Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the secrets of God (1 Corinthians 4.1).
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 secret which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen (Romans 16.25).
| Differences Between the Jesus and the Twelve and Paul | |
| The Twelve | Paul |
| Proclaimed repentance and water baptism for salvation (Acts 2.38) | Proclaimed “believe” alone for salvation (Romans 4.5-6;1 Corinthians 15.1-4) |
| Proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 4.17;Acts 3.19) | Proclaimed the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20.24) |
| Saved and commissioned within Israel’s borders (Matthew 16.13,16-17) | Saved and commissioned outside Israel’s borders (Acts 9.3) |
| Were taught in Christ’s earthly ministry | Was taught in Christ’s heavenly ministry (Galatians 1.1,11-12) |
| Ministered to Jews only (Matthew 10.5;Galatians 2.7-9) | Ministered primarily to Gentiles (Romans 11.13;Galatians 2.7-9) |
The most logical thing for Saul to have done following his conversion would have been to return to Jerusalem and consult with the Twelve. Imagine what a meeting that would have been! Saul, the great persecutor of the Way (Acts 22.4), had become a believer–and in such a dramatic manner–by the direct confrontation of the Lord in glory. It didn’t happen (Galatians 1.16-17). God had other plans for Paul. He insulated him from the Twelve and like what He had done with Moses, sent him to Arabia–into the desert–most likely to Sinai. Why?
The Rise of Paul
Peter is the primary personage for the first dozen chapters of Acts. Luke recorded Paul’s salvation in chapter 9. Peter reappears in chapter 15 at the Jerusalem Council and assisted Paul in his argument (Acts 15.7-11) over the issue of whether Gentiles had to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses to be saved (Acts 15.1,5). Worth note is Peter was not running the Council–James was. This James was not James the Apostle, one of the Twelve (Acts 12.2), for he had been executed by Herod Antipas (Acts 12.1-2). This James (a.k.a. James the Just) was Jesus’ half-brother. By the time of the Jerusalem Council (51 A.D.), Peter’s authority and the authority of the Twelve had declined to the degree that a second-order apostle was running things. James was an apostle in a secondary sense for he did not meet the qualifications for apostleship as did the Twelve (cf.John 7.5cf.Galatians 1.19;1 Corinthians 15.7,Acts 1.21-22). After Luke’s account of the Jerusalem Council, the Twelve drop out of view and the remainder of Acts is all about Paul. Why?
God had revealed Gentiles would be blessed by the Jews (cf.Isaiah 42.1,6;49.6;60.3;Zechariah 8.23;Luke 2.32). These promises were based on the assumption the Jews would accept their Messiah. How could Gentiles be blessed if Israel refused their Messiah? They couldn’t since all blessing was based upon the Messiah. God had revealed no other plan. But God in His sovereignty always has a plan, even though he may keep it secret (Deuteronomy 29.29). God knew Israel would reject Him and made provision for it.
The Lord commissioned Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9.15-16;Romans 11.13;Ephesians 3.1;1 Timothy 2.7). No Biblical record exists Peter and the Eleven ever had a ministry to Gentiles. The Twelve made an agreement with Paul to confine their ministry to Jews while Paul would go to Gentiles (Galatians 2.7-9). Even though Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, he first witnessed to Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. In Acts, the record reveals Paul first approached Jews and then turned to Gentiles when the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah (Acts 13.46;18.5-6;28.24-28cf.Romans 1.16-17;Acts 9.15).
Paul’s argument with the Twelve at the Council demonstrated a change of evangelistic program had occurred. Jesus had commanded His disciples to go to all nations, i.e., Gentiles (Matthew 28.19). This never happened. When it became clear Israel would not repent (the crisis point was the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7), God commissioned Paul to minister to Gentiles. During the thirty years Paul faithfully served the Lord, the Lord revealed to him secrets (μυστήριον) He had not revealed in His own earthly ministry nor at any time to the Twelve.
The Mystery (μυστήριον)
The word translated “mystery” is the Greek word μυστήριον. This unfortunate translation has confused most of Christendom. The word μυστήριον does not mean “mystery” as we think as in “strange,” “enigma,” “weird,” etc. It means a “secret”–something kept hidden, something previously unrevealed. Paul used the term to describe the body of doctrine the risen, ascended, glorified Lord revealed to him. God alone can keep a secret and He had kept these revelations hidden until He chose to disclose them. Paul called these doctrines “secrets” for that was what they were. What were these secrets that Peter and the other apostles knew nothing about?
1. The Secret of the Gospel of the Grace of God
25 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 [secret] which has been kept secret for long ages past,26 but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations,leadingto obedience of faith (Romans 16.25-26).
Paul preached the “gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20.24). Time and again Paul proclaimed that the gospel he preached washisgospel (Romans 2.16;16.25;2 Timothy 2.8;Galatians 1.11-12,2.2). Did the Twelve not preach this gospel? The Scriptures reveal they didnot–until they learned it from Paul (cf.Acts 15.1,5,6-11). Paul declared his gospel was, “kept secret for long ages past, butnowis manifested.” Paul wrote that by revelation he went to Jerusalem to communicate the gospel he preached (Galatians 2.2). It was a “secret” until the ascended Lord revealed it to Paul and it was a secret until Paul revealed it to the Twelve. What gospel did John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Twelve proclaim? They preached the “gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4.23;9.35;Mark 1.14-15). Its message was that God’s earthly kingdom, which the prophets had proclaimed throughout the Old Testament, was at hand. For it to come upon the earth required repentance and baptism. Even after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, Peter continued to preach the gospel of the kingdom (Acts 2.38;3.19-21). This was a completely different gospel than the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20.24) that Paul preached.
What was the content of the kingdom gospel during the ministry of Jesus and afterward? Salvation was based upon believing Jesus was Israel’s Messiah, the Son of God (Matthew 16.16;John 11.27; [Acts 8.37]). No mention was made of believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection evenafter His resurrection. Peter did not tell the Jews he addressed on the day of Pentecost to believe Jesus died for them and rose from the dead. He told them to repent and be baptized (Acts 2.38). Immediately after Paul was saved he too preached this message: Jesus was the Son of God (Acts 9.20). Paul did not begin to preach his gospel (Christ died for us and rose from the dead) until after he returned from Arabia. Why not? Because God had not yet revealed it. Not until after Paul returned from his three years in Arabia did he preach this gospel. During that time the ascended Lord revealed to Paul the meaning of His death and resurrection (Galatians 1.16-19,2.1-2).2
Paul’s gospel of the grace of God was the message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Paul wrote the Corinthians,
1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, (1 Corinthians 15.1-4)
Do you see the difference in Paul’s gospel? Where is repentance? Where is baptism? They are not there. Salvation according to the gospel of the kingdom was to repent and be baptized, believing Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God (Matthew 16.16-17;John 11.25-27;Acts 2.38). Salvation according to the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20.24), Paul’s gospel, is to believe Christ died for us, was buried, and arose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15.1-4). According to Paul’s gospel, only one thing is necessary: trust in the death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Do you believe it? If so, you are saved from sin and death. This is God’s promise.
Peter told the Jews they had murdered their Messiah and needed to repent and be baptized (Acts 2.36-38,41). Did Peter or the Twelve preach Christ crucified for salvation? No. The cross for Peter was something to be repented of, not a message of hope and salvation (Acts 2.22-24;2.36-39;3.13-20).
Not until the Jerusalem Council (51 A.D.) did this change. After much argument, Peter, who had remained quiet during the debate (what a character change!) made a remarkable statement. We read:
7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.8 And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us;9 and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.10 Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?11 But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” 12 All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles (Acts 15.7-12).
At the critical moment, God the Holy Spirit moved Peter to recall the time he had visited the house of Cornelius, the Roman centurion, a Gentile, many years before (Acts 10.1-48). Peter, who had been listening to the arguments, rose to Paul’s defense in the quarrel over whether Gentiles had to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses to be saved. Had it not been for Peter, Paul’s evangelism would have become much more difficult. What was most remarkable was Peter’s statement: “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” What a switch! Jews saved like Gentiles, not Gentiles like Jews? Amazing! What was the result? The Jews who had argued against Paul became silent and listened to Paul and Barnabas.
Lest anyone doubt that Paul’s gospel was a new gospel, he explicitly declared it so inEphesians 6.19. Paul wrote the Ephesians:
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,19 and prayon my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery [secret] of the gospel,20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that inproclaimingit I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak (Ephesians 6.18-20).
In verse 19, Paul stated his gospel was a “secret.” This verse parallelsRomans 16.25. The gospel of the kingdom, that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, was no secret. It had been proclaimed by John the Baptist, Jesus, and Peter along with the Twelve. What was secret? It was that Christ had died for our sins and had been raised from the dead for our justification and that by trusting in this alone one can have salvation. Until God revealed this truth to Paul, this great fact was unknown. No one knew the significance of Christ’s death on the cross–that it paid for our sins–and no one knew that one could obtain salvation by faith alone until Paul proclaimed it. Paul’s “secret” gospel contained no works such as baptism, which had been required for salvation by the gospel of the kingdom (Acts 2.36-38; cf.Mark 1.4,16.16). Paul’s gospel was faith + 0–a totally new revelation.
