Let the record show that Paul hits every criteria for being a true Melchizedek chosen / messiahed and spoken into being by YHVH’s Savior.

“These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come;

• glorify / give victory in battle to thy Son
• that thy Son also may glorify / give victory in battle to thee…
• I pray for them…which thou hast given me; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
  • that they also may be one in us: 
  • that / this is how the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
• And the glory / victory in battle which thou gavest me
• I have given them;
  • that they may be one, even as we are one:” (John 17)

Continue reading “178) A Melchizedek Like Christ Required”

“stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ” (Romans 16:25)

Paul’s gospel was not a new gospel.

Nothing changed in Yeshua’s message about himself before Pentecost and the apostle’s doctrine of the New Testament Church after Pentecost.

The apostolic leaders of the congregation of believers – including Paul – validate everything they preach by referencing back to the Old Testament promises to Israel.

“Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel…Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house [dynasty].And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an household / family for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.” (II Samuel 7:8-17)

“…they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. 

• The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt…
• he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus…
• children of the stock of Abraham, AND whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent…
• we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus…from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption…

Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things...Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.” (Acts 13:14-43)

A meaningful pattern of the development of the organization and doctrine of the New Testament Church becomes apparent if we organize the books in the order and the context in which they were written. The dates the books of the New Testament were written can’t be known with absolute certainty, but for our purpose, the order and historical context in which books were written is what matters, and can be determined for the most part by internal evidence.

Chronological New Testament

Continue reading “179) The Gospel According To Paul”

“Now they [Jewish believers] which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen [in Jerusalem] travelled as far as Phenice [Lebanon], and Cyprus, and Antioch,

• preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only….
• when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians…

a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” (Acts 11)

Supercessionist theologians consider this to be the flashing red sign that God replaced the Jews with the Gentiles.

But the Jewish believers were “preaching the word”. And what would that be? At this time, only the Old Testament – describing its way of salvation.

Continue reading “180) Christ Is The End Of What Law?”

Paul himself never claimed to found a new religion. He states multiple times that he was a follower of Jesus of Nazareth because Jesus was the fulfillment of Judaism’s Old Testament prophecy. 

“Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul…we have found this man a pestilent fellow…a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes…

Then Paul…answered, after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing [present tense!] all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust…I came to bring alms to my nation, and offerings...certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple…” (Acts 24:1-18)

Paul clearly articulates that the law of Moses, which did not institute but rather affirmed the earlier practice of the identifying mark of circumcision, was never an element of salvation for the Jews but a code of righteous conduct for a select leadership who are already in a faith-based relationship with the LORD God.

“For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness…And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised…being fully persuaded that, what he [God] had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus / YHVH’s Savior our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” (Romans 4:1-25)

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.” (Romans 3:19-29)

Continue reading “181) Paul Did Not Found Christianity”

Paul’s claim to be an Hebrew, and a consummate one at that, confirms that there is a religious significance to this identification, which precedes and is separate from the Israelite national identification, and is important enough for Paul to brag about.

From II Corinthians 11:22

1. “Are they Hebrews? so am I.
2. Are they Israelites? so am I.
3. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.”

From Philippians 3:5-6

1. “Circumcised the eighth day,
2. of the stock of Israel,
3. of the tribe of Benjamin,
4. an Hebrew of the Hebrews;
5. as touching the law, a Pharisee.”
   

Continue reading “184) Paul Identified As Hebrew”

1. “the righteousness of God [is] revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For/ contrasting with 
2. the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;” (Romans 1:17-18)

Faith in the One true God means

1. believing in the trustworthiness of the one making a promise of resurrection because of his past record in creation,
2. then submitting to his authority over our mortal life because we’ve come to know his way alone is constructive
3. and we want to share his life now and after death by uniting with him as reflected in shared values and behaviors.

How awful that this concept is better understood and deeply expressed by Satan’s fans in the final episode ‘The Wrath of the Lamb” of the top rated TV show Hannibal, than by followers of the actual Lamb.

Continue reading “SECTION XXX: From Faith To Faith”

When, like Timothy, we know the Old Testament scriptures, we see that the plan of salvation by grace through faith, and not the works of the law, was not a new development revealed by Jesus to Paul. The Old Testament word of God reveals the fundamental doctrine of salvation by grace through faith.

We can’t overlay an theological interpretation that Jesus gave Paul a unique revelation about a Gentile-only church,

Continue reading “185) Salvation Has Always Been By Grace Through Faith In God’s Word”

OK, lets go back to the first principles of the oracles of God which were given, not to Israel, but to the Hebrews.

Abraham, the father of the original assembly of post-flood international believers before there was a nation of Israel, is stated in the New Testament to continue to be the father of the same assembly of believers after the establishment of the nation of Israel.

“What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?…what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness… faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness…the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was…through the righteousness of faith…of Abraham; who is the father of us all…

Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4)

Can we understand that becoming Abraham’s seed / children as a “Friend / bosom buddy of God” is a real national identity, based on established social principles, in effect during – and since – Abraham’s day?

When we apply the full meaning of father as we’ve come to understand it in ancient culture (see post on Father Abraham if you don’t understand this), we understand the extent of Paul’s claim to Gentile believers.

He is not allegorizing a relationship. He is stating a fact that Gentiles have equal standing with the physical descendants because all the children only qualify as legitimate children when they are acknowledged by the Father.

Continue reading “186) The First Principles Of The Oracles Of God”