“Paul was wrong about a lot of things so we don’t have to go by what he said.”

No

Peter, the one chosen by Jesus to be the lead apostle had this to say about Paul’s writings:

Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 2 Peter 3;16,17

Peter calls Paul “our dear brother”, said that Paul wrote “with the wisdom that God gave him”.  He refers to Paul’s writings as “Scriptures,” saying that those who distort them are “ignorant and unstable people” who are headed for destruction by doing so.

Some protest that Peter’s “opinion” isn’t a good example because he was “always saying the wrong thing.”  The Bible is unique in not hiding people’s miss-steps, even sins.  However, none of the inappropriate things that Peter said (Matthew 16;22,23; 17:4) were for our instruction but only his reactions to the utterly new things he heard and saw. Even if Peter had instructed the wrong thing, that would give us no reason to doubt Paul.

Of course, Jesus is the better witness:

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. Acts 9:15

Jesus sought Saul of Tarsus/Paul out and appeared to him personally to call him to be his follower.  Jesus chose Paul to proclaim his name to us so we pick and choose what we observe of Paul’s teachings* at peril of rejecting Jesus’ commands.

*Perhaps a few things are only for their culture but probably not as many as people think—and everyone seems to have differing opinions on this.

“It’s acceptable for Christians to be in the military because Jesus never told the centurions to stop what they were doing.”

No


When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment. Matthew 8:10-13

Jesus commended one centurion for his faith—not his occupation. Jesus also never told the “woman at the well” that she was wrong for having five husbands—and divorces, as well as living with a man who was not her husband. Neither is there any record of Jesus directly telling prostitutes that they were in the wrong profession but that doesn’t mean he commended it.  Each of these things are covered in his teachings, which he clearly had in mind for his followers to obey, whether he made a direct, personal application to them individually or not.

Jesus taught:
“Love your enemy.” Matthew 5:43-48

“Bless those who curse you.” Luke 6:28

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” Matthew 5:38-40

“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 18:36

Peter said, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:9

Paul said, 
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.” 2 Corinthians 10:3, 4

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12

Jesus’ expects his followers to be different because they’re not operating the way this world does, but in God’s way.  By not telling the centurion—just one man, that he shouldn’t be in the military, Jesus did not wipe out all of his teachings about loving ones enemy.

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31,32

"Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:21

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” 
John 14:23,24

“As Christians, We Don’t Need to Please God Because He’s Already Pleased With Us.”

It’s true that we come to God the Father through the sacrifice of Jesus who paid the penalty for our sins and God the Father is definitely pleased with Jesus. However, that’s not where it stops.

The New Testament often urges us to do what’s pleasing to God.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. Romans 14:17,18

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 1 Timothy 5:4

So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 2 Corinthians 5:9

Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Galatians 6:8

“God Makes Christians Sick” part 2

“God makes Christians sick in order to teach them something.”Those who insist upon this never seem to know just what the “something” is. So how can they learn if they don’t know what they’re being taught? They often add, “I’m so dumb, stupid, that God has to hit me up-side-the-head in order for me to get it.” Why? We are to be taught by God’s word (2 Timothy 3:16), his anointing (1 John 2:27b) and the Holy Spirit (John 14:26).

If a person continues in Jesus’ teachings (John 8:31,32), is obedient to everything he commanded (Matthew 28:20) and Jesus’ word remains in him or her (John 15:7), he or she will have all the teaching they need (though certainly God uses those he has called to teach as well as situations that come our way), especially if they follow James’ advice to ask for wisdom and believe they have received it. (James 1:5-8)

“God Makes Christians Sick” part 3

“God makes Christians sick in order to teach them something.”
This teaching/belief is often paired with one that says that God wants Christians to suffer. The confusion comes in when people so often read in the New Testament of the testing, character building and correction God brings about through our suffering. However, to equate this with sickness or everyday difficulties of life is to remove it from its context. The context of every New Testament reference to needed or “beneficial” suffering is that of suffering for Jesus’ name’s sake.

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. Hebrews 10:32-34

Read some accounts of Christian martyrs through the ages, of Christians imprisoned in the former Soviet Union and even today in China, to see the difference. (You can contact me for places to read these stories.)

“Wives Must Obey Their Husbands”

Nowhere does the Bible, Old Testament or New, command wives to obey their husbands.

Sarah was commended for obeying Abraham but never commanded; it was her choice. (1 Peter 3:6) However God commanded Abraham to “listen to whatever Sarah tells you” i.e., do what she says, in regard to Hagar. (Genesis 21:12)

Instead, wives are told to submit to their husbands, which means to “voluntarily come under” with the idea of working together for a common cause. (Ephesians 5:22) Interestingly, all Christians are to “submit to one another”—that includes husbands submitting to wives. (Ephesians 5:21)

“Do All You Can, First”

“Do all you can do and when you’ve done all you can do, God will take over.”

`For in him we live and move and have our being.' Acts 17:28

Jesus did nothing, said nothing on his own; everything came from his Father. (John 12:49) It’s not a question of our trying with all our might—us, then God, but God working in us, through us and around us from the start. Why waste time and effort since time is so short? That is not at all to say that we are to sit around and do nothing, but we are to be obedient and bear fruit (deeds)!

“Too Heavenly Minded”

“He’s too heavenly minded to be any earthly good.” This one is based on the false premise that to be spiritual is to be aloof, distracted and isolated. Jesus was none of those and you’ll never find anyone more heavenly minded or spiritual. He was always fully present and full of action, “making a difference” in the lives of people around him. Those who are “heavenly minded” do the most good on earth. The key is obedience to Jesus’ commands, not being less heavenly minded.

“Spirituality + Common Sense”

“You have to add common sense to your spirituality—you’ve got to be practical.”
If common sense is common why is it so uncommon? The slightest observation shows that (good) sense is often lacking in the general population, though the definition varies by the observer. That which is often assumed to be inborn, instead has to be taught. Think of it, we have to be taught such basic things as walking and talking, so how are we supposed to automatically know how to fix things or make good decisions (for example)?

Suppose that we substitute the word “pragmatism”, meaning “practical, testing the results of all concepts by their practical results” (Webster’s New World Dictionary), which seems to be the purpose of this saying. To insist that spirituality isn’t enough alone and must have pragmatism added to it is to compartmentalize God and his life and power; it’s to say, “God can handle only certain parts of my life but I have to appeal to human nature for the rest”.

As followers of Jesus, we are to obey everything that he commanded (Matthew 28:20) and walk in his steps (1 Peter 2:21) whether it is convenient or seems practical—or not. We’re not given any other choice.

“Never Pray for Patience!”

“Never pray for patience or bad things will happen in order to build your patience.”God definitely expects us to be patient, so much so that patience is part of the fruit of the Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:22

Life is full of patience-trying situations and people already! There are plenty of opportunities to exercise that which is supposed to be active in our lives including self-control and the leaving behind of our sinful nature. (Fruit in the Bible represents deeds.) We do absolutely need his strength and power to behave as he has commanded us. So pray but rather than praying for patience we would do better to pray for strength and focus to do what we already know to do--that is, be obedient. And no, I don’t think bad things will happen as a result of prayer—just a testing and a greater awareness of the need.

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:9,10

“Truth is truth wherever you find it.”

Other versions of this adage are “All truth is God’s truth,” “Despoil the Egyptians” meaning make something good out of the bad; “Eat the meat and spit out the bones,” meaning that one should hold on to the good but leave the bad parts behind; or “God can speak to me through anything.” A guy in my Christian youth group claimed, “God can even speak to me through a Satanist bible.” I wish I’d thought quickly enough to respond, “Right, and he’d say, ‘Put that down!” (I guess it should be no surprise since he dated a witch and hung out with Rosicrucians.)

But the apostle John said, “no lie comes from the truth”. (1 John 2:21) So how could the truth come from a lie? Jesus, in his warning about false prophets, said, “a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” (Matthew 7:17) He added that people don’t pick grapes from thorn bushes. (Matthew 7:16)

Too many Christians are looking for truth “in all the wrong places”, in thorn bushes instead of looking to Jesus who is “the way and the Truth and the life”. (John 14:5) Why waste time on the false when you can go straight to genuine? (This is not to say that we shouldn’t know what’s going on. I’ll cover this part in another listing.)

Part of the problem is their definition of “truth”, which comes out something like, “whatever works”. Lots of lies “work”—for a time; ask the Roman Emperors, Hitler, even former President Nixon. What they did “worked” for a time but that doesn’t mean they were operating in truth! Jesus spelled out the way to know the truth, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31,32) How much better to be set free than to choke on bones!