WAS PAUL A FALSE APOSTLE?

NONSENSE!

First of all I am speechless and shocked of the things I read and hear today. There is a hideous accusation circulating on social media that Paul was a false apostle who contradicted Jesus and deceived the church. Some even describe his ministry as part of an Antichrist deception.

That is a very serious charge. It deserves more scrutiny than a sensational video and a handful of verses absolutely stripped from their context.

I am deeply troubled when christians casually repeat or support it. Before calling a man a false apostle, we had better examine what Jesus actually taught and what Paul actually preached. Disagreeing with someone’s interpretation of Paul is one thing. Declaring Paul an enemy of Christ is another.

Did Paul contradict Jesus, or have we failed to understand their audiences, their covenant settings, and the transition taking place?

THE KINGDOM MESSAGE CAME TO ISRAEL FIRST

Jesus gave His twelve disciples a specific instruction during His earthly ministry:

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Matthew 10:5

But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matthew 10:6

And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 10:7

At that stage, their commission was to Israel, not the Gentiles. Israel possessed the covenant promises, and Israel’s Messiah had come announcing the kingdom.

But that initial restriction was not a permanent exclusion of the nations. Jesus later commissioned His disciples to teach all nations in Matthew 28:19. The mission expanded according to His own command.

Paul’s commission to the Gentiles therefore did not overturn Jesus’ purpose. It carried forward the promised blessing of the nations through Israel’s Messiah.

THE COVENANT SETTING MATTERS

Jesus was born under the law. During His earthly ministry, the temple stood, the Levitical priesthood functioned, and Israel lived under the Mosaic covenant. His instructions must be read within that setting.

Through His death, Jesus inaugurated the new covenant. Paul subsequently ministered within the first-century transition, when the new covenant had been established but the old covenant order had not yet disappeared.

In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 8:13

Notice the language: ready to vanish away.

From a fulfilled perspective, this transition reached its historical consummation in the judgment upon Jerusalem and its temple in AD 70. The apostles ministered during that approaching change of the ages.

We cannot flatten the entire New Testament into one moment and then call its unfolding instructions contradictions.

Jesus directing a cleansed leper to the priest before the cross and Paul refusing to place Gentile converts under circumcision after the cross must be understood within that unfolding covenant story.

Now let us compare their teaching.

JESUS: THE KINGDOM WAS AT HAND

Jesus announced the nearness of God’s kingdom and called His hearers to repentance and faith.

And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Mark 1:15

PAUL: HE PREACHED THAT SAME KINGDOM

Paul did not abandon the kingdom to invent a different religion. Acts closes by describing his ministry in unmistakable terms.

Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.
Acts 28:31

JESUS: ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH FAITH IN HIM

Jesus directed people to believe in Him for everlasting life.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
John 6:47

PAUL: SALVATION THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST

When asked how to be saved, Paul and Silas pointed the jailer to the same Lord Jesus.

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Acts 16:31

JESUS: HIS BLOOD ESTABLISHED THE NEW COVENANT

At the supper, Jesus identified His approaching death with the new covenant and the forgiveness of sins.

For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Matthew 26:28

PAUL: HE REPEATED THAT NEW COVENANT MESSAGE

Paul instructed the Corinthians concerning the same supper, the same blood, and the same covenant.

After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
1 Corinthians 11:25

JESUS: LOVE ONE ANOTHER

Jesus made love the identifying mark of His disciples.

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
John 13:34

PAUL: WALK IN THAT SAME LOVE

Paul grounded Christian love in the example and sacrifice of Christ.

And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Ephesians 5:2

JESUS: BLESS THOSE WHO CURSE YOU

Jesus commanded His disciples to respond to hostility with blessing and prayer.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:44

PAUL: BLESS THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU

Paul taught the same response to persecution.

Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
Romans 12:14

JESUS: THE LAW AND PROPHETS POINTED TOWARD FULFILLMENT

Jesus expressly connected the law and the prophets with fulfillment in Himself.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Matthew 5:17

PAUL: CHRIST WAS THE GOAL OF THE LAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS

Paul proclaimed the saving significance of that fulfillment. Righteousness was found in Christ rather than through placing believers under the Mosaic covenant.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Romans 10:4

These verses need to be studied together. Jesus’ promise to fulfill the law cannot be turned into a demand that the Mosaic covenant continue forever regardless of its fulfillment.

JESUS: JUDGMENT WITHIN THAT GENERATION

Jesus placed His warning of coming judgment within the lifetime of His hearers.

Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Matthew 24:34

PAUL: THE DAY WAS APPROACHING

Writing later within that same first-century generation, Paul described the approaching day with corresponding urgency.

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Romans 13:12

Within the fulfilled reading, these statements belong to the same approaching covenant consummation. Jesus announced it; Paul ministered as it drew nearer.

GRACE AND THE KINGDOM BELONG TOGETHER

Perhaps the clearest answer to the supposed division appears in two consecutive verses. Paul described his commission as proclaiming grace:

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 20:24

Then he immediately described that ministry as preaching the kingdom:

And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
Acts 20:25

The gospel of grace in one verse. The kingdom of God in the next. The same man describing the same ministry.

The supposed contradiction collapses right there.

A WORD TO CHRISTIANS REPEATING THIS ACCUSATION

We should be ashamed of how easily a sensational accusation can replace careful Bible study. Calling Paul a false apostle is a grave accusation against the man whom Acts presents as commissioned by the risen Christ.

Questions are welcome. Difficult passages deserve honest examination. But reckless accusations deserve a firm rebuke.

Do not mistake suspicion for discernment or a social media platform for sound interpretation. Put the passages on the table. Identify the audience. Honor the covenant setting. Account for the transition. Then establish an actual contradiction.

Paul preached the kingdom, proclaimed Christ’s grace, taught Christ’s commands, and explained the significance of Christ’s finished work.

Before accusing Paul of betraying Jesus, make sure you have understood them both.

The apostle Paul wrote more books of the New Testament than any other individual, repeatedly affirming the teaching of Jesus and directing believers to Him. His message consistently exalted the Lord who commissioned him.

To dismiss Paul as a false apostle reveals a serious misunderstanding of Scripture. I say that firmly, but with a sincere invitation: let’s slow down, examine the passages, and consider their context before repeating such a damaging and deleterious accusation.

We can ask honest questions without making reckless charges. Let us please see the harmony they may have overlooked. Read Jesus carefully. Read Paul carefully. You will find an apostle faithfully proclaiming exalting his savior.