By Arthur J Licursi

Peter wrote to Jesus’ “little flock” Jewish believers strongly recommending Paul’s epistles, saying;

“¹⁵And account that the longsuffering [patience] of our Lord [the delay of Christ’s 2^nd coming] is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him [by the Holy Spirit] hath written unto you [unto the Jesus’ ‘Little Flock’ of Jewish Messianic believers];

¹⁶As 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)

Peter, as “the Apostle to the circumcision (Israel),” says Paul had written to Jesus’ “little flock” (Luke 12:32) of Messianic Jewish believers to educate them concerning ‘the last days,’ explaining;

1. The delay of Messiah’s 2^nd coming to set up His long-promised Millennial kingdom on earth.
2. That this ‘delay is opportunity for ‘Gentile salvation’ … until the Rapture when the ‘pure grace age’ is ended (Rom. 11:25).
3. Peter recognized this information is “hard to be understood” by those believing Messianic Jews who will one-day reign in Christ’s Millennial Kingdom (Rev 5:10, 20:6).

What and why exactly is this so “hard to be understood”?

Peter is here above writing to the “little flock” Messianic Jewish believers of the ‘last days” – in the Tribulation period. At that time, they expected His soon coming to restore the Kingdom. But Peter points them to Paul’s teaching concerning the current Gentile age of “the grace of God” to explain why Christ’s 2^nd coming and the promised kingdom age has been so long delayed. Peter obviously had read and knew from Paul’s writings that the present Gentile Church age must continue … until the Rapture of the Gentile “body of Christ” … holding the Kingdom in abeyance, until then. Paul had written;

“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.” (Romans 11:25 (KJV)

Peter must have read Paul’s epistles and clearly recognized Paul’s explanation that the long-promised Messianic Kingdom was still to be held in abeyance “UNTIL the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Rom 11:25 below). I suspect Peter had read Paul’s Romans 11 (below) explaining all this. Paul explains Israel’s fall, casting away, or being set aside temporarily … while the Gentile age continues until the Rapture of the Gentile church called “the body of Christ.”

“¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ¹¹ I say then, Have they [Israel] stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them [Israel] to jealousy. ¹² Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them [Israel] the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness [at the 2^nd coming]? Romans 11:10-12 (KJV)
¹⁵ For if the casting away of them [Israel] be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? Romans 11:15 (KJV)
²⁵ For I would not, brethren [Israel’s ‘little flock’ believers], that ye should be ignorant of this mystery [long held secret], 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.” (Romans 11:25 (KJV)

Sadly, many Christians today also still have a hard time grasping the total sufficiency of the uniqueness of Paul’s pure grace gospel that he preached to the GENTILES as the “power of God unto salvation.” (Rom. 1:16). Paul’s “gospel of the grace of God” saves all men of every race, both Jews and Gentiles – seeing ALL men as Gentiles since Israel is fallen. The new creation Gentile “body of Christ” consist of ALL Christ-believing mankind of ALL races. But due to Christians being poorly taught and ignorant of Paul’s unique ministry as God’s “Apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom 11:13), they also ‘find it hard to understand’ Paul’s authority and words.

If one considers the background of most so-called Christian folks today, it is no wonder that they find it difficult. Because they do not “rightly divide the word of truth” (2Tim. 2:15), they have a mixed Israel’s gospel of the kingdom with its law… with Paul’s Gentile “gospel of the grace of God.” Thus, they do not really know and rely upon “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24) that is for us today. They don’t really know how it differs from the “gospel of the kingdom” (Matt. 4:23) that Jesus and the twelve Apostles preached to and for Israel.

Now when Peter was speaking of the ministry of Paul (2 Pet. 3:15-16) he was speaking of “the gospel of the UNcircumcision (Gentiles)” (Gal. 2:7), which was delivered to Paul… as was “the gospel of the circumcision (Israel)” was to Peter and the other 11 Apostles. This gospel of Paul, which he called “MY GOSPEL” (Rom. 16:25) was for the Gentiles.

Paul also preached the good news of salvation in which Gentiles would not have to come under the law or become Jews. So, when Peter wrote of Paul to Jewish Messianic Christians (Jesus’ “little flock,” Luke 12:32), he might well say that Paul’s epistles were “hard to be understood.”

Until the Acts 15 council there was two gospels being preached; Peter preached Jesus’ Kingdom gospel to Israel and Paul his grace gospel to all men seen as Gentiles. The outcome of the Acts 15 Council meeting was that Peter and the other 11 Apostles to Israel would bind or restrict their gospel to only to the already believing Jews and Paul could go to All unbelievers of all races with His ‘all men’ grace gospel (cf. Gal. 2:7-9). Paul here wrote of the outcome of the Acts 15 meeting;

“But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision [Gentiles) was committed unto me [Paul], as the gospel of the circumcision [Israel] was unto Peter; ⁸ (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision [Israel], the same was mighty in me [Paul] toward the Gentiles:)

⁹ And when James, Cephas [Peter], and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace [gospel] that was given unto me [Paul], they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; That We [Paul and company] Should [henceforth] Go Unto The heathen [Grk. ethnos, the Gentiles], and They [The Twelve Apostles] Unto The Circumcision [Israel].” (Galatians 2:7-9 (KJV)

Recall how Peter was called to account for his preaching at the house of Cornelius. Up to that time the law had been that a Gentiles had to become a Jew (be circumcised) to find favor with God. But after Acts 15, Gentiles could only be saved under Paul’s Gentile “gospel of the grace of God.”

This was all hard for the Jews to understand because the Jew had been “under the law” for many generations. It would be hard for Jews to understand anything else. It was hard for the Messianic Jewish “little flock” church at Jerusalem to believe that Gentiles could be saved any other way than under the Mosaic Law ... such as by Paul’s new “gospel of the grace of God” that operated by faith in Christ’s cross-work alone. Paul says he received his new grace-gospel directly from the ascended Lord Jesus (Gal, 1:12).

Thus, all during the time of the Acts period and after, Paul was plagued by Jews who sought to undermine his gospel of grace because they wished to uphold the law and make all men subject to it. Paul warned of these Judaizers and their bondage under “another gospel” in Galatians 1:6-9 where he used strong words.

Even today, because of the Roman church’s corrupt religious traditions that brought ‘the dark ages,’ few Christian people today know anything of Paul’s unique pure “gospel of the grace of God.” Many Protestants today hear “law” in the form of implied performance requirements to please God, thereby thinking they have to ‘do this,’ and they have to ‘do that,’ ‘working’ to be saved. Or, after being “saved by grace through faith” they are then loaded down with dos and don’ts. Today each Protestant denomination has its own list of taste not and touch not laws to perform. Seldom is Paul’s gospel of the [pure] “grace of God” given a place.

Yes, it is true that the believer today is created “UNTO good works,” but he is not saved by works,

“⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Eph. 2:5 (KJV)
⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith [alone]; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of [religious] works, lest any man should boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 (KJV)

It is small wonder than that those Christians today who have never gotten farther than Matthew and its stress upon law, Cannot Comprehend God’s Pure Grace. Nearly all of Christendom today is still in Bondage to Precepts, Laws, Rituals, Ordinances, etc. They are so busy working FOR their salvation, that they never live long enough to work OUT their salvation and be of use to the Lord. They don’t recognize Pasul words here;

“[Jesus] Blotting Out The Handwriting Of Ordinances [laws] that was against us, which was contrary to us, and Took It Out Of The Way, Nailing It To His Cross;” (Colossians 2:14 (KJV)  

It was the Bereans (Acts 17:11) who laid aside “the traditions of men” and “searched the Scriptures daily” to find the truth. We need folks like that today. They should praise Him for saving them by ‘grace.’ And, above all, each one should make an effort to then know the Pauline “mystery” with its “unsearchable riches” among us ‘Gentiles’ (Eph. 3:8).