Quote:
Originally Posted by UntoHim
Witness Lee claimed that Paul's teachings in Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians were "the heart of the divine revelation".
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There was a participant several years back who drove us crazy with some of his dogmatic views on things. But one of his dogmas, while overdone, was to assert that the core of the NT is the gospels. In this one item he was (and probably still is) right.
During the recent era of "emerging" and "emergent" church thinking, there was a general disdain for Paul because they see in the bulk of Christianity a tendency to use Paul as the gospel and almost dismiss the actual gospels. Turns out that they didn't really dislike Paul, but rather the inverted way of viewing the NT. So many start with Paul and try to shoehorn the gospels to fit what they think they are getting out of Paul. And they mostly ignore the parts of the gospels that they cant fit into their "Paul" narrative.
But the real way to look at the NT should be similar to what the Jews say about the OT. They essentially say that there is the Law and the Prophets, and the rest is commentary. Layered over the NT, that would be "The gospels are the Gospel. The rest is commentary."
Effectively, if you can't make Paul and the gospels fit together, you are more likely reading Paul wrong, not the gospels. It is that kind of focus that has brought me to realize that Paul's letters are not about uber-spiritual stuff with a side helping of discipline about their issues. Instead, virtually the whole of each letter is about correcting the totality of the lives of the believers and the rest is very sound spiritual facts that are in their toolbelts for the purpose of succeeding in their daily lives in all aspects. For Paul, there is no spiritual-secular divide. Driving in a manner displaying the image of God is as spiritual as praying — or any other item we think of as "spiritual" when we are considering activities in the totality of our lives. There is no secular living unless we are failing to set our minds on the Spirit and therefore failing to fulfil the righteous requirement of the law.