As we will see, Peter on the day of Pentecost, as “the Apostle to the circumcision (Israel)” (Gal 2:7-8 KJV), preached to Israel concerning the “gospel of the kingdom” just as he was instructed to by Jesus. This was 50 days after the cross-death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but Peter’s preaching made no mention Christ’s Cross-work at Calvary. In fact, not yet seeing the true worth of the Cross of Christ, Peter scolded and shamed his audience of Israelites for killing “the prince of life,” who was then resurrected.

“But ye (men of Israel, v12) denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; ¹⁵ And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.” (Acts 3:15)

Had Peter actually known the truth and centrality of Christ’s Cross, He would have said something like, “You meant if for evil but God meant it for our good. Jesus shed His blood as the Lamb of God to pay for our rebellion and sins” But, Peter’s preaching at that time had nothing to do with the value of Cross.

Yet we now know Paul’s words concerning the “power” of the cross.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Rom. 1:16)

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18).

The cross-work of Jesus empowers our salvation as the free “gift of God” (Eph 2:9). Apart from the cross there is no reconciliation between God and man, no amends for our sins, no right standing for man before God. But as believers, “… being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” (Rom. 5:1)

Neither did Peter at that time know anything regarding Paul’s later “revelation of the mystery (secret plan of God),” which applies only to the members of the Gentile “church, the body of Christ,” those who have received and enjoy the blessings and security of Paul’s “gospel of the grace of God” (Act 20:24).

This paper looks at Peter to examine some the distinction between ‘two Gospels’; one gospel pertaining to Israel and the coming kingdom on earth, and the other pertains to the Gentile “church, the body of Christ,” destined to dwell “eternal in the heavens” (2Cor 5:1b).

Peter preached the way of “the remission of sins” to “Ye men of Judea” and “men of Israel” (Jews, v14, 22).

“Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, 1) Repent, and 2) be baptized (in water) every one of you 3) in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:37-38)

• Peter at Pentecost preached the “gospel” that Jesus gave him and the other eleven Apostles. Above we see certain specific requirements for an Israelite’s “remission of sins” and to receive “the Holy Spirit” (cf. Act 2:14, 22, 37-38). Jesus of Nazareth and Peter preached “the gospel of the kingdom,” which was to be the restoration of the Israel’s Davidic kingdom to “come on earth” (Matt. 6:10). Peter’s gospel message here called for Israel to “repent” and be “(water) baptized … in the name of Jesus Christ” … by which an Israelite’s sins would be ‘remitted.’

Shortly after this, Peter again preached saying; “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; ²⁰ And he shall send Jesus Christ (again), which before was preached unto you: ²¹ Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution (restoration) of all things (pertaining to the Kingdom), which God hath ‘Spoken By The Mouth Of All His Holy Prophets Since The World Began.’ (Acts 3:19-21)

• Peter’s message above was distinctly different from Paul’s later “gospel of the grace of God” for the Gentiles, which required “faith” alone … trusting in Christ and His cross ‘alone’ in order to be saved (Eph. 2:8-9, Acts 16:31, below) during today’s age of “the dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:2) for all races of men. It was several years after Petr’s Acts 2:38 that Paul, a Jewish Pharisee, was converted and received from the ascended Lord “the revelation of the mystery (God’s secret plan)” with the “gospel of the grace of God” for “all men,” Jews and Gentiles, without distinction as the race.

“Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to ‘my gospel’ (Paul’s), and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery (secret gospel), which was Kept SECRET Since The World Began,”(Rom. 16:25 KJV)

We should carefully compare Paul’s words here in Rom. 16:25 with Peter’s in Acts 3:21 (above). Note that Peter refers to what had been “Spoken By All The Prophets (Of Israel) Since The World Began” while Paul’s gospel message for the Gentiles “had been Kept Secret Since The World Began.” Obviously, these two gospel messages were different, being intended for two different people groups!

Paul’s “my gospel” (Rom. 16:25) is for All believers (Jews and Gentiles) based upon faith in Jesus and His Cross that paid for “the sins of the world,” without receiving any religious ritual or water-rite ceremony.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)

The only requirement for salvation “under grace” today is to “believe (trust in)” the Lord Jesus Christ.

“And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” (Acts 16:31 (KJV)

Let’s further compare the different requirements for salvation under Peter’s and Paul’s gospels. There are stark dispensational distinctions between salvation of an Israelite “under the Law” as compared with that of those saved into “the Church, which is the body of Christ” under “grace” today.

Sadly, many have confused these 2 different gospels and their means of salvation during the two different dispensational ages involved, as applies to these two different people groups.

Peter was yet under the age of “the Law” while Paul was given to introduce the age of the “dispensation of the grace of God.” Paul wrote to Gentiles comparing the Law with Grace, “ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:14b (KJV) A “dispensation” is an age or period of time in which God has introduced and changed the requirements for relationship and ‘right standing’ with Him. Whereas Israel was “under the Law,” the “church, the body of Christ” today is “under grace.”

All this information came directly from Jesus to Paul (cf. Gal. 1:12) for us Gentiles (Eph. 3:1) as part of what Paul calls “the revelation of ‘the mystery’” (Rom. 16:25), the formerly ‘secret’ plan of God for Gentiles.

“For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

³ How that by revelation he (Jesus in heaven) made known unto me the mystery (Gk. musterion, secret plan of God); (as I wrote afore in few words, ⁴  Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) ⁵  Which in other ages was NOT made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; ⁶  That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body (of Christ,) and partakers of his promise in Christ by ‘the gospel:’
⁷ Whereof I (Paul) was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. ⁸ Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; (Ephesians 3:1-8 (KJV)

If what Peter preached to “Ye men of Israel” in Acts 2:38 were the gospel that saves us today, then there’s no reason to preach the finished work of the cross for salvation, since Peter never mentions the Cross in Acts.

After Peter condemned “Ye men of Israel” for killing Jesus, who Peter acknowledges was “both Lord and Christ (Messiah)” (Acts 2:36), many in the crowd sought deliverance from the sin of calling for Jesus’ crucifixion. The question of Acts 2:38 was “what shall we do?”; meaning to save themselves from the wrath of God that would surely come upon them as a result of their rejection of the Christ (The Messiah)? It was to this that Peter answered, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” (Acts 2:38)

Note that Peter’s response did not include a word about the Cross-work of Jesus to deal with the “sins of the world.” Peter couldn’t preach the Cross because the meaning and purpose of the cross had not yet been revealed to and explained by Paul, as came later after Acts 9. In Acts 2 Paul was yet to be converted.

Repentance and Water Baptism:

As seen, Peter did not preach the cross for salvation; instead he called upon “ye men of Judea (Israel)” to “repent and be baptized for the remission of sins.” This was nearly the message of John the Baptist years earlier, before the cross of Christ. “John did baptize … and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” (Mark 1:4) To be baptized with John’s baptism meant one was ‘repenting for the remission of sins’ in preparation for the kingdom to come, and that “they should believe the Him” who would come after John.  

Then, after John the Baptist, Jesus and the disciples baptized with John’s baptism of repentance throughout their three-year ministry before the cross, but they now baptized “in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Jesus said; “He that believeth in him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in ‘the NAME’ of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)

Believing and being baptized “in the Name of Jesus Christ” then became significant. Note that John did not baptize in the name of “Jesus Christ.” John’s simply identified Jesus as “the Son of God” (John 1:31), but not as “Jesus Christ” (the Saving Messiah). This was the difference between John’s and Peter’s Pentecostal baptism message for Israel. Peter added to the “baptism of repentance” saying this baptism was now to explicitly be in “in the name of Jesus Christ.”

For Israel to recognize the “the Name” of Jesus of Nazareth as Israel’s “Christ (Messiah)” was key to the Lord’s ministry to Israel. Apparently, it was on this issue of ‘exactly who Jesus was’ that Jesus evaluated how his ministry was being received. Here we see this expressed

“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he (Jesus) asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” (Matthew 16:13)

Of course, we know that Peter spoke up saying, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (v16). Jesus commended Peter, saying nobody but “My Father which is in heaven” had revealed this to Peter (v17). We note that when John the Baptist and Jesus, and His disciples preached before the Cross, the disciples had no expectation of, let alone any understanding of, The Cross at all. In Matt. 16:21-23, Peter at that time even opposed Jesus’ mentioning of His coming death.

Years later Paul was saved and received the knowledge of “The Cross as the Power of God unto Salvation.” (Rom. 1:16) So, it is of no surprise that on the day of Pentecost, which soon followed Jesus death, burial, and resurrection, that The Cross was Not being preached by Peter as the means of salvation.

What was preached to “Ye men of Israel” was “the baptism of repentance in the name of Jesus Christ,” that is that Jesus was Israel’s long-promised ‘Messiah/King,’ and that if they repented He would return to them with the Kingdom and “times of refreshing.”

The new thing that was included in Peter’s Pentecostal baptismal message was the fulfillment of the promised coming of “the Holy Ghost” upon Jesus’ “little flock” (Luke 12:32) of water-baptized Jewish believers (cf. Act 2:38). As believers they received “the Holy Spirit,” having repented and been baptized in “the name of Jesus Christ.” The “gift of the Holy Ghost,’ was an empowering anointing for them to be His able witnesses in preaching “the gospel of the kingdom” to all Israel in early Acts. Note here below Jesus’ instruction to His “twelve” Apostles.

“These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10:5-7 (KJV)

The prophets spoke about the coming of the Holy Ghost, as did John the Baptist (Matt. 3:11). Jesus taught about being “born of the Spirit” as necessary for Israelites to perceive and enter the kingdom (Jn. 3:3-6).

“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)

The Holy Spirit was to provide the necessary power for Israel’s ‘New Covenant’ to be fulfilled (Eze. 36:26-27). As God’s purpose for Israel unfolded, the message of Acts 2:38 was right on time… but later the nation Israel rejected God’s reoffer of the Kingdom (cf. Rom. 11:10-11, 25)

As stated earlier, Peter did not know of, and consequently could not preach, the meaning and power of The Cross. This information had to first be revealed by Jesus from heaven … to Paul … for us as Gentiles (Gal. 1:12, Eph. 3:1-5). When Peter preached Acts 2:38 Christ had died, resurrected, and ascended to the Father, but Peter’s Pentecost message did not offer the Cross-work of Jesus Christ for salvation. Peter continued with John’s ‘repent and be baptized for the remission of sins,’ then and even later at Cornelius’ house (Acts 11). For Peter’s Jewish audience at Pentecost, the cross at that time only meant ‘condemnation’ upon them for their role in Jesus’ death. This was another link in a long chain of Israel killing God’s prophets and being called on to repent. At Pentecost the time was running out for Israel, but by Peter’s message, God was still giving another opportunity for Israelites to be forgiven per the Lord Jesus’ request to the Father as He died on the cross saying “… Father, forgive (Israel) them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). Considering the foregoing;

• If Paul’s “preaching of the cross” of Christ is the message of salvation for today… then Peter’s words in Acts 2:38, “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ” are NOT the gospel that saves anyone today, during this age of “the dispensation of the grace of God.”
• If Peter’s words in Acts 2:38 were the gospel that saves today, then we would not need to hear and respond to Paul’s words concerning ‘The Cross and Blood of Christ’ to save us.

Rather than ‘repent and be baptized in His name,’ Israel went onto later kill God’s final witness by the Holy Spirit speaking through Stephen (Acts 7:55-57). With that, the Lord set Israel aside during today’s age of the Gentiles, which will end with the Rapture of “the Church, the body of Christ.” (cf. Rom. 11:25).

“Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. ¹² Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?... ²⁵ For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Rom. 11:10-11, 25)

Soon after Stephen’s death the Lord then saved Paul, sending him to the Gentiles with a gospel of pure grace that operates through ‘belief’ in Christ’s Cross, without proof of repentance or water-baptism.

Paul said he was Not sent to baptize men in water… but to “Preach the gospel” of the Cross of Christ.

“… Christ sent me (Paul) not to baptize, but to ‘preach the gospel:’ not with wisdom of words, lest the Cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:17-18)

So, did Peter ever preach the Cross of Christ? The answer to this question is yes!

We’ve already proven that Peter did not preach the Cross on the day of Pentecost. However, much later, as we see in Peter’s 2^nd and final epistle to the nation Israel, shortly before his death, Peter indicates had come to know the true value of the Christ’s Cross. In 2Pet. 3:15-16, (below), Peter reveals where that knowledge came from. Peter needed to see the important worth of the cross as relates to Israel’s “the New Covenant.” He also mentions why the delay in the coming of the promised Messianic Kingdom on earth... saying it was explained by Paul in “all of his epistles.”

So, Peter at Pentecost did not yet know about the meaning of the cross, which was only later revealed to the Apostle Paul. Years later, Peter recognized and wrote of “the wisdom” to be seen in Paul’s epistles where the cross is explained and extolled. Peter wrote this below in his last epistle shortly before his death.

“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 (Paul’s) epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest (twist), as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:15-16 (KJV)  

So now, having the completed Bible in our hands, we have what Peter did not have in early Acts. We have no excuse today for not reading beyond Peter’s words of Acts 2:38, to learn of Paul’s “gospel of the grace of God” working by Christ’s Cross, which applies to all men who will receive Christ and His Cross.

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power (Gk. dynamis, all powerful mighty work) of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18 (KJV)