Part 3 - Two Different Gospels

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called Paul's Mystery Gospel.

Let's compare the clearly delineated requirements of the two Biblical gospels for salvation. Both are found in the so-called New Testament of our Bibles and apply to two different peoples in two different ages.

The restoration of the Davidic kingdom to Israel had been long promised by the Lord. Then John the Baptist and Jesus came proclaiming the "gospel of the kingdom" was as “at hand" (Matt 4:23, 9:35). Jesus of Nazareth a "minister of the circumcision (Israel)" (Rom 15:8), ministering only to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" only. (Matt. 15:24); not to the Gentiles.

“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(Matt 10:5-6). Then after the cross “the kingdom” was actually ‘offered’ to Israel by "the twelve" Apostles during the early Acts period (Acts chapters 2-7), while Israel was still at that time under the dispensation of the "the Law" (Matt 5:18) and ‘works’ for righteousness.

By contrast, "the gospel of the grace of God" (Act 20:24) under "the dispensation of the grace of God" (Eph. 3:2) was preached by "Paul… THE Apostle to the Gentiles" (Rom 11:13).

Note that Paul preached His gospel to and for "ALL men" (Tit 2:11) whereby one’s faith is counted for righteousness. How can Paul, whose ministry was unto "the Gentiles" (Rom 11:13, Eph. 3:1) his gospel of grace it was unto "all men"? This is because after "the fall of them (Israel)” (Rom 11:10-11), Israel's distinction as being "above all people" (Exo 19:5) was temporarily ended. Today, during this age of "grace," Israel is today counted among "all men" of whom Paul wrote there are "none righteous no not one" (Rom 3:10, 3:23, cf., Eph. 3:1, Rom 11:13). Today all men stand needy sinners, on level ground at the foot of the cross. “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 23 For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10, 23)

Jesus' "Gospel of the Kingdom" & Its Requirements:

John the Baptist came declaring repent for "the kingdom of (from) heaven is at hand." Jesus repeated the same declaration and said "this gospel of the kingdom" was only to be preached by "these Twelve" Apostles to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" only, telling them to "go not into the way of the Gentiles" (Matt 10:5-6).

So, clearly there was at that time a distinction between Jews and Gentiles in the matter of the preaching of "the gospel of the Kingdom." The "kingdom" had been long promised to Israel, not the Gentiles. This means the so-called 'great commission' with "the gospel of the Kingdom” is a Jewish commission and not a church commission for us today. Paul gives "the church, which is the body of Christ," a different commission as seen in 2Cor 5:20; we today are Christ's ambassadors on earth. We of the "body of Christ" are Christ's ambassadors on earth because our home and citizenship is "in heaven" (cf. Philipp 3:20-21).

When John the Baptist appeared as Christ’s forerunner, God’s still chosen people at that time, Israel, had lived "the law of Moses" for fifteen hundred years but had not kept it; they actually killed God's prophets. Hence, John’s call to Israel was to "repent and be baptized for the remission of sins" (Mark 1:4). This was the initial requirement for salvation of Israelites. For Israel "faith without works is dead." Jesus preached saying;

Matthew 5:20 I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Thankfully, we today are "saved by grace alone, though faith alone, in Christ alone, not of works" (Eph. 2:8-9), and "we are not under the law but under grace" (Rom 6:14). Under grace, our good works are simply the fruit of our having received salvation from judgment and Christ’s life “by grace through faith” alone. Our good works are not the root of our salvation, but rather the fruit of our new relationship with the Lord’s life. If our salvation was of 'our works' then it could be called 'grace' since 'grace" means "a free gift."

6And if By Grace, then is it NO More of Works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. Romans 11:6

John was so serious that when the thoughtless multitude came to him to be baptized, he sent them back, saying: Bring forth fruits (your works) worthy of (deserving to be counted as) repentance” (Luke 3:7-8). These Jews had to show forth the product of their commitment to establish their repentance. Their lives had to change and they were to show it. This repentance standard of "fruits first" was a high bar that nobody but the Lord really could keep. When the people asked: What shall we do, then?” John told them to live for others rather than for themselves (Luke 3:10-11). When the tax collectors asked: “What shall we do?” he demanded that they stop cheating the tax-payers and live honestly (Luke 3:12-13). When the soldiers asked: “What shall we do?” he told them to refrain from violence, false accusation and bribery (v14).

Clearly, under John’s “kingdom gospel” message, righteousness was demanded first. John's hearers were to "repent, be baptized, and bring forth the fruits (as evidence of) of true repentance".

When our Lord Jesus appeared, He proclaimed the very same message as John (Matt. 3:1, 2; 4:17). A lawyer asked Jesus: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” and He replied: “What is written in the law?” When the lawyer recited the basic commands of the Law, our Lord answered:This do and (then) thou shalt live” (Luke 10:25-28). Under Jesus’s “gospel of the kingdom,” He was still demanding righteousness... FIRST. Israel was still then under "the Law" (Gal. 4:4, 5; Matt. 23:1-2; etc.).

Many suppose this was all changed right after Calvary by the so-called “great commission.” But this is not so. When, at Pentecost, Peter’s hearers were convicted of their sins and asked “What shall we do?” Peter still commanded them to repent and be baptized… for the remission of sins,” just as John had done (Mark 1:4; cf. Acts 2:38). Peter never then said Christ had died to pay for their sins.

Paul's "Gospel of the Grace of God" & Its One Requirement:

Paul, as "the Apostle to the Gentiles" (Rom 11:13) was first to say: “But NOW the righteousness (that is) of God WITHOUT THE LAW is manifested… [We] declare His (Christ's) righteousness for the remission of (our) sins” (Rom 3:21-26). Just believe (trust in, cling to and rely upon) on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!

Paul said Christ's shed blood paid fully, once and for all, for ALL our sins, past present and future. Christ’s righteousness speaks for us today and forever. 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his (Christ's) own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained Eternal Redemption For Us. (Hebrews 9:12) When the Gentile jailor fell on his knees and asked: “What must I do to be saved?” Paul replied; Believe on (trust in, cling to, and rely upon) the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30-31). This is God’s message for ALL men today, for; “we have redemption through [Christ's] blood, the Forgiveness of Sins according to the riches of His Grace” (Eph. 1:7).

Seeing the foregoing, it should be quite clear to any thinking person that "the gospel of the kingdom" that Jesus and "the twelve" preached and "the gospel of the grace of God" that Paul brought are two distinctly different gospels. Today our salvation is not of "the gospel of the kingdom" with "the Law" that Jesus preached to Israel, but rather our salvation is of Paul's grace-filled "gospel of the grace of God."

The Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 1 how he traveled to meet with the Messianic Jerusalem Pentecostal Church leaders so me 14 years after his first and only other visit. Below Paul refers to this meeting in Jerusalem when he told the apostles and elders there about the unique new gospel that he had received directly from the ascended Lord Jesus (Gal 1:12).

“And I (Paul) went up by revelation and COMMUNICATED UNTO THEM (the Pentecostal Jerusalem church leaders) THAT (unique) GOSPEL WHICH I (Paul) PREACH AMONG THE GENTILES,

but (I did it first) privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain… And when James, Cephas [Peter] and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, THEY GAVE TO ME and BARNABAS THE RIGHT HANDS OF FELLOWSHIP, that We Should Go Unto The Heathen (Gk. Ethnos, Gentiles), and They (would restrict themselves) Unto The Circumcision [Israel]” (Gal. 2:2-9).

Here then, by agreement, Peter, James and John promised publicly to confine or restrict their ministry of “the gospel of the Kingdom” to Israel alone proclaiming "the gospel of the Kingdom" that Jesus had given them for Israel... while they gave Paul and his co-workers (Barnabas, Silas, etc.) the right hand of fellowship that they should go to the Gentiles with Paul’s unique grace gospel message, not “the gospel of the kingdom” that Jesus preached to Israel, but rather “the gospel of the grace of God.” This is almost beyond belief in view of the fact that “the twelve” (not Paul) had originally been commissioned and sent by the Lord Jesus Himself into “all the world” to preach “the gospel of the kingdom.” Can we then say Peter, James and John were then out of the will of God in making this agreement? By no means!

First, Peter, as you may recall, had been given “the keys the kingdom” for either ‘loosing’ or ‘binding’ (Matt 16:19). Then also, subsequent revelation proves that Peter, James and John were all very much in the will of God. You see, it the last straw was when Israel’s religious leaders who had rejected Christ the Messiah, then rejected then the witness of the Holy Spirit by stoning Stephen to death (Act 7:58). With this God set Israel’s promised “Kingdom” program aside and ushered in an entirely new, eternally planned program of God’s pure grace for the Gentiles. This had never been revealed; it was “the Mystery… kept secret since the world began.” It was through the fall of Israel that salvation was sent to the Gentiles.

Romans 11:10-11 Let their (Israel’s) 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. Romans 11:25 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 (at the Rapture).

Then God sent this new grace gospel via one new Apostle (Greek, apostolos, means “sent one”). Paul is "the Apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom 11:13). Paul’s message was called “the gospel of the grace of God” (Act 20:24) that is in effect today, during today’s “dispensation (age of) of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:2).

In the light of these Scriptures it’s difficult to understand how anyone can argue that Paul’s ministry was merely a perpetuation of that of “the twelve” with their “the gospel of the kingdom,” and that Paul’s “the gospel of the grace of God” are the same. They certainly are not the same! These are two different gospels for two different peoples of God, in two different ages.

God had intended that “The gospel of the kingdom” go to Israel first... then for Israel to bring it to “all the world,” expecting the soon return of the Lord Jesus and "the Kingdom" on earth. But that message and plan of "the Kingdom" to come to earth was interrupted when Israel short-circuited their call by rejecting and crucifying the Messiah, and then stoning Stephen as representing the Holy Spirit, which is the unpardonable sin. God then set Israel's program aside for a time.

In the interim period, God has turned to “the Gentiles” with a new Apostle, Paul, to bear the new, never prophesied, "gospel of the grace of God." Paul here below speaks of Israel being set aside for a time and how long it will last. “… Blindness In Part Is Happened to Israel, (temporarily) UNTIL The Fulness of The Gentiles Be Come In.” (Romans 11:25b). That is, “UNTIL” the Gentile “body of Christ” is complete and raptured to dwell “eternal in the heaven” (2Cor 5:1b)!

If the above passages teach us anything, clearly, they teach us the unique character of Paul’s apostleship and his unique gospel message for the Gentiles. Paul devoted almost two chapters of his letter to the Galatians to the fact that he had NOT received his message from "the twelve," saying "they added nothing to me" (Gal 2:6), rather, it was he who communicated to them his new grace gospel that he “preached among the Gentiles” (Gal 2:2).

Paul tells us “the twelve,” who had been sent by Jesus “unto all nations” (Matt 24:14), “beginning at Jerusalem,” had now, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, turned over their Gentile ministry… to Paul, so he might proclaim “the Mystery” far and wide as the central truth of the "gospel (good news) of the grace of God” for the Gentiles.

Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this ‘Mystery’ among the Gentiles; which is Christ IN YOU, the hope of glory:

Romans 8:9-10 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the ‘Spirit of God dwell IN YOU.’ Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if ‘Christ be IN YOU,’ the body is dead because of sin; butthe Spirit is life’ (your spirit is alive) because of (Christ’s) righteousness.