Paul’s theology was completely Christocentric, meaning that
everything he did was centered around Christ. According to Lea, “Paul’s thought
can be described as historical, functional, and dynamic…it was historical
because it was grounded in the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of
Jesus. (Gal. 4:4).”[1] Underlying all the themes Paul would cover be
it ethics, anthropology, soteriology, ecclesiology, or eschatology, in the end
were built upon the foundation that salvation was “in Christ” and that the
church is the body of Christ, and exist because believers are first “in Christ.”[2]
Paul gets his authority as an apostle like the rest of the
apostles because he saw the Lord himself and was given that authority firsthand
(Gal 1:1). As for the source of his theology he was able to form deeper thought
than the average Jew since he was a Pharisee, while he was also handed down
other information by different people about Christ’s death, burial, and
resurrection (1 Cor. 15:3-5).[3]
The best way I could describe being in Christ to a curious non-believer, would
be to explain that every believer has a function in the body of Christ. When a
person accepts Christ we become a part of his body, hence the body analogy Paul
uses in 1 Corinthians; and being in Christ we are to live life in a more holy
manner than according to flesh.
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