Memory Text: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13, 14, NKJV).
Read for This Week’s Study: 1 Cor. 1:22–24, 1 Tim. 6:12, 2 Tim. 4:7, 1 Cor. 15:12–22, Acts 15:38–41.
Drawing on Old Testament prophetic messages, Jewish history, and the life and teachings of Jesus, Paul developed the Christian concept of salvation history, all centered on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Because of his cultural background in both Judaism and in Greco-Roman society, Paul possessed sufficient insights to allow him to lift the gospel out from the complexity of Hebrew civil, ritual, and moral practices of Jewish life and make it more accessible to a multicultural world.
Paul’s 13 letters to the believers applied faith to their lives. He touched doctrinal, as well as practical, topics. He counseled, encouraged, and admonished on matters of personal Christianity, relationships, and church life. Nevertheless, throughout his letters his main theme was “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2, NKJV).
Paul was not only a man of letters. He also became known as the apostolic missionary par excellence, witnessing to the gospel from Syria to Italy, perhaps even to Spain. Within a decade, Paul established churches in four provinces of the Roman Empire.
This week we will take a look at Paul—both his mission and his message.
* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 19.
Adventist Sabbath School Lesson for Adults
Q3 2015 «Biblical Missionaries»
Lesson 12 – Paul: Mission and Message
