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Lesson OneEpistles (First Few Verses Of Each Pauline Epistle)25 Activities
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Lesson TwoOverview of Galatians19 Activities
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Lesson ThreeWorks-Righteousness as Slavery19 Activities2 Assessments
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Lesson FourFaith, Life, and the Spirit13 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FiveAuthor and Audience17 Activities2 Assessments
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Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 5
In | Workbook: Paul and the Prophetic Tradition
Grab your Workbook Journal!
[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]
While Paul may have been reluctant to establish his apostleship on the basis of miracles, he makes a powerful case in Galatians for his authority in the church:
I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:11-12 (NIV)
Shortly after this comment, which is startling enough in its own right, Paul makes another statement that would have resonated with his Jewish audiences in a deeper way than may be apparent on the surface. While telling his life story, he says:
But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.
Galatians 1:15-16 (NIV)
Those familiar with the Old Testament would have recognized this language immediately.
Read Jeremiah 1:5 and Isaiah 49:1-2, 3, 6 below.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)
Before I was born the Lord called me;
from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.
He made my mouth like a sharpened sword . . .
He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor . . .
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Isaiah 49:1-2, 3, 6 (NIV)
In asserting his authority (that he speaks for God), Paul places himself in line with Old Testament prophets, as an heir to the prophetic tradition that was responsible for proclaiming God’s message to the nations. Paul may be reluctant to discuss his miracles, but he has no reservations about his own calling. Like the prophets in the Old Testament who anticipated the Messiah to come, Paul has been sent to preach Jesus as Messiah.
- As similar as Paul’s statement is to those found in Isaiah and Jeremiah, there is a small but significant difference in the way Paul describes the way he reveals God. What is it? (NOTE: Don’t take too long, just record anything that might be immediately identifiable.)
Isaiah says God’s splendor will be displayed in him. With Paul, it’s different. God is not only displaying His honor in him; He is revealing His Son in him—God Himself, living in Paul.
The intimacy of this language hints at Paul’s theology of believers’ participation in Christ, which we will explore over the course of these letters.
Reference: Michael J. Gorman, Apostle of the Crucified Lord, 2003.