Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr19/sco01.zip/SCOFIELD.001/V04750

Text File | 1992-09-08 | 8KB | 139 lines

04785
 [1] {his own hired house}

   It has been much disputed whether Paul endured two Roman imprisonments,
   from A.D. 62 to 68 or one.  The tradition from Clement to Eusebius
   favours two imprisonments with a year of liberty between.  Erdman (W.J.)
   has pointed out the leaving of Trophimus sick at Miletus, mentioned
   in
 # 2Ti 4:20
   could not have been an occurrence of Paul's last journey to
   Jerusalem, for then Trophimus was not left
 # Ac 20:4 21:29
   nor of the journey to Rome to appear before Caesar, for then he did
   not touch at Miletus.  To make this incident possible there must have
   been a release from the first imprisonment, and an interval of
   ministry and travel.
04787
 Scofield Reference Notes (1917): Introductory Notes to The Epistles of Paul

 The Epistles of the Apostle Paul have a very distinctive character.  All
 Scripture, up to the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion, looks forward to
 the cross, and has primarily in view Israel, and the blessing of the earth
 through the Messianic kingdom.  But "hid in God"
 # Eph 3:9
 was an unrevealed \\fact\\--the interval of time between the crucifixion and
 resurrection of Christ and His return in glory; and an unrevealed
 \\purpose\\--  the outcalling of the \\ecclesia\\, the church which is
 Christ's body.  In Mat. 16, our Lord announced that purpose, but wholly
 without explanation as to how, when, or of what materials, that church
 should be built, or what should be its position, relationships, privileges,
 or duties.

 All this constitutes precisely the scope of the Epistles of Paul.  They
 develop the doctrine of the church.  In his letters to seven Gentile
 churches (in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, and
 Thessalonica), the church, the "mystery which from the beginning of the
 world hath been hid in God" (Ep 3.9), is fully revealed, and fully
 instructed as to her unique place in the counsels and purposes of God.

 Through Paul alone we know that the church is not an organization, but an
 organism, the body of Christ; instinct with His life, and heavenly in
 calling, promise, and destiny.  Through him alone we know the nature,
 purpose, and form of organization of local churches, and the right conduct
 of such gatherings.  Through him alone do we know that "we shall not all
 sleep," that "the dead in Christ shall rise first," and that living saints
 shall be "changed" and caught up to meet the Lord in the air at His return.

 But to Paul was also committed the unfolding of the doctrines of grace
 which were latent in the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Paul originates
 nothing, but unfolds everything, concerning the nature and purpose of the
 law; the ground and means of the believer's justification, sanctification,
 and glory; the meanings of the death of Christ, and the position, walk,
 expectation, and service of the Christian.

 Paul converted by the personal ministry of the Lord in glory, is
 distinctively the witness to a glorified Christ, Head over all things to
 the church which is His body, as the Eleven were to Christ in the flesh,
 the Son of Abraham and David.

 The chronological order of Paul's Epistles is believed to be as follows: 1
 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, Philemon,
 Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 Timothy, Titus, 2 Timothy.  Hebrews
 has a distinctive place, nor can the order of that book amongst the
 writings of Paul be definitely fixed.

                             The Two Silences

 Two periods in the life of Paul after his conversion are passed over in a
 silence which is itself significant--the journey into Arabia, from which
 the Apostle returned in full possession of the Gospel explanation as set
 forth in Galatians and Romans; and the two silent years in prison in
 Caesarea, between his arrest in the temple at Jerusalem and his deportation
 to Rome.

 It was inevitable that a trained intellect like that of Paul, a convinced
 believer in Mosasism, and, until his conversion on the Damascus road, an
 eager opposer of Christianity, must seek the underlying principles of the
 Gospel.  Immediately after his conversion he preached Jesus as the Messiah;
 but the relation of the Gospel to the Law, and, in a lesser degree, of the
 great Jewish promises, needed clear adjustment if Christianity was to be a
 reasonable faith, and not a mere dogma.  In Arabia Paul sought and found
 that adjustment through revelation by the Spirit.  Out of it came the
 doctrinal explanation of salvation by grace through faith, wholly apart
 from the law, embodied in Galatians and Romans.

 But the Gospel brings the believer into great relationships--to the Father,
 to other believers, to Christ, and to the future purposes of God.  It is
 not only a salvation from sin and the consequences of sin, but into an
 amazing place in the Divine counsels.  Furthermore, the new thing, the
 church in its various aspects and junctions, demanded clear revelation.
 And these are the chief themes of the Epistles written by Paul from Rome,
 and commonly called the Prison Epistles--Ephesians, Philippians,
 Colossians.  It is contrary to the method of inspiration, as explained by
 Paul himself, to suppose that these crowning revelations were made apart
 from deep meditation, demanding quietness, and earnest seeking.  It seems
 most congruous with the events of Paul's life to suppose that these great
 revelations came during the silent years at Caesarea--often spoken of as
 wasted.

 -=-=- Introduction to The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans -=-

 \\Writer.\\ The Apostle Paul (1.1). \\Date.\\ Romans, the sixth in
 chronological order of Paul's Epistles, was written from Corinth during the
 apostle's third visit to that city
 # 2Co 13:1
 in A.D. 60.  The Epistle has its occasion in the intention of the
 apostle soon to visit Rome.  Naturally, he would wish to announce before
 his coming the distinctive truths which had been revealed to and through
 him.  He would desire the Christians in Rome to have his own statement
 of the great doctrines of grace so bitterly assailed everywhere by
 legalistic teachers.

 \\Theme.\\  The theme of Romans is "the Gospel of God" (1.1), the very
 widest possible designation of the whole body of redemption truth, for it
 is He with whom is "no respect of persons"; and who is not "the God of the
 Jews only," but "of the Gentiles also"
 # Ro 2:11 3:29
 Accordingly, "all the world" is found guilty
 # Ro 3:19
 and a redemption is revealed as wide as the need, upon the alone
 condition of faith.  Not only does Romans embody in the fullest way the
 doctrines of grace in relation to salvation, but in
 three remarkable chapters (9-11.) the great promises to Israel are
 reconciled with the promises concerning the Gentiles, and the fulfilment
 of the former shown to await the completion of the church and coming of the
 Deliverer out of Zion
 # Ro 11:25-27
 The key-phrase is "the righteousness of God"
 # Ro 1:17 3:21,22

 The Epistle, exclusive of the introduction (1.1-17), is in seven parts.  I.
 The whole world guilty before God, 1.18-3.20.  II. Justification through
 the righteousness of God by faith, the Gospel remedy for guilt, 3.21-5.11.
 III. Crucifixion with Christ, the resurrection life of Christ, and the walk
 in the Spirit, the Gospel provision for inherent sin, 5.12-8.13.  IV. The
 full result in blessing of the Gospel, 8.14-39.  V. Parenthesis: the Gospel
 does not abolish the covenant promises to Israel, 9.1-11.36.  VI. Christian
 life and service, 12.1-15.33.  VII. The outflow of Christian love, 16.1-27.