The Letters of Paul

Paul writes from Corinth to a church he has never visited, because he hopes to stop in Rome on his way to Spain. He opens with the good news that God's power saves everyone who believes, the Jew first and also the Greek. Then he shows the whole world guilty, the nations who traded God for idols and the Jews who had the law and broke it.

God's answer is a righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus Christ, and Abraham is the proof, counted righteous before he was circumcised. Chapters 5 to 8 trace the new life in Christ, from Adam's ruin to the freedom of the Spirit, and end with nothing able to separate believers from the love of God. Chapters 9 to 11 ask what becomes of Israel. Chapters 12 to 16 teach the church how to live, and the letter closes with Phoebe commended and a long roll of greetings.

Paul writes from Ephesus after two kinds of news reach him from Corinth. Members of Chloe's household report quarrels, and the church itself sends a letter of questions. He takes the quarrels first. The church has split behind Paul, Apollos and Cephas, and he answers that the message of the cross looks foolish to the world and is the power of God to those being saved.

He then deals with a man living with his father's wife, with believers suing one another before unbelieving judges, and with sexual sin, since their bodies belong to Christ. From chapter 7 he answers their letter point by point on marriage, food offered to idols, worship, the Lord's Supper and spiritual gifts. Chapter 13 sets love above every gift, and chapter 15 shows that Christ rose and that his people will rise. The letter ends with the collection for Jerusalem and his plans to visit.

Paul writes from Macedonia with relief. A painful visit and a letter written in tears lie behind him, and Titus has just arrived with news that the church has repented. He opens by blessing the God of all comfort, who comforted him when he despaired of life in Asia. He explains why he changed his travel plans and asks the church to forgive the man they had punished.

Chapters 3 to 6 describe his ministry as a new covenant written by the Spirit, a treasure carried in clay jars and a message of reconciliation sent through ambassadors for Christ. Chapters 8 and 9 urge the church to finish its gift for the poor in Jerusalem. Then the tone turns sharp. In chapters 10 to 13 he answers the false apostles who mock him, boasts of his sufferings and his weakness, and warns that his third visit is coming.

Paul writes in alarm. Teachers have followed him into the churches of Galatia and told his Gentile converts that they must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be complete. He skips the thanksgiving and says that anyone who preaches another gospel stands under a curse. Then he tells his own story: how Christ called him, how the leaders in Jerusalem accepted his gospel, and how he opposed Peter at Antioch when Peter stopped eating with Gentiles.

In chapters 3 and 4 he argues from Abraham, who was counted righteous by believing, and from the law, which guarded God's people until Christ came. All who believe are sons of God and heirs of the promise. Chapters 5 and 6 call them to stand firm in that freedom, to serve one another in love and to walk by the Spirit. He closes in his own hand, boasting only in the cross.

Paul writes as a prisoner, and Tychicus carries the letter to the saints in Ephesus. The first three chapters praise God for what he has done in Christ. He chose his people before the world began, redeemed them by the blood of Christ and sealed them with the Spirit. Believers who were dead in sin have been made alive by grace through faith, and Gentiles who were far off have been brought near and made one body with Israel. Paul calls this the mystery now revealed, and he prays that the church will know the love of Christ.

At chapter 4 the letter turns from what God has done to how believers live. They are to keep the unity of the Spirit, put off the old self, walk in love and in the light, and order their homes in Christ. It ends with the call to put on the full armor of God.

Paul writes from custody to a church that has supported him from the start. Epaphroditus had brought their gift, fallen ill nearly to death and recovered, and now Paul sends him home with this letter. He thanks God for their partnership and tells them that his chains have spread the gospel, so that Christ will be honored whether Paul lives or dies.

In chapter 2 he urges them to be of one mind and sets before them Christ, who emptied himself, became a servant and died on a cross, and whom God has exalted. In chapter 3 he warns against teachers who press circumcision and counts his own gains as loss for the sake of knowing Christ. Chapter 4 asks two women, Euodia and Syntyche, to agree, calls the church to rejoice and pray, and thanks them for the gift that met his needs.

Epaphras has brought Paul a good report from Colossae with one warning. Someone is teaching the church that it needs more than Christ, with rules about food and festivals, harsh treatment of the body, the worship of angels and claims of visions. Paul writes from custody to answer it. He gives thanks for their faith and sets out who Christ is, the image of the invisible God, through whom all things were made and in whom the fullness of God lives in bodily form.

Believers are complete in him, buried and raised with him, so the rules have no hold on them. From chapter 3 he calls them to set their minds on things above, to put off the old self and put on love, and to live for Christ at home and at work. Tychicus and Onesimus carry the letter to Colossae.

Paul had been driven out of Thessalonica after a short stay, and he could not go back. From Athens he sent Timothy to strengthen the young church, and when Timothy came back to him at Corinth with good news of their faith and love, Paul wrote at once. He thanks God that they turned from idols to serve the living God and to wait for his Son from heaven.

He recalls how he lived among them, gentle as a nursing mother and working night and day, and he tells them how much he longed to see them again. In chapter 4 he calls them to holy living and quiet work, and he comforts them about believers who have died. The Lord will come down from heaven, and those who have died in Christ will be raised first. Chapter 5 tells them to stay awake for the day of the Lord.

The church at Thessalonica is still suffering, and a message claiming to come from Paul has told them that the day of the Lord has already arrived. Paul writes again from Corinth, within months of his first letter. He praises their growing faith under persecution and promises that God will repay their persecutors when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven.

In chapter 2 he corrects the false report. That day will come only after the rebellion, when the man of lawlessness is revealed, and something now holds him back. Paul reminds them that he taught them this while he was with them. Chapter 3 asks for their prayers and deals with members who have stopped working. Anyone unwilling to work should go without food, and Paul's own labor among them is their example. He signs the greeting in his own hand.

Paul has left Timothy at Ephesus to deal with teachers who spend the church's attention on myths and endless family trees. He writes to tell Timothy how the household of God should be run. Chapter 1 sets love from a pure heart as the goal of all teaching, and Paul recalls that Christ came into the world to save sinners, and that he was the worst of them.

Chapter 2 calls for prayer for all people, since there is one God and one mediator. Chapter 3 lists what overseers and deacons must be. Chapter 4 warns of teachers who forbid marriage and certain foods, and it urges Timothy to train himself in godliness. Chapters 5 and 6 give counsel on widows, elders, slaves and the rich, warn that loving money leads to every kind of evil, and charge Timothy to fight the good fight of faith.

Paul writes from a Roman prison, chained as a criminal and expecting to die. Most of his friends in Asia have left him, Demas has gone, and only Luke is with him. He writes to hand his work on to Timothy. Chapter 1 reminds Timothy of the faith he received from his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice, and it tells him to fan into flame the gift of God and to guard what was entrusted to him.

Chapter 2 calls him to suffer like a good soldier and to pass the teaching to faithful men who will teach others. Chapter 3 warns of hard times to come and points him to the Scriptures he has known from childhood. In chapter 4 Paul charges him to preach the word, says that he has finished his race, and asks Timothy to come soon and bring his cloak and his scrolls.

Paul has worked on the island of Crete and left Titus there to finish the work. Titus is to set the churches in order and appoint elders in every town, and the letter tells him how. Chapter 1 lists what an elder must be and warns of teachers who upset whole households for money. Chapter 2 gives Titus teaching for each part of the household, older men and women, younger men and women, and slaves, so that their lives will make the teaching about God attractive.

The reason is the grace of God, which has appeared and trains believers to live upright lives while they wait for Christ. Chapter 3 calls them to be good citizens and recalls that God saved them by his mercy, through the washing of new birth. Paul closes by asking Titus to meet him at Nicopolis, where he means to spend the winter.

Paul writes from prison to Philemon, a believer whose church meets in his house. Philemon's slave Onesimus is with Paul and has come to faith there, and Paul is sending him home with this letter. He opens by thanking God for Philemon's love, which has refreshed the saints. Paul could order him to do what is right, and he chooses to appeal to him out of love, as an old man and a prisoner.

He calls Onesimus his child, says he would have liked to keep him as a helper, and asks Philemon to welcome him back as a beloved brother. If Onesimus owes anything, Paul writes in his own hand that he will repay it. He trusts Philemon to do even more than he asks, and he asks him to prepare a guest room, because he hopes to visit.

Hebrews begins like a sermon, with God speaking. God spoke through the prophets in many ways, and now he has spoken by his Son, and the first chapters show the Son greater than the angels and greater than Moses. The readers are drifting, and the writer warns them again and again to hold fast. From chapter 5 the letter shows Jesus as a high priest in the order of Melchizedek, who serves in the true tabernacle in heaven under a better covenant.

Chapters 9 and 10 walk through the old sanctuary and its yearly sacrifices and show that Christ offered himself once for all. Chapter 11 calls the roll of men and women who lived by faith, and chapter 12 sets the readers running their race with their eyes on Jesus. The last chapter turns to brotherly love, hospitality and prayer, and it closes with a short farewell.