Did Paul Teach God’s Commandments or Just His Own Opinions?

One common accusation leveled at the Apostle Paul is that he frequently gave his own personal opinions instead of relaying direct commands from the Most High. On the surface, certain verses do seem to suggest he’s just giving casual advice. For instance, Paul plainly states:

1Co 7:6 KJV 6 But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.

At first glance, it looks like Paul is simply making things up on his own. But is that really the case? Let’s dig into what Paul says, why he sometimes sets apart the Lord’s commands from his own Spirit-led judgment, and how this speaks to the wisdom he received from the Most High.

Paul addresses a practical concern within marriage: husbands and wives should not deprive each other of intimacy unless both agree for a short season—usually for fasting and prayer:

1Co 7:4-5 KJV 4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

This guideline helps prevent temptation and keeps marriages strong. Paul then clarifies that he speaks these words “by permission” rather than a direct command from the Most High:

1Co 7:6 KJV 6 But I speak this by permission, [and] not of commandment.

In other words, Paul is still guided by the Spirit, but he distinguishes between clear commandments from the Lord and practical wisdom he’s allowed to share for the believers’ well-being.

When one spouse withholds intimacy for too long, it can push the other into temptation. Paul points out that this next instruction is a direct command from the Most High—not just his own advice:

1Co 7:10-11 KJV 10 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: 11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

Soon after, Paul switches to a matter Jesus never directly addressed: how to handle marriages where one spouse is a believer and the other is not. This is where Paul once again clarifies he’s speaking by the Holy Spirit’s permission—he isn’t quoting an explicit command from Jesus , because the Lord didn’t cover that scenario in His earthly teachings:

1Co 7:12-13 KJV 12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. 13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

This naturally raises the question: Where did Paul get such insight if the Lord Himself didn’t address it? The answer lies in the promise Christ made—that the Holy Spirit would guide His followers into all truth, revealing additional wisdom they weren’t ready to receive during His ministry.

During His earthly ministry, Christ acknowledged that there were many truths His disciples weren’t ready to hear:

Jhn 16:12 KJV 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

He went on to promise that the Holy Spirit would step in to guide His followers:

Jhn 16:13 KJV 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…

Whatever the Spirit revealed would glorify Christ and flow from Him:

Jhn 16:14 KJV 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

So, when Paul spoke about issues Christ didn’t explicitly cover—like having an unbelieving spouse—he wasn’t inventing new rules. He was drawing on the Holy Spirit’s guidance, just as the Lord had predicted would happen. In addition to spiritual confirmation, Paul also saw real-life results that proved his advice was sound, further affirming that his instructions came from a divine source and not mere personal opinion.

Paul explains that if a believer is already married to an unbeliever, they don’t need to divorce. The marriage is still considered holy by the Most High, which keeps the children from being viewed as unclean:

1Co 7:14 KJV 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

Today, we generally understand that believers shouldn’t marry unbelievers in the first place. Still, Paul’s counsel here applies to existing marriages where one spouse becomes a believer later on.

Spirit-Led Judgment
Paul further points out that in some cases, he doesn’t have a direct command from the Lord, but he offers guidance based on the Holy Spirit working within him:

1Co 7:25 KJV 25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.

He then answers skeptics in the church by reminding them that he’s confident he has the Spirit:

1Co 7:40 KJV 40 But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.

This isn’t Paul doubting himself. It’s more of a sarcastic way of saying, “I’m quite sure the Spirit is guiding me,” especially since some in the church were questioning his words.

Paul makes it clear that believers don’t operate under the spirit of the world, but rather the Spirit of God:

1Co 2:12 KJV 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

This Holy Spirit empowers us to compare spiritual things with spiritual, giving us the ability to understand and speak on matters that can’t be grasped by mere human reasoning:

1Co 2:13 KJV 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

However, people who rely only on carnal thinking can’t comprehend spiritual truths:

1Co 2:14 KJV 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

By contrast, a spiritual person can evaluate all things:

1Co 2:15 KJV 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

Finally, if we have the mind of Christ, we can tap into a deeper level of understanding, led by pure motives and guided by the Spirit of the Most High:

1Co 2:16 KJV 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 11, we see Paul using a sarcastic, almost playful tone to make a point. He warns his readers not to think of him as a fool, yet he recognizes some people in the church already do—so he meets them on their level:

2Co 11:16 KJV 16 I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.

He goes on to say the boasting he’s about to do doesn’t come from the Lord but from his own “foolish” talk:

2Co 11:17 KJV 17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.

2 Corinthians 11:18 (KJV) Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also.

2 Corinthians 11:19 (KJV) For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.

Why does Paul do this? Because certain people were bragging about themselves—boasting in their achievements, background, and credentials—and dismissing Paul as if he didn’t measure up. So Paul decides to play along, listing his own qualifications and hardships to show how ridiculous it is to exalt oneself:

2 Corinthians 11:20 (KJV) For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.

2 Corinthians 11:21 (KJV) I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.

2 Corinthians 11:22 (KJV) Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.

2 Corinthians 11:23 (KJV) Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

2 Corinthians 11:24 (KJV) Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

2 Corinthians 11:25 (KJV) Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

2 Corinthians 11:26 (KJV) In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

2 Corinthians 11:27 (KJV) In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

2 Corinthians 111:28 (KJV) Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

He recounts beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks, and more, emphasizing that if anyone has reason to boast, he does—yet this “boasting” is really just a tactic to show that all such bragging is pointless. Paul highlights that any good in him, or any strength he has, ultimately comes from the Most High, not from his own greatness.

This isn’t Paul giving a spiritual command or new doctrine; it’s a teaching technique. By calling his own boasting “foolish,” he reveals that focusing on personal accolades leads nowhere. His real goal is to point people back to the Most High, making it clear that our true worth doesn’t come from how we compare ourselves to others, but from the One who empowers us in the first place.

Even Peter, a leading apostle who walked with Yahawashi, acknowledged that Paul’s epistles carried divine wisdom and were considered on par with “the other scriptures”:

2Pe 3:15-16 KJV 15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Even from the start, believers viewed Paul’s letters as more than just his own words. Peter clearly saw them as Holy Spirit–inspired and put them on the same level as the other scriptures. Plus, since Paul wrote his letters before the Gospels were composed, they’re among the earliest Christian writings we have. Scholars often refer to these letters to show that The Messiah truly existed because they circulated well before the Gospel accounts. All this points to the fact that Paul wasn’t merely sharing personal opinions—he was passing on divine wisdom given by the Most High.