When we look for freedom — from the consequences of past sin and from the moral struggles that still bind us — we are led beyond the ethical teachings of Christ we have already briefly examined. We now turn to another set of ideas found in Christ’s message and in the New Testament. These ideas are closely connected to moral teaching, yet clearly distinct from it. They are also strikingly unique within the broader history of religious thought, belonging in a special way to Christ and to those who followed Him.
Because we have no writings directly from Jesus Himself, the most reliable way to understand His teaching is to look at the letters written by the earliest Christian leaders. Among these, we can say with confidence which letters come from the hand of the most prominent early preacher of the Gospel. These writings place us face to face with a remarkable Christian who lived in the same generation as Christ. By studying them, we can attempt to reconstruct Paul’s understanding of both the Gospel and of Christ Himself.
