UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Throughout the bible, the majority of people used by God, were incompetent nobodies, weak persons. To name a few, Elijah, one of the greatest prophets, Moses, a man who was slow in speech, David-just a boy, Gideon, and Jeremiah, all were incompetent and weak persons without God's spirit. Three of them, Saul, David and Solomon became kings, but they did not start out that way. Yet due to God's power, the people that God used, proved stronger and wiser than all the people around them. It was never their own credentials or abilities that gave them courage and strength, rather, they had God working through them. Then there comes the exception, Saul of Tarsus, who later became the Apostle Paul. He took the name Paul which means "small," recognizing his weakness and insignificance. This man was a somebody. He was a highly educated man, both a lawyer and a Pharisee trained from the feet of Gamaliel the most prestigious of the Pharisees. As Paul described himself:

"If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless." Philippians 3:4-6 "Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. I Corinthians 11:22-28

Yet Paul recognized that his credentials and abilities were of the flesh, and to boast of them, would be an action of the flesh, "I am out of my mind to talk like this, " but "if I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness." He considered his so called high credentials of no value. Instead, Paul realized that his only valid credentials were the putting away of his own and solely relying on God's spirit, as he further states about himself:

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ." Phillipians 4:7 "Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness." 2 Corinthians 11:29-30

Some Examples of Paul's "Flesh" The War Within Him

The other "law at work in the members of his body." - Paul's use of his educated, Pharisee background with his legalistic interpretations and blanket statements.

1 " A woman should learn in quietness and full submission." 1 Timothy 2:11 2 " I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." 1 Timothy 2:12 3 " And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head-it is just as though her head were shaved." 1 Corinthians 11:5 4 " If women want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church" 1 Corinthians 14:35 5 " A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord." 1 Corinthians 7:39 6 " Let there be no sex sin, impurity or greed among you. Let no one be able to accuse you of such things. dirty stories, foul talk and coarse jokes, these are not for you-instead remind each other of God's Goodness and be thankful. You can be sure of this: The kingdom of Christ and of God will never belong to anyone who is impure or greedy. Don't be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins for the terrible wrath of God is upon all those who do them." Ephesians 5:3-6 SEE COMMENTS BELOW 7 " The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 1:1-32 In regards to homosexuality, the above words do not appear to come from Paul's possible reversion to his past (fleshly) thinking patterns, but has the open possibility to apply to domineering, hurtful and abusive homosexual behavior and not necessarily loyal, monogamous and faithful same sex relationships. SEE HERE FOR COMMENTS. 8 " To other people my advice (though this is not a divine command), is this. For a brother who has a non-Christian wife who is willing to live with him he should not divorce her. A wife in a similar position should not divorce her husband. For the unbelieving husband is, in a sense, consecrated by being joined to the person of his wife; the unbelieving wife is similarly consecrated by the Christian brother she has married. If this were not so then your children would bear the stains of paganism, were as they are actually consecrated to God." 1 Corinthians 7:12-16 Here Paul openly admits his interjection of human opinion, mixed in with God's instructions. 9   "Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord." Colossians 3:22 SEE COMMENTS BELOW

Only when Paul stopped doing the "evil within him," by ceasing to interject his legal ways and thoughts, (his flesh), from his educated Pharisee background, did he become "weak," allowing God to use him and make him "strong."

In addition, Paul, as with all Spirit anointed Christians: the Spirit makes them well aware of their daily weaknesses and sins against God, their daily failure to fully walk with the Spirit and God's continual divine forgiveness, his grace, with the blood of Christ.

The interesting thing about this, is that this may have been the very reason why Paul's letters, as divine and spirit filled information as they are, also appear to contain some fleshly (human), legalistic opinions mixed in with God's teachings. Paul himself spoke of a warring of the spirit and the flesh that existed inside him.

"For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death." Romans 7:5 "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Romans 7:19-24

Despite Apostle Paul's reliance on God for his strength, he had an "evil" that he did not want to do, but "kept on doing." He asked. "Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Only God could, yet God would only do this when Paul, stopped doing the evil within him. And it appears to have been Paul's shifting reliance on his flesh, his past, his former high credentials and Pharisee way of thinking. For Paul formerly was a "blasphemer" and "persecutor," describing his way of the flesh, before he received "mercy from Jesus Christ, so He might display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life." (1 Timothy 1:16)

"Though I formerly blasphemed and persecuted and insulted him (Christ); but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief." 1 Timothy 1:16

In the very same chapter of Paul's admission to his legalistic and blasphemer past, Paul in his new role as a Christian, gives this legal requirement on women:

"Women should adorn themselves modestly and sensibly in seemly apparel, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire but by good deeds, as befits women who profess religion. Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve." 1 Timothy 2:9-12

Paul not only outlines the dress code for a woman, but informs that she must "learn in silence, with all submissiveness." In addition she may not teach or have any authority over men in a congregational setting. Pricilla, along with her husband, Aquilla both taught God's word more correctly to a Jewish man named, Apollos, in the privacy of their own home, not appearing to be that of a house church setting.

Only when Paul stopped interjecting his former legal ways and thoughts of his flesh from his educated, Pharisee background, would he be weak, which was the only way he could be suitable for God's spirit power to work through him. By putting away the flesh of his abilities, educated and legal opinions from his Pharisee background and becoming both weak and ordinary, this would allow God to use him, as Paul stated:

"When I am weak, I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10 "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me." Phillipians 4:11-13

Paul had to learn to be weak.

You can take the man out of the Pharisee Jewish system but you couldn't totally take it out of the man. When Paul put away his flesh, by putting away his strict interpretations of following legal codes and rules, becoming a "weak" man, God would then use him, making him "strong," "when I am weak, I am strong." But "the war within him" would at times possibly bring out his Pharisee past, as can be read, (in a few) scattered, various places though out his 14 letters recorded in the Bible.

Paul's War Within - Paul's Anti-Female Authority, Rules on Hair, Dress and Marriage. Was St. Paul A Non-Practicing Homosexual? A Strict Gay Male Who Despised His Own Desires, That of Homosexuality?

John Spong's thesis in "Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism," Chapters 7 and 8

Was St. Paul A Mystic? As the Mystics of Catholicism and the Later Protestants, Such as the Quakers? Unlike the Non-Mystical, Conservative and Progressive Catholics and Protestants (& Cults too)?

Len Hixon's "Coming Home," Chapter 7

"What Paul terms faith is the human mood of openness to the revelation of the Christ Nature, not faith in some particular set of doctrines, but simply faith, free from all efforts at grasping. And as we can see from Paul's own experience of Enlightenment, the mood of faith is itself a gift of Divine Grace, not the of pious human efforts. On the road to Damascus, Paul was not struggling to believe the Christian revelation. Illumination dawned spontaneously as Paul let go his conception of orthodoxy, his particular effort to believe. We enter this mood of faith when our efforts to grasp or define Divine Nature are suspended. We experience the awareness of what Paul calls life in Christ as a gift, which simply means that it is not correlated with any finite efforts or beliefs." (4)

"Paul balances his affirmation of God's Spirit residing in man, that God is all in all, with critical psychological observation appropriate to the Old Age. The Old Age still appears as what Paul terms our self-indulgence, the ignorance, or sin, that proclaims the separate existence of the limited self. The limited self is the dimension of consciousness that has evolved from greed and fear and persists until we can affirm with our whole being that, in Paul's terms, God is all in all, that there is nothing to desire or to fear. Even after we begin to live in this illumined affirmation, through mystical Baptism into the New Age, the limited self remains as an illusory phantom, reappearing unexpectedly as impulses of freed or fear no longer appropriate on the level of Spirit where there is no fragmentation or separation. This phantom of our limited self must be confronted again and again in spiritual life with the affirmation that God alone is and we as IT." (5) italics added

"Paul's realization of the Christ Nature can continue to serve the process of universalization. As Paul perceived in the radiance of Spirit no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, neither can we perceive any fundamental distinction between Jew and Christian, Hindu and Buddhist, theist and nontheist, believer and nonbeliever. There is only one inclusive spiritual family, the Mystical Body, the secret of Divine Life lived fully through the planetary life of conscious beings. Awakening to this secret, instantly we enter the New Aeon (Age)." (6)

 

Paul's Visit To Damascus

After Saul of Tarsus was converted by Christ on the road to Damascus, he came there thinking he was God's gift to his generation-perfectly suited to evangelize the Jews. With his background as a Pharisee, trained from the feet of Gamaliel, circumcised on the eighth day, righteous with zeal and a fighter for the law of God. He was the little engine that could. And so Paul went head on and tackled what he couldn't. Instead of a revival, he precipitated a riot.

Instead of being the man to save the day with his high credentials and righteous abilities, he was put in a foul stinking fish basket by the Christians in Damascus, and lowered over a wall and sent away like a fool, The Christians there pleaded with him not to return and undo all that God had done there for them.

Paul's Assessment of John Mark

Apostle Paul's reversion to his flesh, the "war within him," could be seen in the case of John Mark. John Mark was on the first missionary journey with Paul and his uncle Barnabas. But when John Mark looked out on that frightful wilderness of Asia Minor, he showed a yellow streak down his back, and he headed home to mama. So when they were ready for the second journey, Barnabas said: "Let's take John Mark with us again and give him another chance," In effect, Paul's response was, "Absolutely not! Do you think I would take a man who had so failed on the first missionary journey? But Uncle Barnabas took him anyway. The team of Paul and Barnabas split over John Mark because Paul wouldn't have him. But Paul was proven wrong. And there came the day when Paul acknowledged it-in fact, in his swan song he wrote," Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11)

Paul's Anti-Semitic Statement

Paul's anti-Semitic attitude in Romans 11:8 are now words that embarrass the ecumenical and interfaith community. What makes this stand out, is the grouping of Jews as a whole, a blanket statement, lumping the Jews together with a group character, consistent in prejudice, grouping them as a whole, from the ability to discern the intended purpose of God, when throughout the New Testament, the teachings of Christ pertain to each person individually, obtaining an intimate and personal walk with God, finding the unique inner path of solitude, the interior silence within, where God is found, a relationship that can never be found, nor determined within any national, religious organization and culture itself.

"God gave to (the Jews) a spirit of stupor, eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear down to this very day. Romans 11:8

Paul's Belief In Complete Obedience To The State

Paul's belief and instructions to put our complete obedience to the state, as being of such, instituted by God and therefore unable to ever be challenged by Christians falls tremendously short. For many, as the framers of the Magna Carta, George Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr., to name only a few, believed that they had both a right and a duty to challenge the power of the established government, the very governments Paul spoke of as immune to challenge, unable to confront and defy. And for their resistance against these very human governments, in defiance of Paul's instructions, governments which they believed to be of injustice, we now live in a better world.

"Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves . . this is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing." Romans 13:2,6

Paul's words on many matters, were commented by him, not as God's command, but his personal opinion as can be seen in 1 Corinthians chapter 7.

"To other people my opinion (though this is not a divine command) is this. For a brother who has a non-Christian wife who is willing to live with him he should not divorce her. 1 Corinthians 7:12

Spong comments,

"In the Pauline corpus, the apostle did try to distinguish between that which was his opinion and that which were the revealed tradition of the church. He implied that the revealed tradition carried more authority than his opinion. Unfortunately when Paul discussed many issues, including homosexuality, he did not always tell us whether this was personal opinion or revealed tradition. It really did not matter, though, for both personal opinion and revealed tradition are subject to change in the light of new knowledge and insight. It is certainly possible, indeed probable in view of the now abandoned Pauline position on many issues, that what was articulated in Paul's writing was not God's prejudices. Responsible Christians cannot close their minds to the knowledge explosion in the field of human sexuality by hiding behind a Pauline quotation and claiming that this is "the word of the Lord."

Paul's Reconciliation With Slavery

Paul's accepted the institution of slavery, His answer to it: fine tuning it with a kinder and gentler form. Apparently with kindness the system of slavery could be fair. How many of us today would agree with this reasoning?

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord." Colossians 3:22 "Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven." Colossians 4:1

Even nations such as South Africa, could not accept this prejudice teaching today, better yet those who wish to truly live a life of inclusiveness in imitation of God, an existence of unconditional love, the love of Christ.

Paul Adjusts With God's Spirit

But right from the beginning of his conversion, this somebody became a nobody, allowing himself to became weak. He put away his strength, recognized his incompetence and relied on God. And when this happened, he became a somebody to God. As Paul came to this realization he stated:

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay (human bodies) to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." 2 Corinthians 4:7

God didn't use Paul with his fleshly weight and high credentials as a former righteous and zealous

The realization that we are weak and powerless is the beginning of God's work. David Roper, from "Elijah, a man like us."

Pharisee as an authoritative tool with an impressive appearance. At times when that did surface, as can be seen in various places in his writings, it would have been Paul's doing and not God's spirit. This tendency, Paul had to fight against. When faced with the false, superfine apostles, who were infiltrating the Corinthian congregation, Paul sought "not to wage warfare according to the flesh (by using his human, educational and Pharisee credentials) for authority but rather used the spiritual warfare, with the power of God's spirit that dwelt within him, using the spirit's thoughts and reasonings to capture those to the Christ." His "strength and competence came from God." (2 Corinthians 3:5-6)

It was not Paul's credentials, his abilities, his legal knowledge, nor his zealous righteous Jewish background that did any of the work. It was only God's spirit that dwelt inside him, bringing an all-surpassing power, that made Paul so valuable to God.

Is it any different today? Who does God use today? Does he look for those high up a visible human organizational ladder with credentials of a lifetime of pioneering, preaching, and doing full time service? Does he prefer to select the highly theologically educated persons who are more knowledgeable in God's word and make better teachers of this to others? Does he prefer to choose those who give better talks, speeches, sermons, presentations. who can go door to door and place more literature than others? According to the scriptures with the examples shown, the answer is no. "God chooses the foolish to put the wise to shame." He "chooses the weak to put the strong to shame."

The man who is considered as spiritually weak because he does not attend Church / Kingdom Hall meetings, fails in sacrifices and commits sins, the one who is weak and beggarly, this is the type of man God looks for. The righteous ones, the Pioneers, Ministerial servants, Elders, Circuit Overseers, (Bishops, Pastors and Priests) who look down on the spiritually weak for their lack of field service hours, or complete inactivity in human religious organizations, are trusting in their own credentials, reputation and abilities. Meanwhile, the so called spiritually weak sinner, the nobody, who sits outside somewhere, is the one both noticed and chosen by God to do his work of faith and love, not sacrifice.

Paul's Talents Were Still Used, But With God's Strength, God's Wisdom

Paul skills and talents were still used by God. The difference with Paul and the people who relied on their own flesh, as the "false Apostles" who infiltrated the Corinthian congregation did, was that Paul did not rely on his talents and abilities for strength. He gave them up, relying solely on God's spirit for courage, power and strength. He considered the boasting of the flesh to be acting as a "fool" of the world, but if it required for him to boast with his flesh, the he asked "let me be a fool, so I can boast with my flesh as the world does and not from God's spirit" in order to win you back over.

"I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles." I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! What anyone else dares to boast about--I am speaking as a fool--I also dare to boast about." 1 Corinthians 11:1-21

Those who relied on their own abilities, skills and talents were considered by Paul to be "false apostles." On the contrary, Paul became a fool, on account of the Christ and relied solely on God, for strength. "Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."

God still used Paul's talents in speaking valid theology of the Christ and writing 14 powerful letters that are preserved to this day in the Bible. God used Paul to preach while under house arrest and convert high military officers of the Roman army. God also used Paul to speak intelligibly about the Christ to high officials of the Roman government, such as the Governor Felix and others. Paul's arguments were based on both his knowledge and the leading of the Holy Spirit that directed him. Paul had the "war within himself" and sometimes uttered from his flesh, but at most was led by the spirit and did not resort to power plays and pressure tactics, or the imputing of wrong motives.

What did Paul do:

"He reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there." Acts 17:17

Paul had to face the best and the most educated minds of his generation, and he did this by simply proclaiming the good news about the Christ. By doing this, Paul was able to "persuade" many people about the Christ. Learning about the ransom of Christ and the reconciliation of mankind with God was the basis of Paul's message bringing many, such as the Boreans, to examine the scriptures daily to validate Paul's message. (Acts 17)

"Paul cannot be taken literally. He did not write the Word of God. He wrote the words of Paul, a particular, limited, frail human being. But he had contact with a powerful experience that changed his life, and his changed life was instrumental in changing millions of others lives throughout the years of Christian history." (3)