What Saint Paul Really Said

Based on various lectures given at various places and times.

Are Christians merely forgiven, or do they possess the righteousness of Christ? Recently the time-honored understanding of the doctrine of justification has come under attack. Many question how-or if-we receive the full righteousness of Christ. Martin Luther said that if we understand justification "we are in the clearest light; if we do not know it, we dwell in the densest darkness." And now, in this new and important book, John Piper accepts Luther's challenge. He points out that we need to see ourselves as having been recipients of the imputation of Christ's righteousness and therefore enjoy full acceptance with God and the everlasting inheritance of life and joy. Piper writes as both a pastor and a scholar. His pastor's heart is shown in his zeal for the welfare of the church. His careful scholarship is evident in each explanation and undergirds each conclusion.

Ranks the Apostle Paul as "one of the most powerful and seminal minds of the first or any century," and argues that we can now sketch with confidence a new and more nuanced picture of Paul and the radical way in which his encounter with Jesus redefined his life, his mission and his expectations for a world made new in Christ. Reprint.

Paul has provoked people as much in recent times as he did when he was alive. Some regard him as a pestilent and dangerous fellow. Others think of him as the greatest teacher of Christianity after Jesus himself. In this book, leading theologian Tom Wright focuses on key areas of Paul’s teaching,helping us to understand what he was doing and saying. He sweeps away the confusion of much modern theology to uncover the real man and his message. What St Paul Really Said is a book for all who want to weigh the evidence before making up their minds on the vital questions surrounding Paul. Equally it is for those who want to know what his message might mean for us today.

A renowned scholar calls for a change of direction for the study of Jesus in the 21st century.

"Besides Jesus, no one has kept me from despair, or taken me deeper into the mysteries of the gospel, than the apostle Paul." —John Piper No one has had a greater impact on the world for eternal good than the apostle Paul—except Jesus himself. For John Piper, this impact is very personal. He does not just admire and trust Paul. He loves him. Piper gives us thirty glimpses into why his heart and mind respond this way. Can a Christian-killer really endure 195 lashes from a heart of love? Can a mystic who thinks he was caught up into heaven be a model of lucid rationality? Can an ethnocentric Jew write the most beautiful call to reconciliation? Can a person who lives with the unceasing anguish of empathy be always rejoicing? Can a man's description of the horrors of human sin be exceeded by his delight in human splendor? Can a man with a backbone of steel be as tender as a nursing mother? If we know this man—if we see what Piper sees—we too will love him. Paul's testimony is a matter of life and death. Piper invites you into his relationship with Paul in the hope that you will know life, forever.

In what has become known as the 'new perspective' on Paul, Tom Wright has proposed a vision of the apostle's central message that does full justice to all Paul's letters. In particular, he focuses on the God-centred nature of Paul's gospel, arguing that 'traditional' readings of Paul can suggest that the apostle's message is simply about us: our sin, our justification, our salvation. Ambitious in scope, yet closely argued, Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision suggests that this crucial understanding of the theology of St Paul, and thus of the gospel of Christ, is urgently needed as the Church faces the tasks of mission in a dangerous world.