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.

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

Posted in Bible, Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Gospel, Modern Doctrines, Through the Bible | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted in atonement, Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Modern Doctrines, Rebuilding the Foundations, Teachings that must not be lost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in Bible, Early Christianity, Modern Doctrines, Rebuilding the Foundations, Teachings that must not be lost | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Church History 3: The Faith Once For All Delivered to the Saints

If you missed Church History Focused on the Parts that Interest You 2, it’s because I didn’t know when I started the post that it would be a Church History lesson. Thus, the title does not have “Church History” in … Continue reading

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The Rest of the Old, Old Story: What Does It Mean To Be Catholic?

Note: I made this part 2 of my “Church History Focused on the Parts that Interest You” series. Part 1 has links to the entire series. This is a response to “Restless Pilgrim’s” post, “Before 300: Pre-Constantinian Christianity.” There he has … Continue reading

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A History of the Church Focused on the Parts That Interest You; Part 1: The inspired traditions of the apostles.

My wife suggested I write a church history so that she can read it. I am going to do that bit by bit on this blog … I hope. (Part 2, Part 3) I should point out that I am … Continue reading

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1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and Other Warning Passages Are Practical Not Theology

Posted in Bible, Gospel, Holiness, Modern Doctrines, Rebuilding the Foundations, Teachings that must not be lost, Verses Evangelicals Ignore | Leave a comment

1 John, 2 Peter, Eternal Security and Assurance

A friend of mine posted a video of a preacher going on and on about his incorrect theology of the atonement and eternal security. He tagged just me when he posted the video. Here is what I responded: Have you … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Evangelicals, Gospel, Modern Doctrines, Rebuilding the Foundations, Verses Evangelicals Ignore | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jesus Prefers Unity of Spirit to Unity of Bishops and Popes

So someone commented on my YouTube video on the rise of the pope on YouTube with “So in your view, Christ had no plan for how His Church would survive for the rest of time and unending? How old is … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Early Christianity, History, Leadership, Rebuilding the Foundations, Roman Catholic & Orthodox | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment