The Apostle Peter noted to the churches that the Apostle Paul had written his epistles to them “according to the wisdom given to him” by the Lord.  Peter admitted that some of the things Paul wrote are “hard to be understood.”  He added that because of this, “they that are unlearned and unstable twist, as they do to other scriptures (writings of the other apostles), to their own destruction ….  You beloved (the church) … beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from you own steadfastness” (2 Pet. 3:15-17).  I have found that some of Paul’s writings are indeed “hard to be understood.”  And I am not alone.  For that reason we must diligently study his writings so that God can reveal to us what He (God) is saying to us from the pages of Paul’s epistles.  Those whose sole desire is to know God’s Truth (His true saints) will follow His study formula written by the Prophet Isaiah in chapter 28 of the book named for him: “Whom can He (the Lord) teach knowledge? and whom will He make to understand (His) doctrine? They that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast (spiritual babes).  For precept must be upon (added to) precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little” (vss 9-13).  Note that the formula is stated twice for emphasis.

I have been asked why the Lord made the Bible so confusing.  My answer is that this is His method for separating sheep from goats, wheat from tares, good fruit from bad fruit, etc.  Only those who are totally sold out to Him will bother to follow His study method.  He says in Matthew 7:13,14 that few will do so.  God warns that the masses of salvation seekers will simply believe what they are told, and as a result, will “fall from their steadfastness.”   The five foolish virgins are excellent examples of such a fall.   Jesus described such people in Matthew 15:8,9 as those who “… draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  In vain they do worship me, teaching for (instead of My) doctrines the commandments of men.”  The Lord calls man’s commandments “doctrines of devils” (1 Tim. 4:1).  The Introduction to this website lists a number of such doctrines.  Let us now turn to the Apostle Paul’s writings from which this series was taken.

When referring to Paul’s writings we must remember that he did not receive his gospel from men.  Paul was taught directly by Jesus Christ through spiritual revelation (Gal. 1:12).  Therefore, if a Biblical statement is attributed to him we can rest assured that God is speaking to us through his written words.  Paul stated that he wrote and spoke the same gospel “everywhere in every church” (1 Cor. 4:17).  There were no variations in his message.  Whether writing to the churches or to individuals, his message remained the same.  He and the other apostles met periodically to make sure that they were all proclaiming the same Truth.  In five instances Paul uses the expression “WE preach,” referring to all of the messages preached by all of the apostles.  In nine instances he referred to “THE gospel,” signifying that there was only one source of spiritual Truth–God’s Word (Jn. 17:17).  In Galatians 1:8,9 Paul stated that if any man preached any other gospel than the one they had received from the apostles, that man would be cursed by God.  Multiplied thousands of false prophets today do exactly that, and as a result, are living under God’s spiritual curse.  See Revelation 3:13-17 where Jesus is speaking to the modern day church–the final era of this age.  Though such preachers and their organizations are riding high now, there is a payday coming.  These self-proclaimed “ministers of God” can be seen and heard 24-7, 365 on television, radio and the internet.  Their churches are internationally known and revered as the apex of Christian living.  Their problem is that they preach about the person of Christ while rejecting His message.  They have worked out their own salvation according to the commandments of men.  In the meantime, the gospel message of Jesus Christ is being rejected.

Seven times Paul stated that he “preached Christ,” meaning that he preached the same message the Lord preached while on earth.  Jesus preached “the gospel of the Kingdom of God,” which is identified by name over 150 times in the New Testament.  Most of the references to the gospel of the kingdom were spoken by Christ Himself.  In Acts 1:3 we find that He had returned from heaven and for 40 days had taught His disciples “the things concerning the Kingdom of God,” not about Himself.  In summary: The writers of the New Testament preached the same gospel that Jesus preached which, He proclaimed in John 17:17, was His Father’s Truth.

Hopefully we can agree that what Paul and the other apostles wrote and spoke were written and spoken under the power of God’s Holy Spirit.  Being led by His Spirit made them His sons (Rom. 8:14).  The same was true for the Old Testament writers as the Apostle Peter affirmed when he wrote that, “holy men of old spoke (and wrote) as they were moved by (heard the “voice” of) the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21).  Because of this Truth, Paul could write to Timothy the evangelist that, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS.”  He reminded the writer of two of the Books of the Bible that the “holy Scriptures” would make “YOU (Timothy) WISE UNTO SALVATION” (2 Tim. 3:15,16).  Note that though Timothy was an established evangelist for the Lord, he had to believe and obey God’s Word in order to receive eternal life.  Like everyone else in the Body of Christ, he had to qualify for salvation by strict obedience to God’s “holy scriptures” which would make him “wise unto salvation.”  Note that Paul did not tell him that his faith had saved him.  Both men knew better than that.  The above-presented Scriptures make it abundantly clear that no one is exempt from God’s commands relative to entrance into the next life.  As future passages will prove, this included the man known as Jesus of Nazareth.  See Jesus of Nazareth: God, Man or God-man.  With these Truths in mind we will enter into one of the most controversial passages found in the Holy Bible–Philippians 2:12.  L.J.