I appreciate the thoughtfulness of your post, cfowen. I admit I was surprised at your regard for fundamentalists, since you seemed like one yourself, and some of the people you said were fundamentalists, actually weren't.
I am a fundamentalist, and to me that means that I take the Bible literally. And when I say Bible I mean the King James that we have today. It is the preserved word of God for us in this age. If you feel the same way then we should have some fruitful discussions.
Can you tell me what a person must do today to be saved?
Paul is the only Apostle for us Gentiles. By rightly dividing the Word of God, the rules and directions he gives us in his last 7 epistles (total of only 27 pages in my Bible) take precedence over any other rules and directions given in any other books, including Paul's Acts books. There are numerous differences in the doctrines in Paul's Acts books and his post-Acts books and, therefore, they must be separated by right division. Otherwise, there will be confusion.
In 1Cor 15:1-4, we find what Paul sometimes calls, "My Gospel" in other places
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
There might be other things that Paul carried over from his Acts epistles to his post-Acts epistles, but the only example I know for sure is this "My Gospel." The best proof of this occurs in Phil 4:15, a post-Acts book,
"Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only." Paul's trips to Macedonia occurred from Acts 16-20, several years before Israel was set aside. In Eph 1:13, Paul calls this same Gospel, the Gospel of your salvation. "
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,. Note that the saved Gentiles he's talking to in Eph are the same Gentile Ephesians that believed his Gospel during Acts. In Eph, he's upgrading them to the new rules and directions, the new doctrine.. In Eph 2:8-9, he tells them that you can't work for your salvation.
" 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast." Also, the 4 ordinances that that were forced on the saved Gentiles in Acts 15 were eliminated in Col 2. Salvation is obtained by faith through God's grace, period.
Paul says he received many direct special revelations from God, starting with the Damascus Road in Acts 9, that guided him throughout his ministries. There is no record of anyone else receiving these. I believe that, when Paul obtained the special revelation concerning the setting aside of Israel and the Brand New hope, calling, and resurrection for Gentiles, he immediately started teaching these new truths to those that visited him in his hired house and in prison. Tradition has it that Paul spent his last years in prison and was executed there by Nero. However, all roads led to Rome and it wouldn't take long for Paul's people to deliver his new epistles to the saints (from his Acts ministry) in Ephesians, Colossians, etc.
Just totally believe in all your being that Paul's Gospel of Salvation in 1Cor 15:1-4 and you are saved.