How Can The Question of Paul's Validity as a Prophet Be Ignored?

From "Jesus' Words Only"

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The Words of Jesus of Nazareth

Straight Truth [Jesus' Words NT].

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Reviving Focus on Jesus' Words Alone

 

Our mission is to proclaim Jesus' doctrine that He was the "sole teacher" (Matt.23:8-11). He sternly told the apostles they were not to call themselves or anyone else a "teacher"! (Id.) Jesus explained why when He insisted that the "aspotolos (Gk. for messenger) is not more important than the one who sent him." (John 13:16.) Even John the Baptist realized that despite knowing he himsel was the greatest prophet who ever lived (Matt.11:11), yet he "must decrease" so that unfettered acceptance of Jesus' message would "increase." (John 3:30-31.) The danger of two masters is you will love the one and hate the other. (Matt.6:24.) To avoid making any apostle a competing master, we must remember they only had one inspired function -- that is when they served to carry Jesus' words, i.e., they serve the role of a "messenger" -- the meaning of the Greek word apostolos. (John 14:26.) Otherwise, they are at best edifying.

This is the focus of the first book highlighted here -- Jesus' Words Only . This book defends relying only upon Jesus for doctrine. Significantly, this means excluding Paul who at best is merely edifying when consistent with Jesus. The problem in accepting Paul as an apostle or as inspired is thorougly examined as well. All its chapters are free in PDF here. A copy can be purchased also from Amazon.

The second work we highlight by the same author is Jesus' Words on Salvation. It explores whether the church has erroneously accepted a Cheap Grace doctrine at odds with the doctrine of Costly Grace that Jesus taught, just as Bonhoeffer warned. Issues of Paul's place in canon similar to those in Jesus Words Only are addressed again in the chapter on John 3:16.

The third work, How Not To Study The Bible, encourages a method of Bible reading (a) that does not use preconceptions; (b) that remembers the works we are reading are typically translations; (c) that makes no rash response/change of life until your study is finished; (d) that uses reason as you read to question whether a transmission/translation/inclusion error might explain an unreasonable passage rather than insist no such possibility exists; and (e) that reads the Hebrew Bible in the chronological order of its production so that the message of God is contextually much clearer.

The fourth work available only online is Flaws of Young Earth Science. It asks whether the project of proving a young earth to non-believers is now needlessly disserving the Lord and evangelism.

Also, we highlight the latest work of Standford Rives because it is compatible with our goal to promote restoring Jesus as "the sole teacher" in the NT. Mr. Rives' work is Did Calvin Murder Servetus? It examines Calvin, one of the foremost "doctors" (teachers) of the church, whose writings are revered by many, and even are placed by some on a higher pedestal than the writings of true apostles. Mr. Rives' book asks whether John Calvin was a false witness at a blasphemy trial in 1553, and thereby murdered Servetus who was wrongly found guilty of blasphemy. If so, this means we apply Jesus' fruits test whether to follow the teachings of Calvin. Sample free chapters are available on this site. It is also available at Amazon.

The links below lead you to this book series free for download:

 


 

 

Jesus' Words Only

JesusWordsonlysansnomeJesus' Words Only was written by an evangelical Christian who was motivated to write the book in his quest to reconcile Paul to Jesus' words. The historical origins of the canon prove that it originally was intended to focus only upon Jesus' words as the inspired canon. It was a much later notion to believe that letters of apostles were inspired too. Moreover, upon careful examination, there is no validity to saying "Apostle Paul" was appointed as an apostle of Jesus Christ, as it is not verified by two independent witnesses, as Jesus required for His own status as Son of God. Moreover, Jesus appears in Rev. 2:2 to have intended to condemn Paul for teachings contained in Paul's post-conversion period. Specifically, Paul's permission to eat meat sacrificed to idols, which Jesus condemns in Rev. ch. 2. As a result, this bolsters the conclusion that Jesus is the sole inspired prophet (and more than just a prophet) speaking in the New Testament. All others are secondary and unless quoting Jesus, not inspired, and the weight they deserve is for wisdom, not inspiration. For book reviews and reader comments, see "Contact Us."

 

Jesus' Words On Salvation

JesusWordsSalv-crop2The 584-page book, Jesus' Words on Salvation, is a clear easily read presentation analyzing carefully every reference by Jesus on the topic of salvation. The author, a Christian attorney, proves Jesus' doctrine of salvation involved more than just faith. Jesus reiterated a believer must have works. "The tree without good fruit is cast in the fire." (Matt. 7:19.) The branch "in me" that bears no fruit is "cut off" (harpazo'ed) and thrown in the fire. (John 15:2, 6). These verses are corroborated in numerous other passages. The Preface reviews how the Reformers Tyndale, Melancthon, Bucer, and even the mature Luther made a course correction, and taught "double justification" to incorporate this truth. This doctrine taught that initial salvation is by faith alone for the non-believer. However, once one was a believer, salvation depended upon a secondary justification by works. This is what persuaded Bonhoeffer to teach the same. This book is an effort at a scholarly review which is intended to be readable by anyone. It is designed to be fair, by including all significant sides of the interpretation of the words of Jesus so that the reader can make a fully informed decision on what the final judge, Jesus, will require on Judgment Day. For reviews and reader comments, see "Contact Us."

 

Did Calvin Murder Servetus?

Did Calvin Murder Servitus? We recommend this book because it makes us focus on Jesus by proving one of the icons of the Reformation was quite human. This book examines the conflict between Calvin and Michacalvinel Servetus, a medical doctor and Christian who challenged the doctrine of the trinity while maintaining Jesus' divinity. Servetus published his view that Jesus' divinity derived solely from being the Word, and not from His status as the "eternal" Son of God. John Calvin filed a criminal complaint against Servetus as a heretic for this view and for Servetus dissent from infant baptism. Calvin then had Servetus tried and put to death. The author, Mr. Rives, a practicing attorney and Christian, thoroughly examines the case and concludes that John Calvin deliberately murdered Servetus contrary to his own principles of tolerance of heretics as well as the prevailing laws at Geneva. Rives concludes that Calvin took offense at Servetus' view in 1546 that Calvin had a "doctrine of demons" for believing an infant becomes a member of the New Covenant by baptism. Calvin's revenge was to have Servetus killed for points of doctrine when Calvin himself previously said killing heretics was un-Christian and violates Scripture. If you wish to see Mr. Rives's website, go here. To email him, you can reach him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 

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