Paul… A Both/And Saint

WED., JULY 16, 1997, 8:35 AM
OFFICE, PULLIAM

These letters from Paul to young Timothy have now been read and discussed. Your basic perceptions of Paul are not changed by these, but I still find it good to offer you some observations about him and what he has written. Always remember that he was one of those responsible for your first born-again experience!

Paul was called. There is no doubt in his mind and spirit about this… and there isn’t in yours either. I selected/elected him for a tough but important job. Some of his not-so-wonderful characteristics were vital to his success. He was, as evidenced in these letters, sometimes arrogantly humble. He was proud of his election, and he was proud to suffer for it. Sometimes he even invited the treatment that brought suffering, for to him it was evidence of his serving Me… adequately to well.

He is not entirely comfortable with both/and thinking, but he knows some are called, as he was, and some can be brought to serve the Lord through his preaching and his way of living. He affirms that I, the Triune God am for everyone, but he also observes that everyone doesn’t respond similarly to the message of salvation.

His own people, the Jews, chosen by Me centuries before, are holding to their old ways and refusing to see Me, as Jesus, as their expected Messiah. My disciples want to perpetuate their Lord’s reality, but they first favor limiting any blessings to Jews or to those who help the accepted Jewish laws. Paul was instrumental in moving them away from a rigid insistence, but there was always some tension between the need to keep laws and the grace that My death provided. How cheap could grace be… or was grace both quite “expensive” and “very cheap”?

You noted that in one statement he affirmed that if you “let God down”, in denying Christ, you would be dropped from “His people”. Then he follows with the affirmation that God will never let you get away. Conditional love and unconditional love… are they opposites (one true and the other not)… or are they complementary, in some way? The history of the Jewish people, which Paul knew well, proclaims that they were chosen but they were often punished for their unfaithfulness… with Me remaining faithful. Remember that all of the elders of the people who were led out of slavery in Egypt by Moses had to die before the next generation could enter the promised land. This seems to be both conditional and unconditional love. And I am free to bestow either in any situation. I don’t have to be what you judge to be consistent.

This leads to some observations on suffering. Paul was proud of the suffering he was enduring, for he felt that this would “earn him” the crown in heaven that he so wanted. Yet he could also preach that you didn’t have to “earn” salvation. My death, as Jesus, was The Way. All you have to do is accept.

Again, both are true and relevant in some ways. Suffering can be a price you pay for something worthwhile. As Jesus I suffered, for a few hours, on the cross, but it was for the supreme “cause” – your salvation. And now I say that you, too, should suffer, as I did, to appreciate My gift. But then I’ll also say that you don’t need to suffer… I did if for you. Both/And.

Interestingly, your culture is both for and against suffering… or… suffering is good and not good. Those judged to be criminals must suffer confinement… but the confinement must not make them suffer much. Those who murder may be given the death penalty… to suffer the ending of life… but it must be administered in a way that does not involve suffering. There are medications that limit or eliminate physical suffering, but doctors must be cautious in prescribing such.