In learning to read and interpret the Bible, one might never develop any questions about Paul by just reading his material in Acts and his Epistles like any other book taking it at face value as it comes. The Bible is the word of God and at an early stage of spiritual growth it’s best just to learn what it says until enough truth is retained to enable recognizing that even in the most faithful analysis of scripture there are some conflicts. Learning the conflicts first can nurture skepticism when nurturing faith in Jesus is the best goal. So Paul is being presented here as the least in the Kingdom not to cast doubt on the Gospel Truth but to focus people on Jesus, the absolutely perfect one.
One easily picks up the story of Saul persecuting Christians and being miraculously converted then spending time to relate Christianity to his Jewish training and spreading the gospel with some persecution. It takes a lot of belief and faith in Jesus Christ to run afoul of Paul’s teachings by being more faithful to Jesus than they but when you do, your eyes will be opened to a new level of faith, between Jesus the greatest and Paul the least in the Kingdom. When you reach that stage you are in the Kingdom as long as you don’t fall below Paul’s disobedience to Jesus.
Like many new converts, Paul’s sins didn’t stop when he converted to follow Jesus. Before conversion Paul as Saul of Tarsus obtained and dispensed authority to kill Christians. After Christians prayed for their enemy he was converted by a miracle in which he lost his sight and Jesus sent him to a believer to regain it. Saul became the Christian Paul whose behavior turned from a pure hearted starting of 10 churches down to the veiled hearted political setting up of elders or old men over the people of God, which God never authorized or approved and taught an attitude toward Jesus which was very impure, so much it appears his relationship with God survived on endurance but without love, which he taught others.
The one major mistake Paul made was to disobey Jesus and teach men so, for which he was judged by Jesus' words in Mat. 5:19. Three major examples of disobeying Jesus which Paul made are: 1) Teach in Romans 15:26-27 it's a duty to serve donated money. This violates Jesus' words in Matthew 6:24 that you cannot serve God and mammon. The proof that you can't use money in church is Rev. 17:5 where all traditional churches are called prostitutes, not churches. 2) Teach in Titus 1:5 to set up elders in every city violating Jesus' commandments in Mat. 23:8-10 that we are equal under Jesus as our Boss. 3) Teach in Ephesians 6 to conduct spiritual warfare without mentioning Jesus, causing the Ephesians to lose their first love in Rev. 2:2.
Jesus needed Paul to start 10 churches and write his epistles in order to stimulate the others to write the true gospels. I believe Jesus also needed to define the least in the kingdom.
Here's one more of Paul's errors in which it appears that he directly disobeyed the Holy Spirit to support responsibility to government. He was released from prison by an earthquake like Peter but instead of either fleeing, taking the guard with him to save the guard's life, or even inquiring of God concerning the guard Paul stayed. It I believe was obvious that if God opened all the prison doors, God wanted Paul and the others to exit those doors and proclaim what a great thing God had done for them. I believe Paul’s voluntary compliance to government was disobedience to the Spirit's intent.
Paul failed to rectify confusion between his statements that no woman should speak in church vs. there are no male or female in Christ. This can be resolved to mean every woman should become a Christian completely and not a female for Christ.
At what point should we consider Paul’s writings aren’t up to the level of the Gospel truth and instead focus on the Gospel which must be preached to the world, leaving Paul for those who need to know the worst behavior a Christian can have and still be in the Kingdom? 100% perfect is better than 50% evil.
Some people think Paul didn’t write Hebrews but the disobedience is certainly in the pattern of the least. For example, in Hebrews 6:1-3 Paul exhorts readers to perfection without foundational things like repentance, faith toward God, resurrection, and eternal judgment. Perhaps we might walk in those things much more like Jesus did but without resurrection there is no eternal life, without faith toward God it cannot be a perfect life since God is defined as absolute perfection. So following Paul necessarily leads to imperfection.
Paul’s loveless endurance of Jesus, disobedience to Jesus’ words, and teaching men so is the standard of least in the Kingdom which Jesus was prophetically referring to when He spoke of John the Baptist being greatest born of women but the least in the kingdom [Paul] is greater than he. Paul’s attitude appears to be for God but rather dimly. He pretends his opinions are of God but they can’t be trusted as God’s can.
When people start with good intentions praying for more Christ start new churches fail to do Jesus’ miracles they fall into spiritual laziness and drift to the epistles which present an easier church life than overcoming their old unspiritual nature to obey Jesus. Some people say they don’t want to rule the world by prayer, they just want to be loved by God after they die.
Paul’s clergy laity system is a prostituted lecture system, not mature fellowship with shepherding among equals. That resulted in prostituted and divided churches for 2000 years.
We must think like Jesus who is absolutely perfect and only refer to Paul for encouragement that in our greatest mistakes we likely didn’t fall lower than Paul so we’re still in the Kingdom and we can grow from that bottom wherever we are all the way to where Jesus is.
A Ring Of Truth:
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