Of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, Paul has written fourteen. Therefore, we may say that Paul’s Epistles occupy more than half of the books of the New Testament. In this chapter we need to see Paul’s part in the New Testament ministry from his fourteen Epistles.
No doubt Paul has covered many, many items in his fourteen Epistles. For this reason, it is easy for us to lose our direction when we begin to get into them, somewhat like a person who loses his direction going into a forest. I would particularly encourage the young brothers to spend much more time in reading Paul’s writings, if you mean business to get into their depths. You need to put aside your knowledge, your understanding of theology, philosophy, culture, religion, ethics, and morality and come to these fourteen books with a clear mind, even a clarified mind, and an emptied spirit, with a pure heart. Otherwise, you cannot get into what Paul has written. Furthermore, you need to read through the fourteen Epistles more than ten times. Do not read them all at one time but perhaps once or twice during this week, then again after a month, and continue in this way throughout a year’s time. As you are reading, you need to pick up the crucial points and to recall what you have seen through the Life-studies. If you put aside all your knowledge to empty yourself, clarify your mind, and purify your heart to read in this way, I believe you will see something.
After many years of study in this line, I can tell you that Paul’s part of the ministry of the New Testament is altogether not different from the part of the Lord Jesus. The only thing that constitutes a difference at all is that in Paul’s part the ministry has gone on. In fact, it has gone on very much from Christ to the church. You need to keep this one crucial point in mind in all your reading, that Paul’s fourteen books are on Christ and the church.
A number of years ago in Taiwan we began to use some slogans concerning Christ and the church: “We are for Christ and the church,” and, “The great mystery is Christ and the church.” Expressions like these are still being used among many of you dear ones from the Far East, but according to my observation, you failed to go on further to study all the aspects concerning Christ. You used these slogans, but you did not dig into their meaning. Regretfully, it seems that you have taken the easy way. When you go out to preach and when you teach, minister, or pray, you carry out all these things according to what you have already learned. I am afraid that you are like a high school graduate who refuses to go further into the sphere of a university, or like a university graduate who refuses to go on into the realm of graduate study. Instead, you remain where you are and use all the things that you received long ago. Therefore, it is hard for people to see any improvement in your understanding of Christ in different aspects or in your understanding concerning the church.
In your understanding concerning Christ and the church, you have received a certain amount. You merely keep what you have and use what you have, but there is no progress, no improvement. In such a case, it is always easy not only for your listeners to lose interest but also for you yourself because there is no freshness. Some of you are teaching the things concerning Christ still in about the same way, with the same points, and the same aspects, as we were teaching thirty years ago.
Suppose you are learning something further concerning mathematics above the university level in graduate school. As a graduate student in mathematics, your presentation to the elementary students is very interesting to them. You are able to teach in a very elementary way with rich points that attract people. Your teaching is much different from that of a high school graduate who is learning mathematics and trying to teach mathematics in the elementary school with a teaching that always causes everyone to lose interest.
Now we come to Paul’s teachings concerning Christ. I would like to give you some direction to help you get into Paul’s teachings concerning Christ and the church. You need much study after you have read the fourteen Epistles at least ten times.
After you have finished the reading, you need to take a subject such as the incarnation of Christ and study this matter in Paul’s writings. At this point in your study, you should not go to other books, but pick up all the verses directly or indirectly related to this point in Paul’s writings. Then you need to put all the verses concerning the incarnation of Christ together and pray—undoubtedly you will see something there.
If you take this way to get into Paul’s writings, I believe you will see much. For example, very few readers pay attention to the opening word of Paul in the book of Romans. First he tells us that what he is going to write is the gospel of God, which was spoken by the prophets in the past, concerning His Son. From this point, he goes on to tell us that according to the flesh, Jesus Christ is out of the seed of David, but according to the Spirit of holiness, He has been designated the Son of God (Rom. 1:1-4). Here the person of Christ is very much described, not just revealed. Therefore, here is a verse with at least one point that indicates Christ’s incarnation. To say that Christ came out of the seed of David according to the flesh is directly related to His incarnation. Nevertheless, I doubt that many of you have ever paid attention to this point in reading Romans because you have been possessed with the concept that Romans is concerning sin, concerning God’s condemnation, or concerning God’s justification, sanctification, and transformation.
In the opening word of Romans, however, the apostle Paul does not tell us that the gospel is concerning these matters. He stresses that the gospel of God is concerning God’s Son, the One according to two elements—according to the flesh and according to the Spirit. Some of you may have read this book a number of times, but I doubt that you have paid your full attention to this point. I am afraid that you know a lot, but you neglect the person of Christ.