What about Paul?

The apostle Paul has to be the most misunderstood figure in the Bible.  Either that or he was a hypocrite.   Please allow me to explain.

Most of you reading this will already know that I am a huge proponent of being obedient to the Almighty's commandments.   In nearly every conversation I have with those who disagree, they will always refute the teachings of Jesus using the words of Paul.

Why does Jesus teach one thing and Paul another?  They don't.  Please indulge me for a moment.

For example, Jesus tells us to practice and teach all of Father's commandments:

19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5)

 Later in Acts 9 we see Jesus pick the disciple named Ananias to heal Paul's blindness:

10 There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!”   

“Here I am, Lord!” he said.

11 “Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so he can regain his sight.”

In Acts 22 we see this disciple described by Paul as being a devout man according to the law:

12 Someone named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good reputation with all the Jews residing there, 13 came and stood by me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And in that very hour I looked up and saw him.

Earlier we see Jesus teach that whoever practices and teaches Father's commands will be great in the kingdom of heaven.  Now AFTER the resurrection we see Jesus personally choose a disciple that is a devout man according to the law as his disciple to heal Paul.

Let that sink in.  If Jesus's feelings on the law changed at the resurrection then why did he choose a devout keeper of the law to heal Paul?

Now let's have a look at how Paul behaved:

On one occasion upon his return to Jerusalem, Paul learns there is a rumor that he has been teaching the Jews to stop following Father's commands that came through Moses:

20 When they heard it, they glorified God and said, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law. 21 But they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, by telling them not to circumcise their children or to walk in our customs. (Acts 21)

So there were thousands of BELIEVING Jews who are ZEALOUS FOR THE LAW.  They heard a rumor that Paul was teaching against such obedience.  What do the believing brothers recommend Paul to do?

22 So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you’ve come. 23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have obligated themselves with a vow. 24 Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law.

The brothers recommend to Paul to participate in a Nazirite vow in order to prove that he is also CAREFUL ABOUT OBSERVING THE LAW.   If you aren't familiar with this vow, see Numbers 6.

Does Paul oblige?  Yes, he does!

26 Then the next day, Paul took the men, having purified himself along with them, and entered the temple, announcing the completion of the purification days when the offering for each of them would be made.

 Paul participates in the Nazirite vow to prove he is careful about observing the law. 

In this incident alone we see thousands of believing Jews are still zealous for the Law.  We see the believing brothers tell Paul to complete the vow in order to disprove the rumor and show that he is observing the Law.  Ultimately we see Paul do the vow surely for the same reason.

Quickly, here are a few more examples:  (Click on the Bible references to open them in a new window)

In Acts 23:1-5 Paul faults a member of the Sanhedrin for violating the law.  Upon learning he's the High Priest, Paul backs down according to Father's law of Exodus 22:28.

Immediately following in verses 6-9 Paul is still calling himself a Pharisee.  Also it's quite interesting to note that the scribes of the Pharisees defend Paul finding no fault with him.  If Paul was teaching the people to disregard Father's commandments given through Moses they would certainly find fault with that!

What had Paul done or said that the unbelieving Jews found fault with?  Paul tells us in Acts 23:6 and Acts 24:12-21.  He is in trouble for preaching the resurrection of the dead!   See also Acts 26:8.

Paul goes on to say that he hasn't done anything against the "law of the Jews"( Acts 25:7-8 ) or the "customs of our ancestors" (Acts 28:17-18).

Paul adds that he was seized because he went to the Gentiles teaching them to repent and do works worthy of repentance:  Acts 26:20-22. 

Please pay close attention to that last verse (22) where Paul says:

To this very day, I have obtained help that comes from God, and I stand and testify to both small and great, saying nothing else than what the prophets and Moses said would take place—

Please don't gloss over that.  Paul testifies that he has said nothing other than what the prophets and Moses said would take place!   In other words, if we believe Paul taught anything other than what is found in the Old Testament then we are in ERROR!

What about Paul's writings you say?  Let us recap before we continue.

1. Jesus obeyed the Law and taught others to do the same.
2. Jesus picked a man to heal Paul who was devout according to the Law.
3. Thousands of believing Jews, who were zealous for the Law, were troubled by the false rumor that Paul was teaching Jews to abandon the Law.
4. The believing brothers told Paul to participate in a Numbers 6 Nazirite vow to prove his dedication to obeying the Law.
5. Paul proves his dedication to the Law by completing the vow.
6. Paul submits to the High Priest according to the Law.
7. The scribes of the Pharisees defend Paul as they find no fault with him.
8. Paul says he hasn't done anything contrary to the law of the Jews or the customs of their ancestors.
9. Paul states that he is detained because of preaching the resurrection and teaching Gentiles to repent and perform works worthy of repentance.  
10. Paul exclaims that he has taught nothing other than what the Old Testament Prophets and the Books of Moses said would take place.

As I stated originally, people often refute the teachings of Jesus by quoting the writings attributed to Paul.  They do this while completely ignoring all of his actions described in the Book of Acts! 

Indeed, if I were to take books such as Romans or Galatians outside the context of the rest of the Bible, I would probably be of the opinion that the bulk of Churchianity is under today.  

So how can Paul's writings say one thing and his actions another?  Is he a hypocrite?  After all, Paul continued to identify as a Pharisee and Jesus regularly faulted them for being hypocrites.  See Matthew 6, 15, 23 and Luke 12 & 13.  

No.  I don't believe Paul was a hypocrite.  As I said before, I believe he is misunderstood.  How can there be such a huge misunderstanding?  That answer lies in 2 Peter 3:

15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.  16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.

Peter warns that Paul's letters contain things that are hard to understand.  He adds that ignorant and unstable people distort the meaning of these writings.  We are warned not to be carried away by the "error of the lawless".

This isn't that hard to believe when we remember that even back in Acts 21 above there were misunderstandings and/or distortions about what Paul was teaching.

I would very much like to have the originals of Paul's letters and be versed in the language he was using.  As for now, 1900+ years later, all we have are translations of copies of translations, etc.

In conclusion my position is that I don't want to succumb to the error of the lawless by following distortions of the teachings of Paul.  Instead, I choose to learn to practice the same law that he went out of his way to practice and that Jesus commanded us to practice.  If we claim that Paul taught contrary to his actions then he was a hypocrite.   Why would you follow a hypocrite?

My Master, the Messiah, wouldn't choose a hypocrite for such a noble task.

I encourage you to leave behind the lawless teachings of the ignorant and unstable.  Instead I hope you will walk as Paul walked.....as Ananias walked......as thousands of believing brothers walked......and ultimately as Jesus walked. 

The REBELLION

 

The reader of 2 Thessalonians is warned of a rebellion that will occur before Messiah's return:

1    Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.  (2 Thessalonians 2 CEB)

This usage of rebellion is translated from the Greek word apostasia and in some translations rendered as apostasy.  This Greek word apostasia is used only twice in the Bible.  Lets examine the other instance to aid our understanding:  

They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to reject (apostasia) Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to live according to our customs.   (Acts 21:21)

In this passage, the believers tell Paul about a rumor that he is teaching the people to reject, or rebel, against Moses.  Upon hearing this, Paul goes out of his way to participate in a Nazirite vow .  This is to prove his obedience to God's Law given through Moses.   The full context is here: Acts 21:17-24 .

For this reason it might be reasonable to conclude that the rebellion could be against the Law given through Moses. 

According to the remainder of the 2 Thessalonian 2:3 passage, this rebellion (against Moses?) will cause a man of lawlessness to be revealed.  

the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,

What does a man of lawlessness look like?  Wouldn't he be a man that would take us away from God's Law?

Continuing with verse 4, we see that this man will be seen as God and will take a seat in God's temple. 

         4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 

God's temple?  Haven't we learned via 1 Corinthians that we are God's temple?   Could the temple in this warning be inside us -- our very heart?

If this is true, then this rebellion (from Moses?) will occur because a Lawless man is believed to be God and allowed to reign from the throne of our heart. 

Sound absurd?  This can certainly happen and is instituted by Father himself described later in vs 11:

    This is why God will send them an influence (delusion) that will mislead them so that they will believe the lie.


I beg you to be on your guard against this rebellion!  Please beware of any man, believed to be God, who you would let reign from the throne of your heart and take you away from God's Law that He gave through Moses. 

According to Father's Messiah, we know that God's Law given through Moses is good:

¹⁹ Therefore, whoever ignores one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called the lowest in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps these commands and teaches people to keep them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 5)

PASSOVER Part 3: To the Promised Land

We placed the blood on the doorposts of our hearts, were spared death, delivered from our slavery to sin and our captors were washed away. (See PASSOVER Part 1: Doorposts of Our Hearts)

Then we tried to worship the Almighty in the ways we had learned from the pagans.  (See PASSOVER Part 2: Into the Desert)

Now we are headed to check out the promised land.  The reports have come back that the Land has enormous fruit and is flowing with milk and honey!  So why don't we go in?  Our faith is so weak that we think that Father, who through his grace saved us from our captivity, can't empower us to overcome another enemy.  Only 2 people out of the saved multitude ultimately entered the promised land.  How sad and stubborn is that?

Unfortunately for us, we are in the same place!  Messiah has clearly stated that while our faith has saved us, we must obey Father's commandments to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.  However, whenever the multitudes hear this, they refuse!  They say it is impossible to obey and enter the Kingdom.  They have no more faith in their Creator than the children of Israel had in the desert.  The majority will fall in the wilderness. Only a couple will trust the Almighty to empower them to overcome their sinful nature allowing them to enter the Promised Kingdom of Heaven. 

How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.   Matthew 7:14

PASSOVER Part 2: Into the Desert

We placed the blood on the doorposts of our hearts, were spared death, delivered from our slavery to sin and our captors were washed away.  (See PASSOVER Part 1: Doorposts of Our Hearts)

We've left all we've ever known and find ourselves in the wilderness.  What's next?  Well, the purpose for leaving Egypt was to have a Festival to the Almighty in the desert:

Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let My people go, so that they may hold a festival for Me in the wilderness."   Exodus 5:1

So naturally a festival to the Most High is what the children of Israel were expecting.

After their salvation from Egypt, the deliverer ascended to the Most High God to receive His instructions.  The Israelites didn't wait to hear the word via this mediator, Moses.  Instead, they took it upon themselves to have a festival to the Almighty, not in the way He would prescribe, but instead in a way they had learned from the pagans in Egypt.

When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, "Come, make us a god who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt-we don't know what has happened to him!"    Exodus 32:1

I know we've been taught that the Israelites were so stiff-necked that they were worshiping some foreign deity.   Let the scriptures explain who they were worshiping albeit in a pagan way.

He took [the gold] from their hands, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf. Then they said, "Israel, this is your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!"        When Aaron saw [this], he built an altar before it; then he made an announcement: "There will be a festival to the LORD tomorrow."   Exodus 32:4-5

We see that the calf was to represent the God that led them from Egypt.   With this image, they were planning to have a festival to the LORD.  This is because that was the whole reason for leaving Egypt from the beginning.  We know that this ended poorly for them.   

So, what does this mean for those of us who have been saved from our captivity to sin via the blood of the Passover Lamb?  

Unfortunately we have learned little from this example.  We did not receive our worship instruction from our mediator as to how to have festivals in His name.  Very little of our Christian festivals are the result of instruction from the Creator or His Messiah.  The biggest days on the Christian calendar (Christmas, Easter, Sundays) did not originate from any instruction from God.  Each one was used in pagan worship long before Messiah walked the earth.  You will find no instructions in the Bible to follow these practices. 

The golden calf is a foreshadow of these pagan Christian practices. 

I know it's hard to imagine a golden bovine statue being used to represent the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Please consider this which I hope isn't over-simplified.  You've probably heard the title of Elohim, which means God in Hebrew.  It is sometimes used in the shortened form, El.   In ancient Hebrew the word El was represented by the head of an ox.  In other words, the word that represented the Creator was actually an ox. Its not hard to see how they might make a golden ox calf statue to represent our Almighty Father. 

On to to the Promised Land (PASSOVER Part 3: Into the Promised Land)

PASSOVER Part 1: Doorposts of Our Hearts

It's time for Passover!  What?  Not interested?  But did you know it's very much about Messiah?

Father heard the cries of His children in bondage.  He asked nothing of them except that they place the blood of an unblemished lamb on the doorposts of their homes.  Those showing their faith in His blood promise were spared death.  They were freed from bondage.  They passed through the waters of the Red Sea that washed away their captors. 

So what does this have to do with Messiah?

Father has heard the cries of His children in bondage to sin.  For our freedom, He asks only that we place the blood of The Unblemished Lamb on the doorposts of our hearts.  Those having faith in this blood are spared eternal death.  They are freed from their bondage of slavery to sin.  They follow through the waters of mikveh (baptism) and the sin that held them captive is washed away. 

How awesome is that?  Did you notice that these people were SAVED by the blood with nothing else having been asked of them? 

Father's expression of Grace goes much farther back than just 2000 years.  It wasn't a foreign concept to the children of Israel. 

To be continued..........PASSOVER Part 2: Into the Desert

The Few

 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.   Matthew 7:14

According to Messiah, FEW will find the gate that leads to life.  He goes on to teach that he will send away MANY who call him their Lord.  Let's examine why these Christians are sent away:

21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but [only] the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?' 23 Then I will announce to them, 'I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers! '    Matthew 7

Notice in vs 21 that to enter the Kingdom of heaven one must do the will of our Father in heaven.  What would Messiah's audience understand Father's will to be?  Didn't HE speak it and enter into an everlasting covenant with them at Sinai?  Father's will is a cuss word in most churches.  That's right.  Father's will is the LAW.  Don't believe me?  In vs 23 what does Messiah call those he sends away?   LAWbreakers!!  I realize your translation may render it as you who practice lawlessness or workers of iniquity or evildoers.  It comes from the Greek word anomia and is defined as: 

1. the condition of without law
   1. because ignorant of it
   2. because of violating it
2. contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness

Be sure to notice that these Christians will have done miracles and other great things in the name of Jesus, but since they didn't do Father's will, they are sent away.  Imagine their dismay.    Remember, Messiah said FEW find the gate.  It stands to reason that he will send away MANY.  There will certainly be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
 

Greater Works? Where?

"I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.    John 14:12

Messiah clearly states that those believing in him will do great works.......even greater than his. 

There are many churches filled with those who believe in 'Jesus'.  Where are the promised works?  Rarely do we hear of anything resembling the works of Messiah in our churches.  Are the works hidden?  Did Father's Messiah break his promise?  Or do we perhaps believe wrongly........in a wrong 'Jesus' perhaps?   

If we've received teachings about 'Jesus' that are in error and our 'Jesus' beliefs are built upon these errors, wouldn't we be believing in a different 'Jesus'?  Could this be why we are not doing 'greater works' as he himself promised?