Quote:
Originally Posted by JoReba
Saul was called an apostle only by himself and by Luke, who had no authority to name anyone as an Apostle
Saul was not called an apostle by any of the Twelve Apostles named by Jesus. Jesus never called Saul an apostle. The Twelve Apostles all had first hand training and commissioning by Jesus, Saul only saw a bright light, fell on the ground, and heard the disembodied voice of Jesus. There are only Twelve Apostles cited in John's Revelation, not 13. In his writings, Saul speaks of himself far more than he does Christ/God/The Lord. For instance, in 2 Cor. 4 he does so more than twice as often. None of the True Apostles ever call themselves "the chief of sinners" or any other derogatory names, but Saul does call himself that. Such a poor self image is not part of authentic Apostleship. Saul did not have doctrinal unity with the Twelve Apostles. The Twelve Apostles did not have any of the kinds of problems Saul had in his churches, hence his large volume of corrective writings. Saul falsely added many ideologies onto Christ's Gospel. For instance, he is the only NT writer to speak such convoluted and contrived nonsense about Grace. Jesus never once spoke the word Grace, and certainly did not demonstrate it as Saul tried to revise it. Revelator John quoted Jesus condemning false apostles at the Church of Ephesus, one of Paul's churches.
I have just done your work for you. I can educate you further, but such would fall on deaf ears and a stone heart. Pity. Saul was the first Professional Church Talker, and he talked so much in violation of Proverbs 10:19 that at one point a young man died. Saul's writings are very easy to preach about today because they are so milque toast and chatty, while Jesus' Words are very difficult to preach on. Jesus' Words are axiomatic, while Saul's are all suppositional. |
Sooo..one of your complaints is, Paul is too humble to be an Apostle?
BTW He was called to be an Apostle in
Acts 9...if you understood what the word meant, you'd see that.
1) Paul's conversion. He met Jesus
Acts 9:3-6 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
2) Jesus sends a disciple to pray for Paul and tells him Paul is a chosen instrument of the Gentiles
Acts 9: 10-17 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
3) Paul received by the other Apostles
Acts 15:2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.
Acts 15:4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.
4) Peter and the other Apostles sent Paul back to the Gentile with some brothers
Acts 15:22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,
5) The Apostles call Paul beloved and someone who risked his life for the Jesus Christ
Acts 15:25-26 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
6) Apostle Peter calls Paul brother and recognizes his letters as wisdom given to him and ad scripture
2 Peter 3:16-17 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures
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