Do Christians place Paul above Jesus?
This started as a Bible study on Colossians but with the reading of the opening of that letter, it went on a tangent about the authority of Paul.
Some people have asked why Christians may emphasize teachings from Paul the Apostle almost more, it seems to them, than the Lord Jesus Christ.
After all, goes the reasoning, was not Jesus the Master, and Paul only His servant?
Is it backwards, they wonder, to seemingly elevate Paul above Jesus?
Sounds reasonable of the face of it – if one does not know very much about what the Bible says on this topic.
In fact, Paul was a duly appointed servant of Jesus. He was converted from being a persecutor of the early church to one of the church’s greatest proponents.
The fact Paul became the most preserved commenter, theologians believe, was because God who is in control of all things, ensured it was there.
Paul’s writings expounding on things beyond what Jesus said in the four gospels was necessary because it came after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
John 16:7-14 -Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
Jesus said: “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you …”
Jesus said: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth …
Jesus clearly states that the disciples lacked the ability to comprehend Him, and His words did fall on deaf ears, in many instances.
For example, Peter spoke for Satan trying to get Him not to go to the cross (i.e., “get the behind me Satan” (Mt 16:23), and Jesus’ disciples were all scattered after His crucifixion.
They were bewildered, and did not know what to do. They entertained doubt, and wondered if Jesus had been a fraud.
Before being crucified, Jesus had said they needed the Holy Spirit who while He was on earth, He had without measure (all to Himself).
Promise of Pentecost
Acts 1:4,5 – And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Acts 2:1 – When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
It was after this that the ministry of the Spirit took off (see 2 Cor 3:7-18). It was the birth of the church with spiritual power, and it was all by the will of Jesus who gave His servants the responsibility and authority.
Prior to Pentecost, Jesus told His disciples they did not know, nor could they understand the details.
Paul’s Revealed Gospel
Paul spoke of a gospel message revealed by the Holy Spirit to him, and of it he said the whole world would be judge by this rendering of the truth.
It must be understood Paul spoke under the authority of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Himself said those He sent should be accepted as He Himself.
So the idea that a servant of Jesus should be listened to on topics where Jesus may be silent in the gospel record came first from Jesus Himself.
John 13:20 – Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”
Mat. 10:40 – “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.
Apostle means “sent one.” it is the highest ranking authority among men to speak on behalf of God.
God backed Paul, Paul did many mighty miracles and God does not do miracles through a false teacher. Paul’s words have the clout of God.
Paul’s teachings were mentioned in Galatians 1 and 2, and he accounts how he was following the authority of the Jerusalem church which itself stood as Christ’s representatives.
Gal 1:11 – But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Gal 1:15 – But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Gal 2:2 – Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. 2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.
Gal 2:6-10 – But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter 8 (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), 9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.
In the above passages Paul says:
1) His teachings came by revelation of Jesus Christ.
2) No human being taught it.
3) He did not immediately confer with humans as to whether what he believed was the communication of Jesus (by the Holy Spirit) was valid.
4) After 14 years, he did.
5) The leaders in Jerusalem all vouched for him.
“… and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship … (Gal 2:9)
So, all was done legitimately, and Paul’s writings were even vouched for by Peter who put them on the same level of authority as the Old Testament Scriptures.
2 Pet 3:14 – Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they doalso the rest of the Scriptures.
If Paul had been out of order, or a fraud, or misrepresenting Jesus Christ of His kingdom, he would have been called out and exposed 2,000 years ago.
It is only those who have not thought it through today who wish to dig up the historical record with a new skeptical slant as though it had not already been thought of over the 20 centuries prior.
Indeed, Paul representing himself as God’s apostle ws checked out by his contemporaries and those much closer in time after than today’s skeptics.
Yes, Paul has been vetted but today’s unlearned skeptics have also attempted other historical revision, and unfounded criticism in alleging the Roman Catholic Church somehow shaped the Bible.
It’s alleged the Catholics omitted books that should have been put in, and emphasized others that they wanted to put in to reinforce their religious system.
Whether books might have been included, this won’t address, but as for the writings of Paul, the idea that emphasizing Paul was a Catholic powerplay, or something of the sort, is a vapid theory.
In fact, it was the writings of Paul that led Martin Luther to revolt from the Catholic church in 1517, and start the Protestant revolution!
Luther’s rediscovering Paul’s teaching that Christians are justified by faith and other teachings of the New Testament – that the Catholics had compiled – led to the undoing of Catholic doctrine.
But 2,000 years after Christ, it is so easy for confused people to be, well, confused. To suggest that Paul’s writings at all might have been illegitimate or insufficient to know God and do His will furthermore ignores 300 years of history before what became the Roman Catholic Church got its start under Emperor Constantine.
In fact, Paul had been vetted for 300 years before the Catholics established what has become the New Testament Canon (authorized works). All the early church fathers upheld his writings and extensively quoted him in a volume of works that is much longer than the entire Bible.
The recordings that follow are from an unusual Bible study.
Instead of the 6-12 people that usually show up, just two people began this one as others were sick or unable to attend for various reasons.
But, once it got underway, another man came in 15 minutes into it, then a woman came in after another dozen minutes, so there were four at the end of it.
The first two recordings talk about Paul. Midway in the second, we branch into Colossians.
Recording three is on Col. 1, and finishes with Col. 2.
