“But That’s Just Paul!”

 From his own day to ours, the apostle Paul has been a lightning rod of controversy. Many folks wrongly claim that Paul taught against God’s law. Even some of those who rightfully uphold God’s law accept this foolish notion and declare that Paul was a false teacher whose writings shouldn’t be in the Bible.

Even during his own lifetime, some falsely accused Paul of breaking God’s law and teaching others to do likewise (Acts 21:20-24). Peter defended Paul from such accusations, observing that some of Paul’s writings are “hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures” (2 Pet. 3:16). He then condemned “the error of unprincipled men” (2 Pet. 3:17; NASB). “Unprincipled” is Strong’s #G113, athesmos, which means “lawless.” Thayer’s Greek Lexicon adds that it describes “one who breaks through the restraints of law and gratifies his lusts.” So it wasn’t Paul who rejected God’s law, but rather those who twisted his words to their own destruction!

But the debate about God’s law is just one of the controversies surrounding Paul and his writings. There are many others!

Liberals hate Paul primarily for two reasons. First, he condemned sexual immorality, including sodomy, fornication, and other favorite sins of theirs. Secondly, he prohibited women from teaching in church, and taught them to be submissive to their husbands.

Some assert that Paul’s writings are simply his own opinions and not the words of God. Consequently, they feel free to ignore his teachings whenever they don’t like them. They sometimes even view the writings of Peter, James, and the rest of the apostles through this same lens. After all, they smugly assert, if it doesn’t say, “Thus says the Lord,” then it can't be God's words!

So how about it? Are the writings of Paul and the rest of the apostles simply their own opinions, or are they the direct words of God? Do they bear as much weight as the words of Jesus Christ, or the statements of “Thus says the Lord” in the Old Testament?

Well, let’s start with the words of Yeshua/Jesus Himself!

What Did the Messiah Say?

In John 13:20, during the last supper, Yeshua/Jesus told His disciples, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” This statement is echoed in Matthew: “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me” (Mat. 10:40). So receiving the words of Jesus’ messengers is akin to receiving Jesus Himself, and receiving Jesus is the same as receiving God the Father!

But what if someone rejects those whom Jesus sent? Again, He told His disciples, “He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me” (Luke 10:16). Whoever rejects the words of Jesus’ disciples rejects Him also, and whoever rejects Him rejects God the Father!

This is a grave matter. Of those who turn a deaf ear to His words, Yeshua said, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him — the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). Again, to His disciples, He said, “But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city” (Luke 10:10-12).

Yes, rejecting the messengers of Jesus Christ is dangerous indeed! Whoever rejects the words of God and His messengers will stand before His throne on the Day of Judgement and answer for it.

But who, exactly, are the messengers of Jesus Christ?

Whom Did He Send?

In the Old Testament, God sent prophets such as Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others. In the New Testament, He primarily sent apostles. As Yeshua stated in Luke 11:49, “Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute.’”

“Prophet” comes from the Greek word prophetes (Strong’s #G4396). Thayer’s defines it as “one who speaks forth,” and also as “an interpreter or spokesman for God; one through whom God speaks; one who speaks forth by divine inspiration.” In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word navi (Strong’s #H5030) is equivalent and means roughly the same.

“Apostle” derives from the Greek apostolos (Strong’s #G652). Thayer’s defines it as “a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders.” We might therefore think of an apostle as an emissary or ambassador of the Most High, speaking and acting under His orders. A messenger of God.

Now Yeshua/Jesus chose twelve men from among His disciples and appointed them as His apostles. They are listed in Mat. 10:1-4, Mark 3:13-19, and Luke 6:13-16. Here’s Luke’s account:

13 And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:

14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;

15 Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot;

16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.

All these men were handpicked by Jesus Himself. After Judas’s betrayal and suicide (Mat. 27:3-10), the other eleven apostles appointed another by lot, Matthias (Acts 1:13-26). And so we read that “he was added to [fn: voted together with] the eleven apostles” (Acts 1:26; NASB). But later on, Jesus personally chose the twelfth apostle: Paul.

These are the men whom Yeshua/Jesus sent to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God. They spoke the words He sent them to speak. They delivered the message He sent them to deliver. God’s Word tells us that Christ “had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen” (Acts 1:2).

In fact, the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, is built on the foundation of the twelve apostles! Here’s Revelation: “Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:14). In full agreement, Eph. 2:19-22 says,

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,

20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,

21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,

22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

God used the prophets and the apostles to deliver His words to us. To write His words in the Bible. Whatever we believe must be founded on the Word of God delivered to us by those apostles and prophets. If our beliefs aren’t founded on the Word of God, then they simply aren’t true.

Whoever, therefore, rejects God’s messengers rejects Him. Whoever rejects Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or any of the other prophets rejects the words of God. Whoever rejects the words of Paul, Peter, James, John, or any of the other apostles rejects the words of God. Their words ARE God’s words! They were sent by Him to speak His words!

And indeed, the apostles themselves said the same.

“Thus Says the Lord”

Many times, the apostles declared that their words were God’s words. They were, after all, simply delivering the message that He sent them to deliver. Though they may not have uttered the exact phrase “thus says the Lord,” they might as well have!

The apostle Peter urged his readers to “be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior” (2 Pet. 3:2).

Jude likewise exhorted, “But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:17).

John first cautioned his readers to be wary of false prophets, writing, “They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them” (1 John 4:5). Then he added, in contrast, “We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:6).

The apostle Paul declared, “If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant” (1 Cor. 14:37-38).

Again, he wrote, “And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother” (2 Thes. 3:14-15).

Even more strongly, Paul condemned anyone who contradicted the gospel he and the other apostles had preached, saying, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8).

Closing Thoughts

Ladies and gentlemen, it is our sacred duty to study the Word of God. To examine the words delivered to us by God’s messengers, His apostles and prophets. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).

You and I are not prophets. You and I are not apostles. We did not write the Bible, and our words are not Scripture; they did, and theirs were! Rather, we study, discuss, and comment on the Word of God. 

To whomever has since claimed to be an apostle, I would simply have to say, “I’m sorry, but my Bible says there are twelve apostles, and I don’t see your name among them.” And if anyone dismisses the words of God’s real apostles, effectively putting his or her own opinion on par with the Word of God, then the apostle Paul warned, “If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know” (1 Cor. 8:2). As King Solomon wrote, “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Prov. 26:12).

And what should we do with a person who claims to be a follower of Christ yet dismisses the Word of God with statements such as “But that’s just Paul!” or “Oh, that’s just Peter”? What should we do with someone walking on the train tracks, unaware that a speeding freight train is bearing down on him? Warn that person!

Failure to warn a sinner isn’t love, it’s cowardice. As God told Ezekiel, “When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand” (Ezek. 3:18).

Remember what the apostle Paul wrote: “And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother” (2 Thes. 3:14-15).

As for the rest of us, let us be sure that we tremble at the Word of God and are quick to obey it! “‘For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,’ says the LORD. ‘But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word’” (Isa. 66:2).