The Greatest Heresy of Paul
The greatest false doctrine that Paul taught, in my opinion, was that only belief was necessary for salvation and not works of righteousness. Jesus taught just the opposite.
Paul preached so much doctrine that was contrary to what Jesus taught, it was like a completely different religion. Paul purposely taught lies and was an apostate and a genuine heretic. Paul’s motive was that he wanted to create a religion that the heathen could accept, he “became all things to all men that he might win some”. He also used lying to promote his brand of the gospel.
Rom 3:7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
In almost all of Paul’s epistles he spends a great deal of time just defending himself and justifying himself and cursing his enemies, many of whom were the original followers of Jesus.
Salvation
Paul: All will be saved
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Jesus: Only those who do the will of his Father will be saved
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Paul: Only faith, good works is not necessary for salvation
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us
Jesus: Keeping the law (of God) and doing good works necessary for salvation
Luk 18:18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 18:19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
Luk 18:20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
(Read Mat 25:34-46 — the best definition of salvation in the gospels)
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Paul: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Jesus: Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, only those who do God’s will.
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Paul: Jesus was cursed by the law
Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Jesus: Jesus fulfilled the law
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, …but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Luk 16:17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
Slavery
Paul: Slaves were to be obedient to their masters in the flesh.
Eph 6:5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
Jesus: Preached that no one should be a master, and slaves should be set at liberty.
Mat 23:10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
Lk 4:18 …to preach the deliverance of the captives, set at liberty them that are bruised
Eating Sacrificed Animals
Paul: It’s alright to eat meat sacrificed to idols as long as you have the “faith” to do it. Just pray over it and it will not be sin. Just don’t do it in front of those “weak Christians” who think it’s a sin — we don’t want to offend their weak consciences.
Rom 14:14 there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
1Ti 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
Romans 14:22-23 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. :23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
I Corinthians 8:4-7 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. :5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) :6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. :7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.
Jesus: Came to put an end to animal sacrifices (of any kind) and specifically prohibited his followers from eating slain animals.
“I have come to end the sacrifices and feasts of blood, and if you don’t cease offering and eating of flesh and blood, the wrath of God will not cease from you, (Gospel of the Nazarenes 21:8)
“But they have made the house of prayer a den of thieves, and for the oblation with incense, they have polluted my altars with blood, and eaten of the flesh of the slain.” (Gospel of the Nazarenes 33:7)
“But I say to you, shed no innocent blood nor eat flesh (referring to animals). Walk upright, love mercy, and do justly, and your days shall be long in the land.” (Gospel of the Nazarenes 33:8)
Inequality to Women
Paul: Women not allowed to teach but to be silent.
1Co 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
1Co 14:35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
Jesus: Women were equals to men and even had women disciples
Remember the WORD OF YAHSHUA:
Revelation 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
Rev 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
There are as many facets to the diamond of truth as there are the thoughts of God. God created humans to love Him & to be loved by Him & to love others as you love yourself. In these 2 commandments are contained all the law. that’s what the law is for & all about — to teach us how to love. Love is first & foremost. The Jewish leaders at the time of Jesus were devout followers of the law, yet hated & murdered the very author of the law & the Lord of Love. The law without love is dead, God wants you to love Him, to love Him with all that is within you. This is to fulfill the law & this is your salvation. God will take those who love Him into eternity & those who hate Him will be either destroyed or purged or only God knows what else.
I could agree with that. And I would add that if you really follow the law you would be loving your fellow man and you would be loving God. If you hate, then you are not following the law. Because as you say, “The law without love is dead”. But God has written the law on the tables of our hearts. As Jesus said, Joh 14:21 “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” The commandments of Jesus are the law of God. If you fulfill the law, you are saved, just as Jesus came and fulfilled the law: Mat 5:17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
sorry for the long delay… and… sorry for the long and many replies, but I really can’t reply to all this without making it long.
now, let’s see:
“Paul… “became all things to all men that he might win some”.”
I understood that verse as Paul putting himself in other people’s place to understand them and to be able to help them and make them understand what they needed to understand (like in “to the weak I became weak, to win the weak” – you can’t do that except by putting yourself in the other’s shoes).
“He also used lying to promote his brand of the gospel.“(and you brought Romans 3.7-8)
I think this is a missunderstanding of what the verses say. To clarify things a bit, this is Romans 3.7-8 of another translation:
This verse rather seems to say that Paul and his companions were claimed by others (i.e. false rumors, said by them in order to defame Paul and his companions) that Paul and his companions are teaching “let us do evil, that good may come of it”. And it appears that the Romans 3.8 says that those who claim “let us do evil, that good may come” are justly condemned.
“In almost all of Paul’s epistles he spends a great deal of time just defending himself and justifying himself and cursing his enemies”
Wrong. There are only a few instances where Paul defends himself. And I don’t remember any cursing of enemies.
“cursing his enemies, many of whom were the original followers of Jesus”
Besides the issue of cursing (which I pointed out above), how do you know that the “false shepherds”/”false prophets” that Paul tried to protect the christians from, were actually original followers of Jesus? What if Paul was speaking about the same kind of people that Rev 2.2 was speaking?
from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be
found even as we.
Paul preached a gospel that was completely different and contrary to the gospel that Jesus brought (this you will see clearly later on in this series). And he is teaching the gentiles that they should reject the gospel of Jesus disciples and saying that their gospel is of Satan!
It’s not a wonder that the Jewish Christians regarded Paul as an apostate and a heretic and they excommunicated him!
But it didn’t work. The Jewish believers wanted to kill him and he was saved by the Roman soldiers and eventually escorted to Rome for his own safety.
Zenith,
You’re going to have to make your comments shorter or I may have to break them up into smaller chunks.
“Jesus: Only those who do the will of his Father will be saved”
First off, Mat 7.21 (which you have given here) doesn’t say anything about “saved” or “salvation”. Instead, it speaks about entering the kingdom of heaven.
Second off, by the verse you’ve given here (ie Mat 7:21) it appears you are not aware of Jesus’ words in Mark 16.16 and Luke 8.12.
Third off, it appears you understand poorly the words “saved” and “salvation”. I have written a post on my blog for this occasion, so you should read it:
http://zenith667.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/the-words-saved-and-salvation/
“Paul: Only faith, good works is not necessary for salvation”
Eph 2:8: this verse rather appears to say that the faith is the gift of God.
Romans 10.9-10, Titus 3.5: “salvation” is not the same as “having entered the kingdom of heaven” and “is saved” is not the same as “has entered the kingdom of heaven”. For more details, read the post of my blog.
“Paul: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
The verse given being Rom 10:13. Did you know that here, Paul was quoting the Jewish holy scriptures (namely, Joel 3.23 of the Old Testament)?
By denying what Paul quoted there, you deny the Jewish scriptures,
which the Jews of Jesus’ time had and believed. Besides of the fact that “calling upon the name of the Lord” is not the same as spelling the name of the Lord, AND that “to call” in hebrew has a very wide meaning (to “call upon the name of the Lord” may mean to “summon the name of the Lord”, or perhaps something similar). I don’t understand the exact meaning in this verse, but it is clearly not at all the same as spelling the name. By this I have answered your “Jesus: Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, only those who do God’s will.”
I have written about the type of salvation Jesus was refering to: entering the kingdom of heaven: http://truthorheresy.com/enter-the-kingdom-of-heaven
By “Paul: Jesus was cursed by the law” vs “Jesus: Jesus fulfilled the law“: there is no contradiction. Moreover, Jesus was not cursed “by the Law”, but “according to the Law” – and this has nothing to do with keeping the Law.
Deu 21:23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
This verse he quotes is not to be found:
Gal_3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Fulfilling the law is the same as keeping the law.
I changed the one about being saved. I don’t know why I put those verses there, they weren’t the ones that were supposed to be there.
Actually Rom 10:13 is the verse that I should have put there. And you are right about the word salvation. It does have several different meanings. The verse Paul is quoting is from Joel 2:32:
And everyone who calls
on the name of the LORD will be saved [delivered];
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,
as the LORD has said,
among the survivors
whom the LORD calls.
In the context of the verse he quotes (out of context) the meaning of the word saved is “delivered”, as in those who are survivors.
Doug
The verse that Paul used “cursed is every one who is hanged from a tree” is not found in the Old Testament. At least my electronic search in several different ways rendered ZILCH.
“Paul: Slaves were to be obedient to their masters in the flesh.”
Yeah, considering that pagan slaves that were having pagan masters were converting to Christianity, it would have been an interesting thing for Paul to incite the converted slaves to rebellion against their masters (and perhaps to fight them, or who knows what!)!
In other words, it was obviously a good thing for Paul to teach his converts that were slaves to be obedient to their masters (ie to serve their masters).
There were no different words back then, as far as I know, between “servant” and “slave”, but the fact is that the servant/slave was someone who was doing low-level job (food, cleaning, gathering/cutting woods, serving food, etc.) for the nobles, and they were living in their master’s house, and feeding with their masters’ food. I don’t know what you imagined the job of a servant/slave was.
“Jesus: Preached that no one should be a master, and slaves should be set at liberty.”
First off, Jesus never said that slaves should be set free.
Then:
Mat 23:10: that verse actually says “teacher”, not “master”. Anyway, following Mat 23.7-12, it should be obvious that it is not a sin to have the word “teacher” in vocabulary and to have by that name called the “teachers” in schools, that it is not sin to call your biological father, “father”.
And, to give you the answer to this, Jesus actually speaks about people’s attitude, where they regard others as superiors to others, that they should blindly believe or something. By this, Jesus does NOT incite the servants to rebellion against their masters/lords!
Lastly, Lk 4:18: Jesus did not “preach the deliverance of the captives”, nor did he set at liberty any slave! Read the gospels and you will see no such thing of setting the slaves free – and there were instances like the one where a man came to ask Jesus to heal his slave! And Jesus never said anything against that!
“Paul: It’s alright to eat meat sacrificed to idols as long as you have the “faith” to do it. Just pray over it and it will not be sin. Just don’t do it in front of those “weak Christians” who think it’s a sin — we don’t want to offend their weak consciences.”
Paul actually said that “eating that which was sacrificied to idols” is not itself a sin. It’s the same as Jesus said in Mat 15.10-18.
Mat 15:20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
He wasn’t referring to eating anything unclean. You will find that many of the church fathers abstained from eating flesh meat because of Jesus’ teachings. Unfortunately, these teachings were left out of the canonical gospels.
Now to give a brief explanation of “eating something sacrificed to idols”: most sacrifices (of animals) were not burnt all. In Judaism at least, the fat and blood was put on fire, but the meat of animal was left for people to be eaten. In ancient Grece it should have been similar: the animal was killed on, or in front of the altar of the specific god, something of it was burnt for good, but the rest was cooked (on the altar? I’m not sure) and given to the people to it. It was a ritualized killing & preparation for eating of the animal in the name of a certain god.
“Jesus: Came to put an end to animal sacrifices (of any kind) and specifically prohibited his followers from eating slain animals.”
First off, if you quote from the Gospel of the Nazarenes, perhaps I should also quote from the Apocalypse of Peter or from the Gospel of Judas to prove points. In other words, the Gospel of the Nazarenes might be a fabrication made by the people called nazarenes (perhaps by twisting the original, in order to make it fit to their own views), or perhaps the ones called nazarenes were having none, or other scriptures, and this “gospel” was only added and attributed to them, by others.
Anyway, it sounds very odd to say that Jesus came to prohibit eating meat (by this it also means that Jesus was a vegetarian), because according to the Jewish Law, Jesus must have eaten meat (of slain animals – obviously, because it sounds too odd to ask people to eat flesh of animals that are still breathing!).
God HATED animal sacrifice and he NEVER commanded it.
“He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck, he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.” Isaiah 66:3
Jer 7:22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
Jer 7:23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
Anyway, the verses 21:8, 33:7-8 you have given strongly suggest that the sacrifice of animals is evil. However, the jews were doing that according to the Law, according to all the holy scriptures that they had – and you say that Jesus came to abolish God’s law?? consider Mat 5.17
- by this verse Jesus acknowledges the Law (Gen-Deut) and the Prophets (a… long list: Joshua, Judges, Sam, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Ovadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi). This grouping of the holy scriptures into “Law” (Torah), Prophets (Neviim) and Scriptures (Ketuvim) had been done quite a long time before Jesus. Also, do you have a verse where Jesus says that the holy books that the jews had were actually fabricated or corrupted? Or Jesus simply acts as nothing is wrong with the scriptures they have? In the 4 gospels, Jesus acts as if the holy scriptures they have are all good, and for some reason I suspect that neither the Gospel of the Nazarenes says otherwise.
Jer 7:22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
Jer 7:23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
“Inequality to Women
Paul: Women not allowed to teach but to be silent.”
There are quite a lot of things I don’t agree with in 1 Cor 14.31-39 (though I do agree with women not being allowed to teach men in matters of religion). But anyway, it appears that women were not equal to men in the Old Testament either. For instance, I don’t remember any book of prophecy to be written by a woman (as it was the case of men like Jeremiah, Isaiah, etc.) nor is any woman reported to have done things similar to what Jeremiah or Isaiah or other great prophet did. And there are more, but anyway.
It seems that women have pretty much had the nature to be the ones to care for the children and the home. And women that had callings outside that arena were very few and men, especially in religious matters seemed to want to keep it that way.
But according to historical records, Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus’ foremost disciples. But the Church has tried to downplay this and even vilified her. You know most people think of her as a whore?
“Rev 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars”
By this then, you should agree that:
1. Apostles were not only 12 – otherwise, if they were, other people need not have been tried to see if they are indeed apostles, because it is known that only specific 12 are apostles – none other.
2. Paul could have spoken in his epistles about false apostles, rather than “other followers of Christ”.
Rev_21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Paul was not one of them, he never even met Jesus. Some say he took Judas’ place, but according to scripture Matthias was given that place.
The requirements of an apostle:
Act 1:21 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
Act 1:22 Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.
Paul did not meet these criteria, nor was he one of the 12.
Paul did teach it wasn’t wrong to eat things sacrificed to idols, right?
Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
This practice was an abomination to God and he considered it idolatry. Paul called himself an apostle. It was Jesus who named the disciples apostles, they didn’t name themselves apostles:
Luk_6:13 And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
Rev 2:2 …and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
The Jewish believers knew Paul as a liar.
“Because as you say, “The law without love is dead”. But God has written the law on the tables of our hearts….The commandments of Jesus are the law of God. ”
You clearly mistake the Law of God for the commandments of Jesus Christ. Fulfilling the law means fulfilling ALL which is written in the Law, ie in the book of Law (Gen-Deut, but it appears to be sometimes applied to all that is written in the holy scriptures the Jews possessed (the Old Testament)). Jesus also asked people to keep the Law of God – law which the Jews already had, namely in their scriptures. When Jesus was asking Jews to keep the Law, the Jews were not thinking about “Law” as something very vague and uncertain, that no-one knows what exactly that is – instead, they knew precisely what Jesus was talking about! The word “Law” (in hebrew, “Torah”) had for a long time before Jesus been applied to “the books of law” or “the Law of Moses”.
God ALLOWED many things because of the “hardness of their hearts”. But what Jesus was sent to do was to lead men back to the spirit of the law. It’s obvious that the Jews had gotten far away from the spirit of the law, the commandments of God and were practicing a lot of things that were not God’s commandments but the inventions of men, many things the picked up from the heathen and incorporated into the law.
As you probably know from the OT, it got so serious that God sent prophets and slayed the false priests that were leading God’s sheep astray.
“If you fulfill the law, you are saved”
only that… the law is much more than the 10 commandments, you know… what do you think about reading the law, first?
However, since some men don’t have much of a notion of what that actually means, he had to get a little specific. For example, God said he NEVER commanded them to sacrifice animals. Jesus also spoke out against that, but since this teaching would be offensive they left this teaching of Jesus out of the gospels. Here it is in the OT:
Jer 7:22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
Jer 7:23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
And this is Jesus teaching about the very same thing which he quoted from the OT:
33:4.Is it not written in the prophets, “Put your blood sacrifices to your burnt offerings, and away with them, and cease from the eating flesh. I did not speak to your fathers nor commanded them, concerning these things, when I brought them out of Egypt. But this thing I commanded saying,
33:5.”Obey my voice and walk in the ways that I have commanded you, and you will be my people, and it shall be well with you. But they did not listen, nor inclined their ear.”
33:6.”And what doth the eternal command you, but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God? Is it not written that in the beginning God ordained the fruits of the trees and the seeds and the herbs to be food for all flesh?”
Ive recently come to a place where i no longer can take any mans word for anything anymore. I have learned to question after years of blind faith. My questioning has brought me to many websites, most recently this one. How cleverly the truth has been removed and covered. Seek and you shall find is being proven true to me everyday that i read. Great job on this site and God bless you! Im sure He is already though.
I wish I could get more comments like yours. I don’t expect you to take anything on this site by blind faith. And, like you, for years I took everything by blind faith. Now I question everything. The more I stir the bucket of shit the more it stinks. Sorry about the crude analogy, but that seems like about the most accurate way to describe it. Please continue to come back and do comment.
Doug