Walking in Love: Moral Progress and Spiritual Growth with the Apostle Paul

447 Pages·2016·2.9 MB·English

by  J. Paul Sampley

Holy lives, holy communities—
WALKING IN
SAMPLEY
J. Paul Sampley explores how Paul instructed the followers who trekked behind him
in “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). Sampley writes particularly for LOVE
readers today who seek insight into the spiritual and moral life but are perplexed by the
apostle. While taking seriously the distance between Paul and our time, he also under-
stands Paul’s relevance for those seeking to live responsibly in a broken and alienated L W
world. Throughout, his concern is for Paul’s basic goal of calling people to faithful living.
A
O
Praise for Walking in Love L
K
“A lifetime of scholarship hides behind the plain and straightforward language I
V N
of this book. Not that it is simple, for the central question it addresses is as com-
plicated as could be: What does it mean, as conceived by the apostle Paul, G
to live life as a Christian? Anyone for whom that question is important will find
here a guide and a goad to think afresh about it.” E I
N
Wayne A. Meeks | Yale University

“J. Paul Sampley has dedicated a good part of his career to understanding the
relationship between the theology and moral teaching of his ‘older brother’
Paul, and has made rich contributions to scholarship on this topic. In this fine
work, he provides us with the enduring fruit of his work in a highly pastoral
and accessible form. This book can help us come to a better understanding
of the theological framework of Paul’s moral teaching and to demonstrate
greater consistency between the doctrines that underlie Christian moral G M
thinking and the way that we live out our faith through love toward God and r o
others both within and beyond the church. Sampley demonstrates that we still o
r
have much to learn from the apostle’s own wrestling with the question of what w a
it means to ‘walk in love’ in the newness of life in Christ.” t l
h P
Roy E. Ciampa | The Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship r
w o
i g
“Sampley maps Paul’s contribution to Christianity’s understanding of the pro- t
h r
cess of moral progress on a horizon that starts with creation and ends with the e

new creation. The work of a seasoned and significant scholar offered in a wise t s
h s
and welcoming manner.” e a
L.Ann Jervis | University of Toronto
A n
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J. Paul Sampley is professor of New Testament emeritus at Boston o S
University. He is the author of ‘And the Two Shall Become One s p
t
PFlaeushlin’ e(2 P0a0r4t)n, eWrsahlikpi ning CBhertiwst e(Feonr ttrheess TPimreesss, 1(F9o8r0t)r,e assn dPr ecsosm, 1m99e1n)-, le irit
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taries on 1 and 2 Corinthians. He has edited or coedited Paul P
and Rhetoric (2010), Paul in the Greco-Roman World (2003), and a a Moral Progress and Spiritual
Pauline Parallels (Fortress Press, 1984). u l
l Growth with the Apostle Paul
Religion / New Testament
J. PAUL SAMPLEY
Walking in Love

Walking in Love
Moral Progress and Spiritual Growth with the Apostle Paul
J. Paul Sampley
Fortress Press
Minneapolis
WALKING IN LOVE
Moral Progress and Spiritual Growth with the Apostle Paul
Copyright © 2016 Fortress Press. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations
in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner
without prior written permission from the publisher. Visit
http://www.augsburgfortress.org/copyrights/ or write to Permissions, Augsburg
Fortress, Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440.
Cover image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/freeparking/521440062
Cover design: Tory Herman
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Print ISBN: 978-1-5064-1076-0
eBook ISBN: 978-1-5064-0647-3
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z329.48-1984.
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
This book was produced using Pressbooks.com, and PDF rendering was done by
PrinceXML.
To Katharine “Kate” Treadway and Eric Isselbacher,
incredible doctors and stalwart friends
and
To the community of believers at the Mary Lyon Church,
Buckland, Massachusetts
Paul and Sally

Contents
Introduction ix
1. After His Call, Paul Sets Out 1
2. The Big Story: What in the World 25
is God Doing?
3. New Creation Beings: 51
Responsive and Responsible
4. Believers’ Progress: From Babies to Adults 93
5. Baptism: Starting Well and Ending Better 133
6. Lord’s Supper: How to Eat, Drink, 175
and Live Well
7. Judgment: God’s of Us, Ours of Each Other, and 207
of Ourselves
8. Us and Them: Relations and Contact with the 247
Outside World
9. Making Choices Right and Sitting Loose in the 275
Saddle
10. Epilogue: Paul for the 309
Twenty-First Century
Index of Subjects 397
Index of Scripture 401
Introduction
I’ve written this work for inquiring people, curious to understand
more clearly what drives the Apostle Paul, what really matters to
him about the life of faith. I have not written it for my scholarly
colleagues, though I dare to think even they might enjoy reading it.
I’ve written it as a participant in the community of Christian
believers. My fascination across the years is that I find Paul to be a
wise, older brother inmybelieving life. Likeanybrother, sometimes
Igetalittleexasperatedwithhim;someplacesIdon’tunderstandhim
(though I’m still working on it and this book represents some of my
growth on that front); but more often than not, I have come to trust
him as a trustworthy guide to a fuller and more loving life.
I’ve tried to be thoughtful of my readers and to be as clear as
possible, but I have been resolutely determined never to speak down
to them or oversimplify things. When I was writing I always kept in
my mind a representative group of my former students and of our
localchurchparishionerstowhomthisbookisdedicated‒‒andIhave
tried to write for them. I have sought ways to make the trip through
the book comfortable for my readers. At the same time, I have tried
torewardtheinquisitivereaderswhowant,forexample,toknowthe
range of meanings for a Greek word or expression so they can test
their own—and my—understanding of these ancient texts.
ix