The absence of the later technical terminology in these early addresses is proof of the substantial correctness of Luke's report. The reference to Is 53 ('Servant Jesus') is natural, and has the essence of Christ's mediation, though the idea is not worked out. In his address to the hou.sehold of Cornelius Peter pointedly says : ' That through his name every one that believeth on him shall receive remission of sins ' (Ac 10"). He is also ' the Judge of quick and dead ' (v.''-). Peter also says that the Jews ' shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Je.sus, in like manner as ' Gentiles (15"). Stephen called Jesus ' the Right- eous One' (7'"), and died saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit ' (v.™). Immediately on his conversion Saul ' proclaimed Jesus, that he is the Son of God ' (9-"). At Antioch in Pisidia St. Paul announces the heart of his message about Jesus : ' Through this man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins : andby him every one that believeth is justi- fied from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses' (13'^'-). From this position St. Paul never swerved. His collision with the Judaizers (Ac 15) turned on the snificiency of the work of Christ to save, apart from the Jewish ceremonialism. Totlie Phili))pian jailer hepreached salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus (16^"'). On the Areopagus he set forth the Risen Jesus as the Judge of the world, and urged repentance for that reason (17^"'-). At Kphesus he interpreted the preaching of John the Baptist as urging faith in Jesus as the hope of salvation (19*). 'I'lie elders of Kphesus he urged ' to feed the church of God ' (correct text), ' which he pnrcliased with his own blood ' (20-*), where at once the deity of Jesus is asserted and also the atoning nature of His death.
MEDIATlOiSr, MEDIATOK
MEDIATION, MEDIATOR
Even Featus understood that St. Paul attirnied Jesus to be alive (25'"). To the Jews in Koine St. Paul spoke ' concerning Jesus' (iS-^) and called liis message 'this salvation of God' (v.="), which the (ientiles at least will hear. The conception of Jesus as Mediator thus runs all through the Acts from the verj' beginning.
2. The Pauline Epistles,— (a) The First Group (1 and 2 Thess.). — At bottom the same conception of Christ appears here as in the later Epistles. The work of Christ comes out incidentally, but very clearly : ' For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him ' (1 Th 5"'-). St. Paul's whole gospel of grace is here set forth though in somewhat general terms — tou cL-rrodavbpTos irepi TifJ-utv, though \VH give iiw^p in the margin. These two prepositions {wepl and inrip) difler in etymology ( ' around ' and ' over '), but in the Koine are sometimes used quite in the same resultant sense (Moulton, Grammar of NT Greek, vol. i., ' Prolegomena,' 1908, p. 105). There is no getting away from the idea that tlie death of Christ lies at the root of the obtaining of .salva- tion on our part, though St. Paul does not here explain the relation of Christ's mediatorial work to our redemption. Another general phrase appears in 1 Th 1'": 'Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come,' rby pv6ixevov ijfias iK, kt\. Here the historical Jesus is pictured as the present deliverer from the wrath — a complete deliverance (^k). In 2 Th 2''' St. Paul says that we realize God's purpose ' through our gospel.' He does not, of course, mean to put mere creed in the place of Christ. Already we find the mystic term ' in Christ ' (1 Th 4""). No objective work on the part of Christ or man, no ordinance and no creed, can take the place of vital union with God in Christ, ' in sanctiiication of the Spirit and belief of the truth ' (2 Th 2'^).
(b) The Second Groiip (1 and 2 Cor., Gal., Rom.). — We may still follow Lightfoot's grouping in spite of the doubt about the date of Galatians. Here the material is very rich. In 1 Co l'" St. Paul sums up his idea of the mediation of Christ : ' But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, both righteousness and sanctiiica- tion and redemption.' Thus Christ is shown to be the wisdom of God. St. Paul magnifies ' tlie cross of Christ' (v."). His message is ' the word of the cross' (v.''). 'We preach Clirist crucified' (v.-^). ' For I determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified ' (2=). The death of Christ occupies the central place in St. Paul's message about salvation. He is aware that the Jews find it a stumbling-block and the Greeks foolishness, but he claims that it is ' God's wisdom in a mystery ' (v.'), little as the philosophers sup- posed it to be true. The blood of Christ makes an appeal for holy living. He is our passover sacrifice (5'), in His name we were washed and justified (6"), we were bought with a price (6-° 7-^), and owe a life of holiness to Christ. It is thus no mere mechanical notion with St. Paul, but a vital union with Christ on the basis of His atoning death on the cross. Christ died ' for the sake of ' (Sid) the weak brother, who for that reason deserves consideration (8"). His death for man has glorified humanity. This intimate bond between the disciple and his Lord, the blood-bond, is set forth by the ordinances of baptism and communion in a far wider sense than was contemplated by the ' mystery-religions ' and their 'redeemer-gods' (1 Co lO'"- "*-^ 11"-="). Per- haps by TTveufiaTiKdv in lO"- St. Paul means ' super- natural' (Denney, Death of Christ, p. 134 f.), but he does not teach that the ordinances impart the new life in Christ. They are symbols of the work of Christ made effective in the soul by the Holy