Follow Christ by Following Paul
If you have ever wondered how to follow God in this present age, the answer might surprise you. It is not by trying harder, climbing a religious ladder, or adopting a particular tradition. God has already laid out a clear pattern for us, and once you see it, the Christian life opens up in a way that brings clarity and real rest.
Ephesians 5:1 tells us, “Be ye therefore followers of God…” which comes right on the heels of the forgiveness offered to us through Christ in Ephesians 4:31-32. So how does a member of the Body of Christ actually follow God today? Paul provides clear instructions as to how we do so:
“[16] Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.” – 1 Corinthians 4:16
“[1] Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. [2] Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.” – 1 Corinthians 11:1-2
“[17] Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.” – Philippians 3:17
“[16] Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.” – 1 Timothy 1:16
Why Paul?
On a first read, Paul telling us to follow him can sound bold, maybe even arrogant. But Paul is not pointing to himself for his own sake. He is pointing to the office and message Christ entrusted to him. Just as Moses was the vessel God chose to deliver the law to Israel, Paul is the vessel God chose to preach grace to the world (1 Corinthians 3:5-10).
While this may sound arrogant of Paul, we need to recognize the extremely important reasons why he tells the Body to follow him as he follows Christ. Just as Moses was the vessel in which God chose to deliver the law to Israel, Paul is the vessel God chose to preach grace to the world (1Co 3:5-10).
Here is why Paul is the pattern God gave us:
Jesus Christ Himself sent Paul (Acts 9:15)
Paul was the first person saved in the Body of Christ and the pattern for everyone after him to be saved by God’s grace (1Ti 1:11-16).
God made Paul your Apostle, the Apostle of the Gentiles (Rom 11:13)
God dispensed grace to Paul, revealing the mystery of Christ and instituting the Body of Christ through faith in the gospel (Eph 3:1-10, Col 1:25-27)
God gave Paul the gospel of grace by which you are saved today (1Co 15:1-4, 1Co 9:17, Rom 1:16, Rom 16:25, Gal 1:11-12, 2:7-8).
Peter recognized Paul was sent to the Gentiles with new revelation and deferred to him as to what God is doing now (Gal 2:9, 2Pe 3:15)
Paul instructs us to follow his pattern as he follows Christ (1Co 4:16, 1Co 11:1, Php 3:17).
Paul was given the blueprints from Christ on how to build the Body of Christ correctly (1Co 3:5-10)
What We Lose When We Miss This
When we fail to recognize Paul’s special apostleship and his pattern for the Body today, a slew of issues arise:
The preaching of the cross gets diminished, and the gospel gets confused as works creep back in as a requirement or indicator of salvation.
Your complete position in Christ gets traded for a conditional one.
Your spiritual riches in Christ get overlooked or never enjoyed.
Christ’s resurrection power working in you gets replaced with your own willpower.
The clear will of God for you today becomes muddled with instructions for Israel at different times, in a different context.
The Body of Christ ends up wrongly identified with Israel, which puts the church back under a covenantal, law-based system and produces a works-based, endurance-based, conditional standing with God.
What About The Red Letters?
Many sincere believers turn to the “red letters”of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to follow Jesus. The intention is good, and every word of those books is inspired and profitable when rightly divided in context (2Ti 3:16, 2:15). But if we are looking there for our pattern of ministry in this dispensation, we are looking in the wrong place, and a lot of unintended consequences comes with it.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus was sent specifically to the house of Israel to confirm the promises made to the fathers:
“[5] These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: [6] But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” – Matthew 10:5-6
“[24] But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” – Matthew 15:24
“[8] Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.” – Romans 15:8
“[4] But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, [5] To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” – Galatians 4:4-5
“[16] Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.” – 2 Corinthians 5:16
When you follow Jesus’s earthly life in the red letters, you are watching God perfectly fulfill the law (Mat 5:17). He had to walk the law perfectly so He could become the perfect sacrifice for sins (Eph 1:7, 2:13). But you are not under the law, and you could not follow it perfectly even if you tried (Rom 3:20, 6:14-15).
When you follow Jesus’s post-resurrection instructions revealed through Paul, you are following the same Lord, but now under grace and according to the mystery of Christ, the way He intends His Body to walk today (Rom 16:25, 1Co 2:7-13, Eph 3:1-10, Col 1:26-27).
A Gift, Not A Chain
Do not be ashamed of following Paul as he followed Christ. If you want to walk in truth without the guilt of religious chains, without a conditional standing with God, and without the fear of condemnation, recognize the complete position you already have in Christ. It is yours by trusting the gospel of grace entrusted to Paul and, through him, to us (1Ti 1:11, 1Co 9:16-17, Col 2:10).
Are we glorifying Paul? Not at all. We do not glorify men. But we do respect the office Christ gave him and the instructions Christ delivered through him, so that we can walk in the way the Lord actually desires for us today (1Co 1:31, 3:21, 2Co 12:5, Gal 6:14, Rom 11:13).
If you want to follow Christ correctly, recognize what Christ revealed for us to follow through Paul as His chosen mouthpiece. The whole point is Christ, and Paul is the path Christ Himself laid down to lead you straight to Him.
“[8] Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; [9] Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, [10] But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: [11] Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. [12] For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. [13] Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” – 2 Timothy 1:8-13
