Missionary Service in the Life of Paul, Part 2

By Kenneth C. Fleming [1]

Part 2: Paul the Teacher

Paul as a missionary was a great teacher as well as a great evangelist. Like his Master he was a maker of disciples, a trainer of men. His remarkable missionary success had as much to do with his teaching as with his evangelism. The pioneer of Christian missions fulfilled the commission of the Lord Jesus to “make disciples of all nations.” To him the salvation of men was the beginning point of Christian life, not the climax. We do well to study his example in order to improve the efficiency of our service for the Lord. There is a solid biblical base in Paul’s teaching ministry from which we can learn. We will look at some of the important aspects of this ministry in the following pages, especially those that touch principles applicable to missions today.

The Place of Teaching in the Missionary Strategy of Paul

The general strategy of Paul’s missionary activity is clearly stated in Acts 14:21–23:

And after they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

This took place near the end of his first missionary journey with Barnabas. For about two years they had been in the vicinity of four cities in the Roman province of Galatia. We know them as Lystra, Iconium, Derbe and Pisidian Antioch located in what is today South Central Turkey. What Paul and Barnabas did there is typical of their missionary work. In terms of missionary strategy three things stand out clearly. First, there was an evangelistic thrust. “They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples.” Initially they communicated the good news of salvation as widely as possible. Those that responded were called disciples. That is evangelism.

Secondly, there was the teaching process. Note the words, “They returned strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith.” Paul and Barnabas worked at teaching the new believers the great truths of the Word of God so that they would be strong in the faith. That is training, and it is the emphasis of this study.

Thirdly, there was the establishment of an indigenous local church. Our passage says, “When they had appointed elders for them in every church,. .. they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” The evangelized and trained believers were formed into local assemblies with appointed elders. Thus Paul and Barnabas could leave them in the relative security of a viable local church. We will examine this at a later stage. Let us return for our present study to the apostle Paul as a teacher.

The Importance of Teaching in the Ministry of Paul

The narrative of Paul’s missionary life makes it clear that he realized the importance of well-taught disciples. He knew that without adequate training the believers could not stand in a secular world, the churches would not be able to continue, and the whole Christian movement would falter. Well-taught and trained believers were vital to the life of the early church.

The importance of teaching cannot be over-emphasized. God designed it as something essential to the believer’s spiritual development and service. Just as the learning/teaching process is essential to the development of man’s social culture, so it is equally important to his spiritual development. Learning is defined as, “personal development toward maturity.” Teaching is that which provides for and encourages effective learning. Missionary teaching provides for and encourages believers to understand and apply the Word of God.

Teaching is necessary for several purposes. One of these is to bring the believer to an intelligent understanding of God and His ways. “And this is eternal life that they may know Thee the only true God” (John 17:3). Knowing God involves the learning/teaching process. Another purpose for which teaching is necessary is for personal growth toward the likeness of Christ. The Word of God is both milk and meat to the Christian. The learning/teaching process is the means for ingesting this spiritual food. A third purpose for which teaching is necessary is in learning to serve God, using the Word as a tool. A fourth purpose is to train effective witnesses for the growth of the church.

Many religions stress forms more than content. The worshipper performs a set of duties and acts which are his main contribution to religious observance. Christianity’s emphasis is on truth and the worshipper must understand and apply it. It is because Christianity is more content- than form-oriented that teaching is so essential to its growth. Teaching is the guardian of the faith.

Paul’s Role as a Teacher

His Training for the Role of Teacher

Teaching was one of Paul’s primary roles. From the age of fourteen he was trained as a teacher of the Law. He had come from Tarsus to Jerusalem to study under Gamaliel. His sharp mind and gifted personality were ideally suited to his training. He emerged as a leading teacher of the Pharisees in Jerusalem shortly after Pentecost. The powerful witness of the new Christians soon started to have an impact on his thinking. Many were forsaking orthodox Judaism to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah. Christian leaders such as Stephen were debating with Jews in the various synagogues. Paul as a teacher of the Pharisees, no doubt was one who opposed them, but he could not resist the wisdom and power of Stephen’s arguments. They were like goads prodding his academic mind ever closer to acknowledging Jesus as Messiah.

The crisis came as Paul lay prostrate in the dust of the Damascus road. There he submitted to the claims of Jesus as Messiah and Lord. Paul the leader of the Pharisees became Paul the follower of Jesus. His teaching role, however, did not change. While still in Damascus, he was already “Confounding the Jews. .. by proving that Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 9:22). Paul disappears for some years from the biblical record except for visits he made to Arabia and a fourteen-day visit to Jerusalem. When he reappears in Acts 11, he had come to Antioch at the request of Barnabas and taught considerable numbers. He was still teaching. In chapter thirteen when prophets and teachers met for prayer and fasting, Paul was among them (Acts 13:1–3). He was known as a teacher in that city. In that capacity he was sent forth with the gospel, and he taught it in the synagogues of Cyprus and South Galatia.

His Teaching Role as an Evangelist

As his evangelistic teaching bore fruit in the lives of converts, Paul continued his teaching role in confirming and strengthening the new believers in the faith. The role of teacher/trainer became the dominant role in his life. Every evangelistic effort was followed by an emphasis on building up the new believers. Sometimes he was driven out of town sooner than he planned, but even then he tried to leave strong believers as teachers. Then he himself sought to return to reinforce their teaching. When this was not practical, he wrote teaching letters to the different congregations and individuals.

His Teaching Role through Letters

The letters of Paul form a significant part of our New Testament. His role as teacher shines in all of them. Romans is a carefully reasoned doctrinal statement of the gospel. The Corinthian letters deal with order in the local church and the progress of ministry. Galatians and the Thessalonian letters deal with issues which had arisen and needed clear answers. Paul gave them. Some of the letters handled great and lofty themes as do Ephesians and Colossians. Almost every letter applies truth to the practical everyday lives of the believers. Paul was at his best as a teacher in the declaration and application of truth. Most of his letters begin with the doctrinal statement of truth and end with its application in the life of the individual, the family, and the church. Paul’s pastoral letters are in the teaching mode to younger men who needed encouragement and advice. At the very end of his life Paul wrote to Timothy and warned him to be on guard against those like Alexander who opposed his teaching (2 Tim. 4:15). Paul’s role as a teacher is as clear as any role in his life.

Paul’s Goals as a Teacher

Teaching People to Believe in Christ

As a teacher/trainer Paul had definitive goals in mind. When he taught, he set out to accomplish these. We shall note four major goals which Paul had before him in his teaching ministry. The first of these was to so effectively teach the gospel, that men and women would be saved. We have noted before that as Paul entered the cities of the Greek world, he found the synagogues and sought opportunity to teach the gospel there. His hope was that the Jews, proselytes, and God-fearers who made up the congregations would respond by acknowledging Jesus as Messiah and by believing in Him as the crucified and risen Saviour. Paul’s arrival in Corinth is typical. Acts 18:4 tells us, “He was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.” At this city he was actively testifying that Jesus was the Christ (Acts 18:5).

In time the synagogue authorities evicted him, but he continued teaching both Jews and Gentiles in the house of a man called Titius Justus who lived next door. As a result, many believed including the leader of the synagogue named Crispus. Paul then stayed in Corinth for eighteen months teaching the Word of God among them (Acts 18:11). It was a ministry of teaching the gospel in an orderly, reasoned fashion. God honored this ministry with many souls. Some years later he wrote to Timothy about this, saying, “I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. .. as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Tim. 2:7). Perhaps we could learn from Paul as a teacher of the gospel. It may be that we have over-emphasized the “rescue-mission approach” or the “crusade approach,” looking for an immediate response, to the detriment of our evangelism. Perhaps in our hurry to make converts by preaching, we fail to make disciples by teaching.

Teaching the Believers to be Mature in Christ

The second goal Paul had in his teaching ministry was the personal maturity of believers. His teaching purpose extended from the point of their conversion toward growth in Christian character. This goal was attained by focus on the person of Christ. They would learn to know Him. They would learn to be like Him. They would learn to be protected from error concerning Him. Paul’s teaching goal was to present every man complete (mature) in Christ. Central to this theme is the passage in Colossians 1:28–29:

And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power which mightily works within me.

Paul knew that maturity in Christ necessitated knowing Him. He kept this as a personal goal himself right to the end of his life. From prison in Rome he wrote to the Philippian believers, “That I may know Him. .. . Not that I have. .. already become complete, but I press on. .. toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:10–14). In verse eight he calls it “the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Paul had this goal, not only for himself, but for those he taught. Phillips paraphrases the Colossian passage, “We teach everyone we can all that we know about Him, so that, if possible, we may bring every man up to his full maturity in Jesus Christ. This is what I am working at all the time with all the strength that God gives me.” He taught his students to know Christ.

Maturity in Christ also necessitated being like Him in character. Christian character is, in essence, Christ’s character. Believers are to grow into the likeness of Christ. Paul spent a major part of his ministry in teaching this to his converts. They were to be changed into the image of Christ, progressively growing into his likeness (2 Cor. 3:18). Paul’s ministry to believers aimed at change in their behavior and attitude. Paul taught the Colossians, “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him” (Col. 2:6–7). That is to behave like Christ. He taught the Philippians, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. .. . He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” That is to think like Christ.

In addition to the inward aspect of behaving and thinking like Christ, Paul taught his converts to outwardly act like Christ toward others. The third chapter of Colossians has one of many passages on the subject. Note the words in Colossians 3:11–14:

A renewal in which. .. Christ is all and in all. And so. .. put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another and forgiving each other. .. just as the Lord forgave you. .. . And beyond all these things put on love which is the perfect bond of unity.

He taught believers to express Christ in their actions toward each other.

Another subject Paul emphasized in teaching believers to be mature was the danger of error regarding the person of Christ. Besides knowing Him and becoming like Him, they were to beware of anything beside Him. Paul’s letters are full of warnings about everything which is not Christocentric.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete (Col. 2:8–10).

Again and again he reminds believers of the ever-present dangers of three anti-Christian philosophies, legalism, mysticism, and asceticism. He calls the teachers of such philosophies “savage wolves” and warns the elders of Ephesus to carefully guard the flock (Acts 20:28–29).

Teaching Believers to Function in the Body of Christ

We have thus far discussed two of Paul’s purposes in teaching: first, teaching people to believe in Christ, and second, teaching believers to be mature in Christ. Paul’s third purpose was teaching believers to function in the body of Christ. Believers in the New Testament are seen both as members of the universal body composed of all believers, and also as part of a local body or church. Paul taught believers to function properly as part of a group, never as isolated individuals. Their body-life was very important. It was part of the training process. He consistently united new Christians into a local fellowship. Then he taught that group to function so as to be strong.

In the central passage on Paul’s missionary strategy already discussed, Paul was at pains to confirm, or strengthen, the souls of the disciples (Acts 14:22). In every place where people believed on that first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas returned to strengthen them. The word “strengthen” means to “make to lean upon.” Paul’s purpose for these groups of believers was to strengthen them by getting them corporately to lean upon the great truths of Christ and the gospel. Corporate instruction was the means he used. God provided gifted teachers in the local church to further this function. The elders in every local church were to be “able to teach” among their other qualifications.

Paul taught them the priestly functions of worship and prayer. These had marked the New Testament congregations from the beginning (Acts 2:42). Paul also taught them the servant functions of loving and caring for one another. Just as each member of a physical body serves the other members, so the members of a spiritual body are to act for the good of the whole body. Paul taught them to overcome relational problems. The ever-present triumvirate of the world, the flesh, and the Devil incessantly wars against the church of God, often through inter-personal problems among believers. Finally, Paul taught them to grow qualitatively as well as quantitatively. Nine of Paul’s thirteen letters are directed to churches. In every one of them Paul teaches them to improve the quality of their lives in the context of the church.

Paul’s aim in teaching the churches was to strengthen them. We have already noted this on his first missionary journey (Acts 14:22). The same word “strengthen” is used again on his second missionary journey when he strengthened the churches in Cilicia and Syria (Acts 15:41). Some years later on his third journey he was still doing the same thing. Luke records that, “He passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia strengthening all the disciples” (Acts 18:23).

Teaching Believers to Function as Witnesses in the World

Paul’s fourth purpose as a teacher/trainer was to prepare believers for their function in the world as witnesses. The local churches he planted were not to be ends in themselves, but bases for outreach to the community and the world. Paul trained believers to imitate his evangelistic zeal. The Thessalonian church is an example of this. He congratulated them saying, “You became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit. .. . For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth” (1 Thess. 1:6–8).

In following Paul’s example of evangelism, their witness had been effective not only in their own province of Macedonia, but also in more distant places. Their outreach involved opposition and suffering, but in spite of this they did it with much joy. They repeated what they knew Paul had experienced in bringing the gospel to them. Having learned well from Paul, they did not shrink from opposition and persecution as they witnessed to their own countrymen (1 Thess. 2:13–15).

Teaching Leaders to Function Effectively

The final purpose of Paul as a teacher/trainer was to prepare leaders to carry on and expand the functions that he had been performing. Timothy is the outstanding example of this aspect of Paul’s ministry. On his second missionary journey passing through Lystra, Paul found Timothy as a committed disciple who was well spoken of by believers there (Acts 16:1–2). Paul and Silas asked him to join them, and from that point on Timothy was closely associated with Paul. He was carefully trained by Paul in the Word of God and in all aspects of the ministry. Timothy became an active leader in the early church, particularly in Ephesus.

Paul refers to Timothy as his beloved son and as his true child in the faith (1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2). Paul taught him as a wise father. He instructed him in every aspect of Christian discipleship and leadership. The teacher/disciple relationship is clearly expressed in the second letter to Timothy.

But you followed my teaching, conduct, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me! And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them (2 Tim. 3:10–14).

Timothy was to pass on those things which he had learned from Paul. Paul’s objective was that Timothy train others as he himself had been trained. He wrote to him, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:1–2). Paul’s training objective was to produce leaders who could reproduce more leaders. This is, no doubt, one of the important keys to his success.

Timothy was not the only leader Paul trained. Based on the implications we have in the New Testament record, men such as Titus, Epaphras, and Epaphroditus seem to have been equally trained. Women such as Lydia and Priscilla became disciples and owed much to the teaching of the Apostle. He was constantly enlarging their capacities and urging them to realize their full potential. Paul rejoiced when they could lead where he had once led. Like other leaders he no doubt found many things he could do better than they in the beginning. But he took the time to train them and then to hand over the responsibility. He instructs Timothy how to help the church in Ephesus, rather than doing it directly himself. It was the same with Titus on the island of Crete.

Paul’s Curriculum as a Teacher

The whole subject of Paul as a teacher/trainer makes it imperative that consideration be given to what he taught. If we too want to produce the Timothys and the Lydias, then we should study what he taught them. If we want to reproduce churches like those in Philippi and Ephesus, then careful attention should be given to Paul’s teaching ministry in those cities. What were his sources? What subjects did he teach? Where did he find an appropriate model? His curriculum or course of study is therefore of great interest to those of us who follow him.

The Sources He Used

There were several sources Paul used for teaching material. First, of course, there were the Scriptures of the Old Testament. These were available to Paul in both Greek and Hebrew. His years of study under Gamaliel had made him a competent authority in their use and interpretation. He used them extensively as he sought to persuade Jews and God-fearers that Jesus was the Christ. For an example of his use of Scripture one should study his message in Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:13–50). Five different quotations from the Psalms and from the prophets Isaiah and Habakkuk are used as source material. This was at the beginning of his ministry, and throughout, his biblically-based teaching is consistently emphasized. The record of the book of Acts ends with Paul in Rome still using the Scriptures to explain why God was reaching out to Gentiles (Acts 28:26–27).

Romans is Paul’s definitive statement of the truth of the gospel and is literally sprinkled with passages of the Old Testament Scriptures to make his points. He begins with the declaration that the gospel of God concerning the redemptive work of Christ was “promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures” (Rom. 1:2). More than half of all the Old Testament quotations Paul used in his writings are found in Romans. His curriculum focused on the Scriptures.

Another source Paul used in teaching was his own experience with the Lord Jesus Christ. Several times over in the book of Acts he either relates his conversion or his subsequent experiences with the Lord. In his letters there are repeated autobiographical allusions and references. Paul experienced the truth he was teaching. It was never a mere academic presentation of fact. His relationship with the living Christ was a vital part of what he communicated to individuals and churches.

Paul’s knowledge of the life and ministry of Jesus provided him with another important source. Although he had never personally seen or heard the Lord Jesus during His life on earth, Paul had an extensive knowledge of much that Jesus said and did. He had heard Stephen’s masterful arguments. Ananias, the disciple in Damascus, had shared Christ with him. Peter and Barnabas had related much of their knowledge concerning Christ. No doubt many others provided authentic accounts for Paul, not the least of whom was Luke who travelled extensively with him and wrote the longest of the Gospels. Luke’s contribution to Paul’s knowledge of the Lord Jesus must have been great. Paul used what he knew of the Lord Jesus as his primary theme in teaching. To the Corinthians he wrote, “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). To the Colossians he wrote, “And we proclaim Him. .. teaching every man with all wisdom that we may present every man complete in Christ” (Col. 1:28).

Another important source of Paul’s curriculum was directly revealed truth. Paul received from the Lord much that had not been previously revealed. Some of the great New Testament truths concerning the grace of God, the church and the church age, the coming of Christ for His own, etc. were given by the inspiration of God to Paul. These truths were included in his writings as well as in his teaching ministry. They are available to us because we have his writings in the New Testament.

The remaining source of Paul’s teaching material was the ministry of the Holy Spirit in him in taking the things of Christ and showing them to him. There was also the natural wisdom that he had as leader of men. Paul used carefully all the sources available to him and applied them to his ministry.

The Subjects He Taught

With clear goals in view, Paul taught a curriculum designed to meet them. The goals, as we have seen, were personal maturity in Christ, corporate maturity in the church, witness to the world, and leadership training. In general his curriculum was the Word of God and the God of the Word. Paul understood that it was of primary importance that believers be built up in the Word of God. In his farewell address to the elders of the Ephesian church he said, “And now I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified (Acts 20:32). When he moved to the city of Corinth and began to see people respond to the gospel, Luke records that, “Paul began devoting himself completely to the Word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. .. . And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the Word of God among them” (Acts 18:5, 11).

In addition to the truth of the Word, Paul also emphasized the character of God and His Son. Paul presented God as “The King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God. .. who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16). Even more specifically Paul teaches the character of the Lord Jesus Christ in literally dozens of passages. Christ is described as “the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. .. . By Him all things were created. .. . He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church. .. . For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself” (Col. 1:15–20). Paul emphasized the great events in the life of Christ from His incarnation to His ascension and their importance in the whole scope of Christian doctrine and practice. The glories of Christ shine in Romans as Paul leads them through the whole doctrine of salvation and justification by faith. In Ephesians he expounds the great truth of the church as the Body of Christ. To the Thessalonians he emphasizes the truth of coming things in the plan of God. These are major examples from many.

In the area of the human will Paul teaches continually how believers should respond to God. They are to commit themselves to Him as a living sacrifice. They are to be instant in prayer. Their worship is centered in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are to be controlled by the Spirit. They are to cleanse themselves from the filthiness of the flesh. They are to serve the living and true God. In one other area of human personality he taught that the truth in their minds and the obedience of their wills were to be balanced by the control of their emotions. Paul taught them to respond to God in praise, and song, to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to weep with those who weep (Rom. 12:15). But the emotions were not to be the master. They were to be used to the glory of God as a vehicle of expression and were always to be under control (Gal. 5:23).

In the area of the corporate growth of the church Paul had a great deal to teach. The church needed purity. It needed some structure. It needed leadership. It had to be taught to resolve problems. It was also taught the principles of true worship. Paul taught them to baptize new converts as an outward declaration of their faith. He had a special revelation from God to institute the Lord’s supper of remembrance as part of the function of the church (1 Cor. 11:23–30). All nine of the letters to churches contain a variety of instruction to help them grow into corporate maturity. Such teaching was paramount in the thinking of the apostle Paul.

The witness to the world was another emphasis of Paul’s teaching. He was most concerned that the message of the gospel be communicated accurately to unbelievers. Christians must have a good report to those that are without. They were to shine as lights in the world, holding forth the Word of Life (Phil. 2:15–16). Paul trained people to be witnesses. He exhorted Timothy to do the work of an evangelist. Paul saw unbelievers as those who were perishing because the god of this world has blinded the minds of men. He clearly saw the awfulness of the judgment of God; and knowing the terror of the Lord, he sought to persuade the unsaved to believe. He carefully taught the gospel.

The Model He Used

One further area in Paul’s teaching curriculum deserves attention. We have looked at his sources and at the subjects he taught. Now we will note the model he used. Good teaching makes use of models. Paul had the perfect model, Christ Himself, and made use of Him in his teaching. He could use Christ the model in his teaching because he used Christ as his own ideal. To be like Christ in attitude, activity, and in character was a personal goal for Paul. “For me to live is Christ,” he said (Phil. 1:21). He wanted to know Christ better so that he would follow His steps more closely. Likeness to Christ was the measure of his attainment. He included himself with others who had been gifted “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to. .. the knowledge of the Son of God” and [note this!] “to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12–13). Christ was the standard by which he could measure his progress in godliness.

Not only did Paul strive for Christ-likeness, he taught others to strive for it as well. To the Galatians he said, “I labor until Christ is formed in you” (Gal. 4:19). It was a goal of his teaching ministry, that believers should be conformed to the image of God’s Son (Rom. 8:29). He wanted to “present every man complete in Christ” (Col. 1:29). Christ was the example of Christian humility. “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus who. .. taking the form of a bond-servant. .. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:5–8).

He taught believers to be identified with Christ, in death to the old ways and in resurrection life to the new ways (Rom. 6). They were to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 2:1). They were to demonstrate the peace of Christ (Col. 3:15). They were to display the faith and love which are in Christ (2 Tim. 1:13). They were indwelt by the Spirit of Christ whose ministry it is to make them like Him.

They were to walk in love just as Christ had loved them (Eph. 5:2). Husbands were to love their wives “as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25). The Lord Jesus in His moral perfection was the model for teaching Christian living.

The model of Christ was Paul’s personal standard, as well as the theme of Christian life teaching. Note finally that it was also a theme of his prayer life. The prayer in Ephesians 3 is a great one.

I bow my knees before the Father, from Whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:14–19).

In this great prayer Paul prays that they might be intensely aware of the fullness of the love of Christ and that they might emulate it by being rooted and grounded in it. The model of Christ and His love was constantly before Paul in his prayer life.

Paul’s Methods in Teaching

Paul was not only a “man for all seasons,” he was a man for all methods. Flexibility marked his methodology. The words he used in his teaching ministry give some indication of this. At least five words are used by Paul in his teaching vocabulary which indicate a breadth of instruction methods; teaching by catechism, teaching by instruction, teaching by conformation, teaching by discipline, and teaching by reinforcement. He was a teacher par excellence and applied various forms of teaching to accomplish his goals. Like the Lord Jesus, he had a wide ministry with all who would listen and a more individual ministry with those marked for special instruction.

Public Lecture as a Means for Gospel Persuasion
Paul had remarkable success in the use of the public lecture method as a means for gospel persuasion. He began by using the local synagogues as a forum where both Jews and interested Gentiles were usually gathered. Within a short time his teaching had caused a division of opinion and Paul was looking for another place to teach. In Corinth it was the house of a man called Titius Justus (Acts 18:7). In Ephesus it was a school building which he rented in the afternoons called the school of Tyrannus (Acts 19:9). Here he was “reasoning daily” with any and all who would listen to the gospel he preached. No doubt the word “reasoning” implies that there was time for discussion and questions from his hearers. This method of public lecture and discussion proved effective in Ephesus and the province of Asia.

Church Teaching Method for Instruction in Christian Life and Doctrine

Another method employed by Paul was the church teaching method for instruction in Christian life and doctrine. He used this method with groups of believers who were in the process of forming a local church and with those whose local church was already established. He sought to indoctrinate believers with the great truths of the faith and to instruct them as to how they were to behave as believers. A brief survey of Paul’s teaching activity in Acts will show this in place after place. The churches in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch were strengthened by Paul’s teaching (Acts 14:22). Others in Cilicia and Syria were taught in the same manner (Acts 15:41). In Corinth he carefully instructed them for eighteen months (Acts 18:11). In Troas, even on a brief visit, he took the opportunity to instruct the church until late at night (Acts 20:7). The three years in Ephesus were used to teach the increasing number of believers “about the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8). These examples emphasize the importance of teaching in the local church as practiced by the apostle.

Select Group Method for Leadership Preparation

The third teaching method was select group training for leadership preparation. As soon as a viable assembly of believers was forming, Paul was looking for those who might be God’s choice for leadership there. They were generally his own converts from areas where he evangelized. He aimed to stay in each place long enough to see their maturity as leaders and elders (Acts 14:23). This required that he prepare these men for the leadership in the local church. The clearest look at this principle at work is in regard to the establishment of the church at Ephesus. In visiting these men at the end of his third missionary journey, he reminded them that for a three-year period, he had been with them the whole time teaching them from house to house (Acts 20:17–20). He had taught them the whole purpose of God. He had admonished each one with tears. He warned them of the coming of false teachers who would draw away followers. He prepared them for their role as elders in the local church to “shepherd the church of God” which was valuable beyond compare because it had been purchased with His own blood (Acts 17:20–35).

Individual Apprenticeship Method for Missionary Training

The final teaching method Paul used was the one-on-one apprenticeship method for missionary training. Paul was on the lookout for other men to do the kind of missionary work he was doing. For this purpose he selected men who had potential and invited them to join him and the missionary band. Timothy is the outstanding example of this. He had evidently been converted at Lystra. He then was noticed by Paul on the second missionary journey and was asked to join the evangelistic group. Paul trained him for the next several years to be the kind of missionary he was.

The two letters to Timothy give some insights into the relationship of these two men. Paul had committed to Timothy the whole counsel of God as he understood it. He impressed the younger man that it was a sacred trust which was to be kept pure and safe. “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you,” he wrote to him (1 Tim. 6:20). The second emphasis in Paul’s training of Timothy was to urge him to pass on what he knew to others. “The things which you have heard from me. .. these entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). The main point in this section is that faithful men were selected and trained for the ministry. Paul thus used the same apprentice method practiced by the Lord Jesus with His disciples.

Paul’s teaching and training ministry was not limited to men. It is evident that he taught women with the expectation that they would take places of usefulness. Lydia of Philippi was one of these who responded to the teaching of Paul (Acts 16:14–15). Priscilla and her husband Aquila were active in the ministry and are mentioned several times in four books of the New Testament. Philip’s four daughters were prophetesses (Acts 21:9). Phoebe was a “servant of the church” at Cenchrea (Rom. 16:1). Four more women come in for special mention in Romans sixteen. Paul had an interest in training them for their role in serving God.

Paul used these methods in his teaching--from the public platform to individual discipleship. The four methods are progressively more select regarding the audience and more intense regarding the teaching.

Conclusion

As an example of missionary teaching and training, Paul is outstanding. We do well if we pay more attention to the clear record left us in the New Testament. Many missionaries and workers have allowed themselves to be over-involved in less important forms of service and have missed the opportunity to train their converts for life and for the life of the church. Biblical missions must lay strong emphasis on teaching: teaching the gospel, teaching new converts, training leaders, and reproducing missionaries. It is remarkable that Paul accomplished these goals with no institution or formal curriculum. Many today are so obsessed with the institutional opportunities around them that they ignore the more basic opportunities for preparing other believers to serve God. Without a doubt the mushrooming church in much of the third world has as its greatest need the establishment of well-taugh Christian leaders who can teach others also. Africa, Asia, ans Latin America all cry for it. Since this is a great need, the emphasis of missionaries should be toward meeting that need by producing reproducers; not jus teaching, but preparing others to teach. This was a major focus in the ministry of Paul.

Notes

1. Ken Fleming is a faculty member of Emmaus Bible College. He was a missionary among the Zulu people in South Africa for twenty-five years and has taught missions at Emmaus for the last fifteen years. This article was originally given as a lecture at Westminster Chapel, London, during Echoes Day for Echoes of Service and was published in England. It is the second in a series of three articles on the biblical principles of missions which are seen in the life of the apostle Paul.