What does it mean to take the Lord’s Name in vain?

Continuing his study series, Clifford Denton looks at the Apostle Paul's preparation for ministry.

Introduction

In these studies, our central purpose is to trace the origins of Christianity, the continuity from Old Testament to New Testament and the parting of the ways between Jews and Christians. By carefully considering these things we might come to the conclusion that now is our timely opportunity to return to our origins and repair what has been damaged in identity, relationship and witness.

Before the apostles were empowered to share the Gospel with the Gentiles, the Gospel message came first to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt 10:6, 15:24). In earlier studies we considered Acts 15 and the Hebraic background of Paul who, at the appointed time, became the Apostle to the Gentiles (Rom 11:13). The Gospel message then began to move out under the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

From the time of Ezekiel, the message to the scattered tribes of Israel and Judah was that individuals were responsible for their own sins (Ezek 18). This was a preparation for the Gospel, first offered to Israel and then to the Gentiles. The Gospel message is to individuals: a call through repentance and faith to accept the free gift of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus the Messiah. Yet, salvation has often been emphasised at the expense of community. It is Hebraic to think in terms of building community. Thus Paul preached the Gospel and also emphasised the community of Jewish and Gentile disciples in Jesus – the One New Man (Eph 2:15).

Paul's Ministry

If we consider the timing of Paul's ministry it helps us to understand the scriptural background to his message. We recall that Paul wrote to Timothy:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

What was "all Scripture" in Paul's day? It is thought that he wrote this letter from Rome in about 63 AD- quite late in his ministry. The earliest written Gospel account may have been compiled as late as 60 AD. We are unlikely to find exact dates for the New Testament writings, but these approximate dates help us to understand the context of Paul's ministry.

Paul came from the background of Judaism, where the writings of the Tanakh (Torah, Prophets and Writings of the Old Testament) were the recognised Scriptures. What was later to become the 'New Testament Canon' took some years to emerge. Also, the Church Councils such as Nicea (325 AD) had not yet taken place, which would re-define Christianity heavily biased towards the New Testament and more loosely linked to its Old Testament origins. The earliest Christian references to the various books of the New Testament begin from about 70 AD, so we can assume that Paul's 'Scripture' was the Tanakh, the Old Testament. This formed both the model and mindset for the community of faith to which Gentiles were invited. His teaching saw the Gospel message as the fulfillment of the shadows of all that went before.

We know from historical evidence that Paul's mentions of 'Scripture' were references to the Tanakh- that is the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings of the Old Testament."

The Spread of the Gospel

We can picture Paul on his missionary journeys, writing letters to the new congregations and to his friends between about 49 and 63 AD. He heard about the teaching of Jesus when he was still a zealot for traditional Judaism. Then, after a dramatic and personal meeting with the risen Messiah, he took time aside to reflect on these things, before embarking on his ministry to the Gentile world. He described this when he was in Jerusalem around 57 AD (recorded in Acts 22:3-21).

To get a sense for the timings of Paul's ministry, a broad timeline is useful:

• 33-34 AD: Paul was converted 'on the road to Damascus'.
• 34-43 AD: He then went to Arabia and Damascus for some years, where he had direct revelation concerning the Gospel. This was before any written record of New Testament Scripture.
• 43 AD: Paul visited the elders in Jerusalem and went to Antioch.
• 47-48 AD: Paul's first missionary journey.
• 49 AD: The Apostolic Council (Acts 15) was held in Jerusalem.
• 49-51 AD: Paul's second missionary journey.
• 52-56 AD: Paul's third missionary journey.

A study of the maps of his three missionary journeys is also helpful (along with a study of the New Testament records):

Paul's first missionary journey

Paul's second missionary journey.

Paul's third missionary journey.

Being Prepared for Ministry

Paul wrote about his call and experiences to the Galatians, and the whole picture of Paul's life and ministry within this time-frame is written in the Book of Acts:

I make known to you, brethren that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)

Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they were hearing only, "He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy." And they glorified God in me. (Gal 1:11-24)

We see that Paul, deeply schooled in the Tanakh, came to a dramatic revelation of the risen Jesus, being taken aside for a time of preparation. Here he considered the revelation of Jesus in the context of his former training in the rabbinical schools, still having the Tanakh (Old Testament) as his reference Scriptures. The way Jesus fulfilled the promises of the Torah, Prophets and Psalms came by personal revelation. The sources, therefore, of Paul's Gospel ('good news') to the Gentiles came out of his personal study and prayer with the Scriptures of the day as his reference point, and through revelation by the Holy Spirit. This was the "all Scripture" of 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Paul was rooted in the Messianic expectation of the Old Testament, and his personal preparation for ministry was through a revelation of Jesus as the fulfillment of this."

This, then, is the background from which we should consider the Gospel message brought by Paul to the Gentile world and later described to us through his letters and through the Gospel accounts. In a similar way, our foundational source for the Gospel message is the Tanakh (Old Testament). Without this foundation, the New Testament is out of context.

We, like Paul, should be rooted in the Messianic expectation of the Torah, the Prophets and Writings. We learn this from the walk of two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, where we also learn that Jesus confirmed what we have suggested to be Paul's position - the Gospel message emerged from the shadows of the Tanach:

Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!" Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:25-27)

For Study and Prayer

Consider how we might preach the Gospel message by using the Old Testament and the Gospel accounts.

Next time: Paul and the spread of the Gospel Part 2