depression and changed me forever for the better.
As soon as church let out that Sunday, I raced home, got out my Bible and began to read Philippians. I knew in my spirit that I would finally understand it and I did. I composed a ten page article on Philippians on the spot and it was printed in the Church newsletter. I was full and all I wanted to do was share my joy.
As exciting as that experience was, could I muster the will to make another visit to Janet? That is where the deeper glory of Philippians shines. A few weeks later, I was on the way home from school and missed my Green Line connection at Park Street. Normally, this would make me cross, but a pleasant thought entered my mind. Maybe by missing that train, I will run into someone that I would otherwise not have met? I hopped the next car to come along and looked about. Sure enough, a woman from my church was on that train. I asked what she was doing. She was going to visit Janet! I accompanied her, my second visit to Janet. That is the power of fellowship. That is the power of the church, enabling the weak - like me - to lend a hand, because I am not the only one doing the work.
I wold make a third visit to Janet and then she died, only six months after I met her. at the funeral, one of her other friends said something with which we all agreed, "When you were with Janet, it was like the Holy Spirit was pouring out of her."
In my books I liken this to a broken jar of perfume which fills the house with its fragrance. Janet was a faithful Christian who shared her faith even from her deathbed with all who visited her. We who visited her gave her a small comfort. She was a conduit of Grace straight from the throne of God to us.
Thanks to Janet I found a way out of my depression. Thanks to Janet, I gained deep insight into the Book of Job. thanks to Janet, I understand Philippians. Thanks to Janet, I discovered the larger joy of going out from the church carrying blessings to others. That is part of what Paul meant when he said to "make my joy complete".
There is normal community and then there is the unity of the Holy Spirit that enables me to serve you with the recognition that you are as important as me, your needs as valid as mine, and your place in God's kingdom as vital as mine. If a dying, bedridden woman in agony can do such things for me, no one is without value. The world cannot see this. It cannot believe this. The world gets angry for even suggesting this, for by it the church shows how cruel the world is and how in need of reform.
Remember the image of the runner? Paul takes it up again in Philippians.
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection
and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived
at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which
Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not
consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God
has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 3:10-14
In 1 Corinthians, Paul tells us to run to win. In Philippians, he has not yet reached his goal, but you can tell he senses that the finish line is just around the bend. Notice his phrasing: "participation in his sufferings". Paul is not suffering alone. He is suffering as part of a team, a body.
All of us, then, who are mature should take
such a view of things. And if on some point you think
differently, that too God will make clear to you.
- Philippians 3:15
Paul's message is again about attaining maturity in the faith. We see the pain and suffering, but we are not destroyed by it because we see more than pain and suffering. Instead:
Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—
think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received
or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.
And the God of peace will be with you.
- Philippians 4:8-9
Community, maturity, empathy, peace, and a race nearly complete. That is what Philippians is about.
Colossians: From Loyalty to Earthly Rulers to the Kingdom of God's Beloved Son
Solomon's final phase of growth is where everything you have learned so far is put to the test.
A time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
This is where your loyalties are tested. Whom do you serve? The difference between earthly loyalties and loyalty to the Son of God is stark. We must believe in him whom we have not seen. Jesus reserved this blessing for us:
Jesus said to him,
“Have you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
- John 20:29
Everything hinges on faith. This is the shortest of the seven letters conforming to the Growth Pattern. The fact that the letters are sorted by descending length seems to indicate that the pace of things is quickening and the end approaching. You can hear Paul as he labors to implant one final measure of wisdom and so leave the church complete:
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you,
asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will
in all spiritual wisdom and understanding...
- Colossians 1:9
Consider the subsequent superlatives:
fully pleasing to him...
bearing fruit in every good work...
strengthened with all power
all endurance and patience with joy
- Colossians 1:10-11 (selected)
Paul is giving them everything he has. He is pouring himself out for them. In this letter love may only appear five times and peace three, but there is no mistake that loyalty is in view. This is his declaration of their change of loyalties:
... the Father ... has qualified you to share in
the inheritance of the saints in light.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and
transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
- Colossians 1:12-14 (selected)
We are adopted and then airlifted out of the war zone and into a safe new country! New identity, new family, new country - every object of our loyalty has been changed, because he has forgiven our sins.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind,
doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body
of flesh by his death, in order to present you
holy and blameless and above reproach before him...
- Colossians 1:21-22
Now you can see the final push, a man who has run against the wall near the end of the marathon and has found one final burst of strength:
... the mystery hidden for ages and generations
but now revealed to his saints.
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles
are the riches of the glory of this mystery,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone
with all wisdom, that we may present everyone
mature in Christ. For this I toil,
struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
When I was younger, I was so captivated by this "mystery of God" that I wrote a worship song about it. Here is the chorus:
O the mystery of God, made plain to the world,
The width of his mercy by his pardon revealed,
The length of his love, by the gift of his Son,
The height of his grace by his spirit is sealed.
We know that a war is brewing, when Paul says, "For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you..." in Colossians 2:1. He is resupplying them during the battle with these words:
that their hearts may be encouraged,
being knit together in love,
to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding
and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
- Colossians 2:2-3
Here is the grand theme of these letters made plainest. To reach full maturity, we must receive all the treasures of wisdom of knowledge. In Job 28 that righteous man lamented that he did not know the path to wisdom, and now Paul has shown us the way! They are in Christ, and Christ is in us!
Paul has taught the church how to be "rooted and built up in him and established in the faith" (Colossians 2:7) He has warned us who are our adversaries, who hate us and are at war with us:
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy
and empty deceit, according to human tradition,
according to the elemental spirits of the world,
and not according to Christ.
- Colossians 2:8
Paul speaks of more than a battle, he proclaims a victory!
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive
together with him, having forgiven us all
our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt
that stood against us with its legal demands.
This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and
put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
- Colossians 2:13-15
Paul does not use the word hate, but he lays bare the world's hatred by telling us of their true aims, to:
take you captive by philosophy and empty deceit
pass judgment on you
disqualify you
Then after denouncing the worlds evil habits, he completes the picture of what qualities a fully mature Christian possesses:
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
compassionate hearts, kindness, humility,
meekness, and patience,
bearing with one another and,
if one has a complaint against another,
forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you,
so you also must forgive.
And above all these put on love,
which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
to which indeed you were called in one body.
And be thankful.
All of these are the hallmarks of the community-oriented person, not the rugged individualist. The list comes to its climax in peace and thanksgiving, a fitting concurrence with Solomon's list of times. Paul concludes his letter by emphasizing not how hard he has worked, but how hard everyone around him is working, for example:
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus,
greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers,
that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the
will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard
for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.
- Colossians 4:12-13
In the end, Paul has now around him people contending to bring the next generation of the church to full maturity in the faith. They were not many, but see how far they ran?
This concludes the seven letters of Paul that implement Solomon's Growth Pattern for the church. My brief analysis of these seven letters only scratches the surface of what they contain. What it has shown is the purpose and thrust of Paul's larger message. Course by course, Paul laid a complete doctrinal foundation upon which a mature Christian life can be patterned. By comparison to Solomon's times, we see that it proceeds in a logical fashion, setting forth the basic truths first, before proceeding to the more advanced. It tackles topics needed by the immature before those for the more mature. Matching this structure to other books in the Bible like the Psalms, Job, Proverbs and Matthew, one can cross reference to related concepts that can support and deepen the student's understanding. This structured and layered approach speaks of the deep wisdom and compassion of God for supplying such riches to us. It has taken me nearly forty decades as a Christian to climb to this height. May some who read these words thereby progress faster in the faith than I.
1 & 2 Thessalonians: From Death to Glorification
Wait! There's more!
- Jesus (through his apostles) taught us the way of salvation in the Gospels.
- Paul taught us sanctification through his first seven letters.
- Paul continues with 1 & 2 Thessalonians to teach us about the next stage: glorification
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure—
for the fine linen is
the righteous deeds of the saints.
- Revelation 19:7-8
Revelation speaks of three events:
- The Bride makes herself ready
- The Bridegroom (the Lamb) comes
- The marriage is celebrated
The Bride's preparation is sanctification, which we just covered in Paul's first seven letters. Now the bride sometimes gets worried that she is late for the wedding, because maybe the bridegroom has already come. Paul makes sure to put the rumors to rest and also teach about this glorious hope of the church.
First, Paul affirms that it is good to wait, for this is our blessed hope:
to wait for his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead,
Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:10
After wandering through his message in chapter 2 about how he wants to visit them again, Paul returns to the same idea:
For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting
before our Lord Jesus at his coming?
Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20
You can see the gears turning. Could the people be worried that Paul will be carried away to glory and forget them, getting his reward and leaving them in the dust? No, he tells them that they are his glory - their faith, obedience and acceptance of the gospel message that he preached is all the reward he needs, and he is not leaving without them. No, they will not be abandoned as orphans:
Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus,
direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase
and abound in love for one another and for all,
as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts
blameless in holiness before our God and Father,
at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13
Throughout the first three chapters, Paul has modeled for them his own hope - his future hope - that the Lord will return to rescue his own from this world. Now he at last speaks directly to the issue:
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers,
about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve
as others do who have no hope. For since we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus,
God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,
that we who are alive, who are left until the
coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have
fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend
from heaven with a cry of command, with the
voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the
trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Then in the final chapter, suspense. No one knows when the Lord will come.
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers,
you have no need to have anything written to you.
For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord
will come like a thief in the night.
While people are saying,
“There is peace and security,”
then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains
come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3
In Solomon's times, the final time is "a time for peace". The world will think it survived whatever calamities God sends leading up to that time, breathe a sigh of relief, enter their false time for peace, and then it will all end unexpectedly.
But since we belong to the day...
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace
at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:16
Links to the other articles in this section:
Spiritual Growth Introduction to the articles about spiritual growth.
What are Life's Twelve Most Important Questions? If you can answer these questions, you know the way better than the Mandelorian.
What are the Heavenly Treasures? It is one thing to list these treasures, quite another to acquire them!
The Harvest Pattern of Jesus A tactical pattern for overcoming an individual obstacle and reaping a single spiritual harvest.
The Growth Pattern of Solomon Overview of a strategic pattern to help you plan your whole life.
There is a Season The chapter from Peace, like Solomon Never Knew where I first introduced the Growth Pattern.
The Apostle Paul's Discipleship Program Shows how the first seven letters of Paul to the churches are arranged according to the Growth Pattern.
Seven Facets of Spirit-led Discipleship The Sermon on the Mount conforms to the Growth Pattern.
The Motherhood Pattern A strategic pattern for women.
The Law Pattern of Moses The law does more than restrict; it also guides.
The Journey Pattern It is a long journey back to Eden.
Emotional Prophecies of the Psalms
Job and the Ways to Talk to God
Job Description for a Savior Job knew what he needed in a savior. Do you?
Dreams Dreams can guide you, paralyze you, or lead you astray. In my case, it was all three.
Spiritual Warfare Somebody IS out to get you.
