Understanding and Applying our Curriculum
A blessed and prosperous 2025 to all who read this post.
On the 5th of January 2025, I uploaded the final post in a series of 16 posts concerning, “Understanding Salvation”. This series exposed salvation as a two-step process dealing with justification, explained in Romans 1 to 5 and then followed by sanctification, explained in the last half of Romans 5 through to Romans 8. Writing this series got me thinking about the full extent of the Christian curriculum which is the definitive process that leads a believer from their regeneration through reception of the grace gospel, all the way to being mature sons of God who are ensamples for all who believe and are counted worthy of the Kingdom of God. Romans is the foundational epistle that sets forth the principles of the faith, and the other epistles, Corinthians to Thessalonians, build upon this foundation through reproof, correction, and instructions in righteousness, to lead a believer into maturity in the faith and into honour, glory and profitability in the ages to come.
Since this is the start of a new year and having been inspired by the latest series about salvation, I plan to venture into a long-lasting series aimed at “understanding and applying our curriculum”. This study would be as much for my edification as yours; the posts would reflect the journey and study of the curriculum as I collect, study, and document information in the order it is presented, from basic to advanced, from babe until son, from milk until meat. It is not only the detailed doctrine that I want to learn and apply, but I also want to document the high-level overview of the curriculum. For example, Romans is the foundation to first establish a believer and then stablish base principles within them. Corinthians and Galatians deal with reproof and correction if one violates or veers off course from the principles in Romans. Ephesians starts to build upon that foundation followed by Philippians to Thessalonians which educates one unto sonship. The full curriculum begins with a work of faith, then leads one into a labour of love while teaching one how to be patient in hope for the Lord’s return, 1Th.1:3. It increasingly forms Christ within a believer by replacing the old man with a new creature, the formation of a new man, a spiritual man who grows up and is perfected in the Body of Christ, explained in Ephesians.
It is hard to express the importance and value of learning this curriculum, but I have come to understand that of all activities we can do here on earth, NOTHING is of greater importance than the knowledge and application of Paul’s epistles, which are of eternal value. The following is an excerpt from a previous article I wrote that will help to encourage and validate this journey I want to take with you.
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Consider the following verse from Paul to the Corinthians,
1Cor 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: (7) But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
Paul speaks of a wisdom among those who are perfect. What does this mean, and what can we learn from this statement?
By “wisdom”, Paul refers to the doctrine of the mysteries which he had written and preached. In the context of this passage in Corinthians, he refers to the plan of salvation by the cross of Christ.
This word “perfect” is in reference to believers, as it is in Php 3:15, “Let us therefore as many as be perfect, be thus minded.” Perfect does not mean that believers were sinless, but that they were mature in ‘the faith’ and who had made progress in the knowledge of the doctrine of the mysteries (our curriculum), as opposed to those who were weak in the faith, babes in spiritual things, and the carnally minded, who rejected this wisdom as foolishness, 1Cor 1:21-27.
Isn’t it interesting to parallel this wisdom of Paul, hidden to those who are carnal and persistently ignorant, with the parables of Jesus, which were Kingdom truths purposefully hidden from Jews who had no desire to hear and see in faith. Notice what Paul writes to the Corinthians, saying,
1Cor 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. (2) I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. (3) For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
Most of the Corinthians were oblivious to the deeper spiritual truths that Paul desired to share. There was no way they would perceive the spiritual truths as they were carnal. Their attention was on earthly things of the flesh. They had more interest in titles, positions, honour, status, and ego. They would envy for these credentials, causing strife and divisions. If one’s attention and desire is in the natural realm, there is no chance that they would receive spiritual truth. It would be like throwing pearls before swine.
1Cor 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (14) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The ‘natural’ man, referenced above, can refer to an unbeliever, who, being unregenerated in spirit, is unable to perceive spiritual things, because they are spiritually dead. However, in the context here, Paul, writing to the carnal believers in Corinth, refers to them as ‘natural’ and unable to receive a spiritual message, just as a baby is unable to process meat.
Thus, what we learn from the above verse is that we need to study the curriculum in the correct way. We need to identify and respect the curriculum and study it in the order it is presented to us. There is no limit to how we read the bible. This we can do freely, jumping about to be informed of its content, but when we choose to study it, then we must respect the curriculum, so that we layer our knowledge correctly; so that we can grow past babes and children; so that we can become perfect and likeminded in the knowledge of the mysteries of God.
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This ongoing series will attempt to harmonise both high-level information with the detailed verse-by-verse content of the epistle to provide a more richer learning experience. For example, I will attempt to bring together the purpose of each epistle in relation to the curriculum, the reason for each individual epistle, some historical facts related to the epistle, and the doctrinal content, to create a relatable and readable journey of edification. To be honest with you, you could just study Paul’s epistles from the source directly, but as I mentioned before, the posts contained in this series are simply an outlet of my own personal studies and edification of Paul’s epistles, documented for reference and clarification. I hope you will enjoy the posts and experience spiritual growth and stability as you follow along with me in this study of the curriculum.
To identify these posts, I will prefix the title of the post with an incremental code [UAC#1] so that one can easily read the posts in the order they were published. You should see these identified posts start to appear in my blogs soon.
Regards, and God bless.
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