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
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 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,
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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