Peter SmytheA Different Kind of Word Preacher

But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness [remission] of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me. (Acts 26.16-18, NASB)

By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ (Ephesians 3.4)

I was talking to my wife the other day and the subject of what exactly is the New Testament vis-a-vis the Pauline Revelation. Most of the preaching that we hear about the New Testament today puts us at the foot of Mount Sinai where God wrote the Ten Commandments in stone with His finger. The New Testament, however, was not written that way and isn’t in the form of commands. The New Testament was also not written as a “life manual” which we hear a lot of today.

The New Testament is a revelation, an unveiling, of what God accomplished through the birth, death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a revelation of just what those facts accomplished: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” From Paul’s writings (revelation) I understand that Jesus was/is the seed of Abraham and that, of all of the wonder of the world, I am in Him. I understand that I have been reborn with the spirit of Christ and have authority, not only over myself (sin and all), but also over the Adversary. Indeed, I reign in and by zoe-life because of Him. That is the gist of the New Testament. It is not a catalog of commands - do’s and don’t’s and whatnot - but a remarkable revelation that I am seated with Christ. Whew!