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Professional Articles
The Heart of St. Paul's Message
St. Paul's Evangelization
The Heart of Saint Paul’s Message
Father Louis J. Cameli, STD
Without Saint Paul, it is impossible to understand the Christian faith. Across two thousand years, his preaching and teaching have shaped and formed those who follow Jesus Christ.
Paul discovered the heart of the message that he would proclaim and write about in his letters in his very own life story. Paul was a very observant Jew who was zealous in keeping the laws that defined Jewish life. His zeal led him to persecute and to try to suppress the group that confessed Jesus as the Messiah. One day, however, as he journeyed to Damascus, he suddenly and unexpectedly encountered the Risen Lord Jesus. In that moment, his entire life was turned around. He became convinced that it was not in the observance of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ and attachment to him that we could stand justified before God. It was not something that we could earn, merit, or deserve. It was a sheer gift. It was God’s grace that saved us.
Paul summarized his message in a well-known passage from his letter to the Romans: But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus… (Romans 3:21-24).
Jesus Christ, in the mystery of his death and resurrection, is the foundation, center, and the goal of our new life in God. To understand Paul’s relationship to Jesus Christ is to understand how Paul lived out his message of justification by a free gift of grace. Understanding his relationship to Jesus Christ also opens up possibilities for us as well.
Paul’s relationship to Jesus was the organizing center of his life. It was also a multidimensional relationship that had various aspects. We can consider three principal dimensions of that fundamental relationship.
Paul knew Jesus and related to him as his personal savior. The intensely personal nature of Paul’s relationship to Jesus emerges in many passages of his letters. No passage, however, catches this personal quality better—in my estimation—than two verses taken from his letter to the Galatians: For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:19-20).
For Paul, it is not enough to say that Christ died and rose for him. It is not enough to say that he believes in him as his loving savior. Beyond these essential truths, Paul acknowledges that Christ’s life is in him, that he lives by faith in him. There is an intimate and life-giving connection that is a sheer gift. He identifies with Christ as Christ has identified with him. This is the meaning of Paul’s relationship to Jesus Christ as his personal savior.
Paul knew Jesus and related to him in the sacraments and in his body, the Church. You might think that the intensity of Paul’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ would exhaust all other possibilities. In fact, that is not so. Besides the personal dimension of his relationship with Jesus, there is a strongly felt social dimension as well. It is not just a matter of “Jesus and me.” Paul knows and relates to Jesus in the community, the Church which is his body. He does this especially through the sacraments, most particularly, the Eucharist.
When Paul writes to the community in Corinth, he clearly lets them know that he believes that Christ dwells in them as a community. He gives witness to the presence of Christ among them, especially when they gather for the Eucharist that memorializes his self-sacrificial love in giving his life for us, so that we can stand in right relationship with God. Here are his words to this effect in his first letter to the Corinthians: The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread (1 Corinthians 10:16-17).
Paul knew Jesus and related to him as the Lord of all creation and the Lord of history, the one in whom the universe finds its destiny and consummation. In addition to the personal and social dimensions of his faith in Jesus Christ, Paul also affirms his faith and trust in Jesus Christ who brings about the new creation and leads history toward its goal in God. The redeeming work of Jesus Christ has taken hold of us individually and collectively. It has also begun to take hold of all creation, transforming a world and its history so desperately in need of renewal. Paul understands this as a process which is unfolding and not yet complete. For this reason, he reminds us, “…in hope we were saved.” (Romans 8:24)
Paul looks to Jesus in his redeeming work and sees a pattern and a trajectory for our human and cosmic history. He writes to the Corinthians: …Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died…for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order…Then comes the end when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father…so that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:20, 22-24, 28).
The heart of Saint Paul’s message is Jesus Christ, who is God’s great, free gift to us. Jesus by his death and resurrection has saved us from sin, brought us to new life in God, and will bring us to our promised inheritance. He is, at once, our personal savior, the Lord who is present and active in his body, the Church, especially through the sacraments, and the goal and destiny of all creation.
The last words should appropriately belong to Paul. He wrote to the Colossians an exhortation that we too ought to take to heart: As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving (Colossians 2:6).
“Who are You, Sir?”
Paul to Jesus; All of us to Paulby Father Patrick J. Brennan, D. Min., Psy.D.
The Pauline Year, called for by Pope Benedict XVI on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 28, 2007, is a wonderful opportunity to think about, discuss, and study the pastoral realities of conversion, evangelization, missiology and community. The Pauline Year extends from June 28, 2008 to June 29, 2009.
Paul was a passionate man. He was passionate about his adherence to the Jewish law and was vehemently against the new movement in his day called Christianity. We are told in the Acts of the Apostles that he harassed the Church, he jailed the Church, he participated in and concurred with the martyrdom of Stephen. But one can almost sense that Stephen’s Christ-like, forgiving death was the beginning of the process of conversion for Paul, as Paul looked on.
As he travelled to Damascus and was thrown from his horse, he heard the words, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked the question, “Who are you, sir?” and the voice came back with, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Part of Paul’s conversion was a deep insight into the nature of church, that the spirit of the risen Jesus is alive in those who believe in Him. In persecuting Christians, Paul realized that he was persecuting Jesus Christ Himself.
It took some time for Paul to grow into his conversion and to embrace his mission to the Gentiles. In Paul, we see a breakthrough person. He realized that people who desired to embrace Jesus as Lord did not have to go through all the legal mandates of Judaism first. Paul came to see the Jewish law as a tool that God used for awhile in the unfolding of His plan; but that law became, for Paul, something to be set aside so that people could truly live new life in Christ.
Paul is the voice that spoke in between the era of the oral tradition of the gospels and the writing of the gospels. In Paul we find theological reflection on the meaning of Jesus for everyday living. There are recurring themes in Paul’s writing:
• In and through Jesus, God has entered human history and begun a new age
• The divine and the human now interpenetrate because of Jesus Christ
• All are invited to solidarity in Christ
• Personal faith and community faith
• Death and resurrection as a way of life
• New life in Christ
• The nature of love
• Election and grace
• The work of the Spirit
• The Church and its life together
• The Second Coming
• Redemption
• JustificationPaul’s letters are classified in this way:
• The Captivity Letters: Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians (though many question Paul’s authorship of Ephesians)
• The Pastoral Letters: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus (here also authorship is questionable)
• The Great Letters: 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Galatians
Paul’s material can be classified in three categories: anthropology, soteriology, and community life. Paul’s anthropology is clearly stated in Galatians; his soteriology in Romans and Philippians; and his views on community life in 1 and 2 Corinthians.
In terms of Pauline anthropology, to understand Jesus we must understand the human condition before Christ. Before Christ, all human beings were in a corporate state of sin. Sin and death were forces in human history introduced by the sin of Adam. The law was a teaching force that eventually multiplied the reality of sin. The law was temporary and became distorted by human beings. Paul believed that human beings without Christ cannot achieve the purpose for which we were intended.
In terms of soteriology, Jesus is a salvific force let loose in the world. He has universal influence. Jesus is the human face of God, and also the model person that we should aspire to. Paul believed that God had a plan. That plan involved the period before Moses, the period from Moses to Christ, the ministry of Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. The final stage of the plan is the experience of all of us, the Church.
Paul’s views on community life can largely be found in 1 and 2 Corinthians. In addition to the incarnational principle that the Spirit of the risen Christ abides in the Church, 1 Corinthians especially emphasizes the importance of giftedness and how all followers of Jesus are to discern their gifts and use their gifts for the common good and the glory of God.
The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are decisive moments in the Father’s plan of salvation for Paul. Christ’s death and resurrection was both an act of sacrifice for the expiation of sin, but also the beginning of a new state of life for human beings. Through the salvation event of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, the human family has been reconciled with God. Expiation has been paid for sin. We have been freed from sin and death, redeemed, bought back from the forces of sin and death. We have been justified, not because of any work that we do, but through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Paul called Jesus Kyrios. In doing so, he raised Jesus to a status equivalent to Yahweh. Paul believed that the Father made Jesus Kyrios, or Lord, at the resurrection. For Paul, the historical Jesus became the glorified Christ who conquered sin, suffering, and death; and who shares that victory with us. Paul believed that through baptism, we share in Christ’s death and resurrection. For Paul, life, death, and resurrection is a way of life flowing from baptism.
Paul’s life is a lesson to us about evangelization and ministry. Paul reminds us that ministry begins with conversion. Paul reminds us that the work of the Church is to be missionary in nature. We are never to be complacent, rather we should always be looking for opportunities to share the gospel with others. Paul’s life, Paul’s ministry remind us of the importance of caring for the unchurched – those who do not know the Lord, those who do not belong to community. His work likewise reminds us of the need to evangelize or re-evangelize the spiritually complacent. Paul agonized over his Jewish loved ones who were not open to Jesus. Paul embodies what evangelization is about – sharing good news and calling people to conversion.
Not only did Paul preach and teach, he used the media of his day, letter writing, to expand and deepen his mission. Paul was a community organizer who has important lessons to teach all of us in pastoral ministry about how to fashion a truly evangelizing and ministering church.
This Pauline Year should be an ad fontes movement that challenges us to look at Christianity during the years of its origin and rediscover what we are to be most about – Jesus, the Reign of God and the formation of ecclesial communities.
