The Assault on Paul

Recently I have heard a number of attacks on the validity of the New Testament writings of Paul the Apostle. One consisted of a dream, allegedly from Jesus Christ, in which He told the dreamer that Paul's letters were in error. Another person told me that “Jesus would rebuke Paul” for certain things that he had written. A third individual told me that Paul's letters were relevant only to their original recipients and not to anyone of subsequent times. This represents the tip of the iceberg of the assault on Paul. I should not be surprised at these statements since Paul suffered opposition during his ministry.
Some take a different tack and refer to several instances where Paul gave his opinion and come to the conclusion that they can ignore him on those grounds. What does the Bible say? Can we dismiss, or ignore or pick and choose among the eighty-seven chapters and over two thousand verses penned by Paul? Or is this an illegitimate exercise based on a false teaching that denies the inspiration, inerrancy and authority of the whole Bible?
In the second letter to Timothy, chapter three, verse sixteen, we read that “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” Peter the apostle writes in his second letter (1:16-21) that the prophetic word is more sure that his personal experience with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration. He writes, “Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The direct involvement of the Holy Spirit in the process of writing the Bible is crucial. Often referred to as dual authorship, it means that the Holy Spirit superintended the recording of the words of the Bible thus changing it from ancient writing to the Word of God.
The New Testament is replete with examples of the involvement of the Holy Spirit. For example, in Acts 1:16 Peter says, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David...” Mark 12:36 references Jesus saying, “David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared... and proceeds to quote from Psalm 110. Hebrews 3:7 records “Therefore as the Holy Spirit says, “ and quotes from Psalm 95. Later in the same letter (10:15ff) the author writes, “And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us, for after saying,” and quotes from Jeremiah 31:33. And no wonder for Jesus promised that the Father would give us a Helper, the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17), and that He would teach and remind us everything that Jesus said. (John 14:25-26) The Spirit will guide us into all truth (John 16:13), which Jesus tells us is His Word. (John 17:17)
Can we somehow separate Paul's writings from this work of the Holy Spirit? Ironically some of those who claim to be most led by the Spirit do this because they don't understand that the Holy Spirit does not contradict Himself. He does not have one thing written in the Word and then tell you or I something completely different.
A perusal of 1 Cor. 4:18-21 reveals that those who resist Paul will have the authority of the Lord shown to them. “For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.” (V. 20) In 14:37 Paul writes, “If anyone thinks he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.” In both 2 Corinthians 10:8 and 13:10 Paul asserts that he has received authority from the Lord.
After Paul planted churches in the region of Galatia he faced resistance to his gospel. He insists that he received his apostleship from God directly, not through men (Gal. 1:1); that he received his gospel through a revelation of Jesus Christ, not through men; (Gal 1:12) and that those who were influential in the church (other apostles) added nothing to his message. (Gal 2:6)
The Thessalonians received the Word of God through Paul. “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” (2 Thess 2:13ESV) Are they dismissing, ignoring, or picking and choosing among the things written to them? I think not.
Paul states to Titus and the brethren in Crete that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ, “for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth... manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior.” (Titus 1:1-3) Do we have the audacity to say that God did not command that Paul be entrusted with His word?
Finally we have the second letter of Peter who writes, “And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks to them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and the unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.” (2 Peter 3:15-17 ESV) Peter explicitly equates Paul's letters with Scripture and warns his readers not to get carried away with the errors of lawless people. We may not like what Paul wrote, or we may not understand certain things but it is a staggering level of hubris (arrogance/self importance) to arrogate for ourselves whether we will deny any or all of Paul's writing as divinely inspired.
As for whether we should follow Paul's “opinions” in 1 Corinthians 7:25 and 40, have any of us been taken up into the third heaven and heard things which it is not lawful for a man to utter? ( 2 Cor. 12:1-4) Do we have his credentials of suffering for the faith of Christ? ( 2 Cor. 11:21-29) Have we manifested the signs of a true apostle? ( 2 Cor. 12:12) Can we truly say “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ?” ( 1 Cor. 11:1 cf. Phil 3:17, 2 Thess 2:14) Have we worked harder than all the other apostles, planted churches and been entrusted with writing a large portion of the New Testament? I'd much rather have Paul's opinion than anyone now living.