There is more than one Gospel within Scripture (WIP)

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If we are going to discuss the fact that there is more than one Gospel message within the pages of Scripture, then we first must define why it is that that subject is so important.  In most churches throughout the world, the importance of the Gospel is downplayed, if mentioned at all, and Satan is working over-time to keep mankind from hearing the Gospel that saves today (2 Cor 4:3-4).  Why is that?  The answer is:

The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes –

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

Life and immortality are brought through the Gospel –

Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

2 Tim 1:8-10

God calls a person by the gospel –

Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thes 2:14

When one hears the Gospel and they believe it, they are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit ([Rom 10:17] So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God) –

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Eph 1:13

The Body of Christ is made possible “by the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13) and “by the cross” (Eph 2:16), but entrance into the Body of Christ is “by the gospel” and “by one Spirit” (Eph 2:18; 1 Cor 12:13) –

That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

Eph 3:6

A different Gospel, other than the Gospel that is the power of God unto salvation, can and will be preached and must not be accepted –

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

2 Cor 11:3-4

If the Gospel is hidden from someone, they do not know it, they are lost and they will perish –

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

2 Cor 4:3-4

Paul pronounced a curse on anyone who proclaimed a Gospel different from his.  Those who proclaim a Gospel other than Paul’s are cursed, they do not know Christ –

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Gal 1:6-12

Those who preach the (correct) Gospel need to understand and be thankful that God has trusted them with the honor of preaching His saving message –

But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

1 Thes 2:4

How does one get into the Body of Christ?  It is by one Spirit, baptizing you into one Body.  When does the Spirit do that?  It is by the Gospel –

That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

Eph 3:6

That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Eph 1:12-14

Does that give you a better understanding as to why it is that the Gospel is so important?  Satan does not want you to hear the Gospel.  Satan does not want you to understand the saving message for today.  Satan does not want you to share the Gospel with others.  Satan wants you confused and he wants you hearing and sharing false Gospel messages or Gospel messages from the Bible that do not save today:

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. … For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

2 Cor 11:3-4, 13-14

There is more than one gospel within Scripture:

  1. Galatians 2:7-9 clearly indicates that there are at least two gospels within Scripture:
    1. The gospel of the uncircumcision (Gentiles) given to Paul.
    2. The gospel of the circumcision (Jews) committed to Peter.
  2. The Twelve did not understand Paul’s gospel:
    1. That is why Paul wrote in Galatians 2:2 that he communicated (ἀνατίθημι) it to them.
      1. The word ἀνατίθημι means to explain or disclose something.
      2. Obviously, the Twelve could not proclaim something they did not know or understand.
  3. Galatians 3:8 identifies a gospel given to Abraham. (see NASB translation)
  4. Paul’s gospel includes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:1-4) and is referred to as “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
    1. This gospel is also referred to as:
      1. The gospel of God (Rom 1:1, 15:16).
      2. The gospel of Christ (Rom 1:16, 15:19).
      3. The gospel of your salvation (Eph 1:13).
    2. Paul states very clearly in 1 Cor 15:1-4 that the gospel that he preached is the one by which you (a Christian living in this current dispensation) are saved.
    3. Paul’s gospel is unique from the gospels before it since Christ had not yet died (Rom 16:25, 2:16, 2 Tim 2:8, 1 Tim 1:11, 1 Cor 9:17, Eph 6:19, Phil 1:7).
    4. None of the 12 apostles understood the cross and certainly none of them preached it or gloried in it.
    5. Paul received his gospel directly from the risen Lord (Gal 1:11-12).
    6. Paul’s gospel was a “mystery” (or secret) (Rom 2:16, 16:25, 1 Cor 9:17, 1 Tim 1:11, Eph 6:19).
    7. Paul’s gospel was faith plus nothing.
      1. One need only believe that Christ died for their sins and that He rose from the dead.
  5. John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, the twelve, and the seventy all preached the gospel of the kingdom:
    1. Contrast Lk 9:1-6 (preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God) with Lk 18:32-34 (at the end of Jesus’ ministry – He is teaching the 12 that He must go to the cross … The disciples know nothing about the cross).
      1. This tells us that there are at least two gospels within Scripture – there is one in Lk 9:1-6 that is ignorant of the Cross and there is one in 1 Cor 15:1-4 that is all about the Cross.
    2. If the 12 were preaching the gospel of 1 Cor 15:1-4, then Peter would not have tried to prevent Christ from going to the Cross (Mt 16:21-22). He would have welcomed it.  He would have been over-joyed by it.  (See Mk 9:31-32, Mt 17:22-23, Jn 20:9)
      1. If Christ would have said, “remember the promises I made to Abraham? Remember the covenant I made with Moses? Remember the covenant I made with David?” the disciples would have known exactly what He was talking about.
    3. The four gospels are chronological in their writing. If in Lk 9:6, the disciples went through the towns preaching the gospel, but then in Lk 18:32-34 they understood nothing about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (1 Cor 15:1-4), what gospel were they preaching?  Answer:  the gospel of the kingdom (Mt 3:1-6, Mt 4:17, Mk 1:14-15)
      1. The preaching of the cross, Christ dying for your sins, was not known back in Luke 9 when John the Baptist, Jesus, the 12, and the 70 were preaching the gospel of the kingdom.
    4. This is the same gospel message (the kingdom) that Jesus was teaching in Mt 4:23 as He had the twelve gathered around Him.
      1. It is therefore the very gospel message He commissioned the twelve to preach in Mk 16:15 – “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
    5. Speaking to the twelve about the signs and times of the end of the world (after the dispensation that you and I live in currently), Jesus exclaims, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Mt 24:14)
  6. Another gospel identified in Scripture is the “everlasting gospel” (Rev 14:6):
    1. The content of this gospel is found in Rev 14:7-12 and includes the instruction to “Fear God”:
      1. This stands in contrast to 2 Tim 1:7 where Paul tells us that Christians have not been given the “spirit of fear”.
    2. The content of this gospel also states to “keep the commandments” (Rev 14:12) – keeping commandments is works, not grace…
    3. Rev 14:6 indicates that this gospel will be preached by an “angel flying in the midst of heaven”.
      1. This truth stands in contrast to the apostle Paul’s instructions in Gal 1:6-8 where he states, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you … let him be accursed”

There is ONE Gospel message that saves today (1 Cor 15:1-4), but the Bible clearly indicates that there have been different salvation messages (“good news” / Gospel) over the course of human history. Progressive revelation does not mean that there is one message of salvation that has been added to over the centuries and everyone has believed the same thing.

Five examples that demonstrate that there is more than one gospel (the message of “good news,” a message of salvation) in Scripture. There is ONE gospel that saves today, the age in which you and I are living, but there are certainly multiple “saving messages” recorded within the Bible that show God’s progressive revelation within His word. Simple example:

Mark 1:1-2 – Mark states that the “beginning of the gospel” was found in the prophets (the OT).

Phil 4:15 – Paul states that the “beginning of the gospel” was when he departed from Macedonia, well after Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

Which is it? Why is there this conflict within our Bible?

One must “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15 KJV), as instructed, if they are to reach the correct conclusion.

Gospel of the UnCircumcision – Gal 2:7

Gospel of the Circumcision – Gal 2:7

Gospel of the Kingdom – Mt 4:17, 23

Gospel of God – Rom 1:1-4

Gospel of the Grace of God – 1 Cor 15:1-4

Everlasting Gospel – Rev 14:6-7

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