The Apostle Paul and gay sex

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03/28/2016 20:01

Subject: The Apostle Paul and gay sex

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Anonymous

Over on another recent thread about homosexuality and the Bible, much was made about whether the Apostle Paul spoke with the authority of Jesus Christ when he wrote admonitions against homosexuality. One poster wrote, "Please prove to me that Paul is a 'prophet' in the sense of speaking for God. If you can do that I would certainly take him literally. But you can't do that, you can only use words like 'divinely inspired.' You'd be contradicting Paul himself, who called himself a 'disciple' and most definitely never called himself a prophet." Another post (probably the same poster) wrote, "You're making Paul into something he never claimed to be. He never, ever claimed to be a prophet, i.e., someone who speaks directly for God, in which case literalism might be more justified. If you're capable of understanding the difference between a disciple and a prophet, you're sure doing a good job of hiding it."

This position is Biblically untenable, and I will prove it to be false here. First, no, Paul never called himself a "prophet," but he did, repeatedly and emphatically, declare himself to be speaking for God. In fact, in all but one of his letters (Philippians), he makes at least one overt statement that he is speaking for Jesus and by the authority given to him by Jesus.

I'm sorry for the length of this, but this is intended to settle whether Paul understood himself to be speaking for Jesus Christ, and the evidence is overwhelming that he was.

First, in Acts 9, 18, 22 and 26, he establishes that he was chosen by Christ to be an apostle of the Gospel. An apostle has a specific meaning as one who had met Christ and had authority to spread the Gospel in His name. It is also different from a "disciple," which merely means a follower. Paul repeated called himself an "apostle," not a "disciple," as stated above. I am a disciple of Christ (though a really imperfect one). But Paul was an apostle.

Acts 9:15: "But the LORD said to him, "Go, for (Paul) is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel," that is, everybody.
Acts 18: 9-10: "And the LORD said to Paul one night in a vision, 'Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you.' "
Acts 22:14: "And he said, 'The God of our fathers appointed you (Paul) to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth.' "
Acts 26:15-16: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you (Paul) for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you."

Second, in all but two of his books, he began them by writing, "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." These are always in the opening greeting and written as though the letters to follow are a message from Christ.

But that's just the beginning. Following are passages from Paul's letters in which he claims to speak for Christ:

Romans 15:18: "For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience -- by word and deed."

1 Corinthians 1:17: "For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel."
1 Corinthians 2:1-4: "And I, when I came to you brothers, did not proclaim to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom ... and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."
1 Corinthians 2:10: "These things God revealed to us through the Spirit..."
1 Corinthians 4:1: "This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."
1 Corinthians 7:10: "To the married I give this charge (not I, but the LORD)..."
1 Corinthians 7:25: "Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the LORD..." (Here Paul had to explicitly state that this was not a command of Jesus.)
1 Corinthians 11:23: "For I received from the LORD what I also delivered to you..."
1 Corinthians 14:37: "If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the LORD."
1 Corinthians 15:3: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received..."

The book of 2 Corinthians is by and large a defense of Paul's apostolic authority to speak for God. Here are some of his statements to back that up:
2 Corinthians 2:17: "For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ."
2 Corinthians 3:5: "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God."
2 Corinthians 4:2: "But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God."
2 Corinthians 11:10: "As the truth of Christ is in me..."
2 Corinthians 12:2: "I will go on to visions and revelations of the LORD..."
2 Corinthians 13:2-3: "I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them -- since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me..."
2 Corinthians 13:10: "For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority the LORD has given me..."

Galatians 1:1: "Paul, an apostle, not from men or through man, but through Jesus Christ..."
Galatians 1:11-12: "For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ."
Galatians 1:15-17: "But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me..."
Galatians 2:2: "I went up because of a revelation..."
Galatians: 4:14: "And though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus."

Ephesians 3:2-4: "Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ."
Ephesians 4:17: "Now this I say and testify in the LORD..."

Colossians 1:25: "Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known."

1 Thessalonians 2:3: "For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts."
1 Thessalonians 2:13: "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God."
1 Thessalonians 4:1-2: "Finally, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 4:15: "For by this we declare to you by a word from the LORD..."

2 Thessalonians 3:6: "Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ..."

1 Timothy 1:11: "In accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted."
1 Timothy 1:12: "I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service..."
1 Timothy 2:7: "For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying)..."
1 Timothy 4:1: "NOW THE SPIRIT EXPRESSLY SAYS..."
1 Timothy 5:21: "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules..."

2 Timothy 1:11: "For which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher..."
2 Timothy 3:16: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness." (cross reference 2 Peter 3:15-16 below)
2 Timothy 4:17: "But the LORD stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it."

Titus 1:3: "And at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior."

Philemon 8: "Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required..."

And finally, Peter, about whom there can be no dispute as to his authority in preaching the message of Christ, in 2 Peter 3:15-16, admonished believers to heed Paul and gave a statement as to Paul's being given wisdom from God and Paul's writings being counted as Scripture: "And count the patience of our LORD as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures."

There's really no debate whether Paul understood himself to be speaking for Christ. The poster on the other thread wrote to please prove Paul was speaking for God and he'll take him literally. I wonder if he meant it.

Consequently, Paul's statements condemning homosexuality show that the Bible counts it as sin in both the Old and New Testaments. You can discount the Bible, but this is doctrine from Christ himself.