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.

How to Read the Bible: First, Don’t Misinterpret Paul and Matthew based on John

This was a response in a comment to a reader who asked me about where to start to read the Bible: I tell people to read Mark first because it was the first of the Gospels. Matthew and Luke had … Continue reading

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Rejoicing Over the Judgment of the Wicked

To read Ezekiel 18 and then Psalm 98 right after one another was an astonishing revelation. My Bible reading plan had me do that because I’m reading through the Psalms one at a time as I read through multiple chapters … Continue reading

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How to Become a Christian

A friend of mine suggested that people want to know: How to become a Christian How to live as a Christian How to stay a Christian He and I want to work towards a course, a curriculum, that addresses these … Continue reading

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What the Bible Says about Baptism

The following are verses about water baptism in the New Testament followed by excuses I have personally heard in an attempt to justify the tradition that baptism is a symbolic public testimony. Mark 16:16 – He who believes and is … Continue reading

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Rebooting Redemption, Part IV: Jesus Paid the Price for What?

Warning: my links to Greek definitions are at StudyBible.info, which can be slow to load. I don’t know why, but the site is so useful I bear with it. Link to Part 1. I have a link there to all … Continue reading

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Part 3 of Rebooting Redemption: Ezekiel 18, the Final Judgment, and Repentance

A lot of things have happened since August 28, but I am trying to get back on track today. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven’t. I am going to keep these shorter. Today I just … Continue reading

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Part 2 of Rebooting Redemption: An Ancient Perspective on Jesus’ Atonement

Yesterday, I said I would cover the other Greek words for “redeem” or “redemption” in the New Testament, but yesterday was a really long post. I can’t do that again today, so I am just going to provide something to … Continue reading

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Rebooting Redemption: An Ancient Perspective on Jesus’ Atonement

Purpose of This Series of Posts Part 2 , Part 3 , and Part 4 are written. Honestly, I probably wrote too much and got too far into the definitions of “redeem” and “redemption” in this first post. You should skim … Continue reading

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The Day of Atonement and the Goat for Azazel

I looked up the Kyle-Delitzsch commentary on Lev. 16:8, where a lot is cast for two goats on the day of atonement, one for Yahweh and one for Azazel. Kyle-Delitzsh is, or at least used to be, a prince among … Continue reading

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The Danger of False Assurance: Can a Saved Person Go to Hell?

Assurance We like to assure a new convert that they have eternal life. We point them to verses like John 6:47 and 1 John 5:13 Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life. (John 6:47) … Continue reading

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