Was the Apostle Paul a Spy and Saboteur?

Answer 1

Perhaps the Apostle PAUL is guilty of Christian Espionage and Sabotage:

The Apostle Paul, recognized as such by the Christian Church, was previously a Pharisee (may still have been), and was from the apparently evil tribe of Benjamin (see Judges 19-21).

Jesus told us to "Beware of the Yeast of the Pharisees."

Paul was not with Christ and the 12 Disciples to witness directly Christ's teachings, healings, and miracles.

Jesus said that it would be Peter "The Rock" upon whom the Church would be built, not Paul.

Paul explains this discrepancy by saying he is sent to the Gentiles and Peter is sent to the Jews.

Paul wrote most of the New Testament, not counting the 4 Gospels.

Paul spent several years in isolation after his supposed conversion.

The Bible says that he who isolates himself is not wise (or goes against all sound judgment).

It should not be hard for people to contemplate Paul as a Spy.

After all, Jesus chose Judas, and Judas ended up being a Spy.

Would you let a multiple offense child molester babysit your children.

Would you let a multiple offense DWI driver drive your kids.

Would you let a person with multiple offense Bank Fraud invest your money.

Would you let a person with multiple offenses against Christianity and Christians

be the guardian of your child's soul?

Would you let Judas?

Should you let Paul?

Paul, in Galatians, talks about being saved by faith alone, and yet, makes other long winded statements about those who do evil things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The Bible says that a Double minded man is unstable in all his ways. How can people be saved by Grace alone if they are constantly worrying about whether they (and others) are being good enough or not to inherit the Kingdom of God?

Perhaps the Pharisee PAUL (and those perpetuating his double-minded cause) are all guilty of Christian Espionage and Sabotage?

If a religious faction wanted to stop the power of Christianity because they could not stop the spread of Christianity, what more covert and subversive a way than this?

A modern analogy might be those wishing to stop the power of the internet because they cannot stop the spread of it, so they infiltrate the internet with viruses to make using it unbearable for people.

Or they create the appearance of something good and useful and practical such as an email service, but with so many advertisement scripts running in the background, slowing the use of it down, that people become so frustrated with it that they become unstable, moving from email service to email service, or worse yet, they quit the internet altogether. "Been there, done that."

Listen to the words Paul uses in Galatians Ch 2 vs 4,5 (NIV)

"This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.

We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you."

What is the old saying?, "The guilty dog barks first".

And again in Galatians Ch 5 9,10 (NIV) "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough."

I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty.

"The guilty dog barks first".

BUT KNOW THIS CHRISTIAN FRIENDS:

Religions based upon what we do, or what we don't do, can never work.

A religion based upon what God has already done for us does work.

It is by the Grace of God, unmerited favor, that we are made righteous, because Jesus is righteous for us.

Nothing can separate us from the love and mercy of God through Jesus Christ our Savior.

One cannot walk on water unless that person focuses upon the perfect Jesus. Peter found that out.

One who focuses on trying to please God by obeying a moral code will sink. His inability condemns him.

At Jacob's well, Jesus was more concerned that the woman understand the type of worship God wants

than he was in rebuking the woman into turning (repenting) from her wicked ways.

Jesus never told her to clean up her act, move out, or kick the dude out she was living with.

Without that burden, she was free in her heart and mind to bring people back from town to see and hear the wonderful Jesus for themselves.

They saw and heard and believed. They did not need a Bible to confuse them into thinking they needed to obey a moral code to inherit

Eternal Life as the Apostle Paul has perpetuated. No, instead, within a matter of minutes, they were saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Listen to PAUL starting in Galations 5:19 (NIV) as he brings double minded teaching into the forefront after just talking about GRACE.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;

idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions

and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Has the Bible become the Church's way of rejecting God's free Grace and imprisoning men to the old Mosaic system?

Consider the following:

God-->Abraham He believed the promise of Isaac being born to him in his old age and it was counted

unto Abraham as righteousness.

God-->Angels-->Moses-->Mosaic Law-->Levitical Priests-->Pharisees-->The People

Enslaved to a moral code.

See the irony? Moses was seen as a liberator of the enslaved Israelites.

Jesus-->The People They believed Jesus' message and were saved by faith (without a Bible).

Jesus-->(His Disciples, The Pharisees, The Church Fathers)-->The Bible-->(Pastors, Priests, Preachers)-->The People.

Enslaved again to a moral code.

Judas betrayed Jesus with a Kiss. The irony of this is: KISS.

Perhaps Judas was sending a code to the Church to:

Keep It Simple Stupid.

AnswerNo, Paul was not a spy and saboteur. He was an ex-Pharisee stressing Grace instead of Law, and the Pharisees who instead stressed the Law were trying to kill him.

Would you work for someone who wanted you dead?

KISS.

Answer 2

There is no historical evidence to suggest that the Apostle Paul was a spy or saboteur. Paul was a prominent early Christian missionary and writer known for his contributions to the early Christian church. His activities were focused on spreading the message of Christianity rather than espionage or sabotage.