Bible Discussion Thread

Angela, start your Bible reading in the book of Romans. Our doctrine today for the body of Christ is Romans to Philemon. Paul was called by the risen Lord Jesus Christ and given revelations that the 12 apostles never received. Paul was the last one that saw the risen glorified Lord and received the revelation of the mystery which had been hid in God until he called Paul. Paul is our apostle called by the risen Lord for today in this dispensation of grace. The 4 gospels were to the Israel at that time. They did not have the whole word of God back then, all the Jews had at that time were the old testament scriptures which were all to Israel. Christ came to his own and his own received him not. Christ came under the law to Israel. The body of Christ was not there at that time because Paul was not called then. Angela the Bible is a progressive revelation. We did not have the complete word of God back then. God called Paul to complete it. I do not worship Paul but he was chosen by our Lord and that is how God wants it for today. Christ is our savior. He is the one who has redeemed us by his precious blood, but he saved Paul by his grace to revel these mysteries to him to form the body of Christ. We our not under the law. We are under grace and we are saved by grace alone. We do not worship the earthly Jesus that came to Israel. We worship the risen glorified Christ from heaven and there is a big difference. Love, In Christ

Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom, Peter got the revelation of who Jesus was, we are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself the Chief Cornerstone, Paul gospel had to be the same gospel that Peter preached, because Peter had the keys to the kingdom, Paul baptized in the name of Jesus Christ just like Peter baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, there's only one baptism that's in the name of Jesus, not the titles Father Son and Holy Ghost.

Hi Diane , I enjoyed your post a lot , thankyou , you are so right , the Bible is a progressive revelation . I've been reading it for a long time and I'm still learning , I love that so much . Thanks again .

Hi, how are you doing? Haven't heard from you for a little while. Just want to be check and see if all is o.k. for you.

Precious sister Diane Taylor, this is an Excellent Summary! Mine looks like this:

Romans - Philemon (KJB!) = God's GRACE/PEACE Love Letters Directly TO us Today, For: Consolation, Comfort, Edification, Enjoyment, Encouragement, And spiritual Building Up Of All The BLOOD-Washed "members ( saints!" ) In The Body Of CHRIST (started in Acts 9)!, HIS Church, Seated In Heaven! Amen? {Please start here, But remember: "ALL Scripture is Profitable for learning!"}:

And for our Precious friends, who are not yet familiar with 2 Timothy 2:15 (the 'Key' that unlocks God's Revelation Of The MYSTERY, Which 'Was Hidden'), they can 'begin' here:

Prophecy vs MYSTERY: Link

May the LORD JESUS CHRIST Richly Encourage many In HIS Word Of Truth, 'Rightly Divided!' (ending 'Confusion'?) Amen?

Chris Endrizzi

The body of Christ started in Acts 2:38 on the day of Pentecost that's when the church was established

Precious friend, thanks for your input. I have to Scripturally 'Disagree,' so here is my Link

Hello Butch Good Stuff It Is Written

I was trying to follow your thinking, but it was a bit confusing. Paul was on equal standing as all of the other apostles. the gospel was revealed to all of the apostles and they were all commissioned by our Lord to go into all of the world to preach the food news of forgiveness of sins in Christ. The Spirit of God taught all of the apostles the same as Paul. God does not contradict Himself. The gospels are for us, the Gentiles, too. They teach us about Jesus, who was fully God and fully man at the same time. The body of Christ worships Jesus still as true God and true man. He is in heaven with his glorified human body, in union with the Father and the Spirit. The same Jesus who walked on earth is the same Jesus who was resurrected and ascended to heaven. He did not shed his humanity once he got into heaven. To speak otherwise is to promote ages old heresies that deny to humanity of Jesus in heaven. The Old Testament is for us, Gentiles, too. It shows us the history of God working in our world from creation forward, not just when the church came into existence with the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentacost. There are many places to begin studying the Bible, it really depends on the background of the person wishing to begin. I usually recommend beginning with the Gospels so that the person is introduced to Jesus right off as a first thing. They need to know who Paul or the other authors of the epistles is talking about when they name Jesus, the Christ, our Lord.

Continued: The Gospel of the Kingdom: Jesus and the 12 preached the gospel (good news) of the Kingdom at THAT time ( Matthew 4:17, Matthew 9:35, Acts 3:19). Which was for the Jew only ( Matthew 10:5,6: Luke 9:10 Matthew 15:24; John 4:22; Matthew 18:11; Romans 15:8) Appropriated by repentance, baptism, faith plus works. The content of the gospel of the Kingdom was Jesus was Israel's promised Messiah, the Son of God. " And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Matthew 9:35 The apostle Peter's profession of faith was that he believed Jesus was in fact the Christ, the Son of God. Not that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead three days later. No way, how could that be Jesus was still alive. And the gospel of grace wouldn't be revealed for another 10 years. Yes, of course. Everything is based on the finished work of the cross but in time, at that time ,that was all Peter or any other Jewish person was to believe for salvation. "He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven," Matthew 16:15-17 The gospel of the Kingdom began with John the Baptizer and ended during the Acts period ( Acts 15:11) The gospel of the kingdom will pick up again when the body of Christ is raptured and the Lord turns His attention back to Israel and the Kingdom gospel and the 490 years prophesied in Daniel 9. Also known as the tribulation, Jacob's Trouble, or Daniel's 70th week." And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come". Matthew 24:14 To be continued, conclusion:

Hello GiGi, What I meant was that there is only one gospel that can save mankind today, and that is the gospel of grace ( Acts 20:24 1 Corinthians 15: 1-4 That Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day. Appropriated by faith alone apart from the Mosaic law ( Romans 3:20,21) The gospel of grace and doctrines for the body of Christ, the Church, was a secret ( Romans 16:25, Ephesians 3: 1-11) hidden in the mind of God until revealed to the apostle Paul. In other words, between the time God called Abraham and the calling of the apostle Paul, there was no message of salvation to the Gentile world ( Ephesians 2:11,12). The gospel of grace is most clearly defined in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 " Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures: And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Paul's Gospel: The apostle Paul Holy Spirit inspired of course, repeatedly referred to the gospel of grace as "my gospel"( Romans 2:16, 16:25 Galatians 2:2,7: 2 Timothy 2:8) Paul could say this because the gospel of grace was in fact revealed to Paul alone and he was chosen by the ascended and risen Lord Himself to be the apostle of the Gentiles( Acts 9:15, Romans 11:13) These new revelations came approximately10 years after Pentecost ( Galatians 1:1,11-12;17) All mankind during the age of grace will be judged according to Paul's gospel. " In the day that God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel" Romans 2:16 Paul warned mankind twice in Galatians, anyone that preached any other gospel then what was revealed to him by the ascended Lord Himself will be cursed " Please read Galatians 1: 8-9 KJV

I do not believe that Paul's gospel of grace was different from the gospel that the other apostles taught, since both were given it by Jesus-Paul while in the desert for a few years following his conversion, and the apostles received it from Jesus between the resurrection and the ascension.

Sister GiGi,

I agree, Paul is teaching the same gospel of Jesus Christ - as did the other Apostles.

In my opinion, Paul seems to have his own unique way of dealing with the subject matter, and in many ways I believe he sometimes confuses scripture in a manner the original Apostles did not. In other words, Paul creates controversy, where the other Apostles seem to agree and present the gospels in a much more clear and coherent manner. Paul can be disruptive, argumentative, and somewhat brash in his manner and his message. Paul is unlike Jesus, and the other Apostles. Maybe it's just Paul, or maybe he felt he needed to project this with the new Christians to get the message across.

Jesus handpicked the original 12 Apostles, and they spent 3+ years living with Christ as his disciples. I believe this closeness to Christ put them at a real advantage over Paul, as far as receiving instruction/teaching and loving direction from Jesus that Paul missed out on.

The original 12 Apostles literally ate,slept, and breathed God. Hard to beat that!

God Bless.

Hello, Bro Dan

Jesus hand-licked is apostles and Paul for the evangelization of the known world at that time. Certainly, if God wanted the gospel preached across these lands, He would have given them a both a consistent message to preach since people's eternal salvation was at stake. I don't think that God messed this up in any way. Each apostle and Paul had their own style and personality which God used in their ministries. I do wish we knew more about the other apostles, but their writings and teachings have not been accurately preserved and Acts is written primarily about Paul's ministry from Luke's perspective, (who accompanied Paul).

For me, I really do not to continue to query whether Paul taught the same gospel as the other apostles. To think so it to make God one who speaks untruth to those He send to preach the gospel. And I don't think that He did so.

Sister GiGi,

Also, just a note regarding the original 12 apostles writings/books, I believe it to be a total of 10, and they consist of the following:

Matthew,1 Peter, 2 Peter, Timothy, John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and John again in Revelation. The Gospel of Mark is attributed to being the gospel of the Apostle Peter, as it has been said that Mark was Peter's interpreter.

We also have the books of James, and Jude, who were half brothers to Jesus.

So, lots of good collaboration regarding the gospel of Christ! But, you may know than I about these books.

God Bless

Hi Bro Dan Just to clarify The Timothy Epistles were written by Paul to Timothy first two verses in 1+2

that's what it says.

Bro David,

Yes, thank yiou for the correction. 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy are attributed to Apostle Paul.

So my count now is back to 9 books attributed to be written, by original Apostles. (If my count is correct)

God Bless

Amen Sister GiGi!

Gigi With all due respect the Apostles did not receive the revelation that Paul received directly From Jesus Christ

Paul was the only man that taught in detail the mystery of the Body of Christ the Church. It Is Written Ephesians 3:2-4

David,

Again, with respect, we do not really know what the 12 apostles taught as they spread out across the known world at that time. Very little is recorded. What we do know is that Jesus commissioned them to spread the gospel before He ascended and He said that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things and help them remember what He had told them. I think that we need to trust that Jesus and the Holy Spirit would teach the same thing concerning salvation, since they only will tell what is true.

But we can differ in our ideas on this and still be peaceable about it, as I believe we have been.

Gigi Never said they didn't teach the same salvation, that being said God Bless its all Good.

Ok David,

Glad you clarified.

Hi Diane We are definitely on the same page this revelation of Christ in us in the age of Grace that in 1 Corinthians 2:5-9 Paul States by revelation what we have is so big that if the prince of this world new it the adversary he would not have crucified christ. This understanding of the mystery was not in the stars or made known until Paul Got from Jesus Christ.

Hi Gigi What she is talking about the mystery of the one body of Jews in Gentiles in christ the knowledge of it was given to Paul in this the age of grace. Now the operation of it started on Pentecost, this as Paul wrote was hid in God, the prophets did not know it the original 12 apostles operated it but Paul was given the information by Jesus Christ after he ascended to heaven. Galatians 1:11+12, Ephesians 3:1-4, 1 Peter 1:10-12, the spiritual abilities we have are so great in 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 if the adversary who is the great prince of this world would have known what we who believe were given he would not have crucified our lord. That is what Angela is talking about, Romans through thessalonians is written to the church of God, not saying the gospels are not important its all Gods Word.

Thank you Rick and Diane for your reply.

I guess I do not see things the way you two do. Jesus promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit will teach them all things. The same Holy Spirit taught Paul as well. The Spirit delivered the same gospel to Paul as he did to the apostles. The spirit taught only one gospel, and it was for the Jews and the Gentiles. Peter preached the gospels to the Gentiles before Paul did (Acts10:34-43) On Pentacost, Peter preached to those gathered the same gospel as Paul ( Acts 2:22-37) Stephen preached the gospel at Antioch and founded this church before Paul was converted ( Acts 15:6-18) And when Paul went to Jerusalem after many years and shared what he was preaching, both he and the Apostles of the jerusalem church agreed that he was preaching the same gospel. I do not believe that Jesus' kingdom was for the Jews of that time, as Diane stated, nor do I believe that Paul had the Gentile gospel to the exclusion of the Jewish gospel. In every town he visited hep preached the same gospel to those in the synagogue as to those in Gentile situations. There is only one gospel and only one kingdom of God, not different ones in different dispensations. Diane, by the way you hold up Paul it sounds like you even hold him to be superior to Jesus and Jesus' ministry. I reject such a notion. I suggest that both of you go back and read through Acts so you can see that there has always been one gospel for both Jew and Gentile. As far as the 12 apostles knowing less than Paul about the Jesus and the gospel negates Jesus' very words that the Holy Spirit will teach the apostles(before Paul was converted) all things ( John 14. 25-26). A say these things to you in love. I care about you hearing sound doctrine and I will always defend the doctrines of the faith handed down through the generations to believers in the writings of the apostles, gospel writers, and Paul. I am not sure if your ideas about dispensations is the same as mine, also. God bless you!

Diane.

Remember, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His body is no longer corruptible as it was on earth. Like you said, it is glorified, taking on the incorruptible, but still a body that can be touched. He ate with the disciples after appearing to them post-resurrection. Our bodies will become like that in the resurrection, but we are still the same human person. The same is true of Jesus. The difference is that He had an eternal existence before becoming a human while still being God, we did not exist prior to conception and none of us are or will be God. We are invited to fellowship with the one true God that exists as three persons in on God. Such a mystery this is. We accept it on faith.

I am drawn to the epistles written by Paul, but really, they are the inspired of God, just like all of the others writings in both new and old testament. I do not rank the Scripture wirings by giving the "newest" the pre-eminence in importance. They are all important as Paul states in 2 Timothy 3:16; "All Scripture is God-breathed,.."

this includes the old and new testament, the gospels, acts, epistles and book of revelation. It is all about Jesus, all point to Him, and all find their fulfillment and purpose in putting forth Jesus as Savior and Lord. Some things to consider.

To God be the glory, forever and ever.

Amen Sister GiGi.

Ephesians 2:19-20. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

God bless.