he taught it to all before he taught it to Paul

The Word for today:

Romans 6:1-14

Romans is the Manifesto of the Gospel, in which Paul very deliberately develops the rationale for salvation sola fide--by faith alone in Christ alone. 

Romans is a formal treatise, written to your head.  (If you want to read the street version of the gospel, then turn to Galatians, where Paul takes up the ideas in Romans and aims them at your heart.)

Paul's letters are the most thorough explanation of the gospel.  Which naturally raises the question…

Q.  Who explained it all to Paul? 

A.  He got it directly from Jesus:

I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)

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Cutting to the chase, let’s take on the two most complex theological propositions in Romans in order to trace the streams of Paul's thoughts back to their source…

1.  Faith or Works?

This is the issue most identified with Paul.  But it should not be associated primarily with Paul, because Jesus taught it to all before he ever taught it to Paul: 

Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." (John 6:28-29)

(Note well: If ever you get confused about the fundamentals of your New Testament, go to John 6:28-29--early and often.)

2.  Election or Free Will? 

The answer is both--absolutely and all at once:

All that the Father gives me (that's election) will come to me, and whoever comes to me (that's free will)  I will by no means cast out (that's a promise).   (John 6:37)

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What we are taught in the epistles is all in the gospels, in kernel form. 

The kernel died (and rose again) in the gospels, producing many seeds:

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:24)

The ‘apostle’s doctrine’ (Acts 2:42) is what Jesus taught them:

Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20/MSG)

And they were all taught by the Holy Spirit:

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  (John 14:26)

I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  (John 16:12-13)

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Surely we listen to Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, John, Paul…but ultimately, we “Listen to Him.”  (Matthew 17:1-5; Acts 3:22; cf. Deuteronomy 18:15)

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