Todd was a seeker, but one day he challenged a scriptural principle I shared with his wife.
When I gave him the reference, he said, "Well, that was just Paul's point of view. Those are Paul's words, not God's."
I explained that he was both right and wrong. Paul wrote part of the Bible, so we often reference Paul as the author. For example, we might say, "In 1 Corinthians Paul wrote about the meaning of love."
But the truth is that Paul recorded what God's Spirit told him to write. He didn't think it up. God used Paul's writing style, but the message didn't come from his mind. It came from the mind of God and Paul simply recorded it.
If we disagree with what Paul wrote in the Epistles, we are disagreeing with God because Paul spoke from God as he was "carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).
Todd was genuinely confused, but some people use Todd's argument to ignore passages they don't like. I've actually heard Christians say Paul was immature or biased or without full knowledge of God when he wrote these Epistles!
Ex-vangelicals try to discredit Paul because he recorded many truths in conflict with modern culture. Sadly, people who discount Paul's letters have been around since the early church, and that's why God prompted Peter to write: "[Paul's] letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures..." (2 Peter 3:16).
God's Spirit breathed out each verse of Scripture, and His Spirit says that those who discredit Paul's letters are ignorant and unstable (2 Timothy 3:16). Let's not be among them!
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Be encouraged by these 1-minute devotions about God's Word:
When the Bible is Tested for Accuracy
Thanks Gail for such a good post again. I am praying for you and Michael. I hope he is on his feet again.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this great post!
ReplyDeleteHi Gail. Love your words today; all scripture is from God. Thank you for the link up. Pray you are impacting many lives in your travels and can't wait to meet you for coffee when you are back. Kim
ReplyDeleteI didn't think your link would be up but obviously God wanted it to be! :) Got your email so popped over. I have just one linkup today. Thanks for hosting, my friend!
ReplyDeleteHahaha, totally forget to say that I have experienced that as well. We must remember that God was moving and speaking through them and that if He didn't want it in the Bible it would not BE in the Bible!
Delete2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Praise God for His inspired, inerrant, infallible Word! Thanks for the great post & for hosting & God bless!
ReplyDeleteI am posting this for Jude Gibbs
ReplyDelete(Jude commented on the temporary re-post of this devotion).
Thanks for your insights, Jude.
Jude's comment follows:
2 Pet. 3:16 made me smile. On one hand, it's quite a rebuke by Peter towards those who are critical of Paul's inspired teachings. I looked up that verse in the NKJV and instead of 'distorts' it says: "which untaught and unstable people 'twist' to their own destruction". ("twist to their own destruction") The Geneva translates that portion as "wrests". That led me to look up the definition of 'wrests'.
Wrests: 1: to pull, force, or move by violent wringing or twisting movements
2: to gain with difficulty by or as if by force, violence, or determined labor
So, we have 'distorts', 'twists to their own destruction', and 'wrests'. 'Wrests' is especially emphatic, indicating a very determined violent and forceful manner.
Sounds to me like some folks were greatly irked by Paul's writings. LOL! Not much has changed. Today, Romans 1 is certainly still getting under people's skin. Yet, Peter calls such folk 'ignorant' and 'unstable' adding they do so 'to their own destruction'. Pretty powerful statement.
The 2nd thing that came to mind is the beauty in Peter's statement.
Paul had been quite the persecutor of Christians before he met Jesus, upfront and personal, on the road to Damascus. It's very possible that some of Peter's friends had been killed by Paul. Yet, here in this statement by Peter, his love, forgiveness, and respect for Paul is made evident. As if Peter is defending Paul as a friend and brother.
Only God can turn such things around in such a beautiful way. God is Love; God is good.
Yes Gail, I have come across some Christians who dislike Paul's teaching. I have heard comments that he was 'arrogant and dictatorial' and even that he had no real right to call himself an Apostle, since he had not been with the other disciples with Jesus during His ministry! But Jesus Himself clearly called Paul to be an Apostle to the Gentiles - and what an Apostle! His words have brought countless people to Jesus Christ and given profound hope, comfort and joy to lost souls. Who can separate us from the love of God? No-one - thank the Lord.
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