Who is your Apostle?

[amadeus]

So, according to you, we are NOT to """RIGHTLY DIVIDE THE WORD OF TRUTH""". WE are to blend them all together and interpret the contradictions to support a theology. Where does that leave us?

2 Tim 2:15-16
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.
NKJV

Why would you presume that he @Episkopos is not while you are... that is... dividing the word of truth? Is not the truth to be found through the Holy Ghost? Could not either of you or both of you at times be in error and at time be correct according to God?

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26

Anytime a person, be it you or our friend Episkopos or I, is not rightly dividing then in that measure at that time are not you or him or I really a liar in the eyes of God? The good thing is that if either of you or me is coming up short, we hopefully have time and room to grow as John the Baptist stated it here:

"He must increase, but I must decrease" John 3:30

Tha is as I see it, the He of Jesus must increase in us even as the old man self of each us must decrease in each of us. As we approach this way will there not be fewer and fewer lies told in ignorance?

With regard to the OP, do we absolutely need to have an apostle in order to approach God is it simply something extra He holds out to some or all?

"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:" Eph 4:11-13

 

[H. Richard]

Why would you presume that he @Episkopos is not while you are... that is... dividing the word of truth? Is not the truth to be found through the Holy Ghost? Could not either of you or both of you at times be in error and at time be correct according to God?

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26

Anytime a person, be it you or our friend Episkopos or I, is not rightly dividing then in that measure at that time are not you or him or I really a liar in the eyes of God? The good thing is that if either of you or me is coming up short, we hopefully have time and room to grow as John the Baptist stated it here:

"He must increase, but I must decrease" John 3:30

Tha is as I see it, the He of Jesus must increase in us even as the old man self of each us must decrease in each of us. As we approach this way will there not be fewer and fewer lies told in ignorance?

With regard to the OP, do we absolutely need to have an apostle in order to approach God is it simply something extra He holds out to some or all?

"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:" Eph 4:11-13

A good religious sermon but I see you will not say who you place your faith in as to the message of grace. I do wish people would just say what they believe rather that preach a religious sermon and accuse me of having wronged someone.

According to the scriptures Paul was sent to the Gentiles. Since I am a Gentile then PAUL IS MY APOSTLE. He was directly sent to the world with the gospel of grace which said Jesus satisfied the law FOR US. Those that say otherwise are not believing what Jesus told Ananias.

Acts 9:15-17
15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.
16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake."
17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
NKJV

 

[Episkopos]

A good religious sermon but I see you will not say who you place your faith in as to the message of grace. I do wish people would just say what they believe rather that preach a religious sermon and accuse me of having wronged someone.

According to the scriptures Paul was sent to the Gentiles. Since I am a Gentile then PAUL IS MY APOSTLE. He was directly sent to the world with the gospel of grace which said Jesus satisfied the law FOR US. Those that say otherwise are not believing what Jesus told Ananias.

Acts 9:15-17
15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.
16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake."
17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
NKJV

Peter warned us about those who would twist the meaning of Paul's message to their own destruction. You are making a classic case for this by fully ignoring the wholesome words of Jesus.

1 Tim. 6:3 If anyone teaches another doctrine and disagrees with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and semantics, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions,

This idea you have about grace is not of God. It is from the pit of hell to stop righteousness and holiness from taking root in the church.

 

[amadeus]

A good religious sermon but I see you will not say who you place your faith in as to the message of grace. I do wish people would just say what they believe rather that preach a religious sermon and accuse me of having wronged someone.

Did I accuse you of wronging someone? You did suggest that our friend @Episkopos might not be rightly dividing the word of truth, did you not? I simply tried to pose the question as it might be applied to anyone, including you or me.

My faith, as I strive to place it, would be in God. As for any man, I ask God to help me to render honour to whom honour is due [per Rom 13:7] . If we are led always by the Holy Spirit we will never miss on that one but who among us has never missed?

According to the scriptures Paul was sent to the Gentiles. Since I am a Gentile then PAUL IS MY APOSTLE. He was directly sent to the world with the gospel of grace which said Jesus satisfied the law FOR US. Those that say otherwise are not believing what Jesus told Ananias.

Acts 9:15-17
15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.
16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake."
17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
NKJV

There may be cause for calling a particular group gentiles [non-Hebrew or Jewish] according to the scripture but does not the word simply mean "heathen"? The Israelites or Jews are supposed to be God's people but when they have effectively cut themselves off from God by their actions or beliefs are such persons [physical Jews] not really heathens [or gentiles]?

Once we have become a "child of God", a "follower of Christ" [if we ever do really], how appropriate is the word, Gentile, to describe us unless we are talking strictly about the genealogy of our flesh and so defining it?

So then are you now really a gentile as God would understand it... as it is usually used in the scriptures? I doubt that you are a heathen even if you once were. God's people, those who really are, are not heathen, are they?

The heathen as I see it now in the scriptures are the dead who are staying dead, at least for the moment out or ignorance or choice. Jesus was like speaking about physical Jews when He spoke these words:

"...let the dead bury their dead." Matt 8:22

Although they were physical Jews, as the "dead" were they not effectively then in the eyes of God, heathens or gentiles?

 

[Mike Dwight]

Does anyone else have more evidence of how all Christians were narrowed to follow Peter, to 1 of the 12 Apostles, Peter? Clearly the Catholic claim is, if St. Peter is the First Pope, then the Popes are in line from Peter, then the Catholic Church place one Apostle above the others, using the Christening of Peter as the reason. Saint Andrew "the First Called" shows up in Orthodoxy and Presbyterianism, I don't see him often elsewhere. If you follow the preaching of the Great Commission, Greek Anatolia was First, the spread was decentralized, and in fact, the first mission of the Catholic Church in the 400 ADs as often depicted, is St Patrick of Ireland. Revelation addresses 7 now, non-existant churches and places of Greek Anatolia. Just don't get your sources from Peter's Basilica in Rome.

 

[marksman]

Is it the 12 who were told to not go in the way of the Gentiles and who never repealed the Law of Moses?

Or is it Paul who was sent by Jesus to the Gentiles with the Gospel of grace that excluded the Law?

I don't need an apostle as I have a high priest who is always making intercession for me.

 

[Preacher4Truth]

Gal 2:7-9
7 But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter
8 (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles),
9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
NKJV

In the above the writer lists two gospels. If it is not saying that then what is it saying?

Acts 11:19
19 Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only.
NKJV

According to these scriptures The 12 (or 11) made an agreement with Paul that he (Paul) would go to the Gentiles and they (the 12) would go to the Jews. ---- Did they keep that agreement?

It looks like they did in Acts 11:19.

It should be seen that the 12 only agreed that the Gentiles did not have to keep the Law of Moses but it never says that the Jews did not have to.

Just my observations. What do you see in these verses of scripture?

Please don't preach a sermon with other scriptures I am only thinking about these. Please, lets not have a scripture battle.

There is only one Gospel, Roman's 1:16. Your desire for others to not use other Scripture is not according to 2 Timothy 2:15.