We know God chose Paul as an apostle and breathed His words into Paul. We can believe all Paul wrote as coming from the Lord Himself. But we need to decide if that word was explaining scripture or adding to scripture.
Christ told us that what He did was not adding or taking away from scripture, but it was fulfilling scripture. If Paul taught something new, then Paul would be greater than Christ.
The Bereans tested Paul by whether he agreed with scripture or not. Acts 17:11 “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
Much of Paul’s writings were repeats of what the old testament said, he felt it explained what he said.
Did Paul add something new that God was adding to scripture?
Where most people make their mistake is they take Paul's "LETTERS to Churches" as THUS SAITH THE LORD, and even Paul himself never intended that to be the case, else we would not have gotten such confused situationS, like in 2 Thess. 2, where Paul says, REMEMBER WHER I WAS WITH YOU I TOLD YOU THESE THINGS?
What did Paul tell the Thessalonians? It would help if we knew, it would also help us understand what was DEPARTING, (which I understand anyway) because that is what Paul was referencing. Paul told them before they should fear being in the Day of the Lord or God's Wrath, but here they were fretting and fearing again in their letter unto Paul about being in God's Wrath, so Paul has to reassure them, you are not in God's Wrath, I urgently ask you (Beseech) as per the gathering unto Christ Jesus (Rapture) that you allow no man to place fear in you or to lie unto you, as per that you are in the Day of the Lord, because "THAT DAY" (God's Wrath) can not come until THE DEPARTING [of the Church]........... "REMEMBER YE NOT THAT WHICH I TOLD YOU REFERS TO THIS RIGHT HERE", the Church DEPARTS, thus Paul only says THE DEPARTING, but since he had already told them the Church was going to be Gathered unto Christ, he just says DEPARTING, and they know what he is referring unto, but many modern-day Christians seem confused, all because this was a MERE LETTER unto a Church that Paul never intended to be Scriptures, else he would have CLARIFIED he was talking about the Church Departing via the Rapture !!
Yesterday I had a guy online call me a liar because he quoted a passage by Paul in Romans 13:1-2 that he says means all Governments are ordained by God. I tell him that is not what it means per see. Paul was basically in a letter to the Romans telling them God ALLOWS these Governments, so in your case, if you try to rebel, these Romans will kill you and your families, in other words right now it's hopeless. But under the Americans Revolution was possible, and God-ordained that. God ordained David, but allowed Saul to be king for a time, God didn't want Israel to have a king, but He allowed it. I do think God placed Trump in office, I don't think it was God's will to have Biden in per se, but He allowed the theft of the election for His grand purposes. I don't think God ordained Hitler, Mao, and Lenin, but God allowed Satan to have his way, after all, he is the god of this world, he told Jesus he has authority over all the nations as given unto him.
So, is what Paul said scriptural? Yes, God ALLOWS IT, but no, God does not ordain these men as leaders, our wicked hearts chose wicked me who the scheme wicked schemes to have THEIR DESIRES come to pass in many cases, and it is not of God. So, that verse is taken out of context, all because Paul didn't expound on it, and probably couldn't outright say the Romans were thug dogs. lest they gain access to a letter he writes, kills him, and all the whole Church. Paul needed to get the Church off the ground, he didn't need the Romans trying to wipe out the Fledgling new Church.
So, while I think the letters are very insightful, God never told Paul "THUS SAITH THE Lord" and Paul never pretended in these letters that these were anything but guidance. There are too many gaps in his letters to get a full understanding in some cases. In Romans 13:1-2 Paul is basically telling them do not Rebel, God has allowed this Government, yet we have people who take this as God ORDAINS these evil Governments, and if you don't agree with that (Paul) you are a liar (LOL). If Paul wrote a letter to someone named Mary in the Church of let's say Pergamum, who was in despair because of her singing ability and Paul told her she had the voice of all voices, would she have been the greatest singer of all time, or was Paul merely comforting her screeching, out of tune big mouth, where she would not be in despair in longer, seeing as that is the most important thing, to comfort brothers and sisters !! Leading a Church, building it up, is not the same thing as what Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah did, they said "THUS SAITH THE LORD". Paul was building Churches and comforting people.
If a sign says NO SWIMMING and a kid is drowning, it's time to go swimming !! Jesus fudged on the Sabbath by healing, the Pharisees saw it as Blasphemy. Thus saith the Lord and MERCY are two different things.
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