Are Jesus’ Words More Important than Paul’s?
by JACK WELLMAN
Should
Christians focus on Jesus’ words alone?
Are Jesus’ words in red more
important as if the other words were of secondary or no importance?
Are Paul’s or the rest of the
apostle’s writings of secondary importance or are their writings equally
important?
Red Letter Bibles
Maybe you have read some articles or
heard some pastors say that they only revere Jesus’ teachings over Paul.
Some even ignore all readings of the
New Testament except the words and teachings of Jesus. Some Bibles have Jesus’
words in red as if the other words were of secondary or no importance.
Should we value Jesus’ own words over
Paul’s or even further, ignore all of the New Testament except where Jesus is
speaking?
What do you think? This is what many
are teaching today but what does the Bible actually say about whether all of
the Scriptures are considered the very words of God?
Are Paul’s Letters God-Breathed?
In 2 Peter 3:15-16 Peter told the Church
to “regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as
also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,
as 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.”
Peter clearly indicates that Paul’s
letters (called epistles) are being distorted, even though they are hard to
understand at times, but he also calls them “the rest of the Scriptures.” Peter
called Paul’s letters Scripture.
We also know that “All
Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be
adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
We must conclude that Paul’s writings
are part of the sacred Scripture breathed-out by God.
The words “inspired by God” are in
the Greek “breathed out” or “of God’s breath.” This “breath” is the same as
what is used in Genesis where God breathed into man the breath of life (Genesis
2:7).
In 1st Corinthians 14:37 Paul says
that these are not his teachings or beliefs but “the things I am writing to you are a command of the
Lord.”
How clear it is that the Lord is the
source of his teachings or writings and not Paul.
.
Who Was the Author of Scripture?
.
Who Was the Author of Scripture?
When Jesus prayed to the Father, he
said that “I have given to them the words
which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely
that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me” (John 17:8).
And “when He, the Spirit of truth, has
come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own
authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to
come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to
you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will
take of Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-15).
This is what Peter wrote when he
stated that “we have the prophetic word
confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place,
until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this
first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for
prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter
1:19-21).
The Holy Spirit and sometimes the
Lord Himself, both of which are God, inspired Scripture. It never came by man’s
own effort or will.
Peter is saying they received the
Word, it was confirmed, it came from God, and the men who wrote it were moved
by the Spirit. How clear is that!?
Was Paul Self-Taught?
Where did Paul receive his teachings?
He answers this in writing to the Galatians “But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal
His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not
immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those
who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to
Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and
remained with him fifteen days” (Galatians
1:15-18).
Paul was taught by Jesus Christ,
directly. Flesh and blood was not his source … Christ was. Neither did he learn the gospel from
the other apostles.
He was called to reveal the Son by
God. He didn’t appoint himself but it was of the will of God. Paul was no less
of an apostle than the others were and in fact, he was taught the same amount
of time that the apostles were taught; three years!
The Apostles’ Scriptural
Authority
The Apostle John wrote the gospel of
John. He also wrote 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John.
However the last thing he wrote in
his own gospel, “This is the disciple [John] who
testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his
testimony is true. And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which
if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not
contain the books that would be written. Amen” (John 21:24-25).
Luke who is the author of the gospel
with the same name also wrote Acts and opened this book by writing, “The
former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and
teach” (Acts
1:1).
The “former account” we know is the gospel of Luke. Remember that much
of what is quoted in the New Testament is from the Old Testament and Jesus
frequently spoke out of the Old Testament.
The Bible Minus the Red Letters
of Jesus
Are Jesus’ words important? Yes, of
course. Are Paul’s words less important or a non-factor? No because Peter
called Paul’s letters (epistles) Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16).
John recorded what he saw.
Luke wrote down an account of what
happened.
Would God make such a mistake to
allow Paul’s writings, Peter’s letters, John’s writings, and Jude as well as
the author of Hebrews into the Bible if they were not inspired by God?
God can do all things and He is not the God
of confusion.
We cannot throw out 2/3rd’s of the
New Testament just because Jesus’ red-letter-sayings were not in them. If that
were the rule, then we would have to throw out much of the Old Testament.
We conclude that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that
the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Yet some teachers, pastors and even
seminary professors wrongfully say that we should only read and follow what
Jesus said (identified in some Bibles with red letters) however the “all” in “all Scripture” in the
Greek means…well, all!
If you decided to throw out all but
Jesus’ sayings, then you will be left with an incomplete, incoherent,
hole-filled New Testament and Old Testament. The Bible would be a shell of its
former self.
Conclusion
Anyone that teaches that only Jesus’
words should be taught or read is teaching heresy. They are dividing the word
of God but not rightly or as Paul stated “Do your best to present yourself to
God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling
the word of truth” (2
Timothy 2:15).
God has warned anyone, even in the Old Testament,
not to take away or add to His Word (Deuteronomy 4:2).
Read what God says to anyone who
takes away or alters in any way the Holy Scriptures; “I
warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds
to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone
takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his
share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this
book” (Revelation
22:18-19).
It doesn’t say, rightly cutting up,
throwing out, or doing away with.
No, it must be the whole Word taken
to the whole world…nothing less or nothing more.
Would you want God to
change your life?
God has made it possible for you to know Him and experience an amazing change in your own life through a relationship with His
Son, Jesus Christ, and have eternal life.
Say the following prayer:
“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and my sins have
separated me from You.
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lyrics
Chorus
To
God be the glory
To
God be the glory
To
God be the glory
For
the things He has done
With
His blood He has saved me
With
His pow'r He has raised me
To
God be the glory
For
the things He has done
Verse
1
How
can I say thanks for the things
You
have done for me
Things
so undeserved
Yet
You give to prove Your love for me
The
voices of a million angels
Could
not express my gratitude
All
that I am and ever hope to be
I
owe it all to Thee
Bridge
Just
let me live my life
Let
it be pleasing Lord to Thee
And
should I gain any praise
Let
it go to Calvary
With
His blood He has saved me
With
His pow'r He has raised me
To
God be the glory
For
the things He has done
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