Homilies on the Books of Holy Scripture: The Epistles of the Apostles (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Homilies on the Books of Holy Scripture 

The Epistles of the Apostles

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Sunday, August 24, 2025)

After His Resurrection, Christ commanded His disciples to go into all the world and preach to people about the Kingdom of God. Thus, from being Disciples of Christ, they became Apostles. He told them: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 12:19-20). This means that the Apostles were to make disciples of all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Triune God and teaching them to keep all the commandments of Christ. This happened after Pentecost when they received the Holy Spirit.

Furthermore, the Apostle Paul was called by Christ to the apostolic office by His appearance to him. Subsequently, the Holy Spirit, at a liturgical gathering of Christians in Antioch, gave the command to set apart Barnabas and Saul/Paul to go to the Gentiles to preach Christ (Acts 13:2-3). The Apostle Paul himself writes that he received from Christ the Grace and a mission to preach “for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name” (Rom. 1:5). Thus, the Apostles went beyond Palestine to the Gentiles and “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). They spoke to the people, baptized those who believed, and instructed them to keep the commandments of Christ and to live according to Christ. In every place the Church began to function with Baptism, the Divine Eucharist, the communion of the Body of Christ, and the observance of His commandments.

However, they could not remain permanently in one place, because they had to preach everywhere, after all, they had received this commandment. They certainly cared for the Churches they were creating, the Christians themselves requested it, and that is why they sent letters, on the one hand to guide them in the life according to Christ, and on the other hand to answer their questions and solve the problems that arose in these first communities. Thus, the Epistles were written by the Apostles. Some Epistles were preserved and included in the books of the New Testament.

These Epistles are distinguished by their Apostles, namely the Apostles Paul, Peter, John, and the Brothers of God James and Jude. They are also divided into three categories: Epistles sent to specific Churches, Epistles sent to specific individuals, and Epistles sent to all Christians, wherever they were, and were characterized as “Catholic” Epistles. In the following, we will look at the surviving Epistles of the Apostles Paul, Peter, John, and the Brothers of God James and Jude.

The New Testament includes fourteen Epistles of the Apostle Paul to the Churches, namely: To the Romans, two to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, two to the Thessalonians; the Pastoral Epistles: two to Timothy, one to Titus, one to Philemon; and one Catholic Epistle to the Hebrews. Also included in the New Testament are Epistles of James the Brother of God, two of the Apostle Peter, three of the Apostle John and one of Jude the Brother of God. In total, the New Testament includes twenty-one Epistles. These Epistles follow the style of letters that people used to send at that time. They begin with an introduction, the main theme is developed, and they end with greetings. For example, consider the Epistle to the Romans by the Apostle Paul.

At the beginning, the sender is listed: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart (separated) for the gospel of God.” Then the recipients are listed: “To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints.” And a prayer follows: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:1-7). The Apostle Paul then develops the topics he wishes or needs to write about, and at the end, the greetings are written: “Greet Priscilla and Aquila,” etc., “greet you,” and the names of his collaborators are mentioned, and he concludes with the apostolic blessing: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Rom. 16:1-24). This section of the Epistles provides important information about the associates of the Apostle Paul and his acquaintances.

In this particular Epistle, that is, in the Epistle to the Romans, at the end, in the part where the greetings are written, there is also an intervening phrase: “I, Tertius, who wrote the epistle in the Lord, greet you” (Rom. 16:22). From this it appears that Tertius was a “signatory” of the Apostle Paul, that is, the Apostle Paul dictated the epistle and Tertius wrote it down, which is why Saint John Chrysostom interprets “this is no small and commendable signatory of Paul.” That is, the Apostles either wrote the epistles themselves or dictated them to someone, because at that time there were no modern means of writing. When we want to see the content of the epistles, we will find that their basic structure is the one they followed in their preaching, as we see in the sermon given by the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost, that Christ is the true God, Whom the Prophets mention, Who taught, suffered, was resurrected, and they must believe in Him, after first repenting, and they will receive the Holy Spirit.

In addition, they solved various problems that arose in the local Churches, gave appropriate advice, further explained what they had preached in the Churches, strengthened them in their life according to Christ, solved questions they had, and generally guided them in their new life. I will write down a diagram of the basic themes included in the Epistles of the Apostles. It is emphasized that Christ is true God, "the Lord of Glory" who appeared to the Prophets of the Old Testament, who became incarnate to overcome sin, the kingdom of death and the devil, and that this Christ was revealed to them, since the Apostles had a living experience of the Divinity of Christ, which is this very Kingdom of God. That is, what they write is empirical. It is emphasized that Christ is superior to the angels, Moses, the High Priests of the Old Testament, the Prophets, and the worship that He brought is superior to the worship of the Old Testament.

Then, it is presented that Christ is the Head of the Church, and the Church is His glorious Body, which means that Christians as members of the Church belong to His Body, have various gifts, which must be offered to God for His glory. Furthermore, the teaching is developed that incorporation into the Body of Christ occurs through Baptism, which is participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, that is, those who are baptized are connected to Christ, like the members in the human body, they are new people, they have cast off the old man with his passions and weaknesses and live the new life in Christ. This new life is called adoption of Christ and this is expressed in many gifts, namely gifts of theology, prophecy, miracles, and the basic gift is unceasing prayer in the heart. Thus, Christians were empirically assured that the Kingdom of God had come into their hearts.

Furthermore, this means that as members of the Body of Christ they have an obligation to live the new life, to feel every sin as sin in the Body of Christ and for this reason they must constantly repent, not to create schisms in the Church and to respect one another, to live according to Christ. Also, it is written that Christ will come at His Second Coming in His glory, all the dead will be resurrected, those who lived according to Christ will participate in His glory forever, in the Kingdom of Light. It is not possible to present the basic meanings of the Epistles of the Apostles to the Churches and Christians, but what must be emphasized is that they are theological texts, the fruit of the experience of the Apostles, and with them they shepherded Christians to unite with Christ from now and throughout the ages.

This was also the preaching of the holy and glorious Equal-to-the-Apostles Kosmas the Aitolos, whom we celebrate today, whose intercessions may we have.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.