Monday, July 13, 2015
HOW THE APOSTLE PAUL DEPRIVES MUSLIMS OF SLEEP
By Maxwell Shimba Ministries Org
Among the people who most trouble our Muslim brethren is the hero of the Lord Jesus — the Apostle Paul. This opposition did not begin with Muslims alone; it started long ago with those who upheld the Law during Paul’s time — the Pharisees, the chief priests, the scribes, and the ordinary Jews who followed Judaism.
Muslims are simply continuing the same old spirit of opposition against the saving Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Below are some of the reasons Muslims often give for rejecting the Apostle Paul, as I encountered them on a Facebook post by a Muslim brother:
ONE: They claim that Paul prohibited circumcision; that’s why most Christians today are uncircumcised.
Answer:
Circumcision is merely a matter of physical health; it has no relation to entering heaven. If you choose to be circumcised, it benefits your body, not your soul. What goes to heaven is the soul, not the body. Whether circumcised or not, the body decays in the grave.
Therefore, God used circumcision as a symbol of spiritual truth, not physical ritual.
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Deuteronomy 10:16: “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.”
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Deuteronomy 30:6: “The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.”
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Jeremiah 4:4: “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done.”
TWO: They claim Paul was a terrorist who killed Jesus’ followers, then pretended to be their apostle in order to destroy them intellectually.
Answer:
That’s a laughable argument. Since when have you cared about the disciples of Jesus? What do you say about the extremist groups that kill Christians today, destroy churches, and force people to worship false gods? Do you condemn them?
Paul was indeed a persecutor before knowing Christ — just as all of us were sinners before meeting Christ. And Jesus said:
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Luke 5:31–32: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus calls sinners so that He may give them new hearts filled with love, compassion, and service toward others. If Paul was once a murderer, the only one who had the right to complain would be Jesus Himself — not you, who harbor hatred against Paul.
THREE: They claim Paul introduced homosexuality to the world.
Answer:
That is a lie from the pit of hell. Paul clearly condemns homosexuality:
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1 Corinthians 6:9: “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men.”
Think carefully — who is deceiving whom? It is you deceiving yourself.
FOUR: They claim Paul said alcohol is medicine.
Answer:
That too is false. Paul only advised Timothy to use a little wine for stomach ailments:
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1 Timothy 5:23: “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.”
Paul was not encouraging drunkenness or recreational drinking. He meant a little wine for medical purposes. If you are not sick but crave wine, you are simply a drunkard. Moreover, today there are many effective medicines for stomach issues.
The same Paul also said:
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Ephesians 5:18: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”
FIVE: They claim Paul said God looks at the spirit, not the body, hence Christians dress immodestly.
Answer:
Firstly, it wasn’t Paul alone who emphasized the heart’s purity. Jesus Himself said:
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Matthew 23:25–27: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence... You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead.”
Secondly, the Bible never condones nudity or indecency. Paul wrote:
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1 Corinthians 8:13: “If what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.”
That means if your behavior causes others to sin — even if it seems harmless — you will be judged.
Paul also wrote:
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1 Timothy 2:9: “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes.”
And Jesus warned:
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Matthew 18:7: “Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!”
SIX: They claim Paul said people should greet one another with a kiss, and he called it holy.
Answer:
When someone hates you, everything you do will be twisted. Paul spoke of a holy kiss, not a carnal one. If I tell you, “Drink clean water,” am I wrong?
A “holy kiss” symbolizes pure fellowship among believers, not immorality. The problem lies not in the act but in the evil heart of the accuser.
SEVEN: They claim Paul said all foods are permissible.
Answer:
Not only Paul said this — even Jesus Himself declared it:
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Matthew 15:15–20: “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body?... But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.”
Every culture has its dietary norms. If others eat dogs, snakes, or snails, let them be — for what goes into the stomach does not defile the soul.
EIGHT: They claim Paul created a mixed religion called Christianity.
Answer:
We follow Christ Jesus — just as Paul followed Christ. Do you know Paul better than Peter, who lived and ministered with him?
Peter wrote:
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2 Peter 3:15–17: “Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him... His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.”
If someone chooses to reject Paul and side with those who oppose him, that’s their choice — but we will not abandon the faithful servants of Jesus Christ to embrace lies born of hatred.
NINE: They claim Paul alone said Jesus is God Almighty, while Jesus denied it.
Answer:
Did Paul write the book of Isaiah?
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Isaiah 9:6: “For to us a child is born... and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Did Paul write the Gospel of John?
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John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Clearly, the divinity of Christ was revealed long before Paul.
TEN: They claim Paul brought the Gospel to the Gentiles when it was meant for Israel only.
Answer:
Long before Paul, God had declared salvation for all nations. Jesus Himself commanded:
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Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...”
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John 3:17: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
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John 12:47: “I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.”
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John 10:16: “I have other sheep that are not of this sheepfold; I must bring them also.”
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Matthew 24:14: “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
ELEVEN: They claim Paul insulted the Law by calling it a curse.
Answer:
The Law itself is not a curse — rather, breaking it brings a curse. The command “Do not steal” is not evil; the thief brings the curse upon himself, not the Law.
Paul wrote:
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Romans 7:12–13: “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good... But sin, in order that it might be recognized as sin, produced death in me through what was good.”
Thus, saying Paul called the Law a curse is false and a distortion of Scripture.
TWELVE: They claim Paul abolished the Law, despite Jesus saying it would not pass away.
Answer:
Jesus said in Matthew 5:18: “Until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
This means the Law remains until its fulfillment. For example, prophecy said the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem — and that has already been fulfilled (Matthew 2:6).
Therefore, if you still cling to prophecies that have already been fulfilled, you’ve misunderstood Scripture.
CONCLUSION: HOW LONG WILL YOU BE DECEIVED?
How long will you embrace destruction? Hatred blinds the heart and drives a person to spread lies — which he eventually believes himself, deceiving his own soul.
As the prophet Isaiah said:
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Matthew 13:14: “You will indeed hear but never understand; you will indeed see but never perceive.”
© Maxwell Shimba Ministries Org
July 13, 2015
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