by Doug Dodd s.b.g.
Recently I read a book titled "Why you say it". It tells where a lot of the phrases that we use
daily come from. The phrase "Robbing Peter to pay Paul" wasn’t in the book but is one that I am
hearing more and more lately along with phrases like "Paul the renegade" and "Paul the trouble
maker".
As we head into the next millenium we can expect to hear more of these kinds of phrases as "grace
churches" continue to press the issue of Pauline authority.
C. I. Scofield was right when he said, "... it is in the Pauline epistles alone that you find the
doctrine, duty and destiny of the church the body of Christ."
For to long has the body of Christ languished in the shadow of the dark ages. Those ages denied the
truth of the "one body, the pre tribulational catching away of the church and salvation by grace
through faith" to the masses. For to long the works of the law have dominated through the preaching
of denominations. It is time for grace believers to become grace soldiers. It is time to make some
waves it is time to rock the boat.
Are we robbing Peter to pay Paul? Not if you ask Peter. Peter understood that the nation of Israel
was being set aside. He understood that the Body of Christ was not spiritual Israel but God’s
agency through which he would work during the present "dispensation of grace" (Eph. 3). He
understood that Paul was writing inspired scripture. (2 Pet 3:15,16) Peter knew the difference
between the "gospel of the circumcision" committed to him and the "gospel of the Uncircumcision"
committed to Paul (Gal. 2).
Are we robbing Peter to pay Paul? Not if you ask the Lord Jesus Christ. For it was the risen Lord
Jesus Christ that gave Paul the revelation of the mystery (Gal 1, Eph. 3, Rom. 16 etcetera,
etcetera, etcetera). It was the risen Lord Jesus Christ that gave
Paul his authority. 1 Cor 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him
acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord."
Do we rob Peter to pay Paul? Not if you ask Paul for he is the chief of sinners, the least of all
saints and our pattern. (1 Tim 1:15, Eph 3:8 & 1 Tim 1:16).
No, it has been the other way around for a long time. Paul and thereby the body of Christ, and
thereby the lost of this world, have been robbed by religion, tradition and denominational
teaching. It is time to get things back in order.
If you are going to be a part of what God is doing today you will have to follow the pattern. The
pattern that God has given us to follow is Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, in the dispensation
of the grace of God.
