Trinity Grace Fellowship

3 May 1997

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§0. Introduction. Previous sessions have documented the necessity of Paul's distinctive gospel for the salvation today of the Body of Christ, its Mystery content kept secret within the Godhead until revealed through Paul's ministry and epistles to the Body of Christ, and it's, and the Body of Christ's, supra-lapsarian and pre-creation place in God's electing decrees. These sessions constitute an overview of Paul's gospel.

The time has come to consider the ecclesiology of the Body of Christ, various aspects of which are the focus of this and the next two sessions of this bootcamp.

This session is dedicated to establishing the Pauline apostleship as the Divinely appointed human means to reveal, confirm, and write down this unprecedented, and unprecedentedly glorious, gospel to the Body of Christ. The following questions need to be considered:

1. Who are the men comprising the Body apostleship, and is it appropriate to call them "Pauline"?
2. How relates the Body apostleship to the Petrine apostleship (i.e. the Twelve)—are they the same, do they overlap, or are they different?
3. When did the Pauline apostleship end?

This session documents that the Body apostleship conprises Paul and certain men chosen to serve with him in the ministry and gospel given to Paul by the Lord Christ, that it is absolutely disjoint from the Petrine apostleship, and that it ended with Paul's death. These claims have consequences reinforcing previous sessions:

1. The gospel of salvation for the Body is that declared by the Pauline apostleship, namely that Christ is the non-ceremonial, non-ethnic, non-earthly, third-heavenly, exalted, glorious Head of the Body, that such Headship is His Lordship today, and the Body is the fullness of that Headship.
2. To obey Christ today means obeying Him in accordance with the example which Christ established in the ministry of Paul and his fellow apostles.
3. It is disobedience and rebellion to follow as the apostolic example either the earthly ministry of Christ or the ministry of the Petrine apostleship (the Twelve).
4. One who is unresponsive to Paul's gospel in his spirit is not saved.

An outline of this session is as follows:

§1. Composition of the Body Apostleship

§§1.1. Apostolic Office of Paul
§§1.2. Apostolic Office: Timothy, Silas, Sosthenes, Titus, Epaphroditus, Tychicus, Erastus, Epaphras
§§1.3. Mystery of Body Committed to Pauline Apostles

§2. Relationship of Paul to Other Pauline Apostles

§§2.1. Christ Spoke to Paul Face-to-Face
§§2.2. Christ Spoke to Other Pauline Apostles by His Spirit
§§2.3. Pauline Apostles Jointly Share Paul's Apostolic Office
§§2.4. Comparison of Paul and Pauline Apostleship with Moses and Mosaic Prophetship

§3. Disjointness from the Petrine Apostleship

§§3.1. Fundamental Distinction of Respective Gospel Contents
§§3.2. Fundamental Distinction of Respective Gospel Calls to Salvation
§§3.3. Fundamental Distinction of Means of Learning the Body Mystery
§§3.4. Fundamental Distinction of Respective Gospel Initiations

§4. Obligation of Body to Follow Example of Pauline Apostleship Only

§§4.1. Necessity of Body to Follow Pauline Template
§§4.2. Necessity of Body to Avoid Petrine Template

§1. Composition of the Body Apostleship. In this section we establish who the Pauline apostleship is, and that it is the apostleship of the Body of Christ.

It is necessary to have some vocabulary in mind:

(1) Meaning of the Greek apostolos, transliterated "apostle": another commissioned to go as one's personal legate, i.e. with one's personal, supernatural authority. Christ is spoken of as the Father's Apostle (Heb. 3:1).

(2) Meaning of the Greek apostello, transliterated "apostelize": to commission another to go as one's personal legate, i.e. with one's personal supernatural authority. Christ is spoken of as having been apostelized by the Father (e.g. John 6:57—there are many more).

(3) Meaning of the Greek pempo: to send someone on a mission. In the context of being sent by an apostle as part of that apostle's apostolic commission, it is equivalent to apostelize—see examples below. But for now, consider the definitive reference by Christ Himself in John 13:16—"the apostle is not greater than the one who pempoed him".

(4) WARNING, WARNING, WARNING: the translations have dealt with apostolos and apostello inconsistently and irresponsibly. The sober and vigilant saint (I Thess. 5:8) MUST have his/her study aids at the ready in these matters. The translators, as will all of us, give an account before God for their handling of the holy words (Deut. 4:2). Apostolos is sometimes mistranslated "messenger", a word more properly associated with "angel" or angelos.

(5) PLEASE NOTE: when we claim below that someone is an apostle or is apostelized, it is because the Holy Spirit Himself so stated in the holy words of the Greek Scriptures, regardless of what man says, in the text cited. The reader can verify with the aids (Ne. 8:8, Ps. 1:2; 119:97–104, Acts 17:11).

§§1.1. Apostolic Office of Paul: Paul.

(1) Paul is both an apostle of Christ (Rom. 1:1, I Cor. 1:1, II Cor. 1:1, Gal. 1:1, Eph. 1:1, Col. 1:1, I Tim. 1:1, II Tim. 1:1, Tit. 1:1) and one apostelized by Christ (I Cor. 1:17)

(2) Paul's apostleship is apart from the Twelve (see also §3 below).

(Gal. 1:1–12; 2:1–10, I Cor. 15:5–9)

§§1.2. Apostolic Office of Paul: Timothy, Silvanus, Sosthenes, Titus, Epaphroditus, Tychicus, Erastus, Epaphras, brother, brethren.

(1) Timothy is a Pauline apostle.

(a) Apostelized by Paul: Acts 19:22.
(b) Pempoed by Paul: I Cor. 4:17 (follow Paul), Philip. 2:19, 23, I Thess. 3:2,5.
(c) Apostle with Paul: I Thess. 1:1 compared with I Thess. 2:6.

(2) Silas/Silvanus is a Pauline apostle: I Thess. 1:1 compared with I Thess. 2:6.

(3) Sosthenes is is a Pauline apostle: I Cor. 1:1 compared with I Cor. 4:9; 9:5.

(4) Titus is a Pauline apostle.

(a) Apostelized by Paul: II Cor. 12:17,18 (sun-apostello, jointly-apostelized).
(b) Pempoed by Paul: I Cor. 9:3 in context with II Cor. 8:23.
(c) Apostle with Paul: II Cor. 8:23.

(5) Epaphroditus is a Pauline apostle.

(a) Pempoed by Paul: Philip. 2:25.
(b) Apostle with Paul: Philip. 2:25.

(6) Tychicus is a Pauline apostle.

(a) Apostelized by Paul: II Tim. 4:12.
(b) Pempoed by Paul: Eph. 6:21–22; Col. 4:7.

(7) Erastus is a Pauline apostle: apostelized by Paul: Acts 19:22.

(8) Epaphras is a Pauline apostle: joint-minister with Paul to Colossian assembly: Col. 1:7. Note the following terms are used of these apostles: joint-minister (Timothy in Philip. 1:1, Tychicus in Eph. 6:21–21) and joint-laborer (Timothy in I Thess. 3:2).

§§1.3. Mystery of Body Committed to Pauline Apostles

(1) Mystery committed to Paul and his ministry.

(a) Mystery committed to Paul: Rom. 11:11,25; 16:25, 1Co 2:7; 15:5, Eph 1:9; 3:3–10; 5:32; 6:19, Col. 1:23–27; 2:2; 4:3.
(b) Mystery is Paul's gospel: Rom. 16:25, Eph. 1:9,13; 3:3–10; 6:19, Col. 1:23–26, I Tim. 3:9,16.

(2) Mystery committed to the Pauline apostleship.

(a) This follows from citations in §§1.2–1.3 above.
(b) Many Pauline epistles were jointly written with the Pauline apostleship. See list in §§2.3 below.
(c) The Pauline gospel stated to be the gospel of the Pauline apostleship.

(i) The gospel of Paul and Sosthenes: I Cor. 2:7 (Mystery is the Pauline gospel).
(ii) The gospel of Paul and Timothy: II Cor. 4:3–4; 10:14–16, Philip. 2:22.
(iii) The gospel of Paul and Silvanus and Timothy: I Thess. 1:5; 2:4,8–9; 3:2; II Thess. 2:14.

§2. Relationship of Paul to the Other Pauline Apostles. As a further confirmation that all the Pauline apostles shed one apostolic office, namely Paul's office, it is instructive to examine Paul's relationship to the other apostles of his apostleship. It will emerge that Paul has a position relative to his apostleship similar to that which Moses has relative to the Mosaic prophethood.

§§2.1. Christ Spoke to Paul Face-to-Face and by His Spirit.

(1) Damascus road: Acts 9:1–9; 22:6–11.
(2) Face-to-face tutoring within the Third Heaven: II Cor. 12:1–7.
(3) By His Spirit: see §§2.2 below.

§§2.2. Christ Spoke to Other Pauline Apostles by His Spirit.

(1) Timothy: I Thess. 1:5, I Tim. 1:18; 4:14–16; 6:11, II Tim. 1:6,13–15.

(2) Silvanus: I Thess. 1:5

(3) Sosthenes: I Cor. 2:6–16.

(4) Pauline apostleship generally, referred to via hendiadys as the truly prophetic apostles: Eph. 2:20; 3:5.

(5) Pauline gospel needed more than one human witness: II Cor. 13:1.

(6) Same Principle for prophets in local assembly confirming Pauline revelation by the Spirit: I Cor. 14:37.

§§2.3. Pauline Apostles Jointly Share Paul's Apostolic Office. This is proven by the foregoing, that they shared in the writing of the Mystery, and that Paul alone of this apostleship speaks in the first person singular. Note that these are the only jointly-authored books of the NT, and the only jointly-authored and authored-named books of all Scripture.

(1) I Corinthians: Paul and Sosthenes

(2) II Corinthians: Paul and Timothy

(3) Galatians: Paul and the brethren with him

(4) Philippians: Paul and Timothy

(5) Colossians: Paul and Timothy

(6) I Thessalonians: Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy

(7) II Thessalonians: Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy

§§2.4. Comparison of Paul and Pauline Apostleship with Moses and Mosaic Prophethood.

(1) The Logos spoke with Moses face-to-face on the Mount and within Shekhinah: Ex. 33:11, Num. 12:6–8.

(2) The Spirit spoke with the other prophets: Num. 12:6–8.

§3. Disjointness from the Petrine Apostleship.

§§3.1. Fundamental Distinction of Respective Gospel Contents. See [DS7] for more documentation.

1. One Body of Paul's gospel vis-a-vis many bodies of Twelve's gospel: Matt. 8:8,14/Luke7:1–11, Matt. 15:26–28, Acts 2:14,39(Deut.2:39); 3:21–25, Gal. 2:7–8, I Pet. 1:1; 2:9–12, James 1:1, Rev. 21:12–14, etc. Peter's gospel and ministry comprise the circumcision gospel in which Elect Israel has a distinguished position vis-a-vis the Elect Gentiles. Bu there is neither Jew nor Gentile in Paul's gospel (Eph. 2:11–16, etc).
2. One Spirit of Paul's gospel vis-a-vis many spirits of Twelve's gospel: Acts 1:10–11; 2:1–3; 5:19–20; 8:26–39, 10:3–7;12:7–12,20, Heb. 2:2, II Pet. 2:10–11, I John 4:1–3, Jude 8, Rev. 1:1; 21:12, etc. Peter's gospel and ministry are under the supervision of the angels as spirits. But the Body has only the Holy Spirit since it will govern the holy angels (I Cor. 6:2–3; 12:4, Eph. 4:4).
3. One Hope of Paul's gospel vis-a-vis many hopes of Twelve's gospel: Matt. 5:5; 15:26–28; 19:28, Luke 22:30, Acts 1:6–7, I Pet. 1:10; 2:9–12, Rev. 21:10–14,24–26. Peter's gospel and ministry concern the eternal hopes of Israel plus the 70 nations, and Peter's hope is to chair the Sanhedrin of Israel's future earthly empire. Paul's hope is to sit in the Third Heaven with Christ (II Cor. 12:1–4, Eph. 1:20; 2:6) over angels.
4. One Lord of Paul's gospel vis-a-vis many lords of Twelve's gospel: Acts 10:3–4, Rev. 7:14 (kurios); cf. Ps. 136:3, Dan. 10:16,17,19; 12:8, Zech. 6:4; see (1) above; and contrast with I Cor. 8:5, Eph. 4:5. Peter's gospel and ministry are under the supervision of the angels as lords. But the Body has only the Son since it will govern the holy angels (I Cor. 6:2–3; 8:5; 12:5, Eph. 4:5).
5. One Faith of Paul's gospel vis-a-vis many faiths of Twelve's gospel: on one hand the Jewish faith and practice—Matt. 5:17–48; 8:4; 26:17–25, John 7:2,10–39, Acts 2:46; 3:1; 5:12,20,21,25,42; 21:23–24, etc, and on the hand the Gentile faith and practice—Matt. 15:26–28; 25:31–46, Luke 7:1–11, Acts 10:2; 15:9. Peter's gospel and ministry address many faiths—Israel plus the 70 nations. This is because Peter's gospel is the culmination and fulfillment of the prophets (Acts 2:16; 3:19–26, I Pet. 1:9–10; 2:9–12, etc) proclaimed since the world began, while Paul's gospel is the Mystery kept secret since the world began (Rom. 16:25, Gal. 1:11–12, Eph. 3:1–9, Tit. 1:2 (Greek text), etc).
6. One Baptism of Paul's gospel vis-a-vis many baptisms of Twelve's gospel: all the ceremonial baptisms of the Law—Matt. 2:22, Heb. 6:1–2; 10:22, baptism of repentance signifying the inward baptism—Matt. 3:13; 21:25–27; 28:19–20, Mark 1:1,3, Luke 3:3; 7:29–30, John 4:1–2, Acts 2:38, Heb. 6:1–2; 10:22, I Pet. 3:21, etc, charismatic baptisms—John 20:23, Acts 2:4,38, etc. So Peter's gospel and ministry are soaked in many baptisms in keeping with being the Israel's future priesthood (Ex. 19:5–6, Lev. 8:6, I Pet. 2:9). But Paul's gospel is dry with only one baptism—that by the Spirit into the Body of Christ at regeneration (Rom. 6:1–5 (Greek text), I Cor. 12:13, Gal. 3:27, Eph. 4:5, Tit. 3:5). Paul was absolutely-not apostelized to baptize (I Cor. 1:17, Greek text, strong negative ou), i.e. Paul temporarily kept ceremonies, holidays, baptism, sacrifices, and circumcision ONLY to honor Peter's gospel; but each of these things was absolutely-not part of Paul's gospel—see Gal. 4:8–11; 5:2, Col. 2:8–23 (esp. 11–18). Since Peter and the Twelve are not here today, it can safely be said that those who do any of things out of their being of beings (their human spirit) are not saved.
7. One Father-God of Paul's gospel vis-a-vis many gods of Twelve's gospel: John 10:34–36 (translations are awful here, see Greek text and analysis in [DS7]), and cf. Ps. 8:5 [gods]; 82:1,6; 97:7,9;138:1, Dan. 11:36, etc. Peter's gospel and ministry are under the supervision of the angels as gods. But the Body has only the Father-God since it will govern the holy angels (I Cor. 6:2–3; 8:5; 12:6, Eph. 4:6).

§§3.2. Fundamental Distinction of Respective Gospel Calls to Salvation.

(1) Peter's gospel call: repent and be water-baptized (Acts 2:38) to publicly confess Jesus of Nazareth as the Messianic deliverer of Israel and the Nations (Matt. 16:16, Luke 1:68–79, Acts 2:36; 3:12–36) in acordance with the prophets (Acts 3:19–26, I Pet. 1:10,25). This is also implied by the foregoing. In Peter's gospel, the Lordship of Christ means Messiahship over Israel and the Nations.

(2) Paul's gospel call: repent, privately and non-ceremonially address Jesus of Nazareth as "Lord Jesus" (Acts 20:21, Rom. 10:6–13) in the sense of non-earthly, non-ceremonial, non-ethnic Head of the Body in accordance with the Mystery hidden from the prophets (Rom. 10:12;16:25, Eph. 3:1–6, etc), and believe in the heart that God raised him from the dead (Rom. 10:9). This is also implied by the foregoing. In Paul's gospel, the Lordship of Christ means Headship over the Body of Christ.

§§3.3. Fundamental Distinction of Means of Learning the Body Mystery.

(1) Peter and Twelve learned the Body Mystery through Paul (and Titus): Gal. 2:1–7, i.e. "en Paulo".

(2) Paul learned the Body Mystery both from Christ and by the Spirit: see §§2.1–§§2.2 above

(3) Pauline apostleship learned the Body Mystery by the Spirit: see §§2.1–§§2.2 above, esp. Eph. 3:5, en pneumati.

(4) God is not inefficient; ergo, the two apostleships are disjoint.

§§3.4. Fundamental Distinction of Respective Gospel Initiations.

(1) Peter's gospel began with John the Baptist: Mark 1:1–4.

(a) The content of Peter's gospel is that of John's.

(b) Mark's gospel is essentially Peter's account of matters.

(2) Paul's gospel began with Paul's ministry: Philip. 4:15.

(3) These gospels cannot be the same.

§4. Obligation of Body to Follow Example of Pauline Apostleship Only.

§§4.1. Necessity of Body to Follow the Pauline Template.

(1) Paul's gospel sets the example for us to follow.

(a) Rom. 2:16—all living today will be judged by Paul's gospel.
(b) Rom. 16:17–20—Body is to separate from those teaching contrary to Paul.
(c) I Cor. 11:1—follow Paul as he follows Christ.
(d) Gal. 1:6–12—anyone teaching the Body contrary to Paul's gospel is accursed.
(e) Phil. 3:17—bluntly put, follow Paul's and Timothy's example.
(f) Phil. 4:9—bluntly put, do what Paul says to do.
(g) I Thess. 1:6—we are to follow Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.
(h) I Thess. 2:13—receive the word of Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy as the word of God.
(i) I Thess. 4:1—walk in accordance with the instruction of Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.
(j) II Thess. 2:14–15—hold fast the gospel and traditions of Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.
(k) II Thess. 3:6–9—follow the example of Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.
(l) II Thess. 3:14—separate from those not obeying the instruction of Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy.

(2) Body is NOT to follow the example of Christ's earthly ministry: Rom. 15:8—Christ in His earthly ministry was a minister to Elect Israel to confirm her position over the Elect Gentiles.

§§4.2. Necessity of Body to Avoid the Petrine Template

(1) Petrine template set by the prophets and Christ in His earthly ministry: I Pet. 2:21—Peter's gospel requires that the very actions of Christ on earth be traced as a template (see Greek text).

(2) From (1) and §4 above, the Petrine template is for the earthly kingdom of Israel only. Also Acts 3:19–26 cf. I Pet. 1:9–10–25.

(3) Anyone who would proclaim or require that the Body follow Peter's gospel is accursed (Gal. 1:6–12).