Verse by Verse

Imagine a friend walking up to you one day and saying, “Have you heard the good news?” You’d wait a second or two for him to complete his thought, and then you’d ask, “Good news about what?”

The word “gospel” (euangelion in Greek) originally meant the reward given to the bearer of good tidings but the meaning shifted until the word meant the good tidings themselves. On its own, the word is no more specific than “good news” is to us today.

If you ask people what they mean when they say “gospel,” most of them will refer to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the salvation we receive when we trust in Him. And many of the uses of the word in Scripture refer to exactly that.

But many others don’t.

When we see the word “gospel” in the Bible, we should always stop and ask “Gospel about what?” “What gospel?” In the Bible, the word is used to describe different good messages to different audiences, and the assumption that it always refers to the same news causes a great deal of confusion.

Here’s a list of first appearances of various “gospels.”
• Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 9:35)
• Gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:1)
• Gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14)
• Gospel of the grace of God (Romans 1:1)
• Gospel of His Son (Romans 1:9)
• Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16)
• My [Paul’s] gospel (Romans 2:16)
• Gospel of peace (Romans 10:15)
• Gospel of God (Romans 15:16)
• Gospel which I [Paul] preached to you (1 Corinthians 15:1)
• Gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4)
• Gospel which I [Paul] preach among the Gentiles (Galatians 2:2)
• Gospel for the uncircumcised [Gentiles] (Galatians 2:7)
• Gospel for the circumcised [Jews] (Galatians 2:7)
• Gospel to Abraham (Galatians 3:8)
• Gospel of your [Gentiles] salvation (Ephesians 1:13)
• Gospel which you [Gentiles] heard (Colossians 1:23)
• Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:8)
• Gospel of the blessed God (1 Timothy 1:11)
• Everlasting gospel (Revelation 14:6)

Obviously, there is a lot of overlap. All of them have something to do with salvation and, therefore, ultimately, with Jesus Christ. But the gospel didn’t always include the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ directly. The only way to be sure what specific “good news” a passage is referring to is by context.

For example, the gospel God preached to Abraham (Galatians 3:8) was that in him [Abraham] all the nations would be blessed. This is a prophecy that all nations will someday be blessed through Abraham’s descendants, the nation of Israel, during the Millennial Kingdom. It’s also a prophecy that all nations are blessed through Abraham’s descendant, Jesus Christ. But specifically, it’s a prophecy that all will be saved as Abraham himself was saved, by his example of faith in God. This was good news to Abraham, but there was nothing in the news that could have informed him of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Still not sure whether “gospel” can refer to anything else? Consider Luke 9:1-6:

Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

In obedience to the Lord, the twelve apostles traveled about Judea preaching the gospel. And yet, later in the chapter (Luke 9:44-45), we read this:

“Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.

In Luke 18:31-34, we read this:

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.

They did not understand that the Messiah would have to die. So what “gospel” were they preaching on their travels?

It wasn’t until after His resurrection that the apostles finally understood what the Lord had been talking about (Luke 24:5-7; 36-46). But long before then, they had been preaching a gospel.

The gospel that Jesus Christ preached during His earthly ministry, and that He instructed His disciples to preach, was that Israel should “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

The long awaited Messiah, prophesied throughout the Old Testament, was on the scene. The kingdom that He would rule over and through which the whole world would be blessed, was fast approaching. The people needed to repent of their sins and be prepared.

This message was for Israel and only for Israel. The blessing of the rest of the nations could only occur through Israel and, therefore, couldn’t happen until Israel had accepted the Messiah (Matthew 10:5-7).

That was before Christ’s death and resurrection. What about afterwards? The Bible makes it clear that there were still two gospels in operation.

But on the contrary, when they [the twelve apostles] saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me [Paul], as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter (Galatians 2:7).

So what’s going on here? Christ had died and risen again by this time. Why are there two messages of good news at this point, approximately 20 years later?

Because God was still dealing with two distinct groups of people (1) the Jews saved under the kingdom dispensation, and (2) all those in the Body of Christ, Gentiles and Jews, who were saved under Paul’s ministry.

Here is the gospel for the circumcised given to Peter.

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

“Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it [killed the Messiah] in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:17-21).

In short, the Jews had killed Jesus Christ. That act had separated the nation of Israel from its promised Messiah. The Jews had to repent of their sin and be baptized in order to have their sins forgiven and receive the Holy Spirit. When the nation had done that, the Lord would return and the kingdom would begin.

The nation didn’t repent. The Jewish leaders put Steven to death (Acts 7:51-60). Very shortly thereafter, the Lord raised up Paul and gave him a new, different gospel to a new group of people, the Gentiles. In Paul’s gospel, the cross was no longer a cause of separation but the means of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:21). He made no call to repent and be baptized, but simply to believe (Romans 4:5).

As you can see in the list at the beginning of this post, there are other shades of meaning when “gospel” is used in Scripture. It isn’t my purpose to explain each one. I only wanted to point out that the word can only be understood in context. Don’t assume that “gospel” in Scripture always refers to the same good news for the same audience. Always ask yourself “What good news?”

In the New Testament, the word “mystery” almost always refers to information that had been previously unknown. A mystery was a revelation from God that had been revealed to the author of that book of Scripture but hidden from everyone up until that time. There isn’t anything mysterious about the mystery, it’s more of a secret — God’s secret, until He chose to tell it.

Paul defines the term when he used it in Colossians 1:26: The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.

Let’s look at some of the mysteries that were revealed to Paul.

Romans 11:25 — For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. — The Jews — Israel — are God’s chosen people. He blessed them and set them apart and gave them His protection and His ceremonial laws by which they could demonstrate their faith (Romans 9:4-5). He sent the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, through them and to them so that all the world, Jews and Gentiles, could be saved (through Israel). But Israel rejected the Father in the Old Testament, the Son at Calvary, and the Holy Spirit as recorded in Acts. As a result, God has brought blindness upon the nation and offered salvation to all — until the time God has chosen to remove the Body of Christ from the earth and restore Israel to their promised blessings. That blindness — the period of time when Israel would be set aside — was a mystery.

Romans 16:25-26 — Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith. — Here Paul is referring to “my gospel” — the message given to Him that: For He [God] made Him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is a truth preached nowhere in Scripture prior to this time.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 — Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 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 shall be changed. — The Lord is working on earth through the Body of Christ — those who have trusted Him for salvation. In order for the promises to Israel to be fulfilled, the Body of Christ has to be removed. Jesus Christ will return and meet believers in the air — first those who have died and then, immediately after, those who are still alive — to take us to heaven where we will be glorified. This is the “Rapture” although that term doesn’t appear in Scripture. The Body of Christ is a mystery (as we will shortly see), so it isn’t surprising that the Rapture is a mystery. This is often misunderstood by those who claim that there will be no Rapture because Christ never mentioned it during His earthly ministry.

Ephesians 1:9-10 — Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him. — The “fullness of times” means “the completion of the ages.” It’s referring to the future, after the Millennial Kingdom, when God will wrap everything together in Jesus Christ. Note that there is still a distinction between things in heaven (the inheritance of the Body of Christ) and things on earth (Israel’s promised home for eternity). What is missing is “things under the earth” (see Philippians 2:9-11), those who have died without trusting Christ.

Ephesians 3:3-6 — How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel. — Only to Paul was it revealed that Gentiles could be saved into the same body as the Jews and partakers of the same spiritual promises. Yes, God did first reveal to Peter, through his visit to Cornelius, that Gentiles could be saved—so that Peter and the other apostles wouldn’t interfere with Paul’s ministry. But it was only to Paul that the Holy Spirit revealed the depth and scope of that salvation — and that, going forward, saved Jews and Gentiles would be part of the same body.

Ephesians 5:30-32 — For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. — Paul is using a simile here to explain the Body of Christ. The marriage relationship between a man and a woman isn’t a mystery — God revealed that back in Genesis. But here Paul uses the marriage relationship to illustrate something that is a mystery — the relationship between Christ and the church. (While we’re on the subject … Paul is not teaching that the church is the bride of Christ. Scripture refers to believing Israel at Christ’s second coming as the Bride of the Lamb, but that terminology is NEVER used by Paul and NEVER in reference to the Body of Christ.)

Colossians 1:24-27 — I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. — Here Paul calls the church (the Body of Christ) a mystery and then reveals a characteristic of the Body of Christ which is also a mystery — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The truth that Christ dwells in the believer (Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 13:5) is new information given to Paul. The fact of Christ’s presence in the believer gives us hope (faith in the future) that we will someday be with Him in glory.

1 Timothy 3:16 — And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. — There is some disagreement among commentaries on what, exactly, the mystery refers to in this verse. It’s most likely that it refers to the Body of Christ again. Let’s break it down phrase by phrase to see if it fits.

• God manifested in the flesh — On the surface, this seems like it must apply to Christ Himself, but Paul was just referring to the church in the previous verse (1 Timothy 3:15) and he uses almost these exact words to refer to the church (the spiritual Body of Christ) in 2 Corinthians 4:11: For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

• Justified in the Spirit — Christ certainly never needed to be justified for His own sins, but justification is a two-way street. Our sins were put on Him, making Him sinful. And His righteousness was put on us, making us justified in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). This justification was a mystery revealed first to Paul.

• Seen by angels — Of course Jesus Christ was seen by angels, but this was no mystery. What is a mystery is that the angels would learn of the wisdom of God by observing the members of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 11:10).

• Preached among the Gentiles — Paul was chosen by God to take the message of salvation by grace to the Gentiles, and the church is now tasked with that mission. Prior to Paul, the message went out only to Jews. When Christ was on earth, He and His apostles ministered only to Israel. (Gentiles could be saved prior to Paul, but only by becoming Jewish proselytes and adopting the Jewish rituals and religion.)

• Believed on in the world — The twelve were commissioned to reach the world through Israel. Israel rejected their message and the kingdom gospel was set aside. Then Paul was given the message to the Gentiles and … You have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing (Colossians 1:5-6).

• Received up into glory — Christ rose into glory, but this was predicted in the Old Testament (Psalm 68:18) and so wasn’t a mystery. But that the church would be received up into glory was a mystery as we already saw earlier in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52.

There are several other places where Paul uses the word “mystery” to refer to his gospel in a general sense (1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 3:9; 6:19; Colossians 2:2; 4:3; 1 Timothy 3:9).

It’s important to keep these mysteries in mind when studying other portions of Scripture. If these truths were first revealed to Paul and hidden from all generations previous to Paul, then there can be no teaching in earlier Scriptures on these truths. Yes, Matthew refers to a “church,” but the word “church” simply means an assembly. (Words in Scripture have precise meanings but a single word can have more than one precise meaning and the meaning in question often has to be determined by context.) Matthew could not have been referring to the Body of Christ because Paul says that truth was only revealed to him.

Paul’s gospel of salvation by the blood of Christ, the Rapture, the blindness of Israel while salvation was offered to all on an equal basis, the indwelling of Christ in the believer — all of these truths appear for the first time in the writings of Paul. If you think you’re seeing them in earlier portions of Scripture — the Old Testament, the gospels, the early chapters of Acts, the book of James — you’re mistaken. If they appeared there, they wouldn’t be mysteries

(Note: The only use of the word “mystery” by Paul that doesn’t seem to fit this pattern is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:7: And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. — The “mystery of lawlessness” is, I think, connected to the harlot Babylon — false religious systems — found in Revelation 17:4-5: The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” Paul was explaining that the Tribulation won’t come until the Anti-Christ is revealed, but that the false religious systems that will in the future produce the Anti-Christ were already at work in his day.)

The apostle Paul must have been an egomaniac, right? Consider these points:

• In his gospel, the apostle John never refers to himself by name and only once by the personal pronoun “I.” Paul, in his letters, refers to himself by name about 30 times and by personal pronouns a few hundred times.

• Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus is told in detail three times in Scripture (Acts 9:1-18; Acts 22:6-16; Acts 26:12-18).

• Three times, Paul refers to his message as “my gospel” (Romans 2:16; Romans 16:25; 2 Timothy 2:8).

• Three times, Paul refers to his message as “our gospel” (2 Corinthians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:14). The three letters in which this phrase appears are signed by Paul and Timothy and, in the case of the Thessalonians letters, Silas.

• In two places (1 Corinthians 15:1 and Galatians 2:2), Paul refers to “the gospel which I preach(ed). And once to “the gospel which was preached by me” in Galatians 1:11.

• Extensively (Ephesians 3:1-12; Colossians 1:24-29; 1 Timothy 1:12-16) Paul talks about how God chose him especially to take a new message to the Gentiles.

• Paul does something no other apostle dares to do — he tells his readers to pattern their behavior after his (1 Corinthians 4:16; Philippians 3:17; Philippians 4:9).

• Paul uses the word “mystery” 17 times to refer to doctrines that God gave him that had never been given to anyone else.

• Frequently, Paul uses the term “but now” to refer to things revealed by God through him that were previously hidden. For example, Romans 16:25-26.

No other writer of Scripture ties his message and his ministry so closely to his own person. It almost seems like Paul himself is part of the message. That can’t be a good thing, right? Paul must have been conceited.

OR, as is the case, Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to make it very clear that his particular message was new and important and that Paul himself was the key to understanding it.

However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life (1 Timothy 1:16).

Some say that’s Paul message was simply that Gentiles could now be saved as Jews were saved. That is certainly part of it, but just as certainly not all of it. After all, the Old Testament prophets foretold that the Gentiles would someday be blessed (Isaiah 49:6 for example). But those prophecies look to a time, still future, when the Gentile nations will be blessed through Israel during the millennium. Paul’s message — a mystery that was not foretold — is that Gentiles can be saved apart from Israel.

Jesus Christ, when He was on earth, ministered only to Jews (Matthew 10:5-6). The Gentiles were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12).

Now Jesus Christ, through Paul, makes salvation available to all, Jews and Gentiles alike (Romans 15:8-12).

For Gentiles to be saved during the Old Testament period, they had to become Jews. Now there is no longer a distinction. Both are joined together in the Body of Christ, another revelation given only to Paul. He says: I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints (Colossians 1:24-26).

Peter spoke of the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Pentecost, but apart from the basic fact of the resurrection, his message wasn’t much different from that of Christ Himself before the cross. It was through Paul that the Lord revealed exactly what Christ’s death and resurrection mean (Romans 5:6-11).

So, a new audience, a new body of believers, a new emphasis on the cross. But that’s not all. Paul also was the messenger of a new way to live.

Salvation, since Adam and Eve, has always been by faith. But prior to Paul’s ministry, that faith had to be demonstrated. In the Old Testament, God made it clear: You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD (Leviticus 18:5). The law was still in effect when Christ was on earth: For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).

And for those Jews saved under the kingdom gospel, the law was still in effect after the resurrection, which is why James, in his book to the Jews says, faith without works is dead (James 2:20).

Yes, the purpose of the law was to teach us that we couldn’t be saved by obeying the law but only by trusting in Jesus Christ. But it wasn’t until Paul that this was revealed. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor (Galatians 3:23-25).

Now, Paul explains, instead of trying and repeatedly failing to keep a law we are incapable of keeping, we are simply to walk in the Holy Spirit. I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

There are many other aspects of Paul’s ministry. We’ll get to them in a future post on the “mysteries” that he mentions.

The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write the book of Galatians to explain the differences between law and grace. For much of the first two chapters, Paul points to the differences between himself—the apostle of grace—and the twelve, who were still preaching the law as part of the kingdom gospel. The particular law that caused the tension was circumcision, but Paul makes it clear that the issue involved the entire Old Testament law.

Paul had traveled throughout the region of Galatia, a Roman province in what is now Turkey. He had preached his message of salvation by grace through faith and started several churches. After he moved on, Judaizers visited the Christians in Galatia and informed them that they couldn’t be saved unless they were circumcised and observed the Jewish feasts and ceremonies. The Galatians were beginning to waver in their faith. Paul wrote them this letter. He wasn’t happy with the Judaizers or with those who had so soon forgotten his teaching.

Here’s a quick survey of the first two chapters.

1:1 — Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through men, but through Jesus Christ) — Already he’s setting the tone. He didn’t get his authority from men, not even from the other apostles, but personally and directly from Jesus Christ.

1:6 — a different gospel — The word “gospel” means “good news.” It isn’t specific to one message. There are several gospels mentioned in Scripture. (There’s a post on this coming soon.)

1:7 — which is not another — In other words, this other gospel that the Judaizers were preaching to the Galatians was not good news for them (or for us). For the Galatians, this other gospel was a false gospel because it would put them under the law, which would not be good news.

1:8 — But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. — Another reference to there being more than one gospel. Angels frequently delivered messages from God to Israel. They were, in fact, closely tied to the covenant of the Law made between God and Israel only, which was given to Israel by angels with Moses as mediator (John 1:17; Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19.) But Paul was saying that, for the Gentiles, his message is more important than any other message, even if the other message is brought by angels because he was the one God chose to bring the message of grace to the Gentiles. In addition, what we have preached to you puts specific emphasis on Paul as the messenger. Paul repeats this warning in verse 9, but this time puts the emphasis on the hearers — what you have received — referring to what they heard from him.

1:11-12 — But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. — Here is the answer to the question posed at the beginning of my last post as to whether the words of Jesus Christ are more important than the words of Paul. This is just one of many places where Paul makes it clear that his words ARE the words of Jesus Christ. Paul is making it clear that his message came by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. He didn’t hear it from others, including the apostles. The “I” in the statement For I neither received it from man is emphatic in the Greek, suggesting a contrast with the Judaizers who probably professed to come from James (Galatians 2:12). If Paul’s message was not different from that of the twelve, there would have been no reason for separate revelation and no reason why he couldn’t have learned it from them. And, there would be no reason for him to be so adamant when he made this statement.

1:15-16 — But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles … — A clear statement that God called Paul to preach a specific message to Gentiles. In Greek, the word “reveal” means to uncover or to unveil something hidden.

1:16-17 — I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. — Ask yourself why the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this. Why would it be important for the Galatians to know that Paul didn’t discuss his revelation with the twelve apostles or anybody else? Wouldn’t you think the wise thing for him to do would be to sit under the teaching of others who had sat under the ministry of Jesus Christ Himself and who had been preaching the message for several years IF it was the same message? Paul recognized the authority of the twelve apostles, but declares his independence from them.

1:18-19 — Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.) — Again, why tell us this? Paul says he went to Jerusalem to “see” Peter. That’s a word that is generally used to indicate a visit for the purpose of getting acquainted. (This James wasn’t one of the twelve, but his association with them, by this time, was so great that he was referred to as an apostle in a greater sense. This James had become a leader in the Jerusalem church and wrote the book of James.) The point that Paul was making in these verses about the short duration and limits of his visit to Jerusalem were so important that he followed it up with a strong statement, before God, that he wasn’t lying. This was to counter the claims the Judaizers were making to the Galatians about Paul’s ministry, but also to demonstrate the uniqueness of his gospel.

2:1 — Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. — After fourteen years of ministry, Paul went to Jerusalem. He went to talk to the apostles, and he brought along Titus, who wasn’t circumcised, to show the distinction of his message. Barnabas was a Jew and had been circumcised as a child.

2:2 — And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles … —  “That gospel which I preach” was different from the gospel they were preaching, otherwise there would be no reason for him to communicate it to them. And he didn’t go to make sure he and the twelve were on the same page. He went to tell them what he was preaching.

2:2 — But privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. — Paul knew that the twelve were well known and well regarded for their ministry (and rightly so) to the Jews. If they were to openly oppose his message, his ministry would be less effective. So he traveled, by God’s guidance, to Jerusalem to talk with them privately.

2:3 — Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. — But notice that Titus was set forth as the exception (in Jerusalem). The Holy Spirit had never told the twelve that circumcision and adherence to the law was no longer necessary for Jews saved under the kingdom message. That was still part of their gospel.

2:6 — But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. — This, at first look, was a startling thing to write. Paul seemed to be demeaning the twelve apostles. That wasn’t the case. He was simply making an unequivocal statement that the twelve weren’t the ultimate authorities, and especially not on this issue. Paul was probably refuting the Judaizers who were using the twelve as their authority for undermining Paul’s ministry. Whatever they were has the sense of “what they once were.” At Pentecost and following, until the rejection of the risen Christ by the Jews and the start of Paul’s ministry, the twelve did have ultimate authority. But Paul’s authority came directly from Christ, and the twelve had no authority over him. Paul ended the verse with a clear statement that the twelve added nothing to his message or his authority.

2:7 — But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter — Rather, the twelve recognized Paul’s authority. And note the clear statement that there are two gospels in play here — that for the uncircumcised (Paul’s gospel for the Gentiles) and that for the circumcised (Peter’s gospel for the Jews) Note: the time was not far off — Acts 28:25-28 — when the gospel for the circumcised would be set aside entirely until after the Rapture of the Body of Christ. During the period (which continues today) between Acts 28 and the Rapture, there would be no distinction between Jew and Gentile.

2:9 — And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. — This is a very important verse. Read it carefully. Then read it again. James, Cephas (Peter), and John agreed that their ministry would only be to the Jews. Why is this significant? Because these three men wrote almost all of those New Testament books that appear at the end of the Bible after those written by Paul. This verse makes it clear (because nowhere in Scripture is this information updated, changed, or cancelled) that the books written by James, Peter, and John are for the Jews. Don’t misunderstand me. All Scripture is profitable (2 Timothy 3:16-17). But we have to read it with understanding. This verse, although definitive, doesn’t stand alone. There is plenty of evidence in the General Epistles that support this point. Look at the first verse of James, for example, or 1 Peter 1:1-2.

2:11 — Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. — Even after Paul’s visit to Jerusalem, there continued to be tension. James was zealous for the law (and continued to be so much later—see Acts 21:20) and was apparently encouraging the Judaizers to preach the law. Peter, and even Barnabas (v. 13) were persuaded. And this answers the other question at the beginning of my last post. Paul and Peter weren’t having a power struggle to see whose message would be taught. They were teaching different messages to different audiences, as directed by the Holy Spirit. The problem here is that Peter, for a moment, got the audiences and messages mixed up, and Paul had to set him right.

Paul goes on in the rest of this book to point out the differences between his gospel and the gospel of the circumcision. But our point here is that the Holy Spirit thought it important to take two chapters to explain the separation between Paul and the twelve in clear, decisive language. If it’s that important to Him, we believe we should pay attention and remember the lesson as we read and interpret other Scriptures.

The ministry of the Apostle Paul is, we believe, greatly misunderstood. Coming to grips with his message may be the largest hurdle for most people as they try to understand Scripture.

Some people try to lump Paul with the twelve apostles by claiming that it was wrong for them to choose Matthias to replace Judas — they should have waited until God chose Paul.

Others relegate Paul to secondary status by saying that the things Jesus said are more important for us to follow than anything Paul might have said.

And there are those who see Paul’s ministry essentially as a power struggle with Peter.

Paul can’t be dismissed that easily — or at all. He was given a special ministry to a group of people who, prior to that point, had no connection to God (Colossians 1:21). Those people are Gentiles — anyone who isn’t a Jew. Those people are us. Paul is our apostle. More on this in future posts, but first a look at the twelve apostles.

The twelve apostles were chosen by Jesus to minister with Him to Israel, and only to Israel (Matthew 10:5-7). Their ministry was to preach the kingdom of heaven—the term Matthew uses for the Millennial Kingdom when Christ will be on the throne in Jerusalem and the nations will be blessed through Israel. The apostles will sit on twelve thrones over the tribes of Israel during that kingdom (Matthew 19:28).

Even after Jesus Christ died and rose again, the ministry of the twelve was still about the kingdom (although that message now included the resurrection). In the last conversation that the eleven (minus Judas) had with the Lord before He ascended to heaven, they asked if the kingdom was going to be restored to Israel at that time (Acts 1:6-8). The Lord only told them that the timing wasn’t for them to know, but that they should continue witnessing as they had been — about the kingdom — with the Holy Spirit to empower them. Their ministry was to begin in Jerusalem. Why start in the city that had just days before crucified the king? Because the kingdom message they were preaching made it clear that the world couldn’t be reached until Israel repented. From Jerusalem and Judea, the apostles were to go to Samaria. Why? Because the Samaritans were the remnants of the 10 “lost” tribes, and the rest of the world couldn’t be reached until Israel was reunited.

To jump ahead a bit, the fact that the ministry of the twelve apostles was for Israel explains why you don’t see anywhere in Scripture that they got more than a handful of miles away from Jerusalem. When the Jews in Jerusalem rejecting the kingdom message again — as demonstrated by their stoning of Stephen — the kingdom couldn’t begin, and the rest of the world couldn’t be reached through Israel at that time. That’s why you hear very little about the twelve apostles after Acts 11. Peter gets mentioned a few times, and we hear about the death of James in Acts 12, but that’s about it. (Don’t confuse the apostle James with James the half-brother of Jesus who wrote the New Testament book and shows up in Acts several times.) Peter and John later wrote New Testament books, but the audience for those books was also Israel (Galatians 2:9).

At Pentecost, the twelve apostles were in the Jewish capital, for a Jewish feast, in fulfillment of Jewish prophecy, in front of an audience made up entirely of Jews. Their message was completely and totally about the kingdom. Peter explained (Acts 2:16-21) that the prophecies of Joel regarding Israel were being fulfilled that day. He went on to prove that Jesus Christ, whom they had just crucified, was their Messiah (Acts 2:36). He called on the Jews to repent for their sin of rejecting their Messiah and instructed them to be baptized to have their sins forgiven. There was nothing in Peter’s message about grace, nothing about Christ dying in their place, nothing about the blood of Christ.

Pentecost wasn’t the beginning of the Body of Christ, the church of today. It was a message for Israel about the kingdom. It was about the ministry of the twelve.

As for whether the apostles should have waited until the Lord added Paul to their number to replace Judas… When Matthias was chosen, the apostles first prayed and asked for the Lord’s guidance. He demonstrated His will when they cast lots — a common Old Testament method that God used to reveal His will — and He chose Matthias. The apostles didn’t make the choice, the Lord did. In the very next verses, at the start of Acts 2, we read that they were ALL gathered, and the Holy Spirit came upon ALL of them. This could not, and would not, have happened if they had been wrong in choosing Matthias.

Why was a replacement for Judas needed? There had to be twelve apostles because they will reign over the tribes of Israel in the Millennial Kingdom—and there are twelve tribes (Matthew 19:28).

Add to that all the evidence that Paul had a different ministry — which (along with answers to the other questions at the beginning of this post) we will get to in our next posts.

Having determined that the Bible is true and that the truth is knowable, the next question we should ask is how can we know that truth?

We believe this comes down to hermeneutics (from a Greek word meaning “interpretation” or “expert in interpretation”). It basically means the method you use for interpretation.

There are various methods. The one we think makes the most sense is generally called the “literal, historical, grammatical” method. In other words, the text of Scripture is taken to mean what it says literally, the events in Scripture are considered to have happened historically and the words themselves are used in their normal grammatical sense.

How can we be sure this is the correct way? For starters, if something doesn’t mean what it says, it isn’t truth. God can’t claim that His Word is true if He tells us one thing but means something entirely different. (For example, If He tells us that the world was created in seven days each of which had a morning and an evening when what He actually meant is that the “days” were really long periods lasting millions of years during which evolution took place, then He isn’t telling the truth.)

Then there’s the fact that God tells us to stand for the truth, defend the truth, and preach the truth. How can we possible do those things if we can’t know what the truth is — or if the things God Himself tells us aren’t true to begin with?

And if the Bible doesn’t mean what it says, who gets to decide what it does mean? There are those who claim that the gift of interpretation is only given to some — priests or pastors or theologians — and that the rest of us should rely on them to tell us what Scripture means. This was a popular view in the Roman Catholic Church for centuries. The Bible was only printed in Latin so that only priests could read it. There are two pretty obvious problems with this approach.

First, if it were true that priests and pastors and theologians have a special insight into biblical truth, there would be a large degree of consensus among them in regard to truth. There is virtually no consensus at all.

Second, there’s Scripture itself.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 — Test all things; hold fast what is good. Context is always important. This verse is at the end of a string of exhortations in which Paul instructs Christians regarding prayer, the will of God, the leading of the Holy Spirit, and the correct approach to prophecy (in this context, Scripture, which includes Paul’s letters to them).

Acts 17:10-12 — Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed.

There are a lot more instructions on studying Scripture, including Psalm 119, 2 Timothy 2:15, and many of the verses we included in our previous post on truth.

We are to search Scripture for ourselves to find the truth. Yes, we should listen to pastors, read commentaries, and talk to other people. Yes, they can help us understand. But ultimately, we as individuals, are responsible for checking what we hear against Scripture to see if what we’ve heard is true.

“But,” many say, “the Bible is filled with figures of speech and allegories and parables that can’t be taken literally.” We believe, for many people, this is just an excuse not to study. For others, it’s a way of “explaining away” uncomfortable verses instead of explaining them.

We all use figures of speech and illustrations in everyday talk and we never have any trouble understanding each other. If someone told you that they found a “boatload” of coins under the cushions of their couch, you would know they were using a figure of speech and that they didn’t actually find enough coins to fill a boat. But you would also know that they had — literally — found a large number of coins.

Not only that, but in most cases in Scripture where visions, allegories, or parables are used, the Bible almost immediately explains them or explains how to interpret them.

One final point. The Bible takes itself literally, which should be our pattern for understanding it. Micah 5:2 says that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. The Messiah was born in Bethlehem. Zechariah 9:9 says that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem riding on a colt. The Messiah entered Jerusalem riding on a colt.

It’s true that a lot of people in Scripture didn’t understand things in Scripture, but in many cases, the Lord made it clear that they should have (John 3:10, for example).

Again, please hear us—we’re not claiming that we do understand everything in Scripture. And we believe that we can’t understand it completely without the help of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:14 — But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

To sum up, we believe that Scripture can be understood (with the help of the Holy Spirit) and that the way to understand it is to believe that it means what it says.

The Bible tells us that creation and our consciences clearly prove to us that there is a God. From that evidence, we can know a lot about God. But using those sources alone, we can’t know God. For that, He gave us the Bible. If you don’t accept that statement, than what follows will mean nothing to you.

(To keep this post a reasonable length, we are only going to post a selection of the verses that back up our points. There are many more we could use.)

God inspired men to write the Scriptures. In those Scriptures, He says, unequivocally that His Word is true.

Psalm 119:160 — The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 — For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.

God wants all people to know the truth.

1 Timothy 2:4 — Who [God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

God says that we should study the truth.

1 Timothy 4:13, 15-16 — Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

God says that we should obey the truth.

Galatians 5:7 — You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

God says that we should stand fast for the truth and defend the truth.

Ephesians 6:14 — Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 — Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

God says that we should tell others the truth.

2 Timothy 2:24-25 — And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth.

God says that we will be held accountable for not knowing and believing the truth.

2 Thessalonians 2:12 — That they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

It makes no sense that God would instruct us to stand fast for something we could not know or hold us accountable for not knowing something we can’t understand.

Based on these few verses, we can absolutely, definitively know three things:

1. Scripture is truth.

2. That truth is knowable.

3. We are accountable for knowing it.