Many false teachers, particularly of the Social Justice Gospel, have a problem with the Apostle Paul because he wrote some things they do not like or agree with. Anti-Paulism is a heresy that denies the God-breathed words of Paul’s Epistles in the New Testament.
False teachers like Jory Micah frequently deny the authority of scripture due to their Anti-Paulism, as does John Pavlovitz. Rejecting Paul enables you to form your own theology and reshape Jesus in your image.
14Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
In this passage we see Apostle Peter endorse Paul. We see that Peter acknowledges that Paul has written letters and elevates these letters to the status of the “rest of the Scriptures” (verse 16). Given how highly the Scriptures are viewed by Peter, for Peter to elevate Paul’s writings is an acknowledgement that these writings are inerrant and God-breathed. Thus because Paul’s writings are Scripture, false teachers attempt to distort them.
The Bible preemptively debunks many heresies. Interestingly enough, the New Testament epistles predict their own canon. Furthermore, if we are to reject Paul’s epistles, we must now also reject Peter’s epistles as well. We should then reject Luke who was most closely aligned with Paul and Mark who was most closely connected to Peter. This would leave the New Testament with 9 books if we accept that Paul did not write Hebrews. Of course, then we would have to discredit any other epistles that reference any of the now decanonized books. This ridiculous thought exercise is meant to show how intertwined Scripture is. The Bible exists as it does because we have a God who will defend his word and curse those who add or take away from Scripture.
As Christians we affirm the inerrancy of Scripture and 2 Peter 3 affirms the Scripture status of Paul’s epistles, debunking the heresy of Anti-Paulism.
Interested in learning more? Join the Evangelical Dark Web.
One Response
If Jesus had wanted women leading his Church he would have chosen some. No need to look to Paul to see it. It does not mean women are any less then men. Equality does not mean doing EVERYTHING equally! This is conforming the Church to the world. Plain and simple. There’s plenty men can’t do that women can. A woman helped bring the Lord into the world!