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NASB | 1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called as an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, |
Bible Question:
Hi, This is my first time posting here, so let me introduce myself. I'm Julie, a 30 or so married mother and housewife. I claim no denomination. I call myself a Christian. I'm confused about Paul. For the last 20 years my dad has been telling me that Paul is the false teacher. I never paid much attention, until the other day I read Matthew and John, and then I read Acts...and all of a sudden I could see what my dad's been harping on all these years. There's something not right with Paul. Who is Paul, Saul, Apollos? He said he was a Pharisee, but then he said he's a Jew, but then he said he's a Roman...it seems like he said whatever was convenient for him. He didn't know Jesus on the human level, never met him. He watched Stephen be stoned, held the coats of the men who threw the stones. He killed and imprisoned the followers of The Way, which are Jesus original 12 disciples and the people who follow. And all of a sudden he's performing miracles or is it magic? He says he has all the powers of Jesus and all the knowledge of heaven. Where in the bible, save for the works of Paul, does it ever mention anything about a Paul? It does say to beware the false teachers and false prophets. It seems that he's tooting his own horn. And his teachings differ slightly from Jesus' teachings, but different enough to notice. Paul teaches faith without works. That as long as you have faith in Jesus you're saved and you don't have to do anything else because your sins are already taken care of so don't worry about it just party on dude, and believe. James taught that faith without works is dead. If we have faith in Jesus, and love Him, I believe we should show it with works. Like, obeying the 10 commandments, and the one Jesus gave us which was to love your brother more than yourself. The devil believes in Jesus, too. Does that mean he's saved? Nope. Because his works are evil. Jesus says that we can know them by their fruit. That must mean by their works. I don't mean to make anyone mad here. I don't know what to believe about Paul for sure. I am losing a lot of sleep trying to figure all this out. I don't want to follow the wrong path. Every church I've ever been to teaches right off of Paul's writings more than any other writings...and I'm wondering about the narrow gate and the wide gate, and us sheep being led to slaughter by a false teacher and I don't want to be one of those poor little unfortunate lambs. Thanks for taking to time to help. |
Bible Answer: Julie, Paul was a Jew, of the Pharisee party, trained in ther interpretation of the Torah, or Old Testament Law, He was also a Roman citizen by virtue of his birth at Tarsus, a city in Asia Minor whose people had been granted the rights of Roman citizenship by the Romans. There is no conflict between Paul and James, except when they are improperly interpreted. Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles which focuses on Paul in the later part, but Luke also wrote the Gospel according to Luke. So it is not just Paul tooting his own horn. Nor is he opposed to good works and "the obedience of faith" which he refers to in Romans 1:5 and Romans 16:26, opening and closing that great epistle on the note of obedience. He also, in Romans 2, refers eight times to "doing the law." The fault lies not with Paul but with those who falsely interpret him and empahsis him at the expense of Jesus and the Gospel which must also be considered as the central documents of the Good news, supplemented by the other New Testament scriptures. I will try to give you a few more of my old posts which touch on this subject. If you wish, you can find my e-mail address in my profile. if you contact me I will send you a study on Romans that may help ease your concerns. It is a study that has a lot of chapters which I would send one at a time if you are interested. Emmaus |