APOSTLE OF GOD'S GLORY IN CHRIST A PAULINE THEOLOGY THOMAS R SCHREINER Daniel, Patrick, John and Annasources of unspeakable joy Preface 9 Abbreviations 11 1 Introduction: The Centrality of God in Christ in Paul's Theology 15 2 Proclaiming a Magnificent God: The Pauline Mission 37 3 The Basis of Mission: The Fulfillment of the Promise to Abraham 73 4 Suffering & the Pauline Mission: The Means of Spreading the Gospel 87 5 Dishonoring God: The Violation of God's Law 103 6 Dishonoring God: The Power of Sin 127 7 The Person of Jesus Christ: The Exaltation of Christ for the Glory of God 151 8 God's Saving Righteousness: The Basis of a Right Relationship with God 189 9 God's Liberating Work for His People: Divine Transforming Grace 219 10 Living to Honor God: The Power to Live a New Life 251 11 Faith & Hope: The Ground of Perseverance 271 12 Life of Love in the Spirit: Exhortations & the Law in Paul 307 13 The Church & Spiritual Gifts: The Unity of God's People 331 14 The Ordinances of the Church & Its Ministry: The Building Up of the Body 371 15 The Social World of the New Community: Living as Christians in the Culture 411 16 The Hope of God's People: The Fulfillment of God's Saving Purposes 453 Epilogue: Magnifying God in Christ 485 Author Index 487 Subject Index 489 Scripture Index 493 My goal in writing this book was to write a textbook on Pauline theology for students at both the college and seminary level. I do not intend, therefore, to interact extensively with other scholars, though I dialogue enough with them to demonstrate that I am conversant with what is happening in Pauline studies. Some books provide a genuine service by sketching in the landscape provided by secondary sources. My fundamental aim, however, is to explain the biblical text since students need to see that the primary sources are foundational for doing Pauline theology. My intention is to set forth and defend my particular understanding of Pauline theology. I acknowledge at the outset that I have not written the definitive Pauline theology, but I hope that others can profit from my own wrestling with the text. When one compares my work with the recent and excellent Pauline theology by James Dunn, at least three major differences are evident. First, Dunn's theology is a mammoth work that both examines the biblical text and interacts with the secondary sources. Such an enterprise is extremely helpful, but because I do not dialogue as extensively with secondary sources here, I limited the size of my book. Second, I have tried to organize my book in a fresh way. Dunn uses Romans as the template to organize Pauline theology, and this is a valuable way to proceed. Yet I do not believe that there is only one way to structure a Pauline theology. I think my approach opens some new windows into Paul's theology by focusing on Paul as a missionary and on his apostolic sufferings-two topics that are often neglected in Pauline theologies. I also argue that God's work in Christ is the foundation and goal of Paul's theology. I think it is a mistake to identify some aspect of salvation, whether it is justification or salvation history, as the key to Paul's thinking. Third, Dunn excludes Ephesians and the Pastoral Letters from his study, and he thinks Colossians was written by Timothy while Paul was still living. I am persuaded, however, that all thirteen letters are authentic. I do not argue the case for authenticity in my theology; instead I refer the readers to others who have made the case effectively' The Pauline theology offered here is distinctive in that all thirteen letters ascribed to Paul are mined to decipher his theology. Finally, I want to thank those who have assisted me in the writing of this book. I am grateful to Dan Reid, the academic reference editor at InterVarsity Press, for his encouragement and assistance in the writing of this work. Dan is himself an expert in Pauline studies, and hence he made numerous suggestions that have been incorporated into the book so that it is better than it would otherwise be. Frank Thielman, professor of New Testament at the Beeson Divinity School, read the entire manuscript, pointed out some deficiencies that needed correction and was a great encouragement to me. Boyd Luter, the dean at Criswell College, offered to read the entire work in a short time period, corrected a number of mistakes and commented helpfully at a number of places. Justin Taylor read the entire manuscript, corrected a number of errors and made many helpful suggestions. Five students at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary helped me significantly. My Garrett fellow and longtime friend Philemon Yong chased down references, copied needed articles and proofed the manuscript carefully. Jeff Evans and Jim Hamilton proofed the book under a tight deadline, and I am thankful for their help in spotting errors. I also am grateful to Randall Tan and Brian Vickers, who serve as editors at The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. Randall Tan read the manuscript with a sharp eye and made many suggestions for improvement. A special thanks goes to Brian Vickers for his labor of love in reading the manuscript so diligently and for his numerous stylistic suggestions. Every reader made the book better than it was before, for which I am thankful. I also want to thank my wife, Diane, for her love. Her faithfulness to me over twenty-five years of marriage has been a wellspring of life to me. I dedicate this book to our children-Daniel, Patrick, John and Anna. They have been sources of unspeakable joy to me. Finally, I pray that God would be magnified and praised through Jesus Christ by what I have written here. The grace of our glorious God sustained me as I wrote.