It is often said that the apostle Paul changed the focus of the Christian gospel from the stress on the kingdom of God that we find in the Gospels (Matthew 9:35, etc.) to a stress on the saving work of Jesus as we see in the Pauline epistles. But did Paul really make such a profound change within Christianity?
It is certainly true that Paul places great emphasis on the atoning death and the resurrection of Jesus. We can see this, for example, in his first letter to the church at Corinth where he summarizes his teaching in these words: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Yet even in these verses – which are often quoted as an example of “the gospel according to Paul” – we see the possibility of a broader reality in that Paul says these things are of “first importance.” In other words, there are other important things of which Christ’s death and resurrection form the basis. In fact, we only have to read a little further in this same letter to see the broader picture:
“For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:22-26).
Here, Paul deftly works from the concept of death and resurrection (vs. 22-23) to that of the kingdom rule of Christ, and then finally back to the destruction of death (vs. 26). But notice that Paul collapses time in this view. He telescopes the return of Christ (“when he comes”) to directly touch the final outcome of creation (“the end”), stressing that Jesus “must reign” over everything – including death itself.
When we see his “goal-oriented” view of the kingdom of God, we better understand Paul’s teaching and the stress he does place on Jesus himself. As he states in 1 Corinthians 15:14: “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” It is clearly through this lens that Paul views the kingdom of God: there can be no kingdom without the saving work of Christ, and what Christ accomplished enables us to enter that kingdom.
In the same letter Paul tells us: “I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:53). This is, of course, in total agreement with what Christ himself said in explaining the reality of the kingdom of God to the Pharisee Nicodemus (John 3:1–21).
So when Paul writes unequivocally that “… we preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23) and “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2), we need not doubt that this was vital to the gospel as Paul taught it. But when he tells the Galatians: “... if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!” (Galatians 1:8), we need not see that as meaning Christ crucified as opposed to the kingdom of God, but as the basis of the kingdom of God.
While it is true that Paul uses the word “kingdom” far fewer times than it is found in the Gospels, we should remember that he does use the word “kingdom” frequently (some 14 times) in his epistles – more often than Peter, James, and John do in all their epistles combined. It is precisely in the context of the kingdom of God that Paul urges Timothy to preach: “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word ….” (2 Timothy 4:1-3).
This is not to say that there were not different stresses in the teaching of Jesus and Paul. Jesus preached a gospel that stressed his identity relative to the kingdom of God; Paul preached a gospel that stressed the underlying work of Jesus that made the kingdom of God possible. But the apostle specifically warned against those who taught another Jesus or another gospel (2 Corinthians 11:4). In short, Paul preached a gospel that stressed the person of Jesus and the kingdom of Jesus. To doubt that is to doubt the clear words of Luke – who perhaps knew Paul and his teaching as well as anyone – who wrote that even toward the end of his ministry, Paul was constantly:
“Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him” (Acts 28:31).
In writing this, Luke actually places the preaching of the kingdom first and the teaching of “those things that concern the Lord Jesus Christ” second, but the two are no doubt equally part of the gospel according to Paul.
It is certainly true that Paul places great emphasis on the atoning death and the resurrection of Jesus. We can see this, for example, in his first letter to the church at Corinth where he summarizes his teaching in these words: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Yet even in these verses – which are often quoted as an example of “the gospel according to Paul” – we see the possibility of a broader reality in that Paul says these things are of “first importance.” In other words, there are other important things of which Christ’s death and resurrection form the basis. In fact, we only have to read a little further in this same letter to see the broader picture:
“For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:22-26).
Here, Paul deftly works from the concept of death and resurrection (vs. 22-23) to that of the kingdom rule of Christ, and then finally back to the destruction of death (vs. 26). But notice that Paul collapses time in this view. He telescopes the return of Christ (“when he comes”) to directly touch the final outcome of creation (“the end”), stressing that Jesus “must reign” over everything – including death itself.
When we see his “goal-oriented” view of the kingdom of God, we better understand Paul’s teaching and the stress he does place on Jesus himself. As he states in 1 Corinthians 15:14: “if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” It is clearly through this lens that Paul views the kingdom of God: there can be no kingdom without the saving work of Christ, and what Christ accomplished enables us to enter that kingdom.
In the same letter Paul tells us: “I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:53). This is, of course, in total agreement with what Christ himself said in explaining the reality of the kingdom of God to the Pharisee Nicodemus (John 3:1–21).
So when Paul writes unequivocally that “… we preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23) and “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2), we need not doubt that this was vital to the gospel as Paul taught it. But when he tells the Galatians: “... if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!” (Galatians 1:8), we need not see that as meaning Christ crucified as opposed to the kingdom of God, but as the basis of the kingdom of God.
While it is true that Paul uses the word “kingdom” far fewer times than it is found in the Gospels, we should remember that he does use the word “kingdom” frequently (some 14 times) in his epistles – more often than Peter, James, and John do in all their epistles combined. It is precisely in the context of the kingdom of God that Paul urges Timothy to preach: “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word ….” (2 Timothy 4:1-3).
This is not to say that there were not different stresses in the teaching of Jesus and Paul. Jesus preached a gospel that stressed his identity relative to the kingdom of God; Paul preached a gospel that stressed the underlying work of Jesus that made the kingdom of God possible. But the apostle specifically warned against those who taught another Jesus or another gospel (2 Corinthians 11:4). In short, Paul preached a gospel that stressed the person of Jesus and the kingdom of Jesus. To doubt that is to doubt the clear words of Luke – who perhaps knew Paul and his teaching as well as anyone – who wrote that even toward the end of his ministry, Paul was constantly:
“Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him” (Acts 28:31).
In writing this, Luke actually places the preaching of the kingdom first and the teaching of “those things that concern the Lord Jesus Christ” second, but the two are no doubt equally part of the gospel according to Paul.
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