Paul’s Letters

The collection of Paul’s letters is the literal center of the New Testament, bracketed by the Gospels and Acts on one side and the General Letters and Revelation on the other. The Pauline letters make up roughly 24 percent of the nt and historically have constituted the main source for Christian theological instruction and exhortation to discipleship. All Christian theology, preaching, and practice must engage deeply with Paul’s letters.

These documents are not treatises or sermons; they are letters, and they represent pastoral correspondence between the apostle and several young churches in the eastern Mediterranean. They are rooted in the local situation of the churches they address and in the particular context of Paul’s mission to the Gentiles. Reading these letters is a bit like listening to one side of a conversation or like reading someone else’s mail.

Authorship

Authorship of some of the 13 letters attributed to Paul is debated among modern scholars. Today, the letters usually are categorized as the undisputed letters (Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 Thessalonians, Philippians, Philemon), disputed letters (2 Thessalonians, Colossians, Ephesians), and pseudonymous letters (1–2 Timothy, Titus). Doubts about Pauline authorship of some of these letters are based on differences in vocabulary, theological themes, and alleged post-Pauline settings for the letters. Yet these arguments are not decisive, especially if Paul used coauthors or secretaries in many of his letters, and if he was broader in his literary and theological repertoire than ordinarily recognized. Although there is current debate, the early church received all 13 letters as authentically Pauline and circulated them as such; some in the early church also attributed Hebrews to Paul, but this is improbable.

Context and Background

Paul’s ministry takes place within the three-decade span between his conversion around ad 33 and his execution in Rome around ad 64. During this time, Paul engaged in three distinct missionary journeys to Asia Minor and Greece. He contended with opposition from local Jewish groups and civic officials, as well as from a faction of Jewish Christian proselytizers who wanted to bring his Gentile converts in line with Judaism by forcing them to be circumcised. Key events that occurred during Paul’s time and shaped his ministry include the reigns of Claudius, Caligula, and Nero as Roman Emperors; the rise of anti-Roman zealotry in Judaea (ad 40s–50s); the beginning of the Christian mission to non-Jews launched from Antioch (late ad 40s); the Jerusalem council (ad 50); missionary journeys across the Aegean Sea (ad 50–57); his return to Jerusalem with a collection of funds for famine relief, along with his subsequent arrest (ad 58); his journey to Rome (ad 59–60); and his imprisonment, release, second imprisonment, and execution in Rome (ad 60–64).

It is also significant for understanding Paul and his letters that he lived in three cultural worlds. He was a native Jew—a Pharisee by training—and thus enmeshed in the Jewish way of life. Yet Paul grew up in Tarsus, a Greek-speaking university town, and was well acquainted with Greek language and culture. Finally, as a Roman citizen, Paul was familiar with the politics and power of the Roman Empire. In many ways, Paul was the ideal figure to take the message of the Jewish Messiah to Greeks and Romans in the eastern Mediterranean, preaching and teaching in language, terms, and images they understood.

Basic Theological Themes

Romans

Romans is the great letter about the “righteousness of God,” the saving and transforming power of God revealed in the gospel. What is more, in Romans, Paul declares that his goal is to bring the Gentiles to the obedience of faith, as faithful followers of Jesus the Messiah and Lord.

1–2 Corinthians

Corinth was Paul’s problem church, racked by divisions, immorality, and even hostility toward him. In the Corinthian letters, Paul urges the believers to lead faithful lives in a pagan world, and he holds up Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as the example and authenticator of genuine Christian service.

Galatians

Paul defends the gospel against Jewish Christian intruders in Galatia who asserted that the Galatians must first become Jews in order to become Christians. Paul in turn responds by defending justification by faith and life in the Spirit, proving that God accepts Gentiles on the basis of faith in the Messiah.

Ephesians

This letter is likely circular letter meant to be shared among the churches in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), Ephesus chief among them. Paul provides an extended meditation on God’s glory to enrich believers in their knowledge of God’s grace. The lavish grace that believers have received should propel them to live in obedience to the one who called them.

Philippians

This letter of friendship reinforces the bonds of fellowship between Paul and the Philippians. Here Paul commends the virtues of faithfulness, generosity, and humility, especially in the majestic Christ-hymn (Phil 2:6–11), which shows that Christ is the paragon of self-giving love.

Colossians

Written to a church Paul did not plant, Colossians reminds the church of the sufficiency and supremacy of Jesus Christ and urges them on in faithfulness to Him.

1–2 Thessalonians

In these letters, Paul writes to the Thessalonians to encourage them in the face of hardship, to encourage them to be enthusiastic about the Lord’s return (1 Thessalonians), and to clarify any misunderstandings or misrepresentations about the Lord’s return (2 Thessalonians).

1–2 Timothy and Titus

Commonly known as the Pastoral Letters, these three letters encourage Paul’s co-workers Timothy and Titus in their respective ministries in Ephesus and Crete. They were written at the end of Paul’s life during a Roman imprisonment. These letters are perhaps best described as faithful sayings for faithful friends, and they set out key Christian doctrines to be defended and describe the main qualifications for those in Christian leadership.

Philemon

This letter was written to a slave owner named Philemon, who was part of the church in Colossae. Philemon was converted under Paul’s ministry, and Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, either ran away or absconded to Paul, and was converted also. Paul writes to Philemon to receive Onesimus back as a brother in the Lord and tacitly asks Philemon to release Onesimus to Paul’s care. The letter provides wonderful remarks on fellowship, love, and brotherhood.

Relationship to the Larger Biblical Narrative and Themes

Paul’s letters emphasize many major biblical-theological themes; some of the most important are Adam and Christ, Abraham and Covenant, Israel and Law, Jesus the Messiah, and Church and Mission.

Adam and Christ

The story of Adam’s creation and fall lurks behind the scenes (or comes into the spotlight) in several of Paul’s letters, especially in Romans 5:12–21; 7:6–25; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45; and Philippians 2:5–11. Paul tells of a world gone wrong in Adam and put right in Jesus. The coming of Jesus, the New Adam, undoes the condemnation, corruption, and death of the first Adam by bringing righteousness, renewal, and life to believers.

Abraham and Covenant

Paul belabors the point—especially in Galatians and Romans—that the promises made to Abraham were not short circuited by the introduction of the covenant at Sinai, the law of Moses, and Israel’s subsequent rebellion and exile. No, God still has one plan to bring the nations into the family of Abraham through his offspring, Jesus the Messiah. Abraham is not the exemplary proselyte who is circumcised and saved; rather, he is the model Christian who believes in the life-giving power of God, and he is made right by faith alone, not by works of the law.

Israel and the Law

If salvation is by faith and not by observing the Law, if salvation is for all nations and not just for Israel, then many of Paul’s hearers had some big questions. What was the point of the Law? How do you stop pagans from immoral idol-worship? Has God washed His hands of Israel? Paul’s answer to these questions, worked out across his letters, is that the Law was a temporary marker pointing to the salvation to come, not the terminal expression of that salvation. The Law remains good and holy, but it is no longer the constitution or primary charter for God’s people; these things have been replaced by the life and teaching of Jesus and new life in the Spirit. Ethnic Israel is not written off; God’s election of the nation is irrevocable, but “Israel” is a calling—a vocation inherited by all those who belong to Christ. Christ became a servant to Israel so that the promises made to the patriarchs, and ultimately all the nations, would become a reality.

Jesus the Messiah

Paul the Pharisee believed Jesus was a messianic pretender and a false prophet. But after his Damascus road experience, Paul came to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and Lord, who died and rose, and that he had been given a commission to proclaim this Jesus to the nations. For Paul, Jesus is the risen and exalted Son of God—an integral part of the very identity of the God of Israel. Paul knew that those crucified were, as Deuteronomy says, cursed (Deut 21:22–23). But if Christ was cursed, then God must have cursed Him to take the curse of our disobedience upon Himself. Jesus’ death is His atonement for sin.

Church and Mission

For Paul, the churches of Jesus Christ are linked by sharing one Lord, one gospel, one baptism, one faith, and fellowship in one mission. The Church in essence is just what Israel was always meant to become: the worshiping and Spirit-led community of the new covenant and the foretaste of the new creation. The Church is to be empowered by the Spirit; made up of people from all ethnicities; focused on Jesus’ death and resurrection; devoted to remembering Jesus’ teachings and imitating His life; united around baptism and the Lord’s Supper; and committed to God’s mission by witnessing to—and being invested in—the world, without being a reflection of the world.

Michael F. Bird

Further Reading

Paul, New Perspective On CLBD

The Formation of the New Testament

The Pastoral Letters

How to Study the Bible

Biblical Theology