How We Know Paul Preached a New Gospel

Did Paul preach the same gospel as Jesus? Did he preach the same gospel as Peter? Throughout his letters Paul makes many attempts to get people to see that his message is new and different. We will see how Paul’s use of the terms “my gospel,”  “mystery,” and “revelation” gives proof to the fact that Paul preached something new. We will also use logic to show why Paul does preach something different.

                First off, let’s start with the obvious. Jesus had 11 or 12 disciples (depending whether or not you want to include Mathias) that followed him and agreed with his teaching. So, why didn’t Jesus choose 1 or more of them to spread the gospel to the Gentiles? He had 11 perfectly capable men who were more than willing to preach the good news, so why did Jesus pick someone new to spread the “gospel of the grace of God?” (Acts 20:24). It only makes sense that Jesus wanted another Gospel preached as to why he chose a new man. But was there a different Gospel to preach, other than the one the disciples knew, the one Jesus preached to them? Yes there was, and that gospel was one centered around God’s grace. The fact that Jesus had to die, and his death and resurrection led the way to everyone’s salvation. Jesus became the curse for which we were under because we sin, he then died to take the punishment of that curse, and rose 3 days later so that we, too, might live again with him. And to accept what Jesus has done for us all we have to do is put our complete trust in him and his finished work on the cross, and that no works we do can take part in our attempt at salvation.  This sounds so obvious to us, we’ve been taught this for most of our lives, and a lot of people thought the disciples knew this too. But, as I shall show you, they had no idea.

                Twice in Mark and twice in Luke the Bible shows us that the disciples did not understand the fact that Jesus had to die. In Mark 8:31 it says, “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” This passage goes to show that the disciples did not know that Jesus must die and rise again. They did not want Jesus to die and Peter thought it would be stupid if Jesus did die. It follows that if the disciples did not know that Jesus had to die then they did not know what Jesus’ death would actually do for all believers. They did not know what God wanted, as shown by the bolded/underlined verse, but they had in mind only what they wanted. Next, in Mark 9:31 it says, “… ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered over to human hands. He will be killed, and after three days he will rise.’ But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.” Again, we see here that the disciples did not know or realize that Jesus had to die. Even after Jesus told them this second time, they still did not see it. Not only did they not know what Jesus meant, but they did not even ask him. These verses clearly show us that the disciples were in the dark when it came to Jesus’ death and therefore did not know what his death would do.

                Continuing on with Luke in the first passage we will look at is 9:43 which says, “While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered over into human hands.” But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.” More proof that not only did the disciples not know what Jesus meant but that God the meaning from them on purpose. God did not want them to know what Jesus’ death and resurrection was all about. It was not for the 12 to know what God had in mind so the God could reveal it to Paul. Yet again in Luke 18:31 we see the same story: “Jesus took the 12 aside and told them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.’ The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.” This is the final time I am going to say this: The disciples did not know that Jesus had to die. They did not realize what the significance was in Jesus’ death and resurrection, as these 4 passages pointed out. Why? Because God did not want them to know.

                God now moves on to establish a new dispensation. This time all will be saved solely by placing their faith in Jesus, and not by works. This is God’s gift of grace. Nothing we do can help us attain salvation; it is all about what Jesus did. Now, God has to make this known to everyone, and that is why he chooses someone new to reveal this mystery to. Now I will go through the reasons we can know that Paul preached a different gospel.

                First, I will start with the fact that Paul proclaims the massage he teaches as “my gospel.” In Romans 2:16 Paul says, “This will take place on the day when God judges everyone’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.” Again, in 2 Timothy 2:8 he says, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal.” And finally, in Romans 16:25-26 Paul says, “Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all Gentiles might come to faith and obedience.” These verses, and especially the last one, clearly show that what Paul preaches is his gospel and no one else’s. God revealed it only to him and it was revealed when God wanted it to be. Who else uses the term “my gospel”? No one! Now, let’s go through that last verse word by word. Once Paul uses the term “my gospel” he then goes on to explain what that is. Paul’s gospel is the massage he proclaims about Jesus Christ. What does Paul preach about Jesus? That he paid the punishment for our sins with his death and that his resurrection allows us to live with him also, and that all we must do is believe in him. Then Paul in this verse says that his gospel is “the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past.” We all know what Paul means by “revelation” because in Acts we hear the story of how Jesus revealed a message to Paul. Now, the mystery which was hidden is exactly what Paul preaches now; that Faith alone in Christ will save us because of what Jesus’ death and resurrection meant. The next words used in this verse are important and usually skipped. They are: “but now.” These two words put together mean that the object in the sentence did not exist prior to a certain period, though the event does exist after that period. To put it another way, the message or mystery Paul preached was not made known prior to Paul BUT NOW the mystery or message is made known. The plan behind Jesus’ death was not known before Paul, but has now been made known to Paul through the revelation. Soon after these words comes “by the command of the eternal God” which shows us why this mystery hadn’t been known before- because God did not want it to be made known. When Paul is converted God commands the mystery to be made known through the revelation Paul receives.

                Paul uses the word “mystery” 15 times, and all are talking about the revelation of Jesus’ being the final piece of salvation. Let’s look at Romans 11:25 first. “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not think you are superior: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in, and in this way all of Israel shall be saved.” Now, this verse has a lot in it, but I only want to focus on the surface level of the mystery. The mystery here, which is part of the full mystery made known to Paul, is that Israel has experienced a hardening in part. Did Jesus ever preach that Israel would experience a hardening in part? Did Jesus even mention Gentiles coming in? No, he did not. This is part of the mystery that was revealed only to Paul. Now, don’t get me wrong, Jesus knew what would happen, but he did not preach it. He left it to his father’s plan, which was to reveal it to Paul. Now onto Ephesians 3:2-6 which says, “²Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, ³that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. ⁴In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. ⁶This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” The first thing we see in these verses is that the administration (dispensation in KJV) of God’s grace was given to Paul for us. Wow, this clearly portrays the teachings of the grace of God given to Paul, not to Peter or James or the rest of the disciples. Paul then reiterated that the mystery was made known to him by revelation, not by anyone on earth telling him. Peter didn’t tell him, nor did anyone else.  In verse 5 Paul tells us that the mystery was not made known to men in other generations. Meaning that anyone who came before Paul did not know the mystery of God’s grace. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs with Israel. Now ask yourself, did Jesus ever preach that the Gentiles would be heirs also? No, he did not.

                One more thing I want to show is that Peter, even after Christ died, did not realize the mystery of the gospel of the grace of God. In Romans 14:20 it says that, “all food is clean” which is contrary to what Leviticus says, but we know that the death and resurrection of Christ, along with God’s grace, changed many things. This is why Paul now says that all food is clean. But, if we look back at Acts chapter 10 we see Peter’s vision. In this vision Peter is told to kill and eat the animals that God sets down before him. But, Peter responds by saying, “Surely not Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” By which God responds with, “Do not call anything impure that God had made clean.” This discussion happens three times then God just lifts the animals away. The passage shows us the Peter still did not understand the mystery that God had kept hidden until revealed to Paul. Therefore Paul and Peter must have preached different things.

                Finally, the last point I would like you to consider is that Paul says the word “grace” 87 times to show how we are saved today (grace through faith). But Jesus never mentions the word grace in his earthly ministry. Therefore we must realize that the two were preaching different ways of attaining salvation.