What did Paul the Apostle preach about Christianity?

Answer 1

Paul taught that Jesus was the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who lived, died for Humanity's sins, was resurrected and seen by over 500 witnesses, including James, Peter and other apostles. Mandate of Israel: Rabbi Shaul never taught a belief other than Judaism. He never taught church-christianity. His faith until the day he died was Judaism, the faith of Israel and the faith of the Maschiach (Christ) of Israel. His forms of teaching was Messianic Judaism. He taught that Yeshua was and is the fulfilment of the Torah and the Tanak in general. He never taught that Yeshua was the abolition of the Torah and of Israel as the Congregation of the Covenants. He never taught for the creation of the church and for transferrence of Israel's inheritances and Mandate to the gentiles. Paul's own words... ...disagree with almost every statement by "Mandate of Israel."

Assertion: "Rabbi Shaul" never taught a belief other than Judaism.

Acts 20:24 - But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

The "gospel of the grace of God" Paul preached was not Judaism. Had Paul taught no other belief than Judaism, there was no reason or need for him to receive a ministry from the Lord Jesus.

Assertion: Paul never taught "church-christianity"

1 Timothy 3:15 - but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Throughout his epistles, Paul's teachings are the very model of church Christianity. Passages to support this are too numerous to cite. If he were teaching Judaism, Paul would have identified the "house of God" with the "synagogues of Israel."

Assertion: His faith until the day he died was Judaism.

Romans 10:1 - Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their ownrighteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

Paul's use of "they," "them" and "their" in this passage, refusing to associate himself with the Jews of whom he speaks, is very telling. Racially, of course, Paul was still a Jew, so what separated him from them? How was he now different, and why does he express such great concern for their salvation? Since it was not a matter of race, it had to be a matter of faith.

Galatians 1:13 - For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.

Galatians 2:19, 20 - For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Not the statements of a man still practicing Judaism.

Assertion: His forms of teaching was Messianic Judaism.

Paul's "forms of teaching" are irrelevant. It is the message that matters, not the manner in which it is imparted.

Assertion:He never taught that Yeshua was the abolition of the Torah and of Israel as the Congregation of the Covenants.

Ephesians 2:14, 15 - For He Himself [Jesus] is our peace, who has made both [Jews and Gentiles] one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,

Colossians 2:14 - having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Romans 3:20-22 - Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.

Romans 6:14 - For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 7:4-6 - Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another- to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Romans 8:2 - For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Comment is superfluous; the passages clearly speak for themselves.

Assertion: He never taught for the creation of the church and for transferrence of Israel's inheritances and Mandate to the gentiles.

1 Thessalonians 3:2 - and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith,

What was there about Judaism that needed to be established?

Romans 9:30-33 - What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

Not that Israel's mandate was "transferred" to the Gentiles, but that Christ established a new mandate which the Gentiles readily embraced and the Jews vehemently rejected. To this day, as "Mandate of Israel" demonstrates, they "stumble at that stumbling stone."

Galatians 5:4 - You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

The Apostle Paul was the first member of the church which is the body of Christ, so the body of Christ started in Acts 9, when he was saved. Paul didn't start it, God did.

1 Timothy 1:15-16

15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that IN ME FIRST Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

According to Romans 11 the nation Israel is temporarily fallen, due to their rejection of God; the Father, thru John the baptist. The Son: Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit's ministry prior to Acts 9, thru Stephen. So the kingdom program, preached during Jesus Christ's earthly ministry to the nation Israel, is put on hold, as God now works on a new program: The body of Christ program, or the dispensation of the grace of God, which ends at the rapture; the calling out of the church, prior to the great tribulation.

Paul's epistles (Romans thru Philemon) covers the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the MYSTERY, which was kept secret since the world began.... The ascended, glorified Jesus Christ (as he spoke from heaven, not from earth) revealed it to Paul.

1 new distinct Apostle: The Apostle Paul, which is our Apostle; Romans 11:13, 15:16, 2 Timothy 1:7-11 +++ We're to be followers of Paul, as he followed Christ: 1 Corinthians 4:16, 11:1, Philippians 3:17.

1 new distinct church: The Body of Christ (Ephesians 3). This church has nothing to do with the kingdom church prior to Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus in Acts 9.

1 new distinct dispensation/administration/age: The dispensation of the grace of God; Romans 16:25-26, Ephesians 2+3, Colossians 1

1 new Gospel (good news): The Gospel of Christ/The Gospel of the grace of God; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, 1 Timothy 2:3-7. Paul called it MY Gospel in Romans 2:16, Romans 16:25, 2 Timothy 2:8.

1 Timothy 2:3-7

3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;

4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

6 Who gave himself a ransom for ALL, to be testified in due time.

7 Whereunto I [Paul] am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.

2 Corinthians 5:18-21

18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

21 For he [God; The Father] hath made him [Jesus Christ; God's only begotten son, God in the flesh] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

God has forgiven the sins of the world (everyone; past, present, future) thru the finished cross work of Jesus Christ, so the issue is not your sins, but what you do with the Son; the Savior. Righteousness is the issue. By believing these good news, you're identified with and joined to the Savior himself; his test scores written on your paper, and you're sealed unto the day of redemption. Once sealed and saved, always sealed and saved (Ephesians 1:12-14, 4:30)

Answer 2

In Paul's epistles, there is no mention of a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, as described in Acts of the Apostles more than half a century later.

His Christianity was more spiritual than that of the Gospels, and he never mentioned Jesus as a person who had lived in the recent past and never mentioned any miracle that Jesus performed on earth. In fact, his own account indicates he did not go to Jerusalem even to meet Peter until he had begun preaching, and did not meet with the Jerusalem brethren for at least another 17 years. He claimed to have received his knowledge of the Christian faith direct from Jesus (Galatians 1:11-12) and seemed to have no interest in furthering his knowledge of the religion by instruction from the Jerusalem brethren, visit any holy sites or meet anyone who had known Jesus personally.

At 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, Paul said that Jesus died and was buried, rose again according to the scriptures, then was seen by Cephas, then the twelve, then by more than 500, most of whom were still alive, then by James and all the apostles, and finally by himself. This seems to say that Cephas was not one of the twelve, and that the "twelve" and the apostles were a two separate groups. Not only does this account differ in several important ways from the accounts that would later form part of the gospels, but there is no suggestion that any of the appearances to Cephas, the twelve, James or the apostles were somehow more real than the spiritual appearance he experienced. He only deferred because he was the last to see Jesus and because he had been guilty of persecuting Christians.

In Romans chapter 6, Paul talked at length about the meaning of death and the importance of baptism. In some way, Christians are baptised into the death of Jesus and are buried with him. Our old self (KJV: 'old man') is crucified with him and the old, sinful body destroyed. Just as Christ was raised up from the dead, we should also walk in newness of life. The metaphorical death of baptism is the end of sin. Read in context, the famous line, 'the wages of sin is death' seems to refer to this baptismal death. There is nothing in this that even leaves room for the baptism of Jesus, which was never mentioned by Paul.