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I couldn't find who squint is. Thanks for the compliment.

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Originally posted by 1way

Oh, so at first it's quoting large sections of the bible as though it is your "personal response/answer"

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Genesis 15:6

Hebrews 11:1-40

Romans 3:21-31

Romans 2:28-29

Romans 4:1-25

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Because I already understand ... the unique message ... so these things make natural sense to me, but the average Christian would not appreciate such things

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if you grant the uniqueness of the revelation that was given to him (Paul).

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that this dispensation was delivered in hidden mystery, and is called "the fellowship of the mystery".

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I say it's because the nature of the revelation of these mysteries are more deep than that.

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So, become a workman, rightly dividing the word of truth, and be a wise investor in the things of God by seeking the veiled and hidden things.

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keep searching for the hidden matters

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preach boldly the hidden revelation from God!

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"...that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,..." (1 Corinthians 15:4)

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"...Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now has been made manifest,

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Paul says it, and what he says is that the "Scriptures" held the mystery all along; but that the "reveal"-ation, the uncovering to our eyes of what has always been there to those with eyes to see (Abraham "saw" His Day...) is the Gospel of salvation in Christ Jesus.

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1. kept secret since the world began Ro 16:25, Eph 3:5


2. now revealed Ro 3:21, Eph 3:5, Col 1:26, 2Tim 1:10


3. Paul, (an apostle, teacher) to the gentiles Ro 11:13, 1Tim 2:7 2Tim 1:11


4. Hidden teaching/wisdom 1Cor 2:7, Eph3:9, Col 1:26,


5. mystery revelation Ro 11:25, Ro 16:25, 1Cor 2:6-10, 1Co 4:1, 1Co 15:51, Eph 1:9-10, 3:3-9, 6:19, Col 1:26-27, 2:2, 4:3, 1Tim 3:9,


6. Paul is our pattern, we are to imitate, follow him Phl 3:17, 1Th 1:6, 2Th 3:7, 3:9, 1Tim 1:16, 2Tim 1:13, 3:10

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But Paul himself says: "...Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith"

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Originally posted by jefscott

POW,

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But Paul himself says: "...Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith"

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jefscott: You're assuming that "prophetic Scriptures" refers to the OT instead of Paul's epistles. How could you prove that?

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• Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures..."


• Matthew 26:54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"


• Mark 12:10 Haven't you read this scripture:


• Luke 4:21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."


• Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.


• Luke 24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.


• John 2:22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.


• John 5:39 ...These are the Scriptures that testify about me,


• John 7:42 Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?"


• John 17:12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.


• John 19:37 and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."


• John 20:9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)


• Acts 1:16 and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus–


• Acts 8:32 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.


• Acts 8:35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.


• Acts 17:2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,


• Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.


• Acts 18:28 For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.



• Romans 1:2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures



• Romans 4:3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."



• Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."[ 9:17 Exodus 9:16]


• Romans 10:11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."[ 10:11 Isaiah 28:16]


• Romans 11:2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah–how he appealed to God against Israel:


• Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.


• 1 Corinthians 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[ 15:3 Or you at the first] : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,


• 1 Corinthians 15:4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,


• Galatians 3:8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."[ 3:8 Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18]


• Galatians 3:16
  The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed,"[ 3:16 Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 24:7] meaning one person, who is Christ.


• Galatians 3:22 But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.


• 1 Timothy 4:13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.


• 1 Timothy 5:18 For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,"[ 5:18 Deut. 25:4] and "The worker deserves his wages."[ 5:18 Luke 10:7]


• 2 Timothy 3:15
  and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.



• 2 Timothy 3:16
  All Scripture is God­breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,



• James 2:8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself,"[ 2:8 Lev. 19:18] you are doing right.


• James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[ 2:23 Gen. 15:6] and he was called God's friend.


• James 4:5
  Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?[ 4:5 Or that God jealously longs for the spirit that he made to live in us; or that the Spirit he caused to live in us longs jealously]


• James 4:6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."[ 4:6 Prov. 3:34]


• 1 Peter 2:6 For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."[ 2:6 Isaiah 28:16]


• 2 Peter 1:20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.


• 2 Peter 3:16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

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http://www.svots.edu/Faculty/Paul-Nadim-Tarazi/Extracts/Introduction-to-Mark.html

". . . In these epistles the word "gospel" refers not to a written document but to Paul's teaching about the Messiahship (divine Sonship) of Jesus and its significance for both Gentiles and Jews. "The gospel" in this context is essentially a synonym for "the faith," as is most obvious in Galatians . The agreement reached among Christian leaders at Jerusalem and described in this letter (2:1-10) bears witness to the fact that the lack of interest in a written gospel evident in Paul's epistles is not unique to him: no one during this early period spoke of "a gospel" or "the gospel" as a written document and thus as a part of scripture. There was in fact no "New Testament" as we now know it, and more importantly, there was no discernible sense that something was amiss because of that lack. Indeed, our term "Old Testament" presumes there is a "New" counterpart, but such was not the case at this time. The Old Testament as scripture was considered complete and sufficient throughout those first 30 years.

This was no less true among Gentile believers than it was among Jewish ones; the scripture consisting solely of the Old Testament was considered applicable equally and directly to all believers, Jew and Gentile alike (though Paul's opponents interpreted certain portions of it differently than he did). That even Paul's Gentile converts had to adopt the Old Testament as their own no less than Jews did is clear from the way Paul's epistles assume his Gentile readers have thoroughly assimilated its contents. And the Old Testament's authority extended even to practical issues in Gentile communities, as can be seen in 1 Corinthians: even when Paul addresses matters peculiar to the Gentile nature of those communities -- matters which would not have been issues at all among Jews -- he consistently appeals to the Old Testament writings as a final authority containing solutions to "Gentile" problems no less than strictly "Jewish" ones.
. . .
"The gospel" itself remained an oral proclamation, something outside of written scripture, and we find no evidence in Paul's epistles that oral preaching ever came to be considered inadequate as a vehicle to convey the content of this gospel. Nowhere in Paul's epistles does he hint at any sense of discomfort about the absence of a comprehensive or systematic written version of the content of his preaching. For Paul, the gospel was in its essence brief, and it always pointed back to the scriptures of the Old Testament, as can be seen from his summary of the Thessalonians' response to his preaching: they "turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus" (1 Thess 1:9b-10).

So long as Paul was alive, his teaching was itself "the gospel" and was not replaced or supplemented by any written works that could be called "a gospel" or "gospels." Paul did offer defenses and explanations of his gospel in written form within his epistles, but there was no attempt at a systematic literary exposition, no attempt to create a writing that could itself be called a gospel."

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jefscott: "3:15 ... our dear brother Paul wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him, 3:16 speaking of these things in all his letters. Some things in these letters are hard to understand, things the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they also do to the REST of the scriptures."

POW: This distinguishes his letters from the "rest of" (therefore some other) scriptures.

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Originally posted by jefscott

I still don't see how one could prove that Paul is not referring to his own epistles in Romans 16 when he speaks of "prophetic scriptures."

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1. It is SO "forced" and contrived. Except that you have an ulterior motive you would never think that. To me it just sounds rediculous. And, of course, anyone can tell you that you cannot prove that it is. (Which is as lightweight as your arguement, but true.)

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Originally posted by jefscott

I would contend just the opposite. The context is about a mystery that has been hidden for ages and was only THEN revealed by prophetic scriptures. When you compare that to the verse in Colossians where Paul says it was given TO HIM to fill up the "word of God," even the "mystery," it not only seems reasonable, but eminently reasonable to assume he's speaking of his own epistles as those scriptures which "manifest" that mystery.

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Originally posted by jefscott

POW,

The logical conclusion of your argument seems to be that if we chunked Paul's epistles, we will have lost no revelation. I will remain a heretic and politely disagree.

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From Wesley's Notes. [b]"The last words of this epistle exactly answer the first, chapter i. 1 - 5."


Chapter I
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ - To this introduction the conclusion answers, Romans 15:15, &c. Called to be an apostle - And made an apostle by that calling. While God calls, he makes what he calls. As the Judaizing teachers disputed his claim to the apostolical office, it is with great propriety that he asserts it in the very entrance of an epistle wherein their principles are entirely overthrown. And various other proper and important thoughts are suggested in this short introduction; particularly the prophecies concerning the gospel, the descent of Jesus from David, the great doctrines of his Godhead and resurrection, the sending the gospel to the gentiles, the privileges of Christians, and the obedience and holiness to which they were obliged in virtue of their profession. Separated - By God, not only from the bulk of other men, from other Jews, from other disciples, but even from other Christian teachers, to be a peculiar instrument of God in spreading the gospel.
2 Which he promised before - Of old time, frequently, solemnly. And the promise and accomplishment confirm each other. De 18:18; Isa 9:6,7; 53:1; 61:1; Jer 23:5.
3 Who was of the seed of David according to the flesh - That is, with regard to his human nature. Both the natures of our Saviour are here mentioned; but the human is mentioned first, because the divine was not manifested in its full evidence till after his resurrection.
4 But powerfully declared to be the Son of God, according to the Spirit of Holiness - That is, according to his divine nature. By the resurrection from the dead - For this is both the fountain and the object of our faith; and the preaching of the apostles was the consequence of Christ's resurrection.
5 By whom we have received - I and the other apostles. Grace and apostleship - The favour to be an apostle, and qualifications for it. For obedience to the faith in all nations - That is, that all nations may embrace the faith of Christ. For his name - For his sake; out of regard to him.

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Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and (Mss. te which Sav. omits) by the Scriptures of the Prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: to God only wise, to Him be glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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www.pfrs.org/commentary/rom16_25.html

Romans 16:25-27
Revelation of the Mystery

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Romans 1:1-5 (NKJV) ............ Romans 16:25-27


• the gospel of God ............ my gospel and Jesus Christ's preaching



• which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures ............ made apparent through the prophetic Scriptures



• for obedience to the faith for all nations ............ was made known for all nations for the obedience of faith

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From Wesley's Notes. "The last words of this epistle exactly answer the first, chapter i. 1 - 5."

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I would contend just the opposite. The context is about a mystery that has been hidden for ages and was only THEN revealed by prophetic scriptures. When you compare that to the verse in Colossians where Paul says it was given TO HIM to fill up the "word of God," even the "mystery," it not only seems reasonable, but eminently reasonable to assume he's speaking of his own epistles as those scriptures which "manifest" that mystery.

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Colossians 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God;

Paul's contemporaries had no qualms speaking about Paul's writings which were NOT canonized yet(!!!) as scripture,