The Journey

By David Fiensy

The purpose of life is not to prosper; it is to develop the soul (Alexander Solzhenitsyn)
The Christian life is not so much walking the line as hitting the road. It is about journeying with God through the adventures of life, climbing the mountains of joy and descending into the valleys of suffering.
In this inspiring, accessible, and engaging book, Fiensy draws on his forty years as teacher and pastor to explore Paul's spirituality. He focuses on Paul's autobiographical references in his letters to the Galatians and Philippians. The Journey teaches us that the Christian's life in the Spirit can benefit from suffering as well as joy, danger as well as peace, and rejection as well as love.
Each chapter consists of:
• A new translation of the verses being studied
• The explanation and application of the verses to everyday life
• Four discussion questions for group interaction
• A section of additional information to go deeper into the scripture text
This book will help you to:
• See yourself in terms of your lifelong spiritual journey
• Apply scripture's truths to your everyday life
• Deepen your appreciation of what it means to be a Jesus follower
• Understand Paul as a source of not just theological truth but of spirituality as well

• Language: English
• Publisher: CrossLink Publishing
• Release date: Oct 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393511113

Book preview

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The Journey

SPIRITUAL GROWTH IN GALATIANS AND PHILIPPIANS

David A. Fiensy

CrossLink Publishing

RAPID CITY, SD

Copyright © 2021 by David A. Fiensy.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Fiensy/CrossLink Publishing

1601 Mt Rushmore Rd. Ste 3288

Rapid City, SD 57701

www.CrossLinkPublishing.com

Ordering Information:

Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the Special Sales Department at the address above.

The Journey/David A. Fiensy. —1st ed.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020952766

All translations of scripture and classical sources are the author’s unless otherwise noted.

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

FURTHER INFORMATION

Paul’s biography gleaned from scriptural references

Jerome on Paul’s origins

Chapter 2: God Stepped In (Gal. 1:13–16)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Paul the Persecutor

Texts About Zeal for the Law

A Modern Parallel to Saul/Paul

Chapter 3: Crucified (Gal. 2:20a)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Crucifixion in the ancient world

Chapter 4: Cursed (Gal. 3:10, 13)

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

FURTHER INFORMATION

Cursed is anyone hung on a tree

Redeemed/freed

Chapter 5: Abba (Gal. 4:3–7)

FURTHER INFORMATION

The meaning of the Greek word in Gal. 4:3, 9

Galatians 4 and the Inscriptions of Asia Minor

Abba

Chapter 6: The Journey (Gal. 5:16–17, 22, 24–25)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Pyramidal Representation of Pauline Ethics

The Vice List (Gal. 5:19–21): Brief Explanations

The Virtue List (Gal. 5:22–23): Brief explanations

Chapter 7: Brag, Brag (Gal. 6:13–14)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Paul’s looks

The Greeks on Bragging

Chapter 8: Tortured for Christ (Gal. 6:17)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Tattoos

The Word stigma

Paul’s Thorn

Chapter 9: I Want to Depart (Phil. 1:20–24)

FURTHER STUDY

Paul’s Martyrdom

Descriptions of heaven

Chapter 10: The Mind of Christ (Phil. 2:2–8)

FURTHER INFORMATION

The Christ Hymn

Hebrew Poetry

Christological Hymns/Confessions in the New Testament

Chapter 11: My Life Is Garbage (Phil. 3:5–11)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Verse 8: What has happened to Paul?

Skubala (verse 8). What does it mean?

Martyrdom in the Church

Chronology of Paul’s Life

Chapter 12: You’re Not What You Think You Are

FURTHER INFORMATION

The appearances of the verb phroneōto think in Philippians

The appearances of ḥairōrejoice in Philippians

In Phil. 3:12–15, Paul compares the Christian life to running a race. He frequently uses athletic events as illustrations of the Christian life. Here are his other instances:

Conversion language in Paul

Chapter 13: Inspired for Strength (Phil. 4:11–13)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Contentment (v. 11)

Paul’s prayer life

Who has been/is with Paul as he writes Philippians (and the other prison letters)?

Final Thoughts

Abbreviations

Message—The Message

NASB—New American Standard Bible

NIV—New International Version

NLT—New Living Translation

NRSV—New Revised Standard Version

TDNT—G. Kittel, et al., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964–1976. 10 volumes.

All translations of scripture and classical sources are the author’s unless otherwise specified.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Map of the Roman Empire¹

Theology or Spirituality?

This is a book about spiritual growth; Paul’s theology will take a back seat. Oh, we will reference it from time to time. As one thinker has observed, Paul’s theology underlines his spirituality, and his spirituality is grounded in his theology.² Another writes that the whole point of studying theology is to keep the conversion experience fresh and alive in our minds.³ You can’t leave out theology. But this book is about Paul’s spirituality.

Paul faced many personal challenges, physical illnesses, bodily attacks, and criticisms in his ministry, not to mention his many worries over his church plants. In the course of dealing with these problems, he wrote some of the finest words on spirituality in the history of any religion. Paul’s crisis points pressed him, in the power of the Spirit, to teach about and to model spiritual maturity. We are richer today because Paul faced such challenges.

Likewise, in Christian history, certain critical moments have produced for us more recent champions of spirituality. These are times when the faith has been on the line when it has been opposed by great evil and has had to persevere in spite of suffering. I hope to present the lives and experiences of some of these heroes of the faith, these modern Pauls.

Spirituality has as its concern not to live our way, but the Spirit’s way.⁴ This topic is about one’s spiritual growth and maturity; it is about the Christian’s journey of faith. It encourages believers in their everyday experiences and trials.

Therefore, in this book, I may not handle your favorite verses or answer your pressing theological controversies. For example, Paul writes in Galatians that through the Law I died to the Law (Gal. 2:19). Bottles of ink have been spilled explaining that verse. But I find much more interesting what he writes a sentence later: I have been crucified with Christ. Paul spends a lot of time on the concept of justification by faith in Galatians (and in Romans). But I am more intrigued by the concept of sanctification, which permeates his letters, although not always under that name. Paul handles one of his favorite proof texts, Gen. 15:6, in his letter to the Galatians (Gal. 3:6 and also Rom. 4:3, 9, 22). But I am more interested in another Old Testament text, Deut. 21:22, which states that Christ was cursed for us. Paul makes it a point to insist that he did not receive his gospel from human beings (Gal. 1:12). But I find much more interesting the fact that Paul annihilated churches and viciously persecuted Christians before his conversion (Gal. 1:13). In Gal. 4:4, Paul refers to the fullness of time as the time God sent his son. This is an intriguing expression that causes some discussion. But I am more drawn to Paul’s insistence that we call God Abba two verses later (Gal. 4:6). In Phil. 3:9, Paul refers to my own righteousness, an expression that causes much debate. But I pass over that quickly and move to the main point for me: that Paul’s former life is now for him garbage (Phil. 3:8). Theology may enter through the back door now and then, but this book is about those sorts of texts, the texts in which Paul reveals for us his Christian life, his life in the Spirit, his intimate interactions with God and his new Lord, Jesus Christ.

Likewise, this book is not about ecclesiology. For example, Paul gives directions on how to treat a believer who is caught in a trespass (Gal. 6:1). This is an interesting and important teaching but, again, not a central issue for this study. I had rather think about Paul’s refusing to boast in anything except the cross of Christ (Gal. 6:14). Nor will I opine on whether Euodia and Syntyche were deaconesses (Phil. 4:2), an important question in church history but not germane to my treatment. I’m much more drawn, in this volume, to Paul’s declaration of strength through the one empowering him (Phil. 4:13). Most of the texts will be rather biographical, that is, revealing something of Paul’s own life and thinking. It is in these texts that we find his teaching and modeling of spirituality.

Come with me, then, dear reader, as we explore the spiritual insights of Paul, who was not only a missionary, a theologian, and a Christian pastor but also an earnest devotee of Christ the risen Lord.

Paul’s Pre-conversion Life

Paul (or Saul as he was also called) tells us that he came from Tarsus, a city in the southeast corner of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). But Jerome (AD 347–420), the fourth-century Christian author and theologian, believed he had reliable information that indicated Paul’s birthplace was in Galilee, in a village called Gischala (see FURTHER INFORMATION at the end of the chapter).

Gischala is in Upper Galilee, which was more isolated than Jesus’ home town in Lower Galilee. Its mountains rise higher (up to 3,900 feet to just under 2,000 feet in Lower Galilee) and prevent as much interaction and trade as in Lower Galilee. Its language was almost exclusively Aramaic and Hebrew, and its culture was very conservative.

Although Lower Galilee had three small cities (Sepphoris, Tiberias, and Magdala/Taricheae), Upper Galilee had none. Lower Galilee had a major commercial highway running through it, the Sea Coast Highway, which ran northward along the coast, turned east through the Valley of Jezreel (passing just south of Nazareth), and then north at the Sea of Galilee.⁵ Upper Galilee had no such highway. So, Jesus’ family lived in a rather accessible and interactive area. I picture Jesus as a youth hearing stories from merchants and traders from far-away places and remembering them to be used later in his parables.

Paul’s family, however (his parents or grandparents), would have been conservative and provincial. His family lived in the hills and hollows and interacted mostly with their own village. They would have had little contact with outside influences until the Romans came and captured their village (see below). We sort of get that idea when Paul writes that he is a Hebrew of Hebrews, or a Semitic speaking native, the son of Semitic speaking parents (Phil. 3:5; 1 Cor. 11:22; cf. Acts 22:2, 26:14⁶).

Paul grew up in a very Greek city—and learned fluent Greek—but at home, even in Tarsus, the parents spoke Aramaic. His parents probably learned a little Greek to do business—doubtless with a heavy Semitic accent—but their lack of fluency might have been an embarrassment to the cosmopolitan Paul in his childhood. I can picture Paul’s parents asking the ten-year-old Paul to translate for them on numerous occasions as they navigated the economic necessities of their new home in Tarsus. Since Paul mostly grew up in Tarsus, he spoke Greek like a native, without a foreign accent and without hesitation. Yet, when he went home, he found two parents (and grandparents?) speaking Aramaic. Paul’s insistence that he was a Hebrew (son of) Hebrews shows that his family immigrated—or were forcibly moved—to Tarsus in recent times.⁷

Some have speculated that Paul’s parents were captured by the Romans in the uprising of 4 BC, just after Herod the Great died. When Herod died, there were several pretenders who opposed his heirs (his three sons) as rulers. These upstarts led to petty revolutions put down by both the Herodian forces and the Romans. The Romans destroyed the city of Sepphoris, the capital city of Galilee, and squashed any pockets of resistance in the villages of Palestine. Some historians have thought that Paul’s parents were taken as slaves during these uprisings and sold in Tarsus. Later, Paul’s parents acquired not only their freedom but their Roman citizenship, and Paul, in that way, received his as well.⁸

It is also possible that Paul’s parents, or grandparents, simply immigrated from Palestine into Asia Minor. Many Jews during the New Testament era left their Palestinian homeland and wandered afar in search of economic opportunities. The Jewish diaspora or dispersion was a major boost to the early church since they built synagogues all over the empire and offered footholds for the spread of the Christian faith.

At any rate, at some point, Paul’s parents (and/or grandparents) moved from Palestine to Tarsus. There was quite a lot of political and military activity in the Tarsus area during the late Roman Republic. Paul’s parents or grandparents could have acquired Roman citizenship by doing a favor to one of the Roman leaders (Julius Caesar or Augustus).⁹ One way or the other—either as a result of gaining manumission from slavery or because of a favor done to a Roman magistrate—Paul’s father gained Roman citizenship, a major honor in the first century. I agree with one historian who characterizes Paul’s family as urban middle class.¹⁰

Several scholars think Paul learned not only fluent Greek in Tarsus but Greek rhetoric as well.¹¹ They argue that Paul’s knowledge of rhetoric is evident in his letters. That is possible but not universally accepted. Even if Paul does show us his rhetorical skills, can a person not pick up a basic knowledge of, or skill at, rhetoric by listening to street preachers of Greek philosophy? Maybe. There certainly were such preachers of philosophy roaming the streets of most Greek cities in those days. Even if Paul does exhibit skills at rhetoric, the question is where he got them, from attending a school or simply by listening to speakers in Tarsus.

Paul’s Jewish background and pedigree are impressive and substantial (see FURTHER INFORMATION at the end of the chapter). He not only came from conservative, Palestinian stock, he also spent considerable time in Jerusalem as a Torah student. It is clear that his parents’ conservative Jewish influence, as well as his education in Jerusalem, made Paul a very traditional Jew, not to say a rising star in Jewish scholarship. It seems likely that he came to Jerusalem as a teenager and that he lived there for around twenty years before he became a Christian.¹²

There in Jerusalem, by his own account in Acts, he came under the influence of one of the luminaries of the first century: Gamaliel. References to Gamaliel (Rabban Gamliel as he’s called) are scattered all over the Talmud. He was quite famous (see FURTHER INFORMATION at the end of the chapter). Paul would have encountered the great scholar in the usually rebellious years of his growing up. Was Paul a respectful student in the presence of the great Gamaliel? We can only speculate, but I have my doubts. His apparent self-confidence (see Gal. 1:14) before his conversion is what makes me lean in the direction of saying that Paul might have been a handful in class.

He is called Saul in the book of Acts until chapter 13, where the author suddenly switches to the name Paul: Saul, who was also Paul . . . (Acts 13:9). This switch has led some to erroneously conclude that Paul changed his name after his conversion. But if he was a Roman citizen, he would have had a double name from birth, a Jewish one and a Roman one.¹³ We see this in other characters in the New Testament who are not necessarily Roman citizens but have names for their Jewish inside-circle and other names for their non-Jewish contacts: Acts 1:22 (Barsabbas also called Justus); Acts 15:22, 1 Thess. 1:1 (Silas, called by Paul, Silvanus); Col. 4:11 (Jesus also called Justus). Archaeology has revealed several of these Jewish men with double names. One example is the man called Theodotus in Greek and Nathanel in Hebrew (both names mean given by God).¹⁴ These are only a few of the numerous examples found inside and outside the New Testament of Jewish men who had a Jewish name (Barsabbas, Silas, Jesus, and Nathanel) as well as a Latin or Greek name (Justus, Silvanus, another Justus, and Theodotus). The same was true for Paul. Saul was his Jewish/Hebrew name; Paul was his Latin name.

As a Roman citizen, Paul had a praenomen or first name, his true personal name. He also had a nomen (the middle name) or clan name, and he had a cognomen or a kind of second personal name, a name awarded by characteristic or activity. Some famous Roman names, for example, were:

Marcus-Tullius-Cicero (the famous orator)

Gaius-Julius-Caesar (author of the Gallic War and dictator of Rome)

Titus-Flavius-Vespasianus (the Emperor of Rome from AD 69-79)

Paul’s name Paulus (sometimes spelled Paullus or Paulinus when used by others¹⁵) could have been either his praenomen or his cognomen. You can find people using that name for both. We do not know his nomen or clan name, which he would have been given upon his father’s (or grandfather’s) receipt of citizenship.

The apostle was, thus, a man of two worlds. On the one hand, he spoke Aramaic as his mother tongue, as the language of his home. He was a zealous Pharisaic observer of the Jewish Torah named Sha’ul (Saul), named after the most famous member of the tribe of Benjamin, the first king of Israel.

On the other hand, he was a Roman citizen, named Something-Something-Paulus,¹⁶ who could speak and write in fluent Greek and possibly some Latin. He had grown up with this double life, with this double identity (cf. 1 Cor. 9:20–22).

In his heart, he was Saul; in externals, he was Paul. He thought like a conservative, orthodox Jew; he dressed like a Greek and doubtless wore hairstyles and beard styles like the Greeks.¹⁷ He could have been taken for a Greek by those who did not know him.

Was Paul married? He was not when he wrote the first epistle to the Corinthians (7:7–8). But had he ever been married? Coming from a conservative and traditional Jewish family, Paul would have been given a bride. Many scholars cannot imagine that Paul’s parents would have neglected to secure for him a wife. It was a religious obligation.¹⁸ If so, what became of his wife and children? Some think they had died by the time Paul met the risen Lord. He would have been in his late thirties by that time. It would not have been unusual for a wife and children to have died young.¹⁹ Others think, without any evidence but with perhaps some justification, that his wife convinced the Jewish elders and courts to compel Paul to divorce her. Paul may allude to his own wife’s departure in his reference to an unbelieving wife leaving a believer (1 Cor. 7:15; see Chapter 11 in this volume).

A final question with regard to Paul’s personal life is whether he ever saw Jesus in person. Most would say that he did not²⁰; I am not so sure. If he really did live in Jerusalem for twenty years until his conversion and subsequent travels, it seems to me more than possible that he did see Jesus a time or two. I think it even possible that he witnessed Jesus’ death and that watching Jesus’ crucifixion may have disgusted him so much that he had a visceral reaction to any notion that Jesus of Nazareth could be God’s anointed Messiah.²¹ His response to the early Jesus Movement—so different from his teacher, Gamaliel’s (Acts 5:34–40)—is a continuing puzzle. Why did he hate Christians so much while Gamaliel had a let’s see what happens view?

So, Saul/Paul