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• After the Acts period, while in a Roman prison, Paul wrote Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians as well as his pastoral epistles to Timothy and Titus. These books are, therefore, known as the prison epistles. These epistles are unique in many ways when compared to the rest of the New Testament scriptures because there is no mention of water baptism, the Lord’s Supper, physical circumcision or miracles.

• The prison epistles are also unique when compared to Paul’s pre-prison epistles in that there is no mention of Abraham or the New Covenant. Paul mentioned Abraham 9 times in Romans, once in II Corinthians, 8 times in Galatians, and 6 times in the book of Hebrews, but never mentioned Abraham in the prison epistles. Paul made reference to the New Covenant in Romans 11:27, I Corinthians 11:25, II Corinthians 3:6, Galatians 4:22-31 and numerous times in Hebrews, but he never mentioned Israel’s New Covenant in the prison epistles.

• The uniqueness of the prison epistles gives credence to the idea that the recipients of these epistles belong to a different program than the recipients of the other New Testament writings. In fact, that is exactly what Paul declared in Colossians 1:24.

Colossians 1:24-26
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. (NKJ)
In this stewardship or dispensation, God revealed through Paul the
Church which is the Body of Christ and the program for the Church, the Body of Christ. Paul said that the Church and its program were never revealed to the prophets of other ages, but they were kept as a secret from the beginning in the heart and mind of God. In fact, a careful examination of the Bible will reveal that the Church which is the Body of Christ is specifically referred to only in Paul’s prison epistles (Ephesians 1:22-23, Colossians 1:18, Colossians 1:24).

Ephesians 1:22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23* which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Colossians 1:24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,

• In the prison epistles, Paul said that the Church, the Body of Christ, would be caught up to be with the Lord at the Lord’s appearing (epiphaneia in the Greek). By way of contrast, Paul told the believers in his pre-prison epistles that they would be caught up to be with the Lord at the coming (parousia in the Greek) of the Lord. By using these two different words, Paul revealed two different raptures.

• It is clear that there will be a rapture and resurrection of believers at the time of the Lord’s second coming at the end of the tribulation period (Matthew 24:29-31, Revelation 11:15-19, Revelation 20:4-5). The Church, the Body of Christ, on the other hand, will be caught up to be with the Lord at the time of the Lord’s appearing. It is clear that the Church will be raptured before the tribulation period because Paul’s description of the last days of the Church in II Timothy 3 is very different from the Lord’s description of the end times of the tribulation period in Matthew 24.

• Furthermore, in Paul’s prison epistles, he has a unique word for the resurrection of the Church, the Body of Christ. That word in the Greek is exanastasis. By comparison, Paul always used the Greek word anastasis when referring to the resurrection in his pre-prison epistles. Unfortunately, these two words are both translated “resurrection” in most translations, and this makes it difficult to appreciate the difference between these two different resurrections. The exanastasis refers to the resurrection of the Church which will occur before the tribulation period, while the anastasis refers to the resurrection which will occur at the end of the tribulation period.

• The stewardship of revelation given to Paul, as seen in the prison epistles, reveals not only the Church, itself, but it reveals the marching orders and prophecies which relate to the Church. Believers in our present age, who seek to wholeheartedly serve the Lord, must look to these writings to ensure that they serve the Lord in an appropriate way. As Paul reminded Timothy:

2 Tim 2:5
5 . . . if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.(NIV)

Pastor Jim Roberts, Peace Church