Month: June 2021

Paul writes, “You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?” (Rom. 2:22). What does this mean?

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Problem: Ephesians 2:3 asserts that all humans are “by nature children of wrath.” But Paul speaks here of unbelieving Gentiles who “by nature do the things contained in the law” (Rom. 2:14). These two things seem mutually opposed. Continue reading →

Problem: Ephesians 2:8-9 claims that we cannot earn salvation through good works, but here, Paul writes that good works can earn us salvation. Which is true?

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Problem: Paul speaks here of “seeking” immortality. He also refers to acquiring it at the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:53). However, Jesus taught that the soul is immortal, that is, it cannot be destroyed by death (Luke 12:5). Paul also insists that the soul survives death (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; cf. Rev. 6:9). But which is it—do we already possess immortality or do we only acquire it at the resurrection?

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Problem: According to some homosexuals, when Paul spoke against what is “unnatural” in Romans 1:26, he was not declaring that homosexuality was morally wrong, but simply that it was unnatural for homosexuals. “Unnatural” is used in a sociological, not a biological way. So rather than condemning homosexual practices, it is argued that this passage actually approves of them for homosexuals. Continue reading →

Problem: Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me” (John 14:6). Also, Acts 4:12 says of Christ, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (nasb). But what if someone has never heard the Gospel of Christ, will he be eternally lost? Paul seems to answer this in the affirmative. But is it fair to condemn people who have never even heard about Christ?

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Problem: The Bible teaches that God loves the world (Jn. 3:16), but he allows people to get into sin.

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Problem: The Bible teaches that God is love (1 Jn. 4:8). However, Paul claims that God is wrathful and angry. Critics argue that this gives God an anthropomorphic quality—being “mad” or “angry.” Is this the case?

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Problem: Some Preterist interpreters argue that Paul really believed that the gospel had reached the entire world, as Jesus predicted before the end of human history (Mt. 24:14). However, the gospel has clearly not reached all nations yet.

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Problem: Paul writes, “We have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake” (Rom. 1:5). Commentator and NT scholar John Stott writes,

The Greek phrase is very compact. Neither noun (‘obedience’ and ‘faith’) has an article, which we should expect if a distinction was being drawn between them and one were to be conceived as a result of the other. Instead, ‘obedience and faith’ appears to be the one response desired by the evangelist, a personal abandonment of obedience-and-faith or, if you prefer, ‘obedient faith.’[1]
Under this view, Paul is saying that both obedience and faith are both necessary for salvation. While we do desire believers to obey God, is Paul saying that this is a requirement for salvation?

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When Paul saw the light at Jesus‘ appearance on the road to Damascus, did he fall down to the ground? Yes, he did. The different verses in Scripture are simply describing the same thing in different ways. Acts 9:3-4 and Acts 26:13-14

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Problem: The high priest Ananias commanded that Paul be struck on the mouth. Paul rebuked him for doing so, and those who stood by condemned Paul for reviling the high priest. Paul responded by claiming, “I did not know … that he was the high priest” (Acts 23:5). But this is highly unlikely, since Paul himself was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin and worked closely with him before his conversion (Acts 9:1–3).

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Problem: Paul refers to Ananias—the high priest—as a “whitewashed wall.” It was illegal to revile rulers in Israel (Ex. 22:28), and Paul later retracts this comment. Was this a sin for Paul to react like this? Also, how could Paul—a former Pharisee—not know who the high priest was?

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Problem: Luke records,

“Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; 24 take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. 25 But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.’ 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them” (Acts 21:23-26).

Paul was previously against the necessity of following the Law (Gal. 2; Acts 15). Moreover, the author of Hebrews considers animal sacrifices as a case of apostatizing from Christ. Did Paul succumb to pressure in offering this sacrifice at the Temple?

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