The Apostle Paul has always been one of the most loved and most
hated of men. Thousands of books have been written about him,
and many of them seek to blacken his name and cause men to
despise him. For many he is too stern and narrow minded. He tries
to pressure people into his own mold. He tells Timothy to charge
others not to teach any different doctrine. Paul is opposed to
freedom in teaching Christian truth. He felt that the truth has been
revealed by God, and that it was comprehensive and conclusive. If
anyone sought to change it or add to it, he was to be accursed.
Paul is really a thorn in the flesh of those theologians who
delight in speculation. Paul had direct revelation from Christ, and
he was the theologian of the Christian church. Any deviation from
his teaching is a deviation from the truth, and so he had to be stern
about it. We must still test our doctrine today by its harmony with
and conformity to the theology of Paul. Anything we hold as a
doctrine, which is contradictory to Paul becomes a possible heresy.
It was Timothy's task to keep the church of Ephesus on the right
track.
It is just a good principle of biblical interpretation to keep in
mind that nothing ought to be accepted as Christian doctrine if it
contradicts what is taught by Paul. This principle will protect you
from many man devised interpretations. Paul in telling Timothy to
charge certain persons not to teach any other doctrine establishes
clearly that all basic Christian doctrine was fully known by then,
even if it was not fully developed in all of its implications. We want
to consider the character of Paul himself, for he had the authority to
forbid the teaching of anything that he had not taught.
Modern critics do not like Paul because of his big words and
long involved sentences. His opinions about women and marriage
have also gotten him into trouble with many. Paul was not infallible
but men have gone so far in attempts to make him unlikable that
they have even attacked his personal appearance. Renan called him
an "Ugly little Jew," and the idea became so popular that became an
accepted fact that Paul was little of stature, homely, weak, and with
a bald head and bow legs. I had this impression myself until I read a
book called The Character Of Paul by Charles Jefferson.
Jefferson points out that the negative description of Paul comes
from a 3rd century novel, and that it is on this poor foundation that
the enemies of Paul build their case for his unattractive appearance.
The whole case collapses when you consider that when Paul came to
Lystra and healed the lame man the people took him for a god.
These pagans may have been superstitious and foolish, but they were
not blind. All of the Greek gods were graceful and well-formed
Hercules type men, and not bow-legged little homely Jews. If they
could mistake Paul for Hermes or Mercury it is likely he was a real
specimen of a man.
The fact of his surviving the stoning and enduring all kinds of
trials, hardships, and sufferings, indicates that he was a man of
marvelous physical strength. Paul might mean little, but that does
not make the Apostle a little man anymore than it makes Paul
Bunyan a midget. We cannot say that he was a New Testament
Samson, but there is no reason to think that he was not a man as
mighty in body as he was in spirit. Why should I hold a degrading
image in my mind of such a great man when it is based on the
testimony of those who did not like him?
As great as Paul was he was no god, and he knew it. He tore his
clothes when the pagans of Lystra began to worship him. In spite of
his great authority and power he was a very humble man in his own
eyes. When he begins his letters by calling himself an Apostle, you
will notice that he does not take credit for being in such a position.
He always acknowledges that it is by the grace or will of God. It is
God's doing an not his own. He wrote, "I am not worthy to be
called an Apostle." He went even further and wrote, "I am less than
the least of all saints." If Paul is stern, narrow and authoritative
when he writes it is not because he is proud, but it is because of his
office. He has an obligation before God to fulfill the great
responsibility of establishing the church in the world that is based
on sound and pure doctrine.
Look behind the official pronouncements and you will see a man
of like nature with us. Paul could speak with an ultimate authority,
which could forbid any other doctrine. And yet be perfectly willing
to admit that he was not infallible. When Paul spoke as an Apostle
to men he spoke with authority just as Jesus did. Paul, however, as
a man never thought of putting himself on the same level with his
Lord. Jesus could say, "Which of you convicts me of sin?" Paul
could say, "I am the chief of sinners." Paul never pretended to be
perfect or infallible. He admitted he only knew in part, and even
near the end of his life he said he had not yet attained but was still
pressing on.
Jesus is our ideal example, but Paul becomes our greatest
example of what is attainable in this life. Jefferson wrote, "We need
two examples, a sinless man, and a sinner who has repented. We
need the inspiration of a man who never fell, and the encouragement
of a man who fell and got up again. A perfect man reveals what the
ideal is; a man defeated and finally victorious discloses what by
God's grace we may ultimately become." Paul was held in high
esteem by those who really knew him. They wept in Ephesus when
he left them. They listened all night to him in Troas, and the
Galatians would have dug out their eyes for him. The Philippians
sent him presents again and again, and followed his travels with
great interest. In Corinth he was exalted as a great teacher.
Paul had the amazing ability to keep his head in the sky and his
feet on the ground. He was caught up to the third heaven and saw
things that he could not communicate. He had visions, trances, and
spoke in tongues, and yet he was healthy minded and practical.
Many with such experiences become fanatical, but Paul did not. He
never got carried away in attempts to become an authority on angels
or demons, or heaven or hell. He was down to earth practical in his
theology. When the ship he was on was going down he was calm and
was used by God to save all the men on board, which was 275 men.
He was a man with marvelous spiritual gifts, but he never abused
them or used them as ends in themselves. He wrote to the troubled
Corinthians, "Thank God I speak in tongues more than any of you,
but in church I would rather say five words with my own mind for
the instruction of other people than ten thousand words in a tongue
witch no one else can understand." Paul's concern for the practical
kept him in a balanced position at all times. He never emphasized
one truth to the point of excluding others. This is what happens to
those who become fanatical over some aspect of the truth to the
point of making it the whole of truth.
Paul was as practical as Jesus was. His goal was simplicity, and
we see this as we study his letter to Timothy. He starts by stating his
apostleship, not because Timothy had any doubt about his authority,
but because it was not just a friendly letter, but an official letter that
would be a guide for all the church. The whole church needs to
recognize its authority and their obligation to teach no other
doctrine than Paul.
