Paul's views of God

Introduction

God our Savior - This has 2 dynamic truths

Everything the Trinity does, they do together, in perfect harmony. They may have different functions within the purpose of God, but they work together in fulfilling His purpose. Therefore, the Godhead is our Savior. God the Father planned salvation, God the Son supplied Salvation, and God the Holy Spirit applied salvation.

God the Father loves. If we love God today, it is becasue He first loved us! 1 John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us.”

Jesus is Lord - His words matter. The Lordship of Jesus is seen in relationship to God being Savior. There is a movement within Christianity that wants to separate the Lordship of Jesus from Him being Savior. In other words, we can trust Him as Savior, while rejecting Him as Lord. Consider the possibility of children of God viewing Jesus’ Lordship the same way as unconverted people.

God is our Father - Degenerate people can become family members with God through the salvation and Lordship of God.

God the Son became man to save sinners

Jesus was the Christ - He came with a specific mission in mind - Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Paul viewed God able to save the unsaveable

1 Timothy 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;”

What I mean by this statement is God can save those who we believe are unsaveable or unredeemable; people that are too far gone or the epitome of evil. The reason Paul believed that God could save the worse of the worse was God had saved him. 1 Timothy 1:15 “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”

The very first word in 1 Timothy - Paul - highlights that God can save anyone.

Paul was not always an Apostle. Before God saved him, he was a vicious and maniacal persecutor of the Lord’s church. 30 Years before writing 1 Timothy, no one could have imagined a scenario where Paul would be writing an epistle to a young pastor declaring: 1 Timothy 3:15 “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

Both Luke and Paul supplies us with plenty of information to form a narrative of the kind of person Paul was as a lost person.

Acts 8:3 “As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.”

“Havoc” - To soil or dirty or make filthy.

Acts 9:1 “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,”

“The picture is of an angry, violent man absolutely convinced of his own righteousness. Saul hated the disciples of the Lord.”

Acts 26:9-11 “I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.”

A. T. Robertson wrote regarding Paul saying: “I verily thought with myself:” “Paul’s ‘egoism.’

I shut up in prison

I supported their death

I punished them oft

I compelled then to blaspheme

I was mad (crazy) against them

“I ought” - “Duty bound”

“contrary” - hostility.

Galatians 1:13-15 “For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,”

The persecution was personal.

“Wasted” - “Sack”

Paul, as a lost person, made havoc against the ground and pillar of truth, was a home breaker, tortured and slaughtered Christians, he did this beyond measure becasue of his self-righteousness, and he was mad. Paul was the unsaveable until we get to verse 15 and read the word “But.” “But” is a game-changing word. The greatest “Buts” in the history of written language are in the Bible. An example: Romans 8 has “but” 16 times. Each time is a game changer for the Christian.

Romans 8:6 “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

Romans 8:10 “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

Romans 8:13 “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”

Paul writes about the greatest “but” in his life in v.15. Galatians 1:15 “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,”

What was the life-changing “but” in Paul’s life? Acts 9:3-5 “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”

God saved a self-righteous monster in redeeming Paul. His crimes against the Lord made him the most wanted person. Paul says: 1 Timothy 1:15 “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”

Paul was not the only unsaveable person God saved.

Mark 5:1-15.

This is the most detailed description of a demon-possessed man we have in the Bible.

Luke 8 - He had been demon possessed long time.

He had lived with the dead

No man could control him

Mark 5:15 “And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.”

Acts 6:7 “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”

Acts 8:8 - Acts 8:11-18 - 1 Corinthians 1:1

God saved Crispus

God saved Sosthenes

God saved you!

The question is how can God save the unsaveable? The answers are:

Salvation belongs to the Lord

Psalms 3:8 “Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: Thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.”

Jonah 2:9 “But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”

He gives a new heart

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

We cannot give ourselves a new heart. Our only hope is for the greatest of all physicians to perform a miraculous transplant surgery where we are given a new heart.

Ezekiel 36:24-28 “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

He has the greatest of all messages

Salvation is not of works but grace! Grace that is experienced through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit and the hearing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:16 “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.”

The part of the Gospel message that brought shame was the “cross.”

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

Consider how upside down the Gospel message is. Usually, we follow leaders who have defeated enemies. Jackson, Johnson, Grant, Roosevelt, Eisenhower would never have been presidents is they were defeated. The Gospel tells us to put our trust in the death of Jesus, becasue in His death, He was victorious.

Do you posses Paul’s view of God? Having Paul’s view will cause us to pray, plant and water more - knowing that God will give the increase when it pleases Him.

God’s thoughts are not our thoughts

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.”

God does not think the way we think. One of the great disservices we do to God is put Him into a box, and say to Him, that He is free to think within the parameters of this box. However, God thoughts and ways exceeds any manmade box constructed to limit Him.

3 New Testament examples of God thinking outside of the box:

Jesus was born in poverty, raised in Nazareth and groomed to be a carpenter. The rationale mind would think the Messiah would be born in wealth, raised in Jerusalem, and trained to be a prince. Even Jesus’ neighbors thought this to be true. Matthew 13:54–57 “And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.”

The plan of salvation does not make logical sense. A reasonable plan of salvation is to have people earn their way into heaven or to have someone conquering the enemy. Instead, grace is the plan and the cross is the way. Both Jews and Gentiles for different reasons struggled with rationalizing God’s plan of salvation. 1 Corinthians 1:23 “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;”

Paul being called into the Apostleship defies common sense.

1 Timothy 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;”

In verse 1, Paul was an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Usually, Paul says that he was an Apostle by the will of God. However, in 1 Timothy, he focuses on God’s commandment. The will of God and the command of God are two ways of saying the same thing. The reason for the change of language in 1 Timothy probably has to do with setting the tone for the epistle.

The word “commandment” means “a decree.” Paul received a divine decree from the triune God to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ. He was not chosen to be an Apostle by the other Apostles or a church becasue they would not have selected him. Even though he was saved, he still slaughtered Christian people.

Context:The Jews would have never asked Adolph Hitler to be their spokesperson. During the Dark Ages, the ana-Baptist would have never asked the Pope to be their spokesperson. Yet, God chose a slaughterer of Christians, who did everything he could to destroy the movement to be one of their leaders. God does not think the way we think.

Not only did God command him to be an Apostle but he was primarily an Apostle to the Gentiles. Romans 11:13 “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:”

This is stunning becasue before salvation Paul was: Philippians 3:5 “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;” It is hard to imagine Peter, James or John as Apostles to the Gentiles but even harder to think Paul would be.

Years ago, I heard someone say that Paul was the perfect choice to be an Apostle of the Gentiles becasue he was from Tarsus and a Roman citizen. On the surface that sounds great; however, based upon his religious fervor, his time in Tarsus would have made him hate the Gentiles more and possibly led him to be a more passionate Pharisee than others.

He would have been one of the last people I thought would be an Apostle to the Gentiles.

God defies human logic for His purpose.

A prisoner became the Prime Minister of Egypt - Saving Jacob and his family.

A murderer led Israel out of Egypt.

A shepherd became a king.

An orphan Jewish girl becomes a queen. In her role, she was able to save her people.

An impoverished girl gave birth to Jesus.

God called unlearned fishermen to be His spokespeople.

A Pharisee became an Apostle to the Gentiles.

And, God called you! The question is human logic holding you back from fulfilling God’s purpose in your life.

God’s calling is not based upon your skill set but His omnipotence. Jeremiah 1:4-10 “Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.”

In 1995, a man woke up in a hospital bed in Arkansas and had no idea who he was.  In fact, he didn’t know anything.

He didn’t know that his name was John Bishop.  That he had been married for 24 years to Donna, and they had three sons.  That he served as pastor at a church in Heber Springs, Ark., and they lived on the grounds of a youth camp they had started.

But this was more than amnesia.  John was suffering from aseptic meningitis, and for whatever reason, the disease wiped away all of his memory.

John didn’t know how to read or write.  He didn’t even know how to walk, talk, or chew food.

Everything was blank.

Helen Keller lost her sight and hearing at the age of 19 months. Later she became an author, writing several books, and wrote several hymns: She was the lyricist responsible for songs like All the Way My Savior Leads Me, Close to Thee, He Hideth My Soul, Draw Me Nearer, Jesus Is Calling, Near the Cross, Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior, Safe in the Arms of Jesus, Saved by Grace, To God Be the Glory, and over 8,000 others.

Justin Peters has cerebral palsy - Yet, a giant in the faith, defending truth!.

Jesus is Hope

Jesus is not just the object of hope but the essence of hope. Hope exists becasue Jesus is alive.

Peter quotes David while preaching on the Day of Pentecost. He said that David speaks of resting in hope: Acts 2:25-26 “For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:” David’s hope was a future rest that he would actively engage becasue Jesus lives!

Paul spoke of hope in relation to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 4 times from Acts 23-28 he confesses within a judicial setting his hope in Jesus and the resurrection from the dead.

Jesus is not hope if He is still in the grave. 1 Corinthians 15:13-19 “But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”

If there is no resurrection then Jesus is still in the grave, our preaching is in vain, we are found false witnesses, our faith is in vain, we are still in our sins, no hope for those who died in Christ, and we are most miserable men.

However, 1 Corinthians 15:20 “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”

There is a resurrection from the dead, we will be made alive at the return of Jesus, the enemies of Jesus will be His footstool, and Jesus will finally and conclusively defeat death

The essence of hope died, was buried, and resurrected from the grave. Why does the resurrection of Jesus provide so much hope?

Romans 8:34 “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”

1 John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”

John 14:1–3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

1 Corinthians 15:25–26 “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

1 Timothy 1:15 “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”

1 Corinthians 15:55–57 “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Acts 1:11 “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

What does all this mean for me?

I need to be where more like Abraham who “against hope believed in hope.” (James Denney, a theologian late 19th and early 20th centuries)"Abraham’s faith (is being) described. It was both contrary to hope (as far as nature could give hope), and rested on hope (that God could do what nature could not)."

Webster actually has a separate entry for "hope against hope" which it defines as "to hope without any basis for expecting fulfillment", not exactly how the Bible would define it!

The opposition to hope is loud, powerful, persuasive, pressured, and prosperous. Often, the seat of opposition is in my own mind. We need to keep our eyes fixated on the resurrected Jesus and our mind influenced by God’s words. So that in the face of opposition we will have hope in Jesus Christ.

The key in having hope against hope is Jesus. Matthew 8:5–10 “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”

Solomon lamented Ecclesiastes 1:3 “What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?” Labor that is done on behalf of the resurrection of Jesus has enormous profit and is never in vain.

Hebrews 6:10 “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

Philippians 3:10–11 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”

Paul wanted to know three things:

Know Him - That is have experience with Him

To know the Power of His resurrection.

To know the fellowship of His sufferings

Why did Paul want to know these three things?

Conformable unto His death

Attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

2 Corinthians 4:16 “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

2 Corinthians 4:8–12 “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.”

Conclusion

God does not think the way we think and God is hope.

Why is this important. If you have ever driven to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, then you know as you approach Gatlinburg, there are 100’s of billboard signs. These signs will tell you where to stay, eat, shop, do activities and what venue to see a show.

Even if you go with a pre-plan itinerant, each billboard tries to influence you to change your mind.

Similarly, we are on a pilgrimage, we are sojourners, this world is not ours, we do not belong, we are: Hebrews 11:10 “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” But there are billboards signs all around us trying to change our pursuit. They want us to see that God thinks just like us and our hope is what we can see, touch, hear, taste or smell or our hope is today. My aim is to remind us superiority of God.

Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

Psalm 42:5 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him For the help of his countenance.”