Post by Mark on Sept 14, 2009 5:00:14 GMT -8
All by itself, this simple phrase ought to dismiss any notion that Paul rejected authority of over his own life.
The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord.
(Matthew 10:24-25 KJV)
The slave is not the prodigy of his master. It is not the role of the slave to take over and expand upon what the Master has begun. Dominant Christian thinking doesn’t support this. In fact, modern scholarship suggests that the Christianity established by Paul for the gentiles is a very different faith and practice than the example provided by Messiah Yeshua in His conclusively Jewish context.
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
(1 Corinthians 11:1 KJV)
Paul’s example to gentile believers was, to the best of his knowledge and ability, a mimic of what he believed was Messiah Yeshua’s practice. Abything else, based upon Messiah’s teaching in Matthew 10:24, would have been an absolute contradiction. Paul’s mission was to carry out and fulfill what is known as Messiah’s "Great Commission."
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
(Matthew 28:19-20 KJV)
Sadly, this same injunction, though passed on throughout all ages to those who claim Yeshua as Lord, is utterly abandoned in dominant Christianity. Teaching "what Christ has done for us" is a far cry from teaching "all things whatsoever that I have commanded you." To reproduce "all things whatsoever" of Messiah’s teachings cannot be done without sharing the Jewish context of our faith.
Paul declares to the Roman Governor,
But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
(Acts 24:14-15 KJV)
By his simple introduction, defining himself as the servant of Messiah Yeshua, he breaks down all barriers that suggest that he might teach anything contrary to, abbreviated or expanded from the teachings of Messiah Yeshua. He is writing to the Roman congregation, the intimate knowledge he has of his Master.