Thursday, December 28, 2017

Is Paul's Message The Word of God?

For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. 
1 Thessalonians 2:13 NASB

There are some who would question whether the word of God that is perfect and inspired by God in our Scriptures is only about the Old Testament.
One person I had interaction with recently wanted to insist that the Word was Jesus alone.
Jesus is the Word, but some people strangely try to divorce Christ from Scripture as the inspired word.
Jesus' title is the Word of God, but that doesn't exclude that the messages God has given which were written down for us are not His message (word) to us given through those whom He chose to do so at particular times.
I recommend doing a search of the text of Scripture and see how many times it talks about the word of God & oracle of the Lord.
Also, I notice there are warnings against those who falsely claim oracles or messages from the Lord as opposed to genuine ones.

Many (if not all) Roman Catholics falsely think that they determined the canon of Scripture.
Many false religions try to come up with added sources that they treat as equal to - or nearly equal to - or greater than Scripture, but those sources are false (including the Book of Mormon, Ellen G. White, the Qur'an, etc.) 
The Roman Catholics decided at the Council of Trent to include the Apocrypha which has error & gnostic leanings in it in their text.  
They did this despite the fact that Jesus and the true apostles never included it as Scripture.
They also elevate their "sacred" tradition to the level of Scripture for their authority.
The Catholics seem to treat their church as infallible, and yet, they treat their fables about Mary being forever a virgin, purgatory, praying to dead saints, Peter's being a pope, etc., etc., as though it is as true as Scripture).
Like Judaizers, they have added works back in as being able to keep oneself saved.   
They have a twist in their heresy in that they use good deeds instead of the Law as their means to keep themselves justified (instead of deeds being a part of sanctification and fruit and evidence of a real faith).
Grace to them is like something they can purchase.  
They have twisted things around.
Churches aren't infallible, as we can see even in Scripture.
I digress.

The verse I have shared today not only makes it clear that the message Paul gave is the word of God (and the message - tradition - he taught orally is the same as what we see in the letters that Peter alludes to as Scripture in 2 Peter 3:15-16), but it also lets me know that the word of God is what is used to change hearts and lives.
It is truly living and active (Hebrews 4:12).  God uses it in many ways in the lives of believers.
Paul's letters that we read today are part of the word of God!
So, I want to encourage people to read the 66 books of Scripture!

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