How Did Paul Read the Old Testament After He Met Jesus?
Before Paul became Christianity's great missionary, he was one of its fiercest enemies.
And Paul was no uneducated outsider who simply did not understand Judaism.
He was a Pharisee.
He had been educated in Jerusalem “at the feet of Gamaliel” and trained according to the strictness of the Jewish law (Acts 22:3).
Gamaliel himself is described as “a teacher of the law, held in honor by all the people” (Acts 5:34).
Paul later wrote:
“I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”
— Galatians 1:14
Paul knew the Scriptures.
He knew Jewish teaching.
He knew the traditions of his people.
And he was trusted by the highest Jewish authorities.
Trusted With Authority From Jerusalem
Paul was not merely expressing his personal opposition to Christians.
He had official backing.
He went to the high priest and requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus authorizing him to seize followers of Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem (Acts 9:1–2).
Later Paul said:
“The high priest and all the Council can themselves testify that I received letters from them to their associates in Damascus.”
— Acts 22:5
Think about that.
Paul was sufficiently trusted by the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem to carry their letters to Jewish communities in another city and act against those teaching that Jesus was the Messiah.
Paul was no nobody.
He was educated, zealous, connected, and trusted.
And he was convinced that the followers of Jesus were wrong.
Then Paul Met Jesus
Everything changed on the road to Damascus.
The man Paul believed was a false Messiah was alive.
Jesus really was the Christ.
Paul did not abandon the Old Testament.
Instead, after meeting Jesus, he began proclaiming that God's promises found their fulfillment in Him.
That raises an important question:
How did this highly trained Pharisee understand the Old Testament after he recognized Jesus as the Messiah?
We don't have to guess.
Paul tells us.
How Did Paul Understand Abraham's Promised Seed?
Paul wrote:
“The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.... Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.”
— Galatians 3:16
Paul puts Christ at the center of the Abrahamic promise.
And later in the chapter he says:
“If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
— Galatians 3:29
For Paul, belonging to Abraham's family ultimately comes down to belonging to Christ.
How Did Paul Understand Israel?
Paul made an important distinction:
“Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.”
— Romans 9:6
Physical descent alone did not make someone a child of God's promise.
Paul continued:
“It is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.”
— Romans 9:8
That does not mean Paul believed God had no concern for his fellow Jews. Romans 9–11 shows exactly the opposite.
But it does mean that Paul did not equate physical descent from Abraham with membership among God's redeemed people.
How Did Paul Understand Circumcision?
Again, Paul moved the emphasis from the physical sign to the inward reality.
“A person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit.”
— Romans 2:29
The physical mark that had distinguished Israel for centuries pointed beyond itself.
Paul's concern was now what God had done in the heart.
How Did Paul Understand the Temple?
Paul knew the importance of the Jerusalem temple.
Yet when he wrote to Christians, he repeatedly used temple language for God's people.
“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?”
— 1 Corinthians 3:16
He told Gentile and Jewish Christians together that they were:
“Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”
— Ephesians 2:20
And then:
“In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.”
— Ephesians 2:21
Paul's attention is not directed toward another building.
It is directed toward a people in whom God dwells.
How Did Paul Understand God's People?
Ephesians 2 may be one of Paul's clearest explanations.
Christ took Jew and Gentile and:
“Made the two groups one.”
— Ephesians 2:14
His purpose was:
“To create in himself one new humanity out of the two.”
— Ephesians 2:15
Paul does not describe two redeemed peoples traveling toward two different destinies.
He describes one new people in Christ.
Jew and Gentile come to the same Father through the same Spirit (Ephesians 2:18).
How Did Paul Understand the Kingdom?
Paul did not tell Christians that the kingdom had been postponed until Christ returned.
He wrote:
“He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.”
— Colossians 1:13
Notice the tense.
They had already been brought into Christ's kingdom.
Paul also wrote:
“For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:25
Christ's reign was not simply something Paul expected to begin someday.
Christ was reigning.
But Paul certainly expected Christ to return.
So what did Paul say would happen then?
How Did Paul Understand the Second Coming?
Paul gives one of his clearest descriptions in 1 Thessalonians 4.
The Lord descends from heaven.
The dead in Christ rise.
Living Christians are caught up together with them.
And Paul concludes:
“And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
— 1 Thessalonians 4:17
Paul absolutely expected the return of Christ.
But notice what he emphasizes:
Christ returns.
The dead are raised.
Living believers join them.
God's people are with the Lord forever.
What Happens When Christ Comes?
First Corinthians 15 may give us Paul's clearest sequence of all.
“Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:23–24
Read Paul's order carefully.
Christ was raised.
Christ reigns.
Christ comes.
Those who belong to Him are raised.
Then comes the end.
Paul continues:
“For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:25–26
That is important.
Paul does not say Christ returns in order to begin reigning.
He says Christ must reign until His enemies are defeated.
Then the final enemy—death itself—is destroyed.
Resurrection Means Immortality
Paul continues describing what happens at the resurrection:
“The dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:52
Mortality gives way to immortality.
Death is swallowed up in victory.
Paul's expectation moves toward resurrection, immortality, victory over death, and eternity with Christ.
And What About Judgment?
Paul also connected Christ's appearing with judgment.
He wrote of:
“Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom.”
— 2 Timothy 4:1
In 2 Thessalonians 1:6–10, Christ is revealed from heaven, His people receive relief, and judgment comes upon those who reject God.
Again, Paul's picture moves toward the completion of God's work.
Notice What Paul Does Not Mention
This is where we should be careful.
An argument from silence cannot by itself settle a biblical question.
But Paul's silence becomes interesting when we remember how often he explains the kingdom, Christ's return, resurrection, judgment, and the end.
When Paul gives these explanations, he does not describe:
A kingdom that was offered to Israel, rejected, and therefore postponed.
Christ returning to begin a thousand-year earthly reign.
A restored national kingdom centered in Jerusalem.
A rebuilt temple becoming the center of God's worship.
The restoration of animal sacrifices as part of God's future plan.
Two separate redeemed peoples of God with separate destinies.
Paul knew the Jewish Scriptures extraordinarily well.
If these things were essential parts of God's plan following Christ's return, their absence from Paul's explanations deserves careful thought.
We should not build doctrine merely upon what Paul did not say.
But neither should we add things to Paul's sequence that Paul himself does not put there.
Let Paul Interpret Paul
This is the important point.
We do not need to begin by labeling Paul's theology “literal,” “spiritual,” “amillennial,” “premillennial,” or anything else.
Those are our labels.
Instead, read what Paul actually says.
Who is Abraham's Seed?
Christ—and those who belong to Christ.
Who are God's people?
Jew and Gentile made one in Christ.
Where is God's temple?
God dwells among His people.
Where is the kingdom?
Christians have already been transferred into it.
Is Christ reigning?
Yes.
What happens when Christ comes?
Those who belong to Him are raised.
What happens to death?
The last enemy is destroyed.
And what does Paul say comes next?
“Then the end will come.”
The Question We Must Answer
Paul began as a highly trained Pharisee who was so convinced Christians were wrong that he obtained authority from Jerusalem to pursue them as far as Damascus.
Then he met Jesus.
Afterward, Paul spent the rest of his life proclaiming the Christ he had once persecuted.
So perhaps the best question is not:
“How does Paul fit into my understanding of prophecy?”
Perhaps we should reverse it:
“Does my understanding of prophecy fit what Paul actually taught?”
Read Paul carefully.
Follow his sequence.
Then decide.
Read First. Conclude Later.