Church Letters (NT)

<-----GOSPELS----->	<--NT HISTORY--->	<-------------CHURCH LETTERS-------------->	HEBREW LETTERS

Matthew	Acts	Romans	I Timothy	Hebrews
Mark		I Corinthians	II Timothy	James
Luke		II Corinthians	Titus	I Peter
John		Galatians	Philemon	II Peter
		Ephesians		I John
		Philippians		II John
		Colossians		III John
		I Thessalonians		Jude
		II Thessalonians		Revelation

When Paul was converted to Christ on the road to Damascus and later commissioned for ministry, the Lord said of him,

(Acts 9.15)
But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.

NKJV

It is significant in this declaration that the Gentiles are placed ahead of Israel, seeing that the usual sequence was to the Jews first, then to the Gentiles. However, Paul affirmed later that the Lord meant what He said when he commented,

(Galatians 2.7-8)
7 But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter
8 (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles),

NKJV

Accordingly, the primary thrust of Paul’s efforts to the Gentiles is seen as we read these Letters.

His message was quite unique and shocking for he taught a Covenant of spiritual unity between Jews and Gentiles together "in Christ". The Old Testament had made it clear that Gentiles could be redeemed and brought into a right relationship with God, but the idea of unity with Gentiles was an alien thought to the Jews. Today we speak routinely of the "Body of Christ", the "Marriage of the Lamb", and the "unity of believers", but these concepts, first advanced by Paul, were strange ones indeed to the Jews. Those people had developed a centuries old mindset of separation from the Gentiles according to the Law. Thus, Paul’s message was bound to be controversial in that time. Even the original Apostolic Church that sprang up in Jerusalem following the Lord’s ascension strained at the concept (Acts 15.1-29).

For more detail on each Church Letter, go to CHURCH LETTERS (TOPICAL DETAIL), or continue your review with one of the following topics.