The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Jesus vs Paul and the Church

1. This view which you have described, albeit briefly, smacks of a "hyper-Dispensationalist" view. I was exposed to this radical view about 40 years ago by an acquaintance who was studying at a school in Grand Rapids which taught this. He insisted that the majority of the NT was for Gentiles and did not pertain to the Jews. And contrariwise, the OT was for the Jews and had no application (with exceptions) to Gentiles. Like the article you linked to, he believed that the content of the Gospel which Jesus and John the Baptist proclaimed was different than the content of the Gospel which Paul proclaimed.

2. Without any reservation, my advice would be to walk away and never look back, i.e., stay away from those who have embraced this unbiblical/heretical teaching.

3. There is no reconciliation necessary to be sought after between Jesus vs Paul. The Scriptures are ONE and there is no contradiction or antithesis in any part of it. The simple answer to such a view is fundamental. God revealed His will for mankind and the entire earth PROGRESSIVELY. All the historical accounts found in the OT are explained in the NT and applied. What Jesus taught was expanded by Paul in detail, e.g, both Jew and Gentile are by nature under the just condemnation and wrath of God. Both Jew and Gentile are saved by Christ via a true living faith in HIM... not simply acknowledging that He was crucified, buried and raised from the dead for the remission of sins. Knowing why the Lord Christ came, what He taught and what He did is certainly important, which are inseparable from HIM as a person. When a person believes upon Christ, again not simply vocalizing a brief description of what He did, that person is united to HIM, and consequently adopted into the Kingdom of God and guaranteed eternal life. The Jewish disciples met with Paul where Paul set for what Christ Himself had taught him and it was the SAME Gospel which the disciples had been taught by Christ... no surprise, right? For there is but ONE Gospel. Abraham was saved by faith and those who lived in the time of Paul and those who are living in our own day are saved exactly the same way as Abraham (Rom 4ff; Gal 3:22-29; et al).