Report on the Thornaby Bible Study Conference - Stockton-on-Tees - June2009

Understanding Paul and His Letters
Speakers Gordon Hull, Michael Penny, Cliff Richmond

The subject of the Thornaby Conference was a big one—Understanding Paul and His Letters. However, in three one hour sessions Mike Penny and Cliff Richmond did a good job—stimulating much discussion and solving a few problems for a
number of the group. This conference was organised a little differently, with nine short studies—three in each session.

Mike Penny kicked off the first  session , outlining the fact that during the Acts period Paul had two ministries: one to the Jews and one to the Gentiles, and that the one to the Jews took precedence.

Cliff continued showing the differences there were between Jews and Gentiles of that time, and the differences there were in what God expected of each group. Mike Penny then took up the reigns again, and considered the different approaches Paul used when addressing Jews and Gentiles.

In the second session we considered the end of the Acts Period, by which time the Jewish Nation had rendered itself blind and deaf to the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s salvation was sent to the Gentiles (Acts 28:25-28). This ushered in Paul’s third ministry, to the Body of Christ in this age of grace. The rest of the session, and the whole of the third session, was spent considering some of the differences between Paul’s ministries during the Acts Period and his third ministry post-Acts.

For example, the Jewish Christians lost their first place and from then on all Christians were equal; the Jewish Christians no longer had to worry about circumcision, Sabbath keeping and the rituals of the Mosaic Law; the heavenly realms, rather than the earth, was the hope of Christians now; there was a change in the healing ministry and the miracle of judgments was no longer in operation; there was no longer any talk of Christ returning soon, as there was during the Acts Period.

We would like to thank Gordon Hull for inviting us to Thornaby and those who did the lovely refreshments. If you would like a conference in your church, please contact the Open Bible Trust.