9 Feb 2014

Paul’s Apostleship

Posted by joncooper

In modern times there are many people who question the apostleship of Paul. They claim that he wasn’t really an apostle, or that God didn’t really speak through him, or that Paul was wrong on many issues. Paul’s credibility is under a great deal of attack – but what many people do not know is that this is nothing new. Even in Paul’s day many people questioned his credentials and rejected his message.

What I’d like to do is take some time to examine this issue. Was Paul really an apostle? What are his credentials? Is there any way we can tell if God was actually speaking through him? Let’s take a look and see what we can find out.

First of all, Paul did indeed claim to be an apostle. In fact, he went so far as to say that his apostleship came from Jesus Christ Himself:

Galatians 1:1: “Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)”

Of course, anyone can claim to be an apostle; just claiming something doesn’t make it true. Is there any way we can tell if God really was with Paul? Did God validate Paul’s ministry?

Well, let’s take a look. First of all, Paul cast out demons:

Acts 16:16: “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.”

It is impossible to cast out demons without the power of God. If God was not with Paul then he could never have done this. As if that were not enough, Paul also had the power to lay his hands on people and give them a special manifestation of the Holy Ghost:

Acts 19:6: “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”

That’s pretty impressive! After Paul laid hands on these people, they were able to speak in tongues and even prophesy. Paul could never have done that if God was not with him.

Paul also healed the sick:

Acts 19:11: “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”

As you can see, Paul’s gift of healing was so profound that people actually took handkerchiefs from Paul and brought them to those who were sick, and that was enough to heal them. God certainly did “wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul”!

But that’s not all. Not only did Paul cast out demons and heal the sick, but he also raised the dead:

Acts 20:9: “And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.
10 And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.
11 When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.
12 And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.”

So as you can see, God used Paul to cast out demons, give gifts of the Holy Spirit, heal the sick, and raise the dead. None of those things would have been possible if God had not been with Paul. In fact, those are very rare gifts. There are very few people who have ever raised the dead, and being able to heal someone by giving them your handkerchief is pretty much unheard-of. God was with Paul in truly extraordinary ways.

But there is more. The way that God initially called Paul to serve Him is also unique:

Acts 9:3: “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.”

Jesus personally called Paul to serve Him in a truly remarkable encounter. Paul was hand-picked by Jesus in the presence of witnesses. In other words, God called Paul to serve Him – and Paul did exactly that, even though the personal cost was very high. Paul did not get rich from serving God; instead he suffered tremendously:

2 Corinthians 11:24: “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.”

As you can see, God was with Paul in truly extraordinary ways. God validated Paul’s ministry by the tremendous power He displayed through Paul. Stop and think for a minute – what are the credentials of those who attack and belittle Paul? How many demons have they cast out? How many sick people have they miraculously healed? How many people have they raised from the dead? Can they lay claim to even a tenth of Paul’s miracles?

It is simply ludicrous to claim that God was not with Paul. There is simply no way Paul could have done all the things he did if God was not with him. The real problem is that people don’t like the things that Paul said, so they try to get around Paul’s writings by saying that he wasn’t really an apostle. In doing this they aren’t attacking Paul; in reality they are attacking the God Who spoke through Paul. The entire Bible – both Old and New Testaments – are the words of God, not the words of men; those who attack them are attacking God, and God does not take that lightly. The Bible itself says that the writings of Paul carry the same weight as the rest of Scripture:

2 Peter 3:15: “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”

Notice how Paul’s writings are included in the same category as “the other scriptures”! Also notice how Paul is referred to as their beloved brother. Many people today do not see Paul as beloved; instead they hate and despise him, and reject his words. Since Paul tells people things that they don’t want to hear, they refuse to hear it.

Paul spent a lot of time in the New Testament defending his apostleship. The reason he did that was because so many people were rejecting what he had to say. In all this time nothing has changed: people didn’t like what Paul had to say back then, and they don’t like it now.

People who attack the writings of Paul are attacking the integrity of the Word of God. If Paul can’t be trusted then why can any other passage in the Bible be trusted? If God didn’t really speak through Paul (a man who raised the dead), then why should we believe God spoke through anyone else? Either the Bible is the Word of God or it isn’t; you can’t have it both ways.

Tell me, those of you who criticize Paul: what gives you the right to question what he had to say? Why do you think that you know better than he did? Paul had direct revelation from Jesus Christ Himself, which is something that you do not have. On what grounds do you attack him? The only grounds I have ever heard is the petulant “I don’t like what he said, so he must be wrong”. The implication is clear: “Everything that I believe is 100% right, and since Paul disagrees with me he must be wrong.” That is utter madness.

It’s also very telling that people who attack Paul do so very inconsistently. For example, take this famous passage:

Ephesians 5:22: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”

When women read these verses they do two things: they first say that Paul was completely wrong and that women do not have to obey their husbands, and they then turn right around and say that husbands are required to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. That is complete insanity. You cannot argue that verse 24 is wrong but verse 25 is right; they are either both right or both wrong. Only an utter fool would say that wives are not required to obey verse 24 but husbands are required to obey verse 25. If you really believe that Paul is wrong about marriage then you should not insist that husbands have to love their wives. You can’t have it both ways! Don’t insult my intelligence by claiming that wives don’t have to obey the Bible but their husbands do.

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he explained what the real issue is:

1 Corinthians 14:37: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.”

That is the heart of the matter. Paul didn’t write of his own prerogative; the things that he wrote are nothing less than commandments of the Lord – and God proved that by the mighty works He accomplished through Paul. Those who reject Paul’s writings are rejecting God’s commandments. That rejection carries a high price:

Colossians 3:25: “But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”

Just remember: there is no respect of persons with God. Your excuses are not going to work on Judgment Day. When that day comes only one thing will matter: did you accept and believe the Word of God, or did you reject it?

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