How much of Paul's teaching does the average churchgoer understand?
The average churchgoer, for the most part, never gets the slightest notion of much of what Paul is trying to teach. Paul's core message is the work of the cross—that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the dead—which many fail to grasp.
Les explains that he could easily spend five years on just Paul's epistles because so much in that section of the New Testament is intrinsic to daily needs and salvation. He notes that while teaching Romans in another class, they all agreed that for the most part, the average churchgoer never gets the slightest notion of much of what Paul is trying to teach. Paul's core message is always the work of the cross: Christ died for our sins, shed His blood, was buried, and rose from the dead. That is the foundation of everything Paul writes, as seen in Galatians where he defends his apostleship and warns against returning to legalism, reminding believers they are under grace, not law.