the fulness of the Deity (P^ 2«), i.e. 'the totality of the Divine attributes and powers' (Lightfoot). His eternal Divinity shines out in ^o-tii/ (P^), while yiv-qrat (v.i'^) reflects the humanity which He has assumed and glorihed.
Similar teaching is found in the other Epistles of the same g:roup. In Ephesianst the ev ocvtu of Colossians becomes the dominant note. Christ is Head, Husband, and Saviour of the Church (4155-5). All blessing is in Him (13); all things are summed up in Him (li"). In Him all, both Jew and Gentile, are built up a holy temple, Himself the Chief Corner-stone (220-22). He is the Supreme Revealer of God's grace (2") and wisdom (310), the one Lord (4'> C^-iO) seated at God's right hand and exalted above evei-y other present or future power (l20'-2)_ Here, again, it is because of what He is— the Son of God (13 4i3) —that He brings us to perfection, and that all these facts can be true of Him. In Philippians He is all-subduing Saviour (320.21); through Him come righteousness (lH), peace (4"), joy (i*), strength (4l3). In Him we glory (33) ; compared with Him all else is as refuse (38) ; He is our life's mainspring (121) and highest goal (3i-i). Essentially God, He laid aside the mani- fested glory of Deity, and assumed humanity with its sinless manifestations and deepest sufferings. Therefore God exalted Him, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess Him Lord (26-ii). It is probable that the title ' Lord,' when used of Jesus by St. Paul, carries with it always (as, indeed, it does in the rest of the NT) the fulness of meaning which it has here. The letter to Philemon is saturated with the conception expressed by the phrase ' in Christ,' which indeed forms the basis and strength of St. Paul's appeal.
According to this group of letters, Christ is pre-eminent primarily because of His Divine dignit.v, and secondarily because of His work in nature and in grace — as Creator, Mediator, Saviour, Lord. In St. Paul's mind these ideas are bound up inseparably with Him, and the probability is that he meant to express them in the full title — the Lord Jesus Christ — which he so frequently employs.
2. Genesis of this conception. — (1) It must be prior to all St. Paul's Epistles, for it is clearly present in all of them. To take the second group first. In 1 Corinthians Christ is God's power and wisdom (p24. 30)^ ^i^g Qjjiy Foundation (3"), tiie true Passover (5'), our perfect Example (IP), and the Second Adam, who gives life to all in Him (IS'*^). The Church is His body (12-^), of which, though not expressly stated, Ciirist must be the Head (cf. IP). Especially worthy of note are 8" (where He holds the same place in both creations as in Col.) and 15-' (which tallies with Eph r-"--- and Ph 2"). In ^' Cor. (518-21J we have language substantially the same as Col P«-22 ; p-6 answers to Col P^ ; 8" implies pre- existence (cf. 1 Co lO'*) ; 4^ and 10^ claim for Him unreserved obedience. In both these letters He is God's Son (I P 152«, II P»). There is no need to quote specific passages in Gal. and Eom. represent- ing Him as the only Saviour, for they are full of that thought. His univer.sal Lordship is declared in Ro 95 and W ; His Sonship in Gal P« 2*' 4^-« and Ro P 51" 8»- 32 ; His Deity implicitly in Gal P- i"-i'- (in the contrast between Him and man), and expressly in Ro 9^. Even in Thcssalonians we have the fol- lowing : Deliverer (I po, II 3^) and Saviour (I 5''- '") ; Victor over evil in its mightiest manifestations, and Judge (I 5-S II p-i" '28-1-'); Qod's Son (I P«), and associated with God in salutation and praj'er (I P, II 1"- and I 3"). This linking of Christ and the Father in salutation, and the ascribing to Him what is ascribed to God, are regular features of St. Paul's writings. It should further be noted that in practically all these letters the comprehensive title— Lord Jesus Christ — is applied to Him, and that frequently the strongest statements are made incidentally in such a way as to indicate that they belong to the common Christian conviction.
(2) St. Luke's account of St. Paul's preaching- harmonizes ^^■ith tliis. Ac 16-28 is, roughlj- speak- ing, contemporaneous Avith the first tlnee groups of St. Paul's letters. In these chapters Jesus is repre- sented as Saviour and Lord, and, as such, worthy of our utmost devotion (Iti^' 20'-'-''^'*- 35 QG^^) ; as the Ciirist, the burden and yoal of prophecy and the Hope of Israel (17^ 18'''24'^26«- ''• -- 28=^'- -3) ; as Judge of the world (17^M, and even as God (20-8 text of XB). The book closes by summarizing the subject-matter
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PRE-EMINENCE
of St. Paul's preaching as the Kingdom of God and the tilings concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, where the full title is significantly given, as it is by St. Peter in his sunnnary of the creed-content of tiie faith of Cornelius and his friends (IP'^). Working backward, we have in ch. 13 an extended report of St. Paul's address at Pisidian Antioch, whicii stands as representative of his teaching, at least during the First Missionary Journey. Certainly it must represent tiie view of Barnabas also ; and its striking resemblance to St. Peter's Pentecost address is also noteworthy. In it Jesus is the Son of David, predicted by the prophets, and surely, therefore, Messiah (v."^-'-) ; God's holy and incor- ruptible One (v. ^5) ; God's Son (v.^-*) ; the Saviour (v.-''), through whom alone are remission of sins and justification (v.^^^-), who is the channel of grace (v.^^), the source of eternal life (v.'*^), the light of the world (v ^\ cf. Eph 5»-", Ph S'^f-). In 14=3 jje is called Lord in a way which implies that the thought of His lordship was inseparable from faith.