Search — Theology Explorer

Acts 20:17 Ephesian elders Paul the Apostle feast days

Key observation: the Ephesian elders are not going to Jerusalem for Pentecost -- Paul is the exception, not the rule. Gentile believers are not flocking to Jerusalem for feasts.

Analysis of Acts 20:17, Paul's address to Ephesian elders

Acts 20:27 Torah observance Ephesus Paul the Apostle

Acts 20:27 -- Paul declares he gave the Ephesians the whole counsel of God. If Torah observance was required, he would have included it -- but he did not.

Paul's claim to have given the whole counsel of God

James (brother of Jesus) Acts 21:20-21 Paul the Apostle James (brother of Jesus) Law of Moses

Acts 21:20-21 -- thousands of Jewish believers are zealous for the law; there is a rumor that Paul teaches Jews to forsake Moses and stop circumcising their children

Survey of Acts 21:20-21

Acts 21:23-24 Nazirite vow Paul the Apostle Law of Moses

Acts 21:23-24 -- Paul is asked to join four men under a vow and pay their expenses, demonstrating publicly that he walks orderly and keeps the law -- to refute the false rumor

Survey of Acts 21:23-24, Paul and the vow

James (brother of Jesus) Acts 21:25 James (brother of Jesus) Apostolic Decree Acts 21:25

Acts 21:25 -- James reminds Paul of the Acts 15 Apostolic Decree: the Gentiles only need the four abstentions. The Jew/Gentile distinction in the decree is explicitly restated.

Acts 21:25, restatement of the Acts 15 decree

Acts 25:8 Paul the Apostle Law of Moses fulfillment theology

Acts 25:8 -- Paul says he committed no offense against the law of the Jews. Consistent with fulfillment theology: Paul in Christ has not violated the true spirit of the law.

Survey of Acts 25:8

Acts 28:17 Paul the Apostle fulfillment theology Acts 28:17

Acts 28:17 -- Paul says he has done nothing against the customs of our fathers. Again consistent with fulfillment theology.

Survey of Acts 28:17

Romans 6:14 119 Ministries law of Christ under the law

119 Ministries' first interpretive move: raising the question of which law Paul means in Romans 6:14

Presenting 119 Ministries' argument before critique

Romans 6:14 hermeneutics exegesis Law of Moses

Winger's critique: 119 Ministries compares "the law of X" phrases to the unqualified phrase "the law"

First critique of 119 Ministries' method

Romans 6:14 false dichotomy 119 Ministries under the law

119 Ministries' second move: false dichotomy between "under sin" and "under Law of Moses"

Presenting the second interpretive move of 119 Ministries

Romans 6:14 dominion exegesis 119 Ministries

119 Ministries subtly changes the wording of Romans 6:14 from "dominion" to "under sin"

Third interpretive move: textual alteration

Romans 3:20 knowledge of sin Law of Moses law and sin connection

Romans 3:20 establishes a connection between the law and the knowledge of sin

Scriptural support for the law-sin connection

1 Corinthians 15:56 law and sin connection power of sin 1 Corinthians 15:56

1 Corinthians 15:56 — the power of sin is the law

Scriptural support for law-sin connection

Romans 6:14 Law of Moses 119 Ministries under the law

119 Ministries' conclusion: Romans 6:14 refers to the "law of sin and death," not the Law of Moses

Presenting 119 Ministries' final interpretive conclusion

Romans Romans exegesis Law of Moses

The unqualified "the law" appears 35+ times in Romans before 6:14 and always refers to the Law of Moses

Argument from Pauline usage in Romans

Romans 7 Romans 6:14 119 Ministries Romans 7 Romans 6:14

119 Ministries claims Romans 6:14 introduces the "law of sin and death" — but Paul actually introduces it in Romans 7

Critique of 119's ad hoc exegesis

Romans 6:14 Romans 6:15 Law of Moses under the law Romans 6:14

Romans 6:15 refutes 119's interpretation of Romans 6:14 by context

Contextual argument using the immediately following verse

Romans 2:12 Law of Moses Romans 2:12 under the law

Romans 2:12 — "under the law" refers to Jews who have the Law of Moses

Surveying Pauline uses of "under the law" — first instance

Romans 3:19 accountability Law of Moses under the law

Romans 3:19 — the law speaks to those under it; clearly Jewish people

Surveying Pauline uses — second instance

1 Corinthians 9:20-21 Law of Moses law of Christ under the law

1 Corinthians 9:20-21 — Paul uses "under the law" four times, clearly meaning Jews/Jewish law observance

Surveying Pauline uses — third instance

1 Corinthians 9:20-21 Law of Moses law of Christ fulfillment theology

Paul's two caveats in 1 Cor 9:20-21: not under the Law of Moses, but also not lawless — under the law of Christ

Distinguishing freedom from the law vs. antinomianism

Galatians 3:23 Law of Moses under the law Galatians 3:23

Galatians 3:23 — before faith we were held captive "under the law," referring to the Law of Moses for Jews

Surveying Pauline uses — fourth instance

Galatians 3:25 faith in Christ Law of Moses under the law

Galatians 3:25 — we are no longer under the guardian (the law)

Surveying Pauline uses — fifth instance

Galatians 4:4-5 redemption sinlessness of Jesus Law of Moses

Galatians 4:4-5 — Jesus was born "under the law" to redeem those under it; proves the phrase means Law of Moses, not mastery of sin

Surveying Pauline uses — sixth instance, highly significant

Galatians 4:21 circumcision Law of Moses fulfillment theology

Galatians 4:21 — "you who want to be under the law" addresses those seeking circumcision and Mosaic obedience

Surveying Pauline uses — seventh instance

Galatians 5:18 Law of Moses under the law Galatians 5:18

Galatians 5:18 — "if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law"

Surveying Pauline uses — eighth/ninth instance

Ephesians 5 Ephesians 5 Old Testament application Ten Commandments

Paul uses OT law as wisdom: Ephesians 5 cites the fifth commandment; the principle rather than the code

Q&A: how NT epistles apply OT law

Deuteronomy 25:4 1 Corinthians 9 Deuteronomy 25:4 1 Corinthians 9 law as wisdom

Paul applies Deuteronomy's ox-muzzling law as a principle for supporting ministers — typological/principled use of OT law

Q&A: example of principled OT law application

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-30

Fallacy of negative inference illustrated by Galatians 2:20

Winger uses Galatians 2:20 to illustrate that affirming Christ's death for one person or group does not imply he did not die for others.

Galatians 2:20 limited atonement fallacy of negative inference Galatians 2:20

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-30

Universal atonement motivates evangelism; limited atonement undermines the sincere gospel call

Winger argues that Paul's evangelistic appeal in 2 Corinthians 5 flows directly from universal atonement and is inconsistent with limited atonement.

2 Corinthians 5 evangelism limited atonement universal atonement

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-30

Paul's application of the theology confirms the universal-extent, limited-application reading: the missions mandate

How Paul applies his theology tells us what his real theology is; his application is the missions mandate.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 evangelism limited atonement 2 Corinthians 5:18-20

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-13

Galatians 4:21: Those who want to be under the law do not understand the law

Paul's argument against misapplying the law

Galatians 4:21 Galatians 4:21 Steven Anderson law and gospel

Mike Winger idea 2019-06-13

1 Corinthians 6:9-11: Such were some of you — homosexuals and all manner of sinners were washed, sanctified, justified

Direct scriptural refutation that homosexuals cannot be saved

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 salvation justification 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

1 Corinthians James (brother of Jesus) Paul 1 Corinthians James (brother of Jesus)

Paul as historical witness: he knew Jesus's brother James, persecuted the church, and lived in the same region and time as Jesus

Discussing Paul's evidence for the historical Jesus

Paul Jesus mythicism historicity of Jesus

Argument: Paul's conversion is inexplicable if Jesus were fictional — he was in Jerusalem at the same time as the crucifixion

Using Paul's personal proximity to events to argue against mythicism

Paul Jesus mythicism historicity of Jesus

The dying and rising gods parallel argument fails because Paul and non-Christian sources still have to be explained independently of the Gospels

Initial response to the Greco-Roman dying/rising gods parallel argument

Paul Richard Carrier Jesus mythicism

Richard Carrier's claim that Paul only describes a Jesus in outer space, never on earth

Presenting a key mythicist argument from Richard Carrier about Paul

Romans 1:3 Paul Richard Carrier Davidic descent

Romans 1:3 refutes the "outer space Jesus" claim — Paul explicitly places Jesus as a historical descendant of David born in the flesh

Exegetical refutation of Carrier's cosmic Jesus interpretation

James (brother of Jesus) Paul James (brother of Jesus) Jesus mythicism

Some mythicists argue "James the brother of the Lord" means a fellow believer, not a biological brother of Jesus

Mythicist reinterpretation of Paul's reference to James

Galatians James (brother of Jesus) Matthew 13:55 Josephus Galatians multiple attestation

Refutation: Paul and Jesus use "brothers" for all believers, but Matthew names four brothers of Jesus including James — confirmed by Josephus

Multiple source attestation for James as biological brother of Jesus

James (brother of Jesus) Josephus multiple attestation James (brother of Jesus)

Multiple independent attestation from Paul, Matthew, John (special L), and Josephus — the strongest form of historical evidence — confirms Jesus's brothers including James

Summary of multiple attestation for Jesus's brothers

Acts Hebrews Paul Peter Acts

Audience Q: Why doesn't anyone reference Tacitus on Christian persecution until the 4th century? — Multiple 1st-century sources confirm early persecution of Christians

Audience question from "Godless Engineer" about Christian persecution attestation

Acts 9 Paul resurrection appearances hallucination hypothesis

Did Paul hallucinate seeing Jesus? Hallucinations are private, not group experiences — Paul's companions also saw the light and heard the voice (Acts 9)

Audience Q about whether Paul hallucinated his encounter with the risen Jesus

Acts 13 Psalm 16:10 David Paul resurrection

Paul quotes Psalm 16:10 in Acts 13, arguing Jesus's body did not decay — therefore the resurrection was physical and bodily, not merely visionary

Paul's bodily resurrection theology inferred from Acts 13

1 Corinthians 15:20 1 Corinthians 15:23 Paul resurrection bodily resurrection

Paul's resurrection theology reconstructed from 1 Corinthians 15: Christ is firstfruits; believers will be raised at Christ's coming in the same manner

Paul's own teaching on the nature of resurrection

2 Corinthians 5:8 Philippians 1:20-22 Paul eschatology intermediate state

Paul's eschatology: 2 Corinthians 5:8 and Philippians 1:20-22 show an intermediate disembodied state after death, before the final bodily resurrection

Paul's two-stage eschatological framework

1 Thessalonians 4 Paul eschatology intermediate state

1 Thessalonians 4: Jesus will "bring with him" the dead in Christ, whose spirits are reunited with raised bodies — a transformer/transformative resurrection

Paul's 1 Thessalonians 4 passage on resurrection and the coming of Christ