The Way of the Spirit was a secret
The False Teaching:
Gentiles should not be told about the Way of the Spirit before they first followed the Way of the Flesh.New Testament Response:
Matthew 5:15
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
(See also Mark 4:21, Luke 8:16, Luke 11:33)
Matthew 25:18
But he who received the one went away and dug in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
The Time of the Day of Destruction
Background:
Gentiles wanted to know when the Day of Destruction would come so that they could wait until then to follow the Way of the Flesh.New Testament Response:
New Testament writers didn't want Gentiles to follow the Way of the Flesh regardless but they also pointed out that no one knew when the Day of Destruction would come.Matthew 24:36
But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
(See also Mark 13:32, Acts 1:7)
The Gentiles also thought that if they could anticipate the Day of Destruction, they would have time to follow the Way of the Flesh. Paul responds that it would come so fast that they wouldn't have time:
1 Thessalonians 5:2
For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
1 Corinthians 15:52
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
Women, Children and Slaves
The False Teaching:
Women, children and slaves would not receive certain revelation from Christ.New Testament Response:
John 2:9
When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and didn't know where it came from (but the slaves who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom,
John 15:15
No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave doesn't know what his master does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.
John 4:19
The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet."
