The Self-Drawn Portrait of the Apostle Paul. (9)
Posted by Marvin Pagkanlungan on Monday, June 2, 2014
by Charles H. Welch
#9. Separate Features: Refined Courtesy.
“Here we see . . . . . that refined courtesy which cannot bring itself to blame till it has first praised, and which makes him deem it needful almost to apologize for the freedom of giving advice to those who were not personally known to him.” (Conybeare and Howson).
We have all met the man who boasts that he is “John Blunt”, but we have usually found that he has a “sharp” tongue. To “call a spade a spade” might appear to be the essence of frankness. It may however be the essence of grace to remember that “pity” enters into the attitude of the heavenly Father to His children; a remembrance of natural frailty and a desire so to administer needful correction that it shall contribute to the upbuilding rather than the overthrowing of the believer.
One of the first reasons why we should never speak with untempered censure is that, in the very nature of the case, we can never know all the facts or all the circumstances. Perhaps the proverbs, “To know all is to forgive all”, errs too much on the side of leniency, but if we would serve our brethren a recognition of the principle involved must ever be ours. Again, what is so cheap as “advice”. On every hand there are those who will tell one what one “ought to do”, but in most cases, such unsought and freely-offered advice is of little value. Advice that is real and helpful must usually be sought, and must often be paid for. Now the Apostle, as the representative of Christ, might appear to be exempt from these limitations. Surely where censure is merited, Paul can give it without mitigation or preface! Surely, we might say that where Paul had the right to command, he would not apologize for advising! So we lesser folk might reason, but not so those most taught by grace. God Himself respects the image after which man was created. Sinful though man is, yet, so far as circumstances permit, he is a free moral agent. In the gospel of His grace, God Himself wooes, pleads, invites. He Who is Lord of all says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man open . . . . .” and His ministers are more like Him when they “minister and are not ministered unto”.
Chapter after chapter in the first epistle to the Corinthians is devoted to rebuke and censure, for the Corinthians were divided, were partisan, were carnal, were immoral, were enslaved by unholy bonds, or boasting in unholy freedom, yet in spite of all this, the Apostle opens his epistle with the words, “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ” (I Cor. i. 4). This is followed by a long series of rebukes. Again, in I Cor. xi. 2, we read, “Now I praise you, brethren”, but in verse 17 he follows on by saying, “Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not”. And again, in verse 22, “What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not”.
In the same epistle the Apostle’s advice is sought on the question of marriage. Instead of laying down a law, he spends a long time in looking at the matter from various angles, leaning to abstention from marriage “for the present necessity” (or distress) (I Cor. vii. 26), because of the then possibility of the Lord’s return. He prefaces his remarks with the words, “I speak this by permission, and not of commandment” (verse 6). And again, midway through his advice, he says, “now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, yet I give my judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful” (verse 25), and finally at the close he says, “But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the spirit of God” (verse 40).
By these concessions a lesser man than Paul would have so weakened his authority as to render his advice valueless. Paul’s magnanimity, however, was such that what he lost by right of command he more than gained by sympathy and affection. Where the Corinthians might have rebelled against hard and fast rules, they were persuaded that the Apostle had no designs upon them but sought their highest good.
After such a mighty revelation of truth as is contained in Rom. i.-xi., it is almost disconcerting to find the Apostle beseeching us to present our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom. xii. 1). Or, again, in Eph. iv., instead of demanding a worthy walk, the prisoner of the Lord beseeches us to walk worthy. How clear a portrait we have of Paul in this respect when we read the letter he wrote to Philemon.
“Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, yet for love’s sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ . . . . . But without thy mind would I do nothing . . . . . albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord . . . . . I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say” (Philemon 8, 9, 14, 19, 20, 21).
It looks as though the Apostle of the grace of God was a gracious person: that he who had received so much love and forbearance, showed love and forbearance: that in dealing with others, he who had known the burden of the law, avoided using terms of law, even when he had the right to command or to instruct. How few, O Paul, are thy successors!
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(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 33, page 142).
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#9. Separate Features: Refined Courtesy.
“Here we see . . . . . that refined courtesy which cannot bring itself to blame till it has first praised, and which makes him deem it needful almost to apologize for the freedom of giving advice to those who were not personally known to him.” (Conybeare and Howson).
We have all met the man who boasts that he is “John Blunt”, but we have usually found that he has a “sharp” tongue. To “call a spade a spade” might appear to be the essence of frankness. It may however be the essence of grace to remember that “pity” enters into the attitude of the heavenly Father to His children; a remembrance of natural frailty and a desire so to administer needful correction that it shall contribute to the upbuilding rather than the overthrowing of the believer.
One of the first reasons why we should never speak with untempered censure is that, in the very nature of the case, we can never know all the facts or all the circumstances. Perhaps the proverbs, “To know all is to forgive all”, errs too much on the side of leniency, but if we would serve our brethren a recognition of the principle involved must ever be ours. Again, what is so cheap as “advice”. On every hand there are those who will tell one what one “ought to do”, but in most cases, such unsought and freely-offered advice is of little value. Advice that is real and helpful must usually be sought, and must often be paid for. Now the Apostle, as the representative of Christ, might appear to be exempt from these limitations. Surely where censure is merited, Paul can give it without mitigation or preface! Surely, we might say that where Paul had the right to command, he would not apologize for advising! So we lesser folk might reason, but not so those most taught by grace. God Himself respects the image after which man was created. Sinful though man is, yet, so far as circumstances permit, he is a free moral agent. In the gospel of His grace, God Himself wooes, pleads, invites. He Who is Lord of all says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man open . . . . .” and His ministers are more like Him when they “minister and are not ministered unto”.
Chapter after chapter in the first epistle to the Corinthians is devoted to rebuke and censure, for the Corinthians were divided, were partisan, were carnal, were immoral, were enslaved by unholy bonds, or boasting in unholy freedom, yet in spite of all this, the Apostle opens his epistle with the words, “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ” (I Cor. i. 4). This is followed by a long series of rebukes. Again, in I Cor. xi. 2, we read, “Now I praise you, brethren”, but in verse 17 he follows on by saying, “Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not”. And again, in verse 22, “What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not”.
In the same epistle the Apostle’s advice is sought on the question of marriage. Instead of laying down a law, he spends a long time in looking at the matter from various angles, leaning to abstention from marriage “for the present necessity” (or distress) (I Cor. vii. 26), because of the then possibility of the Lord’s return. He prefaces his remarks with the words, “I speak this by permission, and not of commandment” (verse 6). And again, midway through his advice, he says, “now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, yet I give my judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful” (verse 25), and finally at the close he says, “But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the spirit of God” (verse 40).
By these concessions a lesser man than Paul would have so weakened his authority as to render his advice valueless. Paul’s magnanimity, however, was such that what he lost by right of command he more than gained by sympathy and affection. Where the Corinthians might have rebelled against hard and fast rules, they were persuaded that the Apostle had no designs upon them but sought their highest good.
After such a mighty revelation of truth as is contained in Rom. i.-xi., it is almost disconcerting to find the Apostle beseeching us to present our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom. xii. 1). Or, again, in Eph. iv., instead of demanding a worthy walk, the prisoner of the Lord beseeches us to walk worthy. How clear a portrait we have of Paul in this respect when we read the letter he wrote to Philemon.
“Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient, yet for love’s sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ . . . . . But without thy mind would I do nothing . . . . . albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord . . . . . I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say” (Philemon 8, 9, 14, 19, 20, 21).
It looks as though the Apostle of the grace of God was a gracious person: that he who had received so much love and forbearance, showed love and forbearance: that in dealing with others, he who had known the burden of the law, avoided using terms of law, even when he had the right to command or to instruct. How few, O Paul, are thy successors!
-----------------
(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 33, page 142).
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