The BIG Picture (Q&A)

Prophecy foretells that Jews are a distinct nation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (ex.19:5–6) called of God for the purpose of showing forth His glory and being the light and salvation of the Gentiles (Isa.60:1–3). With this in mind, the earthly ministry of Jesus was directed to Jews ONLY (Matt.10:5–6; Matt.15:24) to save them and bring them lift them up to that place of preeminence, that they might fulfil prophecy and be that light and salvation to the Gentiles. Jesus was a minister of the circumcision (Jews) (Rom.15:8) and preached according to the law and according to prophecy (Gal.4:4–5). The gospel Jesus taught was concerning the prophesied earthly Millennial Kingdom, which was a hand, and thus He called for Jews to repent and prepare for the inheritance of this Kingdom in which He would be King. This ministry of Jesus is in stark contrast to the ministry of Paul who was called by the glorified Christ for a very different purpose. Paul was to go to a different audience (the Ge...

QUESTION: Why can’t I take the words of Jesus and ignore those of Paul? I’m on my way back to Jesus after a long separation and Paul is the main barrier. ANSWER: The Lord Himself chose and separated Paul for a special ministry. Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles. Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: The 13 epistles that he wrote contains information that is relevant for the Body of Christ today. This is important to realize as the contents of the Bible, outside of Paul’s epistles are written to Israel and is doctrine for the Jews under Law. Even Jesus ministry was towards the Jews. This is why Jesus Himself said, Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. and… Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law [as a Jew], 5 to redeem those who were under the law [Jews], When Jesus appea...

Paul was indeed a Jew and devout Pharisee, but when God converted him on the Damascus road, God gave him a completely new gospel and doctrine. Have you ever considered why Paul never references anything of Jesus in his epistles? No teachings, no parables, no miracles. This is often a surprise to people! The ONLY thing Paul brings across into his epistles and into the grace gospel is the CROSS, which for the Kingdom gospel was a contentious issue according to Peter. Gal 6:14  But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 2Co 5:16-17 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. (17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Well, according to Col 1:14-19, and other similar scriptures, there is no way that Jesus got cancelled. Since the referenced scripture tells us that, “by him all things consist” , we can logically deduce that if Jesus got cancelled, then we all won’t exist. However, I can extend this reasoning to the fact that a specific part of His ministry did get suspended. Let me explain. In Jesus’ first advent, He came to prepare Israel for the reception of His kingdom. Jesus preached to the Jews saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand”. According to prophetic scripture, if Israel received Jesus and believed in Him, they would rise to pre-eminence, and inherit the earthly kingdom, reigning as kings and priests in the world, and would be the light and salvation of the Gentile nations. Since the Jews did not receive Him as their Messiah and did not believe in His message, God blinded Israel and suspended the Kingdom program, Rom 11:25. With this suspension, Paul’s ministry got activated, ...

QUESTION: Personally, I don’t have any faith in Paul whatsoever, a lot of his teachings seem to be in contradiction of those of the Christ, I’m not at all sure that any of his letters or epistles should even be in the bible. ANSWER: The purpose of Jesus’ earthly ministry was to save Israel under the law program so that, according to prophecy, they could be the light and salvation of the Gentiles. However, because of Israel’s unbelief, their program was temporarily halted (or blinded as Paul informs in Rom.11).  It is at this point that Paul’s ministry was started and God sent Paul to the Gentiles with a new salvation message (the cross of Christ) and a new doctrine of grace (not law). So herein is the reason why Paul’s ministry and message is so different to Jesus’ message. They in essence taught different people groups and two separate messages, although both were in the plan of God to create two distinct bodies to fill both heaven and earth with the glory of Christ. If you recogn...

DEVIATION OF TRUTH: Paul preached like me and you. He preached Christ crucified. He preached repentance and remission of sins. He pointed people to Jesus. Therefore, Jesus is the pattern to follow not Paul. Paul healed and delivered people using Jesus' name. Christ is the focus. His teachings are what we should follow and apply. Paul clarified Jesus' sacrifice and related it the Old Testament atonement. His teachings can never override Jesus' teachings. If you preach Paul, you have missed it completely by abandoning Jesus to concentrate on Paul. You left the substance and pursued the shadow. I'm not saying Paul teachings are not to be followed but it shouldn't be the central focus. CORRECTION ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE: 1Ti_1:16 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. Paul is the first to be saved into the grace dispensation...

QUESTION: I chose not to listen to Paul. I'm no scholar nor expert but here are a few scriptures from Jesus himself: Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. So, we are to still keep the commandments. Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ This shows that some people who consider Jesus Lord will be condemned because they were lawless. The answer to “I never knew you” is John 10:27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. For me, Paul is too hard to understand. Peter even mentioned it just after 2 Peter 3:14. ANSWER: God put the writings...

From beginning to end, Paul's ministry was an uphill battle. Even the Lord said that Paul was to suffer many things for His name (Acts 9:16). Paul had to constantly reiterate his calling and qualify his doctrine (Galatians 1:1; Galatians 1:11; 1 Timothy 2:7; Galatians 2:8). This was to be expected as He was not only preaching that Jesus Christ was alive, but he was also preaching that salvation comes by faith in Christs death and resurrection, and he was taking his message out not only to Jews but to the godless Gentiles in his day. Nevertheless, the Lord provided enough evidence that Paul was legitimate and that his message was endorsed and authorized by the Lord Himself. The trend of skepticism and rejection of Paul still continues today. On an individual level and even on a denominational level, Paul's message is either belittled, ignored, or denied. I recently had a reply to one of my posts which spoke of the credibility of Paul and his ministry. It read as follows, COMMENT...

In the Gospels, Jesus sent out his disciples and followers to preach the gospel and spread the news that the Kingdom was at hand (Mark 6:7-13, Luke 10:1-11). How does this translate into our time and dispensation today? Are we expected to go out into public spaces and preach the gospel? Are we expected to evangelize? What instructions does the Bible give to us today about being a 'witness' for Christ? Must we take the example of preaching the gospel from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? An important thing to remember is that the grace dispensation is different in MANY respects from the law dispensation over Israel and throughout Jesus' earthly ministry. We should recognize that not only has our gospel message changed, but the format of delivery has also. Let me clarify the format of delivery using the following simply argument. I'm not claiming to be dogmatic here, but I am going to state a thought that sounds reasonable! What does witnessing even mean? Are we really witne...