There is more than one Gospel within Scripture

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”