Kindle Notes & Highlights
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March 20 - April 16, 2023
Those who are transformed from flesh and blood existence (i.e., glorified) at the Parousia or “arrival” of Christ from heaven are those who “inherit the kingdom of God”
Paul’s gospel message divides humanity into two distinct groups. There are those being saved and those perishing, those being reconciled to God and those yet his enemies, those being justified by faith and those under his wrath, those who have begun to see the light and those whom Satan has blinded
should be noted that all five of the main verbs in Romans 8:29-30 (foreknow, predestine, call, justify, glorify) are in the aorist tense.
The Last Adam
He understands Jesus to be a kind of second or last “Adam” who has shown the way for the whole race.
form of God,
Here a second “Adam,” who though made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26), does not grasp at equality with God, as the first Adam did when he took the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:5-6), but through humble obedience shows the true way to exaltation.
Paul is exhorting the community to have the same attitude of mind so that they too can experience a similar exaltation
Paul’s exhortation makes little sense if he has in mind a “divine being” who temporarily gave up “glory” only to receive it back again, since Paul’s idea of a first and second “Adam” is that one who is created “of the dust” is subsequently transformed to a “man of heaven.”
One suggests the idea of a kind of gnostic “rescue mission,” where the heavenly Jesus is sent to earth to gather fallen humankind and return them to their true home—such as one finds in the gospel of John (17:24;
Paul has a very different idea. The “Creation” is not so much “fallen” into corruption, but rather it was created that way as a first stage or prototype of the new creation to follow (Romans 8:19-21).
We do encounter the claim that “the resurrection is past” or that the “Day of the Lord has already come,” in two later letters attributed to Paul in which he labels those preaching such ideas as heretical (2 Timothy 2:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2).
This is Paul’s central and most important idea. That Jesus is human (i.e., mortal, “Adam”) is crucial since his transformation to an immortal, glorious state is representative for all those who follow.
That is why the hymn in Philippians only makes sense in the context of an Adam Christology, rather than an incarnational Christology.
Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one (v.
These terms, that characterize the existence of “first Adam,” apply equally to the man Jesus as well as to all humankind; while those of “last Adam,” apply equally to the exalted Christ as well as to the destiny of the select group.
The idea of “inheriting the kingdom,” is closely connected to this notion of transformation,
To inherit the kingdom or rule of God, then, is to share in this cosmic power and glory, or as he puts it in Romans 8:17, to be a co-inheritor with Christ.
Paul develops his exegesis from Genesis 1:27 and Psalm 8:6 as well. These texts speak of man in the “image” (εἰκών) of God, having “all things placed under his feet.”
As glorified immortals they will participate with Christ, in the rule of God, bringing about the final end of all opposition to his will.
This idea of heavenly glorification is the core of Paul’s message.
Mark has no resurrection appearances.
Mark, our earliest gospel, is very similar to Paul, in that he sees Jesus’ resurrection of the dead as an immediate translation from flesh to spirit
Apostolic Authority and Mission
We have no normative concept of “apostle” from Paul’s own time with which he can be compared,
As he seeks to mold and control the beliefs and conduct of his churches, the range of subjects he covers, even in our limited collection of letters is wide.
Sexual conduct in general (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; 1 Corinthians 7:1-7; Galatians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 5:9-10; 6:9 Frequency of sexual intercourse (1 Corinthians 7:1-7) Incest (1 Corinthians 5:1-5) Homosexuality (1 Corinthians 6:9) Prostitution (1 Corinthians 6:15-18) Celibacy (1 Corinthians 7:8-9) Marital states (1 Corinthians 7) Separation and divorce (1 Corinthians 7:12-15) Alms and support of the ministry (1 Corinthians 9:1-14; 16:1-4; Romans 15:15-29; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Galatians 6:6; Romans 12:13; 16:1-2) Non-retaliation (1 Thessalonians 5:15; Romans 12:14-21) Community expulsions and
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He not only speaks “in” or “for” Christ, but in a representative sense is Christ manifest in the world.
Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 5:3-5 in dealing with the reported case of incest within the congregation. He writes: For although I am absent in body, I am present in spirit, and as present, I have already pronounced judgment in the name of the Lord Jesus upon the man Who has committed such a deed. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.51
The apostolic ego is the key point to be noted here. Paul passes the judgment “in the name of the Lord” and Paul’s spirit is present “with the power of the Lord.”
then proceeds to detail instructions regarding how women are to wear their hair—long, short, sheared, braided, or veiled.55 He concludes by asserting: If anyone would like to argue, we recognize no other practice, nor do the churches of God! (11:16). This sort of unequivocal declaration is repeated even more forcefully further on in the same letter.
Here we see that the ultimate test of spirituality, in a situation in which various charismatics set forth their claims of supernatural gifts, is submission to Paul’s authority.
Paul speaks unequivocally for the Lord and his voice is to be heeded as if Jesus himself were speaking.
Still, he pushes his own position forcefully and fortifies this “opinion” with the tactful phrase, “And I think that I have the Spirit of God” (vv. 6, 25, 40).
The clear force of this is not merely that he has nothing from the Jesus tradition regarding this matter, but that he considers the authority of what he says in the following verses as having the same weight as the earlier saying of Jesus regarding no divorce.
contradicts the “no divorce” saying of Jesus, that offered no exceptions.
Let each person lead the life which the Lord has assigned him, each as God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches (7:17).
Regarding the other matters, I will give orders when I come.
accomplish your salvation with fear and trembling (2:12). Such obedience “with fear and trembling” is ultimately directed toward God, but immediately manifested in the degree of submission to the apostle.
Such imitative submission is a test for Paul as well, that his labor was not in vain (Philippians 2:16).
His hope is that he can present a blameless and obedient community to Christ as the fruit of his labor. But it is quite obvious that no individual who rebels against Paul and rejects his authority, will be included in that gathering.
But the enemies are outside, and the harsh language, of which Paul is so capable, is directly against them, i.e., in this case the Jews (2:14-16).
If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be damned! (l:9b)
I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine and that the one troubling you will bear his condemnation, whoever he is! (5:10)
wish the ones unsettling you would mutilate themselves! [i.e., by a slip of the circumcision knife] (5:12)
knows it is possible that he may have lost his power in the group. Therefore, he must defend the content of his message “rationally” as well as the unquestionable authority given to him as an apostle of God.
It is here that he sets forth his most complex and personal defense of his authority as an apostle, making an outright demand for their obedience and submission to him.
Sign of a True Apostle
the opponents were criticizing Paul as an ecstatic visionary who relied on his “revelations” to legitimate his apostleship, but lacked the authorization of the Jerusalem church with its connection with the historical Jesus.
Peter argues that “Paul’s” claim to “revelations” of the Lord have no validity: The personal knowledge and the personal instruction of the true prophet gives certainty; vision leaves us in uncertainty. For the latter may spring from a misleading spirit which feigns to be what it is not.66
