Bible Thoughts November 21, 1999
"For, His letters, they say, are weighty and strong; but his bodily
presence is weak, and his speech of no account"(II Corinthians
10:10).
Some people of today would not like the apostle Paul. Some did not care for him even when he was alive. He was accused of being different when he wrote letters to them than when he was in their presence. The apostle was put in a position of defending himself and answered by saying, "Let such a one reckon this, that, what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such are we also in deed when we are present"(II Corinthians 10:11).
Paul spoke a message with boldness. Paul was apparently not an eloquent speaker, but what he spoke was the truth. The truth had a powerful message, as it does today, and the apostle did not hesitate to speak what God revealed. He had earlier told the brethren, "Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech"(II Corinthians 3:12). Even though Paul was highly educated, when he spoke, the message was plain and understandable. Those who respected truth listened and heeded; those who wanted to go their own way refused to accept the teachings. The apostle never failed to speak the truth as revealed in God's truth.
Paul spoke a message of hope. "For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens"(II Corinthians 5:10). The apostle focused the minds of his hearers on the future. He instructed them to live in the present in a manner that would prepare them for that "building from God." Or, "Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech" (II Corinthians 3:12).
Paul spoke a plain message. Little doubt would arise about the contents of Paul's teaching. In one version(KJ), the expression boldness is translated plainness. Those who listened would not leave wondering what the apostle had to say. He so worded his speeches that men of varied abilities could understand. Few would go away asking, "Now I wonder what he meant by that." Even idolaters of Athens understood the message and "mocked" at the teaching concerning the one God. Paul spoke a message without fear or favor. Whether he spoke to civil authorities, to a beggar, or to those who had great wealth and power, the truth of the gospel was for all. He did not hesitate to tells rulers the truth; he was not ashamed to speak to the learned in Athens; he did not hold back the truth from those who tried to bind the Law of Moses upon others. Hence, Paul said, "I am debtor to both Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish"(Romans 1:14).
Paul taught the gospel in such a manner that those who listened would understand the message. The apostle did not complicate what he taught by great oratory using speech that many could not understand. Though he was an educated person, he communicated the gospel to those who would listen, educated or uneducated. The message that he delivered was to save men, whatever their status in this life. What he preached Paul told men, in simple and straightforward terms, the conditions given by God to which all men, great or small, must submit. One man requested that God would grant him the power to speak in such a way that he would not be misunderstood. Paul is an example of such a speaker.
Paul taught the gospel recognizing that it is the power of God to bring salvation to every soul. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek"(Romans 1:16). The world is filled with books that claim to have the "secrets" of the Bible revealed to men in a special and mysterious way. There are multiplied publications that seek to explain what the Bible has to say. After all the books are written(and read), the one source for salvation is the gospel that was preached by the apostle Paul. All writings, including those you are reading, must ultimately rely upon the scriptures for authority. There are no new revelations. When the last inspired man put the last dot or tittle on his writings, God's will had been revealed. The power of God to save men can be found in those writings. What Paul and the inspired men of the early church preached and taught constitute the only power that can save men and women in the present. Who is wiser than those who revealed God's truth in the first century of God's church? Who knows more than Paul and Peter and the rest of those authors of the books of the New Testament?
Paul taught that we will someday be judged by the law of Christ. "For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad"(II Corinthians 5:10). The standard to be used is the gospel of Jesus Christ(II Thessalonians 1:8).
It was the apostle who warned, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto, let him be anathema"(Galatians 1:8).
The criteria to decide whether one preaches the truth is not the eloquence of the speaker, nor the use of flowery speech, nor the polished manner in which the presentation takes place, nor the credentials of men that one may possess--but--does he speak as did Paul: in truth and sincere devotion to what God revealed in the gospel of Christ? No other approach satisfies or saves.