After all I quoted in the preceding ‘Links’ proves that the apostle Paul was so sure of what he believed that He could call on the Christians, so that he wrote to them, that they must believe all that he wrote to them! If he could be so forceful in what he wrote to the Corinthians, it is as essential and ‘a must’ for us even if what He wrote is nearly two thousand years ago. Christians of the twenty-first century! we can only be right: if we hold firmly to the word, that Paul preached to the churches. Otherwise, we have believed in vain.’ I would not be able to continue with this important subject, if I did not believe implicitly the Gospel that this great man of God received by direct revelation from our Master, Jesus Christ; it is the only Gospel He preached Himself, without wavering! So did also the apostle Paul after he received it fully from Christ, thus it gives him the right to say:

‘For what I received I passed on unto you as of first importance: That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that He appeared unto Peter, and then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James. (His sibling) then to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.’ (1 Corinthians 15: 3-8) (Out of due time)

It was all according to the Scriptures, meaning, the Old Testament! What started to happen with John the Baptist, and continued by Jesus Christ, then His disciples, was prophesied centuries before it all happened, by men who knew nothing about how and what would happen, yet, God spoke through them, establishing centuries before Jesus came, His plan of redemption which He started to fulfil minutely when He raised John the Baptist to prepare the Jews to accept their Messiah! What He started then, continues to fulfil faithfully in and through Jesus Christ to this very day; it is He, who adds daily to his Church, through the faithful preaching of the Gospel, those that should be saved! 

The gospel and its fulfilment are not man’s work, even Jesus said that the words he was preaching were not His own, but that they were words which he received from His Father! The apostle Paul was preaching and teaching the Gospel with great enthusiasm because He too got it directly by revelation from Jesus when He appeared to him, as I mentioned previously! Writing to the Galatians Paul says: ‘I want you to know, brothers, that the Gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.’ – God, who set me apart from birth and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles. I did not consult any man, nor did I go to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.’ (Galatians 1: 11-12)

I cannot omit to mention Paul’s experience when he was struck by the Lord and after enquiring who was speaking to Him, he heard Jesus say: ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting’. My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of Him who was speaking to me. ‘What shall I do Lord?’ I asked. ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go to Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ My companions led me by the hand to Damascus, because the brilliance of the light blinded me. A man called Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. He stood beside me and said: ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him. Then he said: ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from His mouth. You will be a witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptised and wash your sins away, calling on His name.’ (Acts 22: 24) This proud Pharisee was no more, as a lamb he submitted to the commandment of the Lord, and the great ‘Saul of Tarsus’, needed the ministry of a humble disciple called Ananias, to baptise him and open his blinded eyes.