Paul

The last but not the least of the N.T. leaders was Paul. Jesus knew that Paul was aggressive and dedicated to what he believed, but he just believed in the wrong thing. So Jesus, on the road to Damascus, got Paul’s attention and helped him to see the truth and that what Jesus had taught his disciples was correct. Jesus got Paul’s attention and helped him to see the correct path to what the O.T. was teaching. Paul now knew the truth and began to focus on what Jesus wanted him to do. Paul’s training and knowledge that he learned from Gamaliel was now redirected and used to help form the N.T. church.

As we know, Paul wrote 13 or 14 of the N.T. books (Hebrews is in controversy), but in these letters and epistles, he set forth what the churches should do and not do. He helped to set forth the basic foundation of which doctrines were correct for the church and which were not. He, along with Peter and John helped set the pattern for what the believers were to do and be according to what Jesus taught. Much of the N.T. church doctrine and practices were put in place by these three N.T. leaders. What they put into place has guided how the church has grown and progressed. To ignore what these three leaders put into practice is to miss what Jesus taught his disciples.

In our next posts, we will begin to flesh out what the N.T. church did and how it operated. This will form the basis for what the church was to become and how it was to grow. Our modern churches have submerged much of what the early N.T. church laid down and used to spread the Good News. Churches today are lacking the true guidance and power of the Holy Spirit because church leaders today have injected too much of the secular leadership ideas. This has quenched the leadership of the Holy Spirit in many church bodies and has led us into the apostasy of the present church.

N.T. Church

N.T. Main