Precious friends, are these the four current views of the apostles?:
1) There are twelve, including Matthias (replacing Judas),
Paul not being an apostle?
2) There are twelve, the eleven being in error, choosing Matthias,
instead of Paul?
3) There are thirteen, including Matthias and Paul, all preaching/teaching
the same [ homogenized ] thing?
4) a) There are twelve, according To God's Prophecy / Covenants / Law
Rightly Divided (2 Timothy 2:15) From “Things That Differ!” (online):
b) There is One, According To God's Mystery / Grace ( preaching / teaching
Different things )
------------------------------------------------
Please Be Very Richly Encouraged And Edified in the following study:
"
...there is perhaps no place where Paul sets his apostleship forth in stronger
terms than in the first chapter of his epistle to the Galatians, especially in the
very first verse. As you read these opening words, you can almost hear the
thunder in the apostle’s voice as he declares in his opening salvo,
Phil. 1:1; etc.), but the Galatians suffered from the same spiritual malady that
afflicts many Christians today—they doubted Paul’s apostolic authority! So
Paul comes out swinging in this epistle by declaring his authority as an
apostle of God. As he himself affirmed,
Who were they? The Lord’s chiefest apostles were Peter, James, and John, men
who are mentioned ten times in Scripture apart from the twelve. Of those three
chiefs, Peter was the chiefest of the chiefs, but Paul was “not a whit behind” him
either (II Cor. 11:5).
But if Paul’s apostleship was equal to Peter’s, and no higher, why do we follow
Paul? Surely it is because Peter was the apostle of the circumcision, and Paul
was the apostle of the uncircumcision (Gal. 2:8). It is important for a believer
to know who his apostle is!...
...since most of them [ christians ] believe that Paul’s apostleship is of no more
consequence to us than the apostleship of Peter, James, and John, they are forced
to conclude that Paul’s message must be the same as these chief apostles. The
problem with this is that they know that Chief Apostle Peter taught water baptism
was required for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), while Paul claimed he wasn’t
sent to baptize at all (I Cor. 1:17).
Since most Christians believe that Peter and Paul are of equal authority for
believers today, they have to figure out a way to homogenize these two opposite
and contradictory messages. As you probably know, the solution at which they have
arrived is to conclude, “We’ll still baptize people, just not for the remission of sins!”
In the same vein, most Christians know that Paul taught that if you are saved,
The Lord has already forgiven you “all trespasses” (Col. 2:13). But they also know
that Chief Apostle John teaches that The Lord is “faithful and just to forgive us
our sins” if we confess them (I John 1:9). So to homogenize these two opposite
and contradictory messages they conclude that believers are forgiven when
they get saved, they just need a little more forgiveness when they sin!
This despite the fact that forgiveness of sins is something that every believer
receives the moment he gets saved, along with salvation, justification, and
redemption. Most Christians wouldn’t think of asking for more salvation,
justification, or redemption when they sin, but asking for more forgiveness
is the only way to get Paul and John to say the same thing.
Finally, most Christians know that Paul asserts that salvation is By Grace Through
faith without works (Rom. 4:5), but they also know that Chief Apostle James is just
as adamant that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). So to homogenize
these two opposite and contradictory messages they conclude that Paul is talking
about justification before God while James is addressing the issue of justification
before men, even though The Lord never asked anyone to be justified before
men—in fact, He condemned it (Luke 16:15)!
And on and on it goes, as futile attempts are made to try to blend Paul’s unique
message with the teachings of the Lord’s chiefest apostles, the other writers of
the New Testament...
" (R Kurth)
Full study 'link': The Apostleship Of Paul
Amen.
1) There are twelve, including Matthias (replacing Judas),
Paul not being an apostle?
2) There are twelve, the eleven being in error, choosing Matthias,
instead of Paul?
3) There are thirteen, including Matthias and Paul, all preaching/teaching
the same [ homogenized ] thing?
4) a) There are twelve, according To God's Prophecy / Covenants / Law
Rightly Divided (2 Timothy 2:15) From “Things That Differ!” (online):
b) There is One, According To God's Mystery / Grace ( preaching / teaching
Different things )
------------------------------------------------
Please Be Very Richly Encouraged And Edified in the following study:
"
...there is perhaps no place where Paul sets his apostleship forth in stronger
terms than in the first chapter of his epistle to the Galatians, especially in the
very first verse. As you read these opening words, you can almost hear the
thunder in the apostle’s voice as he declares in his opening salvo,
“Paul, an apostle, ( not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ,
and God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead; )” (Gal. 1:1)...
...Paul didn’t always open his epistles by asserting his apostleship (cf. Rom. 1:1;Phil. 1:1; etc.), but the Galatians suffered from the same spiritual malady that
afflicts many Christians today—they doubted Paul’s apostolic authority! So
Paul comes out swinging in this epistle by declaring his authority as an
apostle of God. As he himself affirmed,
“in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles” (II Cor. 12:11).
Who were they? The Lord’s chiefest apostles were Peter, James, and John, men
who are mentioned ten times in Scripture apart from the twelve. Of those three
chiefs, Peter was the chiefest of the chiefs, but Paul was “not a whit behind” him
either (II Cor. 11:5).
But if Paul’s apostleship was equal to Peter’s, and no higher, why do we follow
Paul? Surely it is because Peter was the apostle of the circumcision, and Paul
was the apostle of the uncircumcision (Gal. 2:8). It is important for a believer
to know who his apostle is!...
...since most of them [ christians ] believe that Paul’s apostleship is of no more
consequence to us than the apostleship of Peter, James, and John, they are forced
to conclude that Paul’s message must be the same as these chief apostles. The
problem with this is that they know that Chief Apostle Peter taught water baptism
was required for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), while Paul claimed he wasn’t
sent to baptize at all (I Cor. 1:17).
Since most Christians believe that Peter and Paul are of equal authority for
believers today, they have to figure out a way to homogenize these two opposite
and contradictory messages. As you probably know, the solution at which they have
arrived is to conclude, “We’ll still baptize people, just not for the remission of sins!”
In the same vein, most Christians know that Paul taught that if you are saved,
The Lord has already forgiven you “all trespasses” (Col. 2:13). But they also know
that Chief Apostle John teaches that The Lord is “faithful and just to forgive us
our sins” if we confess them (I John 1:9). So to homogenize these two opposite
and contradictory messages they conclude that believers are forgiven when
they get saved, they just need a little more forgiveness when they sin!
This despite the fact that forgiveness of sins is something that every believer
receives the moment he gets saved, along with salvation, justification, and
redemption. Most Christians wouldn’t think of asking for more salvation,
justification, or redemption when they sin, but asking for more forgiveness
is the only way to get Paul and John to say the same thing.
Finally, most Christians know that Paul asserts that salvation is By Grace Through
faith without works (Rom. 4:5), but they also know that Chief Apostle James is just
as adamant that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). So to homogenize
these two opposite and contradictory messages they conclude that Paul is talking
about justification before God while James is addressing the issue of justification
before men, even though The Lord never asked anyone to be justified before
men—in fact, He condemned it (Luke 16:15)!
And on and on it goes, as futile attempts are made to try to blend Paul’s unique
message with the teachings of the Lord’s chiefest apostles, the other writers of
the New Testament...
" (R Kurth)
Full study 'link': The Apostleship Of Paul
Amen.
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