Paul's Theology of the Cross and Resurrection in His Letters

Introduction

Paul's letters give valuable insight into how he viewed the Gospel, God, and Jesus Christ. He wrote to his followers, instructing them on how to act and live by obeying God's Law. Within his words, he emphasized the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and His resurrection in order to show how the Law of God could overcome the law of man. Furthermore, he used the cross and the resurrection as his primary theological reference points because that is how he came to know Jesus — not through the historical account of Jesus presented in the Gospels, but through a transformative personal encounter with the risen Christ.

Paul's Focus on the Cross and Resurrection

Paul emphasized the resurrection of Jesus and the cross greatly in his teachings and letters. Examples of this emphasis appear in Galatians 6:14 (NIV): "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world," and in Galatians 5:24 (NIV). Paul rarely mentions Jesus' work and activities before the crucifixion. Even though the Gospels discuss Jesus' healing, preaching, and disciple-making, Paul consistently focuses on the resurrection and the cross because of the profound influence these events had on him personally, among other reasons.

Perhaps the most significant reason behind his perspective is his lack of experience with the earthly Jesus. He did not witness Jesus before the resurrection, nor did he know many people who had known Christ personally. His primary access to Christ and His teachings came through Hellenistic communities, not from the actual first circle of disciples. Paul instead relied on his own faith in Christ rather than recalling Christ's earthly history. That faith stemmed from his own religious experience of Jesus Christ as a risen Lord.

Paul's Understanding of the Law

Paul also viewed the Law through the lens of the Cross of Jesus, thereby rejecting the Pharisaic understanding of the Law as a means of salvation. His understanding of the Law encompasses both an affirmation and a negation of it, seen through the perspective of the Cross of Christ. To begin examining Paul's reflection on the Law, he states that the Law addresses the atonement for sin, and that salvation comes from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Paul was raised as, and chose to be, a strict Pharisee. That tradition taught that through one's own moral efforts, a person could prove acceptable to God. Through these teachings, the broader political climate of Roman domination, and his desire to restore the purity of Pharisaical belief, Paul was compelled to formulate his own understanding of God and Christ. Jesus' death thus served as a way to address the problem of sin and its effect on one's relationship with God. Paul draws a distinction between the Law as it applies to those in bodily, legalistic form — which produces self-righteousness — and the Law as a means of salvation and a norm of life. The law of human legalism condemns; the law brought about through Christ's death liberates from that condemnation. When Christ died for the sins of humanity, this provided the starting point for everything that flows from learning at the foot of the cross.

Conclusion

Paul understood Jesus through the perspective of death and resurrection. This was how he was converted: he learned about Jesus after He died, not during His earthly life. His upbringing played another role in his use of the cross and the resurrection, because he had previously viewed the Law as a means of salvation; Christ's sacrifice thus became, for him, the means by which people are saved from original sin. Paul also took Jesus' sacrifice personally, viewing it as an opportunity to transform from his old ways and embrace a new life with God.

References

Authors, V. (2008). Holy Bible (NIV).

Polhill, J. (1999). Paul and his letters. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman.