UBC Wed For Life

                                             This is not an argument about Paul, this is an argument against verbal and plenary inspiration. Therefore I will begin by explaining the view of verbal and plenary inspiration. According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV): All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. This verse asserts that whatever is considered as Scripture is breathed out by God. This means that if it is considered Scripture, it is to be taken as what God the Holy Spirit says through the vessel that He is using. It does not matter who the vessel is that He is using, whether it is a prophet, an apostle, a male or a female. This is done according 2 Peter 1:21 by the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit.  knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came

                              Paul is one of the most prominent figures in the New Testament. Between the account of his life in Acts and all of his letters, text about Paul or from Paul makes up quite a bit of the material in the New Testament. It should be no surprise that his words have had a very big impact on Christianity both in how it began and how it is practiced now. We should all be able to agree that, based on what the Bible tells us, Paul was a great man of God. There should also be no debate that if you follow Paul’s instructions you will find yourself on a righteous path. All that said, I believe we have to be careful about how we apply Paul’s teachings. Christians have historically taken what Paul taught and promoted it as the absolute way to behave. That can be problematic in my opinion because I don’t believe everything Paul said should be treated as if it is commandment from God. I also believe that people tend to ignore context when they use Paul’s statements.

                        As believers, we all share the task of trying to navigate God’s Word and come to some understanding of what it means and what God wants and expects from us. When we read the Bible regularly, it’s not uncommon to get the feeling that the Word is alive and speaking directly to us. That should not be a surprise since we have been blessed with the Holy Spirit, who helps us interpret and take inspiration from the Word. With that said, we don’t always get things right, and we don’t always agree with one another about what we read. That’s why it is good to have discussions with other believers about the Bible and what it means. Through those discussions we might gain insight that we did not have before. We might come to a better understanding or begin to see things more clearly after getting another viewpoint. At the end of the day, we all have our own relationship with God and we all eventually have to stand on our own faith and actions when it is time to meet Go