Adult Teching Resources June 5, 2016 Getting On in Glti: Pul s Angriest Letter (My 29-July 3) Sul s Cll Mkes Pul Gltins 1:11-24 Do You Feel Justified? Gltins 2:15-21 No More Lines Relly? Gltins 3:19-29 Wht Will Previl? Gltins 5:1, 13-25 www.bptiststody.org Subscribe to Bptists Tody to ccess the core Bible content for this lesson. www.nurturingfith.net Find links nd videos relted to this lesson. 1 Nurturing Fith June 5, 2016
Sul s Cll Mkes Pul Gltins 1:11-24 FIT Teching Guide by Rick Jordn This dult teching outline is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Before the Lesson: Hve blnk pper nd pens for the Trnsformtionl Exercise. Fellowship Question Use one of the following to brek the ice, to begin discussion, nd led into the study: You probbly hve first, middle, nd lst nme. Which of these nmes do you never use? If you know it, wht is the etymology of your nme? (e.g., Richrd is Germnic nd mens brve power. ) [Of course, nyone who hs smrt phone could serch Google if they do not know.] Informtion We recognize Pul s one of the key leders nd influencers of the erly Church. He trveled throughout the Middle Est nd Europe preching, teching, nd estblishing churches. Most of the New Testment is mde up of letters tht Pul wrote to those churches or to leders of those churches. Without Pul, it is esy to imgine tht Christinity would hve remined smll sect of Judism. However, before Pul ws n evngelist for Jesus, he ws persecutor of Jesus followers. The first story we hve bout Pul is in Acts, where he is nmed Sul. A decon of the church, Stephen, hs been chrged with blsphemy. [Hve clss member red Acts 6:8-14.] We might rgue tht the persecutors were twisting Stephen s words to persude conviction, or we might give them the benefit of the doubt. Mybe they were misunderstnding wht Stephen ws ctully sying, or could not her him without bis due to their own convictions nd fers. Either wy, we hve evidence tht the church ws fcing persecution. Christins were the enemy. Stephen preches s his ccusers re selecting their stones. At the end of his sermon, his ccusers becme his executioners. [Hve clss member red Acts 7:54-8:3.] 2 Nurturing Fith June 5, 2016
Informtion continued Stephen, fcing immnent deth, hs vision. Wht ws the vision? (He sw Jesus in heven.) We know from his conversion story tht Sul lso hd vision of Jesus. Why do you think Stephen s vision of Jesus did not ffect Sul or the others who were stoning Stephen? (They my hve thought he ws crzy; mybe they thought he ws hllucinting; it ws not vision tht they could see, etc.) Although Sul does not seem to hve personlly tken prt in Stephen s deth, it seems to hve inspired him to instigte surge of persecution. Like shrks tht smell blood, Sul nd his followers ttck the followers of Jesus. He refers to this s he opens his letter to Timothy. [Hve clss member red 1 Timothy 1:12-13, 15-16.] [Red or summrize the following quote:] Before his conversion, Pul clled himself mn of violence (1 Timothy 1:15). The word he ctully used in the Greek ws hubristes Aristotle, the gret Greek philosopher nd tutor to Alexnder the Gret, wrned his wrrior-student of the tempttion to become hubristes, which he defined s to hurt, to grieve to cuse shme nd injury finding delight in cruelty nd the suffering of others. Pul, in his confession of his previous life, uses this definition to describe himself. Willim Brcly describes the pre-conversion Phrisee Sul s ttitude s rrognt sdism, redy to inflict pin nd injury for the sheer joy of it. So, when Pul sys, I m the foremost, the chief of sinners, he is not joking. [Dvid Jordn. Living with Fith. Chrlotte: Pure Fith. 2015. p. 168f.] Obviously, the Christins were frid of Sul nd of his zel to persecute them. After his vision of Jesus, Sul converts. However, the disciples nd others were frid of him. [Hve clss member red Acts 9:26-28.] As we continue our lessons in Gltins, Pul refers bck to his pre-conversion dys s well s his reltionship with the church leders in Jeruslem. [Hve clss member red Gltins 1:11-14.] If you hd known Pul before his vision of Jesus, could you hve imgined who he would become fter his conversion? Why not? (Our imgintion of wht God cn do with humn life is very limited; we believe, deep down, tht people remin the sme nd do not chnge; we doubt God s power, etc.) Pul s ccounts bout his meetings in Jeruslem nd Luke s ccounts in Acts do not mtch up exctly. We cn ssume tht Pul knows wht he did when, wheres Luke ws collecting stories, selecting which stories to include in his books, nd ws not s concerned bout chronology s he ws impct. We red Luke s version bout Pul s meeting with the disciples in Jeruslem just fter his conversion, but Pul gives different ccount. [Hve clss member red Gltins 1:15-24.] Often, when we tlk of God s pln of slvtion we re tlking bout personl reltionship 3 Nurturing Fith June 5, 2016
Informtion continued with Jesus. Tht is wht we men by conversion. We convert from not being follower of Jesus to becoming follower of Jesus. We believe tht this is personl choice. It ffects our eternl destiny. For Pul, however, conversion mndted conversion not to different religion, but rdicl reconsidertion of everything nyone knew bout God up to the resurrection of Jesus. Prt of tht reconsidertion hd to do with who God loved nd who could be considered the children of God. Pul relized tht God s love nd slvtion were for ll people Jews nd non-jews (k Gentiles). As The Bible Lesson writer sys, while we typiclly spek of Pul s conversion on the Dmscus rod, Pul sw it s fuller reveltion of God nd prophetic cll to proclim the gospel of Christ mong the Gentiles to ll ntions. Agin, this ws not something nyone expected. Slvtion ws for the Jews. They were God s chosen people. Now, mn steeped in Jewish techings sys tht this is not complete picture of God s drem for the world. It should be noted tht Pul knew the fcts of the Christin fith before he becme Christin. He must lredy hve known good del of the content of Christin belief when he ws persecuting the Church; he ws no fool, nd would not hve wsted time nd energy in persecuting group with which he hd no qurrel. He knew wht they believed; he lernt it from them when they were his enemies. Elsewhere he stresses his greement with those who were Christins before him. I hnded on to you tht which I lso received (1 Cor. 15:3). There follows the bsic outline, not of theology but of the fcts in which Christin theology rests: Christ died for our sins, he ws buried, the third dy he ws rised from the ded The question tht ws settled by Pul s conversion ws not wht Christins believed, but whether wht Christins believed ws true; nd it ws settled not by pper proof but by the personl ppernce of the centrl chrcter. [C.K. Brrett. Freedom nd Obligtion: A Study of the Epistle to the Gltins. Phildelphi: Westminster. p. 9.] This personl confronttion with Jesus Christ chnged Pul drmticlly. Some use Pul s the model for conversion or coming to Christ. How do you feel bout tht? Must person hve time certin nd testimonil story before they my cll themselves follower of Jesus? We hve been clling this mn both Sul nd Pul. Unlike nme chnge stories tht we hve often red in the Bible, pprently, he ws given both nmes t birth one Hebrew nme, one Greek nme. [From the online resource, The Hrdest Question: Why ws Sul s nme chnged to Pul? ] The most likely nswer is tht Pul didn t chnge his nme ltogether, but chnged which nme he used in public Born s Jew nd s Romn citizen in the city of Trsus, it s not surprising tht he would hve both Hebrew nme nd Romn nme. Sul (sh ul), the nme of Isrel s first king, is Hebrew word tht mens sked. Pul (Pulus) is common Ltin nme tht could be trnslted s little or smll. When we red bout the young zelot s 4 Nurturing Fith June 5, 2016
Informtion continued persecution of Christins, he ws cting within fully Jewish context, nd used his Hebrew nme, Sul. After meeting Christ nd coming to believe tht he hd been clled to specil evngelistic ministry mong the Gentiles, Pul pprently decided on his own to switch to his Romn nme. So, lthough God did not chnge the postle s nme, Pul chnged the nme he used. It signified the chnged life he would now live in reching out to non-jews with the good news of God s love for them. Trnsformtionl Exercise [Distribute pper nd pens.] There is something within us tht hopes tht people will chnge for the better, but is surprised when it ctully hppens. Often chnge hppens in person becuse of drmtic situtionl chnges. A new love, n epiphny, betryl, sudden loss or sudden windfll situtions like these my put our lives on puse long enough tht we reflect on how we must now chnge. Those situtions my chnge our ttitudes nd our behviors. They my ffect our spiritul life. On this sheet of pper, drw two lines to mke three columns. In the first column, jot down three significnt chnges tht hve hppened in your life. In the second column, jot down how tht sitution chnged you. In the third column, jot down ny impct this hd on your spiritul life. [Give time for clss members to reflect nd write. After some time of silence, invite ny who will to shre insights they hve gined from this exercise.] [Close in pryer something like this: O God, s our lives chnge, we chnge. Some of us hve hd trumtic, Dmscus rod experiences. Others of us hve more ordinry spiritul stories. In ll of them, you re there. Help us not to wste ny experience tht could led us closer to you. Amen.] Comments or Questions for Rick Jordn? You my send comments to the lesson pln uthor t rjordn@ cbfnc.org. Rick is lso vilble to led workshops nd conferences on Christin Eduction, with prticulr emphsis on how best to use the FIT Fith model. 5 Nurturing Fith June 5, 2016
Digging Deeper by Tony Crtlege Digging Deeper is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. Wtch for the shovel icon in the The Bible Lesson, nd then reference tht item in this Digging Deeper resource. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Double dipping The lectionry text for lst week ws Gl. 1:1-12, nd the text for this week is Gl. 1:11-24, which mens tht vv. 11-12 re included in both weeks lessons. Tht s one of the resons we didn t dig too deeply into it lst week. Gospel Our word gospel comes from n Old English term tht mens good story, nd it trnsltes the Greek word eungelion (pronounced you-hn-ge-li-on ), which mens good news. For Pul, ny teching tht contrdicted the messge of slvtion by grce through fith ws bd news. By definition, it couldn t be clled gospel. Preched preching English trnsltions do not reflect n emphtic wordply in Pul s messge: the gospel tht ws proclimed by me trnsltes to eungelion to eungelisthen, using both the noun for gospel nd the verb for prech the gospel. Thus, it hs the sense of the gospel tht ws gospelled by me. Objective or subjective? Trnsltors struggle with the proper interprettion of Pul sying he received reveltion through (or by) reveltion of Jesus Christ. Did he men tht Jesus Christ ws the source of reveltion bout himself, or tht Jesus ws the subject of reveltion he received from God? In Greek, words tht would follow of or sometimes from in English hve n ending tht mrks them s being in wht is clled the genitive cse, but genitives cn serve mny functions. They cn be ttributive, possessive, prtitive, ppositive, subjective, objective, nd more. In Gl. 1:12, the question is whether Jesus Christ is subjective genitive, mening tht Christ is the subject of the verbl ide implied in the governing noun, or n objective genitive, mening tht he is the object of the verbl ide implied in the governing noun. In this cse, the governing noun is reveltion. If we red of Christ s subjective genitive, Jesus Christ would be the subject responsible for the reveltion to Pul. If we red it s n objective genitive, Jesus Christ is the object of reveltion, presumbly from God. Luke s ccount of Pul s conversion on the Dmscus rod clerly sys tht he sw vision of Jesus (Acts 9:3-6), in which cse Jesus would hve both subjective nd objective role, reveling himself to Pul. In v. 16, Pul will sy tht God ws plesed to revel his Son to me, in which Christ is the object of reveltion. Perhps Pul s lnguge is intentionlly mbiguous, indicting tht Christ in God is both the subject nd the object of reveltion. Brething fire In his erlier life s devout nd zelous Jew, Pul hd sought to qush the emerging church through persecutions designed to frighten Jewish Christins wy from Jesus nd bck into the fold. Sul hd wtched s Christin precher nmed Stephen ws stoned to deth, nd did so with pprovl (Acts 7:54-8:1). He probbly took led role in severe persecution tht broke out ginst the church in Jeruslem, cusing mny Christins to bndon the city nd sctter throughout the countryside. Sul ws 6 Nurturing Fith June 5, 2016
Digging Deeper continued not stisfied, but pursued Christins wherever they gthered in hopes of stifling their movement. Luke described his ctions this wy: Menwhile Sul, still brething threts nd murder ginst the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest nd sked him for letters to the syngogues t Dmscus, so tht if he found ny who belonged to the Wy, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jeruslem (Acts 9:1-2). Arbi Pul s clim to hve gone into Arbi does not men tht he trvelled deep into Sudi Arbi, s we would now know it. During the first century, Arbi generlly referred to the Nbten kingdom tht reched lmost to Dmscus in the north nd into the Arbin peninsul est of the Red Se in the south, extending westwrd beneth the Ded Se s fr s Gz, on the Mediterrnen Se. 7 Nurturing Fith June 5, 2016
The Hrdest Question by Tony Crtlege The Hrdest Question is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Why ws Sul s nme chnged to Pul? The most likely nswer is tht Pul didn t chnge his nme ltogether, but chnged which nme he used in public. Reders often ssume tht Jesus chnged Sul s nme to Pul, s God hd chnged Abrm s nme to Abrhm (Gen. 17:5), nd Jcob s nme to Isrel (Gen. 32:28). But, when Christ ppered in vision to the zelous Phrisee s he trveled to Dmscus in serch of Christins to prosecute, he clled him Sul, sying Sul, Sul, why do you persecute me? (Acts 9:4). When the Lord ppered to Annis, respected believer who lived in Dmscus, so tht he could go nd pry for the blinded zelot, he told him to look for mn of Trsus nmed Sul, who ws prying (Acts 9:11). Lter, fter Sul/Pul hd spent some time mong the Christins in Antioch, the Holy Spirit directed the church to Set prt for me Brnbs nd Sul for the work to which I hve clled them (Acts 13:2). There s no suggestion, then, tht God instructed the new missionry to chnge his nme. How, then, ws it chnged nd why? The most likely explntion is tht Sul probbly hd two nmes. Contemporry Americns usully hve first nd middle nme in ddition to their lst nme, nd this ws lso common in the first century: Pul ws pprently given two nmes t birth. Born s Jew nd s Romn citizen in the city of Trsus, it s not surprising tht he would hve both Hebrew nme nd Romn nme. Sul (sh ul), the nme of Isrel s first king, is Hebrew word tht mens sked. Pul (Pulus) is common Ltin nme tht could be trnslted s little or smll. When we red bout the young zelot s persecution of Christins, he ws cting within fully Jewish context, nd used his Hebrew nme, Sul. After meeting Christ nd coming to believe tht he hd been clled to specil evngelistic ministry mong the Gentiles, Pul pprently decided on his own to switch to his Romn nme. We first lern of this in Acts 13:9. On his first missionry journey, during visit to the city of Pphos on the islnd of Cyprus, Pul ws witnessing to the Romn proconsul Sergius Pulus (!) when they were interrupted by mgicin nmed Elyms (Acts 13:4-8). In response, Luke wrote, Sul, lso known s Pul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently t him before ccusing the mn of opposing God nd declring tht he would become blind (Acts. 13:9-12). The proconsul, suitbly impressed, becme believer. From tht point on, Luke consistently uses the nme Pul, nd tht is likewise how Pul identified himself in his letters. It ppers, then, tht Pul himself chose to use his Romn nme s he trveled through Romn territories s n postle to the Gentiles (Romns 11:13). It ws logicl nd pproprite thing to do. Pul my lso hve been motivted to embrce his Romn nme s gesture of humility. In forsking the royl nme Sul for Greek nme mening smll or humble, Pul my hve intentionlly diminished himself to honor Christ the more. 8 Nurturing Fith June 5, 2016