The
Authority of Paul
By Stephen
Terry
Sabbath
School Lesson Commentary for October 1 – 7, 2011
“Paul,
an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the
Father…” Galatians 1:1, NIV
If you have ever been to the drag races, you know that
it is a noisy place. Powerful engines using explosive fuel mixtures can make it
seem like you are in a war zone. Drivers use several techniques to get an edge
in the competition where victory can hinge on differences of mere hundredths of
a second.
Racers will burn rubber on their slick surfaced tires
before taking off on their run in order to get maximum traction between tire
and track. They carefully build up torque by racing their engines with a brake
on the transmission. They don’t want any of that torque lost by the tires
losing traction. It’s a delicate balance, and if they allow too much torque to
build up before releasing the transmission brake things can explode and the
racing is over, to say nothing of the expense to replace the damaged parts.
Just as a powerful force builds up in the power train of
the race car, Christians have a powerful force that builds up in them. That
force is the power of the Holy Spirit. It does not come from man or the church
but directly from God. Peter spoke about it on the day of Pentecost. He said to
those who were seeking salvation, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38, NIV
Notice the formula. First, repent; then be baptized.
That is all that is required. Then the gift of the Holy Spirit is given. He did
not say you might receive the Holy Spirit. He said you will. Why is this
formula important? This is not the only place it occurs in Scripture. It is a
special ceremony that is done for a certain purpose. If we look at some of the
other occurrences, we can understand its significance.
The first example I would like to draw attention to is
when Moses set aside Aaron as High Priest for the Israelites in the wilderness.
The ceremony had two distinct elements. First there was a cleansing with water.
“Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water.”
Leviticus 8:6, NIV This was then
followed with an anointing with oil. “He poured some of the anointing oil on
Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him.” Verse 12 The symbolism here is repeated later for
another High Priest. That High Priest is Jesus.
In Matthew 3:13-17, we read, “Then Jesus came from
Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him,
saying, `I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ Jesus replied,
`Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all
righteousness.’ Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up
out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of
God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, `This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” NIV
The washing of Aaron as High Priest prefigured the
baptism of Jesus as High Priest (See Hebrews, chapter 7). And anointing Aaron
with oil prefigured the anointing with the Holy Spirit. 1 Samuel 16:13 reveals the close relationship
between the symbol and the reality. “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed
him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the
LORD came powerfully upon David.” NIV
Why are these symbols important? It is because they
signify a particular service. That service is ordination to priesthood. When we
couple that symbolism with the message of Acts 2:38, we can see that God’s
intent is to extend the priesthood to all believers. The same Peter who
presented this radical concept on Pentecost also confirmed it later in his
epistles. He wrote, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called
you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but
now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you
have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10, NIV
Because the church cannot bestow the Holy Spirit and it
is an essential element for ordination, we can see that ordination comes not
from the church but from God. This is why Paul, who understood this principle,
could say that he was “…sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and
God the Father…” Galatians 1:1, NIV
Because we do not understand this as Paul did, our concept of ordination
can become radically flawed.
When we mention ordination today, it should not be tied
to being paid a salary by a church denomination or being recognized as properly
authorized to perform marriages by the state. Neither of these figured into the
ministry of Jesus, nor in the ministry of the apostolic Christian church. Paul
by example chose to work as a tentmaker to support himself rather than to live
on the offerings of his brethren. (See Acts 18:3) His example was one based on
the model of a universal priesthood. Perhaps recognizing the ordination of this
universal priesthood could remove brakes on the effective proclamation of the
gospel in western culture.
The power of the Holy Spirit is like the power of that
race car engine. If you put the brakes on it too long, it will explode and take
the brake and much of the structure around it along with it. It exploded in the
ministry of Jesus Christ. It exploded with the Apostles on Pentecost. It
exploded again out of Antioch. When the post-modern Christian realizes that the
state and the church are irrelevant to ordination, the power of the Holy Spirit
can explode today as well.
Jesus did not ask permission from the church to begin
His ministry. Paul did not ask permission from the church to begin his. It is a
mystery why people stifle the Holy Spirit today waiting for permission to do
what the Spirit has already ordained them to do. To be a church member that
does not recognize the ordination to ministry that status includes is to be
like fruit trees that bloom profusely in the spring then bear scant fruit at
harvest time.
We often do not have a good understanding of how to
enable ministry. We see an example of this today in the exclusion of the
majority of the church from recognized ordination. Women who are in the majority
in church membership are also baptized and equal recipients of the Holy Spirit
but are relegated to a lesser role for no other reason than their gender. This
is like a general ordering over half of his troops to be shot before a major
battle then wondering why the battle is not won.
While some might justify this by pointing to the
priesthood of the Old Testament as an example of a gender exclusive clergy, those
who believe such things need to come up to date. The Aaronic priesthood is
dead. It died at the cross. It was only a symbol of the reality which is
Christ. And Jesus is not a priest after Aaron but after Melchizedek which the
book of Hebrews says is better (Hebrews 7:22).
Why then would anyone choose to perpetuate that which is
lesser rather than the greater priesthood of all believers introduced with the
reality of the ordination of Jesus and proclaimed by Peter? That reality became
the figure of ordination for all. Why would we want to place a brake on the
power of the Holy Spirit by refusing to recognize that ordination? Perhaps this
is why Paul felt it important to state that he was not sent “by a man.” His ministry exploded across the Gentile
world of his time with the recognition of a universal ordination that allowed
the Holy Spirit unrestricted access to willing and eager hearts. Let’s remove
the brakes so we can be about our Father’s business. I think it is high time we
recognized our ordination and began functioning as a kingdom of priests for
God, building pathways home for ourselves and others. Let’s replace the ashes
of this world with the beauty of God’s love.
This Commentary is a Service of Still
Waters Ministry
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