In a nutshell, here is what our Apostle Paul shared from house to house…
“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of ALL MEN… This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who WILLS ALL MEN to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom FOR ALL, the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle, I am telling the truth, I am not lying, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth….It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of ALL MEN, especially of believers. PRESCRIBE AND TEACH THESE THINGS.” (1 Timothy 2:1-; 4:9-11)
I do not claim to be smart and I am sure not a theologian. But I have lived a few years and have studied the Bible and observed institutional Christianity most of that time. I am now almost 64 years old and here is a summary of my observations:
God raised up the Apostle Paul to proclaim the truth, the good news that in His Grace and Love God will save the whole world through His son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This “gospel” was received with joy by a few religious men, and many ordinary men who heard the truth…and they rejoiced as Paul shared it in homes, from house to house.
After Paul, Timothy, Titus, etc. died men started organizing these believing families into groups, built buildings to meet in, and hired employees to administer programs designed by these organizations. They started writing down their individual creeds, statements of faith and doctrine. The organization’s doctrine soon became the proclamation of “what the organization must do to save the world”, rather than ANNOUNCING THE GOOD NEWS OF WHAT GOD had done in Christ to save the world. The only portions of the Bible taught thereafter were those which could be interpreted to authenticate the organization’s dogma and doctrines.
By the fourth century, the truth that Paul was given to share was no longer being taught in organizational churches and it is still not taught there today. The organizations today are simply tax exempt entities doing some good things for people but no longer present the whole gospel that God gave Paul to proclaim to the world.
“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of ALL MEN… This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who WILLS ALL MEN to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom FOR ALL, the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle, I am telling the truth, I am not lying, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth….It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of ALL MEN, especially of believers. PRESCRIBE AND TEACH THESE THINGS.” (1 Timothy 2:1-; 4:9-11)
I do not claim to be smart and I am sure not a theologian. But I have lived a few years and have studied the Bible and observed institutional Christianity most of that time. I am now almost 64 years old and here is a summary of my observations:
God raised up the Apostle Paul to proclaim the truth, the good news that in His Grace and Love God will save the whole world through His son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This “gospel” was received with joy by a few religious men, and many ordinary men who heard the truth…and they rejoiced as Paul shared it in homes, from house to house.
After Paul, Timothy, Titus, etc. died men started organizing these believing families into groups, built buildings to meet in, and hired employees to administer programs designed by these organizations. They started writing down their individual creeds, statements of faith and doctrine. The organization’s doctrine soon became the proclamation of “what the organization must do to save the world”, rather than ANNOUNCING THE GOOD NEWS OF WHAT GOD had done in Christ to save the world. The only portions of the Bible taught thereafter were those which could be interpreted to authenticate the organization’s dogma and doctrines.
By the fourth century, the truth that Paul was given to share was no longer being taught in organizational churches and it is still not taught there today. The organizations today are simply tax exempt entities doing some good things for people but no longer present the whole gospel that God gave Paul to proclaim to the world.