Author Archives: Paul Pavao

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About Paul Pavao

I am married, the father of six, and currently the grandfather of five. I teach, and I am always trying to learn to disciple others better than I have before. I believe God has gifted me to restore proper theological foundations to the Christian faith. In order to ensure that I do not become a heretic, I read the early church fathers from the second and third centuries. They were around when all the churches founded by the apostles were in unity. My philosophy for Bible reading is to understand each verse for exactly what it says in its local context. Only after accepting the verse for what it says do I compare it with other verses to develop my theology. If other verses seem to contradict a verse I just read, I will wait to say anything about those verses until I have an explanation that allows me to accept all the verses for what they say. This takes time, sometimes years, but eventually I have always been able to find something that does not require explaining verses away. The early church fathers have helped a lot with this. I argue and discuss these foundational doctrines with others to make sure my teaching really lines up with Scripture. I am encouraged by the fact that the several missionaries and pastors that I know well and admire as holy men love the things I teach. I hope you will be encouraged too. I am indeed tearing up old foundations created by tradition in order to re-establish the foundations found in Scripture and lived on by the churches during their 300 years of unity.

Living in Holiness: Shaped by God and Man

I have been emailing back and forth with someone. I forget how he  found me, but we have moved from theology to behavior. “To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam. 15:22), and it is also better than theology. Today, … Continue reading

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What Is Sound Doctrine?

I was talking with one of our pastors about Titus 3:5 and 3:8. In Titus 3:5, Paul tells us that we were not saved by “works of righteousness,” but by God’s mercy. In 3:8, though, he tells Titus: This saying … Continue reading

Posted in atonement, Bible, Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Gospel, Modern Doctrines, Rebuilding the Foundations | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What Is Grace?

Someone wrote me asking about things I have written about grace. Here was my response: 1. The theory of living out “grace.” First, grace is a made up word. The Greek word charis (pronounced Ka-rees) sounds like grace. “Grace” is a … Continue reading

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Interpreting Romans by Believing What It Says, Part 4: Romans 1:15-16; Paul’s Powerful Gospel

Part 3 was a history of the church in Rome beginning with Romans 1:8 and Rome’s famed faith. Part 1 has links to the whole series. Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, because it … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Gospel, Holiness, Modern Doctrines, Rebuilding the Foundations, Roman Catholic & Orthodox, Unity | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Interpreting Romans by Believing What it Says: Chapter 1, Part 3 (a history of the Roman church)

Note: I used to have links open in a new tab per advice I got 20 years ago. Today I quit doing that. I’m going to assume that all of you know to right click if you want a link … Continue reading

Posted in Early Christianity, History, Roman Catholic & Orthodox, Through the Bible, Unity | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Interpreting Paul’s Letter to the Romans by Believing What It Says: Chapter 1, Part 2 (the apostles’ preaching)

Part 1 was the introduction. Part 3 uses Romans 1:8 to address the history of the Roman church. Today, we will look at Romans 1:-4-5. I am going to put off Romans 1:8 till the next post. It will be … Continue reading

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Interpreting Romans 1 through 8: Introduction

Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5 … This is the first of a series of posts on Romans 1 through 8. The reason I am adding one more commentary on Romans to the hundreds or perhaps thousands that … Continue reading

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Peter Wanted to Constantly Remind Us That Good Works Will Make Your Calling and Election Sure

Tiny but critically important post today. After all, if Peter wanted to continually remind us about these things and Paul warned us not to be deceived about the same things, then these things must be extremely important. So I wrote … Continue reading

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Penal Substitution and Jesus as a Sin Offering: An Ancient Perspective

This is the completion of a post I wrote on March 5 addressing Christus Victor and Jesus’ ransoming us. My exposition from the Scriptures on the atonement can never be the final word. The death and resurrection of Jesus is … Continue reading

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Christus Victor: Atonement by Ransom and Offering

Rather than make this post 6,000 words long, I separated the section on Jesus death as an offering and made it a second post. I am going to consolidate them into a booklet, so please hammer me in the comments … Continue reading

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