The Self-Drawn Portrait of the Apostle Paul. (3)
Posted by Marvin Pagkanlungan on Tuesday, May 27, 2014
by Charles H. Welch
#3. His Impetuosity.
“Here we see . . . . . that impetuosity which breaks out in his apostrophe to the ‘foolish Galatians’.” (Conybeare and Howson).
The reader may at first look askance at the subject to be considered in this article. Impetuosity is a trait not usually put forward for emulation, especially in spiritual things. It must, however, be remembered that we are endeavouring to reconstruct the Apostle’s self-drawn portrait. It is recorded that in reply to the artist’s suggestion that a facial blemish should be omitted from his portrait, Oliver Cromwell said that he wanted his portrait painted “wart and all”. It is far too easy to slip into the idea that the saints of the Bible were not as other men. On the contrary, they were only too conscious that in themselves they were but earthen vessels. It may be that if Paul’s impetuosity appears at times to outrun discretion; on the other hand the sluggishness and indifference of others bear a great deal of responsibility.
The case in point in this article is the attitude of the Apostle as expressed in the Epistle to the Galatians when he heard of their defection from the truth. Speaking after the manner of men, we should never have seen the Epistle to the Galatians, had Paul not been so moved that, without ceremony and without pause, he wrote out of a burning heart this interesting, personal, Epistle.
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed . . . . . though an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel . . . . . let him be accursed . . . . . Do I now persuade men?” (Gal. i. 6-10).
“I would they were even cut off which trouble you” (Gal. v. 12).
Can we imagine Paul quietly allowing the judaizers from Jerusalem to come down to Galatia and put shackles and fetters upon those who had been set free by his own ministry, and not be roused? “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?” (II Cor. xi. 29), said the Apostle. And if the word translated “offended” means “made to stumble”, is it not a thing to be thankful for, that Paul could burn at the action of these legalisers? In this same chapter of Corinthians we sense that he himself felt that he had been too impetuous in speaking of his sufferings as compared with the other apostles.
“Ye suffer fools gladly . . . . . ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face” (II Cor. xi. 19, 20).
These are burning, impetuous words, but who would wish them unwritten and unpublished? Can a man be white-hot for the truth and no one be singed? However, we see the same characteristic coming out that we saw in Phil. iv. (see pages 141-143), where, after a long list of unprecedented hardships for Christ’s sake, he suddenly swings away from all this talk about himself and says that if he must needs glory he will glory of the things which concern his infirmities, and proceeds to speak of one of the most humiliating of his experiences, his ignominious exit from Damascus.
“Through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands. It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory” (II Cor. xi. 33, xii. 1).
Yet, who would have a different Paul? That there was ample room for growth in grace, he, of all men, knew best, but would we exchange the burning zeal of the apostle of grace, for the cold reasoning of the doctrinaire? His churches were his children; his doctrine more than life; he “gladly spent himself”; and if this impetuosity sometimes overran discretion—be it so! The Apostle himself has drawn a distinction between “the righteous man” and “the good man” (Rom. v. 7), using the terms after the manner of men. Who can imagine Paul “faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly null”, as Tennyson expresses it. Before his conversion he described himself as being “an exceeding zealot” (Gal. i. 14), and Luke speaks of him in those days as “breathing out threatenings and slaughter” (Acts ix. 1).
Salvation does not rob a man of his individuality, but enables him with the self-same members that once served sin, now to serve the Lord. Paul would have ceased to be the same individual had he not burned with zeal in whatever cause he undertook. We are not in the slightest sense attempting to justify the Apostle in all his ways; we are endeavouring to look at his self-drawn portrait, the portrait of a man of flesh and blood like ourselves, a man who, like ourselves, knew what internal conflict was; a man who is beloved, not by reason of some ideal qualities, but for what he was by the grace of God.
What a marked contrast there was between the Apostle and his Lord when they stood before their judges. He, the Lamb of God, opened not his mouth, but Paul flashed out: “God shall smite thee, thou whited wall!” only to follow it immediately by the repentant words, “I wist not brethren, that he was the high priest” (Acts xxiii. 2-5). Can we not hear that impetuous spirit when he said:
“None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy” (Acts xx. 24).
“I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts xxi. 13).
No wonder we read, that when they heard this, the disciples ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done”.
With such an example, who would not be encouraged to endure? See how, had the disciples not restrained him, Paul would have entered into the theatre at Ephesus, where the populace were crying out for about two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” (Acts xix. 30). While, therefore, we can easily see that there was great impetuosity in Paul’s character that needed the curb, after all, how much better is this fire and force than the lethargy of so many who profess to follow his steps.
We are not told in the Scriptures to follow Paul’s example blindly. Where he followed his Lord, he becomes an example for us to follow; where he was sometimes carried away by an excess of zeal, he becomes a corrective, but in most cases our lamps burn so feebly, and are so easily dowsed, that we have to confess that a little of the spirit of this ardent Apostle would make for clearer and fuller testimony on the part of us all.
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(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 31, page 156).
--------------------------------------------
#3. His Impetuosity.
“Here we see . . . . . that impetuosity which breaks out in his apostrophe to the ‘foolish Galatians’.” (Conybeare and Howson).
The reader may at first look askance at the subject to be considered in this article. Impetuosity is a trait not usually put forward for emulation, especially in spiritual things. It must, however, be remembered that we are endeavouring to reconstruct the Apostle’s self-drawn portrait. It is recorded that in reply to the artist’s suggestion that a facial blemish should be omitted from his portrait, Oliver Cromwell said that he wanted his portrait painted “wart and all”. It is far too easy to slip into the idea that the saints of the Bible were not as other men. On the contrary, they were only too conscious that in themselves they were but earthen vessels. It may be that if Paul’s impetuosity appears at times to outrun discretion; on the other hand the sluggishness and indifference of others bear a great deal of responsibility.
The case in point in this article is the attitude of the Apostle as expressed in the Epistle to the Galatians when he heard of their defection from the truth. Speaking after the manner of men, we should never have seen the Epistle to the Galatians, had Paul not been so moved that, without ceremony and without pause, he wrote out of a burning heart this interesting, personal, Epistle.
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed . . . . . though an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel . . . . . let him be accursed . . . . . Do I now persuade men?” (Gal. i. 6-10).
“I would they were even cut off which trouble you” (Gal. v. 12).
Can we imagine Paul quietly allowing the judaizers from Jerusalem to come down to Galatia and put shackles and fetters upon those who had been set free by his own ministry, and not be roused? “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?” (II Cor. xi. 29), said the Apostle. And if the word translated “offended” means “made to stumble”, is it not a thing to be thankful for, that Paul could burn at the action of these legalisers? In this same chapter of Corinthians we sense that he himself felt that he had been too impetuous in speaking of his sufferings as compared with the other apostles.
“Ye suffer fools gladly . . . . . ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face” (II Cor. xi. 19, 20).
These are burning, impetuous words, but who would wish them unwritten and unpublished? Can a man be white-hot for the truth and no one be singed? However, we see the same characteristic coming out that we saw in Phil. iv. (see pages 141-143), where, after a long list of unprecedented hardships for Christ’s sake, he suddenly swings away from all this talk about himself and says that if he must needs glory he will glory of the things which concern his infirmities, and proceeds to speak of one of the most humiliating of his experiences, his ignominious exit from Damascus.
“Through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands. It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory” (II Cor. xi. 33, xii. 1).
Yet, who would have a different Paul? That there was ample room for growth in grace, he, of all men, knew best, but would we exchange the burning zeal of the apostle of grace, for the cold reasoning of the doctrinaire? His churches were his children; his doctrine more than life; he “gladly spent himself”; and if this impetuosity sometimes overran discretion—be it so! The Apostle himself has drawn a distinction between “the righteous man” and “the good man” (Rom. v. 7), using the terms after the manner of men. Who can imagine Paul “faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly null”, as Tennyson expresses it. Before his conversion he described himself as being “an exceeding zealot” (Gal. i. 14), and Luke speaks of him in those days as “breathing out threatenings and slaughter” (Acts ix. 1).
Salvation does not rob a man of his individuality, but enables him with the self-same members that once served sin, now to serve the Lord. Paul would have ceased to be the same individual had he not burned with zeal in whatever cause he undertook. We are not in the slightest sense attempting to justify the Apostle in all his ways; we are endeavouring to look at his self-drawn portrait, the portrait of a man of flesh and blood like ourselves, a man who, like ourselves, knew what internal conflict was; a man who is beloved, not by reason of some ideal qualities, but for what he was by the grace of God.
What a marked contrast there was between the Apostle and his Lord when they stood before their judges. He, the Lamb of God, opened not his mouth, but Paul flashed out: “God shall smite thee, thou whited wall!” only to follow it immediately by the repentant words, “I wist not brethren, that he was the high priest” (Acts xxiii. 2-5). Can we not hear that impetuous spirit when he said:
“None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy” (Acts xx. 24).
“I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts xxi. 13).
No wonder we read, that when they heard this, the disciples ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done”.
With such an example, who would not be encouraged to endure? See how, had the disciples not restrained him, Paul would have entered into the theatre at Ephesus, where the populace were crying out for about two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” (Acts xix. 30). While, therefore, we can easily see that there was great impetuosity in Paul’s character that needed the curb, after all, how much better is this fire and force than the lethargy of so many who profess to follow his steps.
We are not told in the Scriptures to follow Paul’s example blindly. Where he followed his Lord, he becomes an example for us to follow; where he was sometimes carried away by an excess of zeal, he becomes a corrective, but in most cases our lamps burn so feebly, and are so easily dowsed, that we have to confess that a little of the spirit of this ardent Apostle would make for clearer and fuller testimony on the part of us all.
-----------------------------------------
(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 31, page 156).
--------------------------------------------
