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Peter did have primacy as chief Apostle! I shall amply prove that.
YET PETER WAS NOT A'POPE! There is a vast DIFFERENCE!
Remember, an Apostle is "ONE SENT FORTH WITH THE GOSPEL". The
Roman Catholic pope sits permanently, uriless,:as some ,few have done,
he takes a trip to some other place--not as carrying the Gospel, but
as a POLITICAL HEAD OF STATE.
Yet the Apostles were the teachers, who instilled in the Church
the BELIEFS, TEACHINGS, PRACTICES AND CUSTOMS of the Church. And all
members of the Church were required by God to BELIEVE, and SPEAK THE
SAME THING!
In the Church at Corinth, Paul began his letter, INSPIRED as part
of GOD'S WORD, by saying, "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name
of our Lord J � s 1;1 s . Chd.st, that ye all speak the same thing, and that
there be no divisions among you" (I Cor. 1:10).
Paul's letter to the Corinthians was CORRECTIVE, as were his
letters to other churches, and he was inspired to speak in the name
of and AUTHORITY of Jesus Christ. For, he said, (verses 11-12}, ".
that there are contentions among you." " ... that every one of you
saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of
Christ." THEY WERE BEGINNING TO FOLLOW INDIVIDUAL LEADERS. They
supposed those leaders differed in their teaching, though in fact
those mentioned did all speak and teach THE SAME THING as CHRIST had
instructed.
SOURCE of Church Beliefs
Let's GET THIS STRAIGHT; once and for all!
beliefs, teachings, customs and practices in the
GOD HIMSELF! Not any man. Jesus said, "I have
myself,
11
--the FATHER had instructed Him! Jesus,
His Apostles in Person!
The SOURCE of the
Church of God is
spoken nothing of
in turn, taught
THERE WAS NO DOCTRINAL BOARD! The teachings of the Church did not
come from a COUNCIL of ministers and/or lay members, who voted on
what to believe.
Right here, SOME are going to ask, "WHAT ABOUT ACTS 15? Wasn't
that the first Church Council at Jerusalem, to settle points of
doctrine? THE ANSWER IS NO! And I intend to devote enough space in
this article to clear up that point!
So far, I have shown you from Galatians 1 and 2 that Peter was the
chief Apostle to the House of Israel, and Paul to the Gentiles. Now
I will show you that Peter actually had PRIMACY OVER ALL.
At the very founding of the New Testament Church of God, it was
PETER who stood up and explained what had occurred--preaching the
first sermon in the Chruch that led to 3,000 converts (Acts 2:14-39).
A day or two later,
said to the cripple, "In
up and walk" (Acts 3:6).
crowd thus attracted that
the number became 5,000. It was Peter who
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise
It was PETER who preached the sermon to the
converted 2,000 more.