Was Paul of Tarsus part of G-d's plan to spread morality throughout the world?

Question

Paul hijacked Yehoshua's teachings and declared that faith and not deeds would lead to salvation.

Is this part of G-d's plan to spread morality throughout the world? Is humanity morally incapable of following "THE LAW" setforth in the Tanakh (Old Testament?)

Answer 1

First, Paul DID NOT hijack the Messiah's teachings. Rather, he had a perfect understanding of it. And, being the theologian that he was, could put it forth better than perhaps any of the others.
He wasn't spreading "morality"...he was preaching Christ.
Plain and simple.
And, yes. Mankind is incapable of keeping the law perfectly. You know that if you offend in one point, you have offended all. Man is not able to not sin. Period.
The law was our schoolmaster.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, he did not hijack Yehoshua's teachings. He ( Yehoshua) clearly revealed himself to Paul on the road to Damascus and Paul's life was forever changed. (See the book of Acts in the New Testament). Paul never taught that faith and deed would lead someone to Christ. In fact, he taugfht stongly against those who were trying to teach that. Christ himself said that faith was the only source of salvation. Deeds were a sign of the salvation you were given, not a means of gaining salvation.
The puspose of Old Testament las was to show humanity that you can not achieve salvation on your own. it it impossible to completely follow the law. It was God who sent his son to make the imperfect perfect in the eyes of God. It was a means of making man rely upon God.
So yes, humanity is incapable of following the law.

Answer 3

Paul the Apostle was part of our Heavenly Father's plan to spread good works and morality throughout the earth.

Unfortunately, though the Paul used a manner of language which is sometimes difficult to understand and is open to a wide variety of interpretation. The sophistries of men have led many to believe that the writings of Paul support the doctrine of salvation through faith alone. Paul, in many cases, denounced these doctrines in his epistles. I will quote only one instance:

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid..." Romans 6:1-2

Usually when Paul refers to the "law" he refers specifically to the law of Moses which he says is done away in Christ in chapter 7 of Romans.

I hope that this gives you some insight into the writings of Paul, that he was not a teacher of false doctrine, but of the truth.

Answer 4

Gods law in the Old Testament was a goal that everyone should strive to fulfill however God knew that no mortal on earth would live a perfect life, so he sent his Son to earth. He took the punishment for our wrong doing. this is where Paul comes in. he saw a great light on the road to Damascus and trusted God. he never hijacked Jesus teachings. The bible told us that "whosoever believer in him(Jesus) ... shall be saved". (by the way, his name was Saul of Tarsus before he got saved and then he was known as simply Paul)

Answer 5

You mean"Saul of Tarsus." He later became known as "Paul."
As "Saul of Tarsus," he was serious about GOD but sincerely wrong, also. He helped persecute the early church very much, even watching the garments of those who wrongfully stoned a christian to death. At some point, GOD Himself met the man while he was on his way to harm even more christians. He finally realized that he was wrong, but at first, many christians were still leary of him. Eventually, he became greatly used of GOD. Knowing his former wrongs probably helped him to be especially compassionate toward others who mistakenly believe something false, like maybe many of the idol-worshipers in places were Paul later went to preach. Paul was very caring, filled with love & compassion for the lost who simply didn't know or believe the truth yet. Taking people from a pagan religion to an actual working knowledge of walking closely with the GOD of Israel is a daunting task. The Israelites grew up steeped in the teachings & knowledge of GOD with also a number of people in society who had long had wonderfully righteous hearts. People who knew little of such things had to start from the basics and progress. Even the Law didn't start with Abraham : it began with Moses, after the learning & foundations of the basic tenants of godly living began.
Pagans, faced with learning it all, had to take baby steps, and many Jews, after having the Law for so long, had begun to trust in themselves more than in GOD's unfailing love & grace.

Answer 6

Paul spoke of the old law covenant as being abolished by means of the sacrificial death of Christ, in the book of Romans. He stated that a new covenant was put into place and a new law, Christian law, based on love. Christian works, which would show love for others, admonished, not to lie, steal, commit adultery, murder, etc, are summed up in this word, namely, "You must love your neighbor as yourself." Love does not work evil to one's neighbor; therefore love is the law's fulfillment. Rom 13:8-10. When Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians he said that works of the flesh are opposed to the fruits of the spirit, which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Gal. 5:19-25.
The apostle James also states that works without faith is dead, showing we are not saved on faith alone. James 2.
Christ himself outlined the works that would befit repentance and the apostles themselves endorsed his words.

The Mosaic Law was very restrictive and nobody could follow it perfectly, that is why we needed Christ's ransom sacrifice to atone for our sins. So reading the scriptures and not taking them out of context shows that it is the works of the old law covenant that we cannot be declared righteous by, but by following the Christian law we can be forgiven for our sins by means of Christ's sacrificial blood.

Answer 7

To say that faith leads to salvation doesn't imply that you don't need to work out your faith. The bible says to work out your own salvation, with fear and trembling. What you’re referring to is a form of logic that those who don't take the command to judge themselves use, those who say "Well, it doesn't say that you have to follow the law, so I guess I don't have to." They pick and choose from the bible because they’re satisfied with a partial gospel, which leads to a partial conversion.

Frail humanity is not capable of following the law to perfection, that’s why the law was given. Because of the sin that resides in our flesh we are not able to do all that the law requires. The law was given to teach us to rely on God. When we do our thoughts and actions are governed by him and not our own sinful flesh. Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly and paid the penalty for our not being able to follow the law perfectly ourselves. The law says to do all that is commanded in it. If you don’t, and no one but Jesus Christ ever did, then what that means is if you've broken one law you've broken them all. It proves that you are a slave to sin. Jesus came to save us from our sin and to teach us how to do what God requires us to do, to live in the spirit of the law and not by the letter of the law.

Answer 8

it would seem to me that the Law, while perfect in nature, was something that man inherently could not abide by.
The death of Jesus Christ makes it passable for man and god to be reconciled, which was the purpose of the Law in the first place.

Answer 9

Yes, he did hijack them. And I doubt it was part of G-d's plan since it hasn't worked yet.

Answer 10

Paul was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles - which means natians - and to preach the Gospel of Y'shua to the world outside Israel.

I think that the best answers can be found in Galatians and Romans and Hebrews.

Here is what Jesus told Paul regarding his mission.
Acts 26:18.

All of God's moral standards and commandments still apply, but not the temple sacrifices and such....

Y'shua became the final sacrifice....and He is our TRUE Passover Lamb....

God says, WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD, I WILL PASS OVER YOU!

Hebrews 9:22 - WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD, THERE
IS NO REMISSION OF SIN....

Lev. 17:11 -- It is the BLOOD that makes atonement for the soul.

Imagine that you owe what might as well be hundreds of millions of dollars on a credit card or other debt....and you couldn't pay it to save your life...but you were able to make minimal payments that were accepted -- bulls, goats, sheep - but the end of all that came when Y'shua came and paid your bill - sin - in full and now you can go free by the GRACE of the One you are indebted tom but you have to receive it before the GRACE PERIOD is over.-- and before you (anyone) leave this world and go into eternity, still in debt forever.....
It is the BLOOD of the Lamb that is the BASIS on which God can offer His grace and mercy to any one of us....It is not just an empty choice, so to speak...It cost God EVERYTHING to make salvation available to us....but He will not FORCE the issue, but if
you decide to reject His offer and go your own way, that way has
already been decided by satan when Adam sold out to him in the Garden of Eden....and NO it is NOT a fairy tale....God did NOT let
His precious Son be sacrifced for any fairy tale...or to start a new religion or anything else....

What Y'shua did was to fulfill every-thing that His Father began when He told satan that the Seed of the woman would bruise his head.....and when He made blood covenant with Abraham..... It was to this end.....

Y'shua is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world....

He is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world....

He is the Lamb that God provided for the burnt offering.....

Please read Isaiah 53 and Ps. 22. Also Is. 61. on the first coming
of the Messiah....which simply means the ANNOINTED ONE... just as the word "christ" does.....

Ours is NOT a "new" religion that worships a "new" God other than the Lord God of Israel.... and He is Father to all who believe on His dear Son, our Savior, our elder Brother, our PASSOVER LAMB......

The apostle Paul was Saul and he WAS a pharisee, part of the Jewish religious system....His teacher and mentor was a pharisee called GAMALIEL -- spelling??? -- and he was definitely one of the more reasoned voices among the pharisees at that time.

One really good book about Paul for those who are interested is THE LION OF GOD by Taylor Caldwell. I would dearly love to get
it so I can read it again...I never got the chance to finish it..... :-(

Even without all the ceremonial laws and such -- man, because of his sinful condition, is NOT able to keep all of the Ten Comm-andments as given through Moses and that alone - as Paul ex-plains in Galatians - like the schoolmaster that leads one from the Law to salvation, because without God's grace, our fate is totally hopeless....

WE CANNOT KEEP THE LAW....WE ARE NOT WITHOUT SIN....ONLY Y'SHUA IS...AND HE IS OUR PERFECT AND ONLY SACRIFICE FOR SIN....

NONE OF US can EVER claim that we are without sin, ever....man needs salvation. Man needs grace....and without it, all
are hopelessly condemned to an eternity in hell with satan....

Just go through the TEN COMMANDMENTS that God gave at Mt.
Sinai and see if you have kept every one of them perfectly, in mind and body, all of your life....24/7.....NO, you haven't...and neither have I....or anyone else....

Man cannot save himself from hell by keeping the Law.....

You would have to be totally perfect...your spirit...the real you that was created by God in His image....has to be without spot or blemish....for God to accept you into Heaven...You can think you are serving Him 24/7 all your life....BUT WITHOUT THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB....YOU ARE CONDEMNED...AS WE ALL ARE...

PASSOVER......The children of Israel were told to take a lamb and slay it and apply its BLOOD to the outside of their doors and then to stay inside until after the death angel PASSED OVER them....But what if a first-born Israelite decided that he/she could go out because they were SERVING God all their life and so they would be safe,......What do you think would have happened????

They would have died just as surely as any first-born egyptians who did NOT apply the blood of a lamb on their doors....

God says to APPLY the BLOOD of the LAMB....and to put your trust in the BLOOD.....Y'shua shed His BLOOD for us...and it is through His BLOOD alone that we have forgiveness and eternal salvation from God and are declared RIGHTEOUS before Him.
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BLESSED BE THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING..... PS; 106;48,
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