Removing the Blinders

I mentioned in my previous blog about how Paul did not lose heart because it was God’s mercy that empowered him. “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.” But what was the ministry he was speaking of? What was “this ministry” specifically?

Paul states that Israelites were blind to the real purpose and meaning of the “old covenant.” “A veil lies over their hearts” (2 Cor. 3:15) is how he describes their reading of what we consider to be the Old Testament. So Paul’s ministry was one of reasoning from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead and consequently proving that it was Jesus who was that long awaited Messiah (Acts 17:2, 3). Paul’s ministry was to remove that veil so that people “with unveiled face” may behold the glory of the Lord. Jesus is that glory and it is upon his person that we must turn our gaze for the purpose of being “transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18).
If we are to follow in this apostolic tradition it is necessary then for gospel preachers to preach Christ even from the Old Testament since it “bears witness” (John 5:39) of him. Any teaching or preaching that falls short of this is not ministry in the New Testament sense. The gospel is not merely to get the sinner in the door, but the gospel is for the believer so that he too may be sanctified continually.

The gospel begins with “Moses and all the Prophets” (Luke 24:27) and the Psalms (Luke 24:44) since they all bear testimony about Jesus. Should we preach and teach in such a way that our hearers get the idea that we are calling them to mimic the behavior of “Bible heroes” without explaining the reason for their behavior (Hebrews 11) then we have utterly failed. We will have only succeeded in creating another good behavior based religion. May it not be.