You use the same out-of-context approach in Philippians. In context
No comment needed to show your deliberate distortions in #178. The only one you are deceiving is yourself.
#178 should read #208
Looks like I interpreted the Phillipians verse much like the early church fathers interpreted the Isaiah 7:14 passage. We read something into the scripture that just wasnt there. Good thing my misinterpretation won't affect the next couple millennia. ;-)
Now what about the 2 Corinthians, 11:8 passage? : I ROBBED other churches, taking wages [of them] that I might minister unto you (2 Corinthians, 11:8) Maybe robbed really means borrowed? Maybe someone incorrectly transcribed the word? Maybe its ok because hes not under the law? I dont get it.
And back to 1 Cor. 9.19-23:
"I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, that I might gain them that are without law. ... I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake"
IMO, he is being honest about being a major flip-flopper. There are verses where he supports the law, and verses where he claims the law is abolished. He played to all men. One wonders if he voted for the law before he voted against it.
RE: The only one you are deceiving is yourself.
I think I deceived myself from the time I started Sunday school until several years after my last child was confirmed. I do not doubt you love God. However, it is my opinion that you deceive yourself in thinking that what Paul taught is the same as what Jesus taught. It is not. I think you deceive yourself in thinking that Constantinian Christianity is the only way to God. It is not. Search. The truth will set you free.