PAUL'S FINAL WORDS

PAUL'S FINAL WORDS

Recently I took the time to read the "final words" with which Paul always ended his various letters to the young churches he had started. It was an interesting exercise that I would suggest everyone should do. It was sort of a trade mark of his, and was often accompanied with his personal signature. His letters were all actually written by one of his faithful helpers, who sometimes identified themselves, but not always. Because some false apostles were circulating letters that they said were from Paul, he liked to identify his own with his personal trade mark. At the end of Romans, which was his longest, and most detailed of all his letters, you need to read the last 10 verses of chapter 16. He started verse 17 with "And now I make one more appeal to dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions, and upset people's faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them." This has been going on in the church for centuries, ever since the church became joined to the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine in the fourth century!

Shortly after that date, various theologians started teaching their separate doctrines. Each one believed his particular doctrine was correct, and therefore all others must be wrong! This has been the source of confusion and numerous church splits down through the centuries. Finally God was able to get enough church leaders to agree on a common list of manuscripts to compile what came to be known as our "Holy Bible", composed of 66 books. There have been many translations from these original manuscripts, and now translated into many different languages. But God has guided the writing and protection of His Word down through the years. God directed Paul to write in his second letter to his young associate Timothy, in (2 Tim 3:16-17) some very confirming words about the scriptures! Because the Bible is the Eternal Word of God, we can depend on it to check out the accuracy of any "doctrines" and all so-called "prophetic words" given by any man down through history even until today. Paul preached to the people of Berea, and it is recorded in (Acts 17:11) "And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those of Thessalonica, and they searched the scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching them the truth." This is the same way we should check out any word that is supposed to be from God, because many "false prophets" are still putting out their dangerous doctrines today. Jesus warned us of this in (Matt 24:5, 11, 24) so we "must" beware!!
Sincerely submitted
Dave Jamer