I am going to give a history of Pauls work, where, and why he wrote the words and to whom..much of this is coming from the book SMITH"S BIBLE DICTIONARY....for most of Pauls works are letters to different churches written in answer to letters wriitten to him about things happening in these churches...I will include some selected scripture to give a proof of the people involve and how they worshipped , some of the problems they were having and why...The first writing we have of Paul in in Acts this book is a compilation by Luke of the things that happened after Christs death and shows the beginning of the Church and who was involved... Pauls story of being blinded by the presence of Christ on the road to Damscus and his subsequent coming to join the Chruch is recorded there... it says in the Smiths " it was intended for the reading of the church whether Jew or Greek... so even at the time of Pentacost we find both Jew and Greek gathered together there ...both keeping the feast of Pentacost the 50th day after Passover, Jewish tradtion calls it counting omer...This is a celebration of the giving of the word on the Mount of Synaii when the mountain trembled and shook, no one was able to sleep and so they stayed awake all night ...this is what the church was doing that night in Jerusalem, those who had come from all around Romans were there, they were Jew .. they were present....keeping the Jewish tradtional feast....Acts 2:1Paul did not join the group until later His story is found in Acts 9: Further in Acts you will see during the feast of unleavened bread Peter was taken prisoner by Herod, this had to be a year after Christs death, for Christ was killed during Passover which coincides with this feast of unleavend bread. Acts 12:In Acts 13 we see where God sends Paul and Barnabas out for their first journey to teach the word in Cyprus a place called Solamis they taught in the synagogue... causing blindness to fall on a sorceror who had come to harass him as he spoke...performing might works and leading many to Christ. in Acts 24:14 we see where Paul in brought to the temple high priests and he is telling them he had come to the temple for purification... this is entering the mikvah a type of baptism practiced by the Jews even today...Paul ends up in prison and is brought before the King Agrippa and in Acts 26:28 were find the words of the king that he was ALMOST persuaded by Paul to believe on Christ...From there Paul was taken as a prisoner to Rome..the last few words of Acts 25:16 to the end of the chapter tells how he spoke to the Jews there telling them that God had opened salvation to the Greeks(anyone who was not Jewish) also.. and lived in RomeThis is where he write the letter to Philemon, Colossians,Ephesians and to the Phillippians these letters written at one time and sent by one messengerthe letter to the Phillipians being the last and Paul was released by emperor Nero after 2 years..He then went to Greece, Asia Minor and Spain...In Spain was a large commnunity of Jews as they were all over Europe and central Asia..Nero took him again as prisoner in AD 65-67 he wrote a letter to Timothy . He was behead by this same Nero in 67 or 68 along with many Christians....Lets look at he individual books written now:Romans was written by Paul after his trip to Ephesis, in Greece He was in Corinth and was headed back to Jerusalem to take money given by the Greek Christians to the Jerusalem Christians for their keep, there were many widows and orphans from the persecusion of the Christian Jews by the same hieracy that had killed Christ.. and the alms were given for their support.He tells the Jewish Christians there in Rome he desires to travel to them... and see some of the references to Jewishness in these letters...Romans 3:4, 5, 6 he is addressing there the blessing of knowing God through his Jewish roots...I Corinthianswas written to the chruch in Corinth a city about 40 miles west of Athens , Greece... Paul had started this church on his first journey and wrote the letter to them because another teacher had come and made the group diivide themselves the Jews and the Greeks had separted and he desired them to join as one under Christ... he warns about following one teacher or another teacher, but says this: I Corinthians 1:13which says we are follower of Christ alone, not a teacher...I Corinthians 1:24 says it all we are called to Christ and the power of God through Him, both Jew and Greek.II Corinthians was written a few months after praising them for coming back together in worship and fellowship as he had written in the first letter. in II Cor. 3:15 through II Cor. 4:2 he speaks of not hiding the Word of God ...the Words of Mohse the law that would be Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuternomy and when you know Christ you can understand these words fully .Galatians Galatia is Gaul of the east a province in Asia Minor near Epheisis.. Paul visted them 3 times the first time he was there because of an illness he recovered from there in his journey again the same teaching were dividing them the teaching that you must be circumsized in order to belong to the Church as had been taught in Corinth...Galatians 3:28 , 29 tells the brunt of the whole if you are of Christ you are also of Abraham... grafted into the family begun by him...Paul was at Ephesis when he wrote this and you will see in the verse Ephesians 6:11 he refers to writing this in his own large script indicateing that Paul has trouble with his eyes still after being blinded by the glory of Christ in the beginning..he must write in large letters to see them...Ephesians Ephesis was the Roman capital of Asia, the temple of Daina was there.. many Jew lived here and the followers of John the Baptist were here also...Tychicus was from this place and was mentioned in Act 21:29 with Paul in Jerusalem in the temple.. it was probably the first city ourtside of Jerusalem to recieve the gospel...Paul wrote this letter while in Rome during his first arrest there. Again Paul is addressing the circumcision issue with them, but you will see in the verse Ephesians 2:8,9,10,11,12, 13these verse state how we being not followers of the law are become close to God as those who do follow it...Ephesians 3:6 says it all. Ephesians 4:17 tells the gentiles not to walk as the rest of their kind and in Epesian 5:1 tells them to be followers of God.. in order to do that they must read the scripture which is the Old Testament....and the wonderful verses Ephesians 6:11 telling them to put on the whole armour of God... these are accompanied by the sword, the Word of truth which a the time was what we call the Old Testament...the only words available to all of them at the time....PhillipiansAlso written by Paul in Rome to the church in Phillipi ...Lydia was there a seller of Purple which by the way was against the law at the time... only the royals were allowed to have the dye... it was used for the talit used by all Jews at the time handed down from the specifications handed down for generations unto now..with the knots tied to write the name... the same garment worn by Christ touched by the woman who had the issue of blood. He was often there and so was Luke and Timothy.. this place was special to him ...He was imprisoned here Acts 16:23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34, the story of how he led the jailor and his whole family to Christ...In these words he is sending Timothy to them to and again speaks about circumsion... in Phillipians 3:5 he tells them to continue circumsizing those of the tribe of Judah, and Benjamen keeping the law . This circumsion was the outward sign for Israel and he says to continue doing so... though only for those of these two tribes the only two known tribes at the time of his writing..Obviously they had a settlement in Philippi and that some had come to Christ or it would not have been addressed..Colossians again written from Rome during his first imprisonment... to Colossae ....it was close to Laodecia and is written to by John also in Rev.1:11.... Thychuis delivered this letter to them...there is agin this same addressing of the Judaic teachings that had also been taught against namely curcumsion of all Greek believers.. Colossians 2:11... in Colossians 3:16 we see and admonishing for them to be knowledgeable in the word of Christ ... what word is that? the only one available at the time... the Old Testament... see a underlying theme developing... they should all know the word, but not be held to circumsiion unless you were of the tribes....I and II Thessalonians these two letters are probably the first two letters written by Paul... and from Corinth Thesselonica was in Macedonai again in Acts 17:1 we see Paul started the church by speaking the in synagogue, there were Jews living in this Roman city...Many church leaders had been killed and Paul is writing to comfort them in this time of pain..Pauls words in IIThess. 3:14 is why I choose to wirte this for in love I seek for you to know truly what Paul taught and why...out of love for all or you....Timothy, Titus, written by Paul to the named individuals probably from the time in between Pauls two imprisonments ,from Macedonea and Ephesis, to tell these two men what they know in order to lead the churches he has intrusted to them...Timothy was raised in the knowledge of the Word of God or again the Old Testament, we know of him from Acts 16:1,3...we find that while Timothy had grown up learning scripture he had not been circumsized and was circumsized by Paul himself Acts 16:3 it is amazing that Titus was not circumsized by intervention of Paul, Timothy as a decendant of tribes through his mother is seemingly required by Paul to be so circumsized.... the second epistle of Timothy, is written to Timothy from the cell of Paul during his second imprisonment.. one of the last writings we have from him..Titus was a convert of Paul and a Greek Paul insisted he not have to be circumsized...and was left in Crete to govern the church there...Philemon written during Paul's first confinement in Rome the reason Paul wrote the letter to Philemon was because a slave of Philemons had escaped and run away to Rome, Paul had converted the slave to Christ and was attempting to reconcile the slave,Onesimus and the ownerPhilemon...Hebrews I must say that this letter is noted as having an unknown author, but seeing the thoughts expressed all realize the thoughts are the thoughts of Paul and most agree Paul wrote this letter to the Christian Jews in Jerusalem upon knowing they had been turned out of the temple.. a grevious thing for all, for the temple was important to the worship of God to them as it was to Christ who went there often during his time on the earth even as a new babe the sacrifice of the two doves given by Mary on the specified time of her completling her purifcation after Christs birth.. and later when Christ during His ministry often taught and even healed in the temple he was there during the feast of dedication, and all requirements of God in the Word to go to the temple were adhered to by Christ as he was without sin... and to not adhere to them would be sin...So no longer allowed in the temple Pauls comforts them by these words: Hebrews 3:1 naming Christ as the High Priest for us all and for all time... no longer under the bondage of the hieracy of those in Jerusalem, but freed to love Christ, honor God through Christ and not longer being bound to the earthly temple but knowing Christ was the first and last high priest Hebrews 7:1 Melchisedec....Hebrews 8:10 says it all ...God ordinaces have not passed away but are written on our hearts, Jew and Greek... we keep the law to be like Christ to show our love for God, but are no longer under the hieracy of any man only God the Father, and God the SonI am thankful to Epo and dedicate all this to him for without him I would not have learned so much as I did doing this study... I say to him... I do not hate you but love you and desire you to only excellant truth through Christ Jesus... as I do you all.