Henry T. Sell

“ The Old Faiths and the New.—In this second group of Epistles, Galatians, First and Second Corinthians, and Romans, we enter upon a period of conflict in which Christianity is being defined, and differentiated from Judaism and Heathenism. No great truth ever came into the world without a battle for its right to the attention of men.
The new faith in Christ made large claims for itself. It marked an advance upon Judaism and maintained that in Christ was fulfilled all the promises made by the prophets of the coming of the Jewish Messiah. It radically antagonized the heathen religions. ”

“ To these ideas Paul opposed the true doctrine of the Headship of Christ (2:19) and that He is the only link between God and the universe (1:15-17) . "By Him were all things created (1:16) that are in heaven and that are in earth." Christ is the only Mediator (1:13, 14) . In this faith there is no place for ascetic mortification. Evil is in our unwillingness to live the life in Christ. In Christ we are dead to sin and risen with Him to a life of holiness (2:20-23; 3:1-4) . Christ is not only our Redeemer (1:14) and the Head of the church, but the source of creation and its Lord (1:16, 17) . ”

“ It had a double task to win men out of Judaism and heathenism. Only by a careful study of these great doctrinal Epistles, and the circumstances out of which they arose, can it be seen how really great was this task.
The Great Question was: "On what terms does God save men? Does He owe salvation to any because of what they have done, or does He bestow it as an unmerited favor upon condition of trust and self-surrender?" Paul maintained that the sole basis of salvation is the grace of God through Jesus Christ to be appropriated by faith on the part of man. ”

“ They often know nothing and care less for spiritual things and heart righteousness. Sensuality, and all its attendant evils, driven from the old heathen temples, manifests itself in many ways; it still seeks to array itself in beautiful garments that it may lure many to ruin. There is need of repeating over again the arguments of Paul for a pure life lived in the faith of Jesus Christ, and the spiritual upbuilding of the soul through Him. Paul also insists upon good works as the outcome of faith, but faith must come first. ”

“ When Paul and Barnabas sought to restrain the priests and people from doing sacrifice to them, it is interesting to note what words Paul uses in addressing them. As with the Jews he here seeks first of all a common ground. He says, "We are men of like passions with you and preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein; who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. ”

“ We see the marvelous changes wrought in the lives and characters of the converts. We note that the triumphs of faith were won through a belief in the Divine Son of God and the power of the Holy Ghost. The struggles and difficulties of these early Christians in coming out of heathenism are depicted in a masterly way. Paul, in his endeavor to guide aright the churches, of which he had been the spiritual father, shows what he believes and teaches about God, the Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ, sin, redemption, and the future state of the soul. ”

“ With the first class of Jews it was not so difficult to deal, for they were out and out antagonists, but the Jewish Christians, (who still clung to the Jewish law) were constantly making trouble not only amongst the Christian Jews, who had fully come out from under the law of Moses and expressed their faith in Christ, but also among the Christian Gentiles who had come out of the heathen religions. The masterly arguments of Paul, presented in Galatians and Romans, deal chiefly with the doctrine of justification by faith in Jesus Christ alone. ”

“ It having been reported to Paul that four parties were striving for mastery in the church and there was great contention; he rebukes the party spirit, sets forth the principles of his teaching, and declares that Christ alone is the center of the Christian system. Faith stands not in the wisdom of men. The only foundation is in Christ. ”

“ Paul in his argument (Acts 26:1-29) before Festus and King Agrippa II., took the ground that Christianity, as an outgrowth of Judaism, had a legal status. Paul said that he preached that the Messiah had come in the person of Jesus Christ and this was the One whom Moses and the prophets had foretold, (a) Paul's introduction is very courteous. He recognizes King Agrippa as well versed "in all customs and questions which are among the Jews." (b) He declares his early life to be well known, as a Jew, and, of the strictest sect, a Pharisee. ”

“ Objections against free grace that it will multiply sin or discredit the law are taken up and answered. Thorough union with Christ on the part of the believer annihilates sin and the law has no more any power. The believer justified by his faith in Christ is dead to the law while quickened to a new and holy life by the Spirit. ”

“ The Message which Paul bore to Jew and Gentile was the moving force of all his work. The starting point was the memorable day when Jesus Christ appeared to him on his way to Damascus. Paul believed that he received his commission as an apostle directly from Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:1-24) . The four main positions of Paul, set forth so plainly in his Epistle to the Romans, are: (a) All are guilty before God (Jew and Gentile) . (b) All need a Savior. (c) Christ died for all. (d) We are all (through faith) one body in Christ. Paul leaves us in no doubt as to how he regards Jesus Christ. ”

“ The tumult made by Demetrius (Acts 19:23-40) is a strong proof of the large impression made by the gospel of Jesus Christ upon not only the city of Ephesus but all Asia Minor. The burning of the magical books had arrested the attention of many people, but when the sale of the silver images of the idol, Diana, began to fall off so as to touch the trade of the silversmiths they were up in arms at once. Demetrius showed how the power of Christ had prevailed with men when he declared that, "Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that there be no gods which are made with hands." ”

“ He sought of himself, before he was apprehended by Christ on the way to Damascus, to drive Christianity from the face of the earth.
The Leading Thought in Paul's mind, after his conversion, was personal devotion to Christ; this was the mainspring of every act. He said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me": (Gal. 2:20) . "For me to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21) . In his letters to the churches which he founded, there are found no picturesque descriptions of cities or of scenery; his one thought is to make known the Christ. ”

“ It is a well known fact however that the near approach of a great joy or sorrow unfits men and women for the ordinary pursuits of life. Paul, in his first letter to the members of the church of Thessalonica, spoke of the second coming of Christ to relieve their minds of a worry over those who had died since he had preached to them (lest they should not see the Lord when He came) , and also to encourage them in their faith (1 Thess. 4:13-18) . It seems that Paul was taken to mean by what he wrote that Christ's coming was near at hand. ”

“ Philippi (Acts 16:12-40) will be forever memorable as the first city in Europe in which a Christian church was established. It had the character of a Roman rather than a Greek city; both the civil and the military authorities being Roman. It had the rank of a Roman colony. Situated as it was on the great Egnatian way travelers and traders passed through it, eastward and westward, from all parts of the Roman world. "The Greek character in this northern province of Macedonia was more vigorous and much less corrupted than in the more polished society of the south. ”

“ There is no doubt, no hesitation on Paul's part in delivering his message. He is a witness, testifying to the glory of his Divine Lord. He is a messenger who cannot alter or tamper with that which has been entrusted to him. To the rude inhabitants of the mountain regions of Asia Minor, to the philosophers in Athens, to the Roman governors in Cæsarea, to the dwellers in Corinth and in Rome the purport of the Message is always the same. ”

“ To bridge the chasm between God and the matter of the world a long chain of intermediate beings was conceived to exist. This doctrine played havoc with the simplest moral conceptions for if matter is evil, and its source, then man's sin is not in his will, but in his body. Redemption from sin can come only through asceticism and the mortification of the flesh. ”

“ The City of Corinth was the largest and most important city of Greece. The commerce of the world flowed through its two harbours. The population consisted of Greeks, Jews, Italians, and a mixed multitude; it was excitable, pleasure loving, and mercurial. In this city was held a perpetual vanity fair. The vices of the east and west met and clasped hands in the work of human degradation. The Greek goddess Aphrodite had a magnificent temple in which a thousand priestesses ministered to a base worship. ”

“ Cornelius was the first Gentile convert and we note here the beginning of the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, which was to have such large results. "The day of Pentecost, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, the call of Cornelius and the foundation of the Gentile church at Antioch are, if we are to pick and choose amid the events related by Luke, the turning points of the earliest ecclesiastical history." ”

“ The Doctrinal Part.—Paul is here as strenuous for the need of repentance, the atonement through Jesus Christ and His sole sufficiency as Mediator, Savior, and Lord of all (1 Tim. 1:15-17; Titus 2:13; 3:4-7) , as in his other Epistles. There are also enemies of the truth who are to be opposed (2 Tim. 3) . It is quite evident from what Paul says in the second chapter and elsewhere in Titus and Second Timothy that the Colossian heresy is already bearing its evil fruit and is likely in the future to do great injury to the churches. ”

“ Fourth, We are all (through faith) one body in Him. The thought may be put in other ways, but all to the same purpose. The doctrine of sin, and the doctrine of grace; or the universality of sin and the universality of grace. ”

“ The New Faith in Christ.—Paul stands for spiritual freedom in Christ and loyalty to Him as Divine Lord without the necessity of observing the minute regulations of the Jewish ritual. He insists upon purity of soul and outward life as opposed to the laxness of the idolaters. Each individual soul is related to Christ to whom it is responsible. ”

“ As soon as this proclamation was made in Judea and Samaria a new instrument was chosen by Jesus Christ, in Paul, to carry His message to the uttermost part of the earth. He thus became at once the chief character in the larger work of planting and developing churches outside of Palestine. The study of Paul's life shows the difficulties encountered, the doctrines taught, and the organization perfected in the early churches. "We here watch the dawn of the gospel which the Savior preached as it broadens gradually into the boundless day." ”

“ He is glorifying Jesus and urging them to believe in Him. There is not one word about the indignities that have been heaped upon himself. This personal testimony in this city where Paul had been the chief persecutor was wonderful. But as the Jews had demanded the life of Christ, when he was upon earth and testified to His mission, so now they demanded the life of Paul.
Before the Jewish Council (Acts 22:24-23:10) .—Paul, rescued from the clutches of the mob, would have been scourged by the Romans had he not declared himself a Roman. ”

“ It is the divine method, as in the case of Moses, when a man is to do a very large work for God that he should be well prepared for it. The chief scripture notices of this period of retirement are found in Acts 9:19-30; Gal. 1:15-24; (Acts 11:25-30; 12:25) . From these notices it is quite plain: (a) That Paul retired into Arabia. (b) That he preached in Damascus and Jerusalem, but was compelled to flee from both cities on account of the persecutions of the Jews, who sought his life. (c) That he went to Tarsus and "into the regions of Syria and Cilicia." ”

“ There are some men who seem to be born and prepared to do a large work for the world; Paul makes the impression upon those who carefully read the record of his life that he stands first in this class of men.
The Work of the Apostle.—As John the Baptist preceded Christ and prepared the way for His coming, so Paul succeeded Christ and went throughout the heathen world proclaiming that the Christ had come, and calling upon all men, Jews and Gentiles, to repent and accept Him as their Lord and Savior. ”