Reviving Focus on Jesus' Words Alone

Our mission is to proclaim our Lord Jesus' doctrine that He was the "sole teacher" (Matt.23:8-11). He sternly told the apostles they were not to call themselves or anyone else a "teacher"! (Id.) Jesus explained why when He insisted that the "apostolos is not more important than the one who sent him." (John 13:16.) The Greek word apostolos means either the title of Apostle or messenger or one that is sent. Here Jesus meant He was more important than any Apostle or messenger.

Even John the Baptist realized that despite knowing he himself was the greatest prophet who ever lived prior to Jesus (Matt.11:11), yet he "must decrease" so that unfettered acceptance of Jesus' message would "increase." (John 3:30-31.)

Competing Love For Paul / Pauline Doctrine

The Modern Church has instead fallen in love with Paul, or, more correctly, the points in Paul's writings that soften the requirements of costly grace which Jesus taught. This causes a vying for control over the church. Either Paul and his Dispensation of Grace applies, or Jesus and His costly grace gospel applies, as Bonhoeffer highlighted. We have developed two masters. Mainstream Christian theologians largely defend dismissing Jesus' words as applicable only to a prior dispensation of Law. Sometimes this is called Dispensationalism or Covenant Theology, but it all ends up the same: marginalizing Jesus' words. The famous theologian Rudolf Bultmann even claimed Paul teaches us in 2 Cor. 5:16 that it is necessary to treat Jesus's teachings pre-resurrection as irrelevant. (Bultman on Paul.)

Growing Realization Of This Truth In The Church

This message of focusing only on the words of Jesus as the NT inspired scripture appears overdue. The hunger for this information is testifed to by the number of visitors. Since January 2008, there have been over 945,000 hits -- and currently over 40,000 per month. Over 270 true follows of Jesus have written positive emails and book reviews on Jesus' Words Only and Jesus' Words On Salvation. (See "Reviews" Tab above.) These two books are available here free for download in PDF. (The chapters also have been converted to webpages with free links in the list below.) These books can also be purchased from Amazon and major online retailers.

Works by other authors are highlighted here because they too draw us to trust only Jesus as our true sole teacher and our divinely-indwelled Lord. For more information on general church topics, including articles and books critical of Paulinism, see the popular "Further Reading" tab.

• Jesus' Words Only
• Jesus' Words on Salvation
• Did Calvin Murder Servetus?
• How Not to Study the Bible
• Flaws of Young Earth Science

NEW ADDITIONS

Jesus' Words Only was written by an evangelical Christian who was motivated to write the book in his quest to reconcile Paul to Jesus' words. The historical origins of the canon prove that it originally was intended to focus only upon Jesus' words as the inspired canon. It was a much later notion to believe that letters of apostles were inspired too. Moreover, upon careful examination, there is no validity to saying "Apostle Paul" was appointed as an apostle of Jesus Christ, as it is not verified by two independent witnesses, as Jesus required for His own status as Son of God. Moreover, Jesus appears in Rev. 2:2 to have intended to condemn Paul for teachings contained in Paul's post-conversion period. Specifically, Paul's permission to eat meat sacrificed to idols, which Jesus condemns in Rev. ch. 2. As a result, this bolsters the conclusion that Jesus is the sole inspired prophet (and more than just a prophet) speaking in the New Testament. All others are secondary and unless quoting Jesus, not inspired, and the weight they deserve is for wisdom, not inspiration. For book reviews and reader comments, see Reviews tab at top.

The 584-page book, Jesus' Words on Salvation, is a clear easily read presentation analyzing carefully every reference by Jesus on the topic of salvation. The author, a Christian attorney, proves Jesus' doctrine of salvation involved more than just faith. Jesus reiterated a believer must have works. "The tree without good fruit is cast in the fire." (Matt. 7:19.) The branch "in me" that bears no fruit is "cut off" (harpazo'ed) and "thrown in the fire." (John 15:2, 6). These verses are corroborated in numerous other passages. The Preface reviews how the Reformers Tyndale, Melancthon, Bucer, and even the mature Luther made a course correction, and taught "double justification" to incorporate this truth. This doctrine taught that initial salvation is by faith alone for the non-believer. However, once one was a believer, salvation depended upon a secondary justification by works. This is what persuaded Bonhoeffer to teach the same. This book is an effort at a scholarly review which is intended to be readable by anyone. It is designed to be fair, by including all significant sides of the interpretation of the words of Jesus so that the reader can make a fully informed decision on what the final judge, Jesus, will require on Judgment Day. For reviews and reader comments, see the "Reviews" tab at the top of the page.

Did Calvin Murder Servitus? We recommend this book because it makes us focus on Jesus by proving one of the icons of the Reformation was quite human. This book examines the conflict between Calvin and Michael Servetus, a medical doctor and Christian who challenged the doctrine of the trinity while maintaining Jesus' divinity. Servetus published his view that Jesus' divinity derived solely from being the Word, and not from His status as the "eternal" Son of God. John Calvin filed a criminal complaint against Servetus as a heretic for this view and for Servetus dissent from infant baptism. Calvin then had Servetus tried and put to death. The author, Mr. Rives, a practicing attorney and Christian, thoroughly examines the case and concludes that John Calvin deliberately murdered Servetus contrary to his own principles of tolerance of heretics as well as the prevailing laws at Geneva. Rives concludes that Calvin took offense at Servetus' view in 1546 that Calvin had a "doctrine of demons" for believing an infant becomes a member of the New Covenant by baptism. Calvin's revenge was to have Servetus killed for points of doctrine when Calvin himself previously said killing heretics was un-Christian and violates Scripture. If you wish to see Mr. Rives's website, go here. To email him, you can reach him at standfordrives@gmail.com.