My question is that why do you think Peter and Paul had two different gospels?
Precious friend, thanks for the great question - this
study says it
way better than I ever could - please be Very
Richly Encouraged!:
IS THERE ONLY ONE GOSPEL IN THE BIBLE?
DID PETER AND PAUL PREACH THE SAME GOSPEL?
Many church members believe there is only one Gospel in the Bible. Are they
right in holding to such a conclusion? Is there only one Gospel in the Bible?
Did the Apostles Peter and Paul preach the same Gospel or different ones?
Setting aside my own opinions, and anyone else’s ideas, we will be surprised
to learn what God’s Word has to say about the matter.
Jesus Christ selected 12 apostles on earth, of whom Peter was the head (they
are listed by name in Matthew 10:1-4, Mark 3:14-19, Luke 6:13-16, and Acts 1:13).
He commissioned them to go to
the nation Israel first—He commanded them
not to minister to Gentiles. According to Matthew 10:
“[5] These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go
not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans
enter ye not: [6] But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
[7] And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The 12 apostles were to convert all of Israel first, and
then, and
only then, they
were to go to the Gentiles (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15). Luke 24 further explains:
“[46] And [Jesus] said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it
behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
[47] And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached
in His Name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
[48] And ye are witnesses of these things.”
Everything that Israel’s 12 apostles learned, they learned in from Jesus Christ
during His
earthly ministry. Jesus said to them, “But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He shall teach you all things,
and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you”
(John 14:26). He also said to them, “Ye are they which have continued with
Me in My temptations” (Luke 22:28). When selecting Judas’ replacement, the
apostles said, in Acts 1:
“[21] Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the
time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, [22] Beginning
from the baptism of John, unto that same day that He was taken up
from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of His resurrection."
The 12 apostles (Matthias taking Judas’ apostleship) followed Jesus during His
entire earthly ministry, from John the Baptist’s water baptism to Jesus Christ’s
ascension into heaven in Acts 1. Galatians 1:11-18 makes it absolutely clear
that the Apostle Paul did
not receive from Peter and Israel’s other apostles,
the Doctrines he taught:
“[11] But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was
preached of me is not after man. [12] For I neither received
it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of
Jesus Christ… [15] But when it pleased God, Who separated
me from my mother’s womb, and called me by His Grace,
[16] To reveal His SON in me, that I might preach Him among
the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
[17] Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles
before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto
Damascus. [18] Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem
to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.”
Not only did Paul
not learn the Grace Doctrines from Peter and the 11,
but he also did not learn the Grace Doctrines from Jesus Christ during
His
earthly ministry. In fact, Paul wrote:
“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea,
though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now hence-
forth know we Him no more” (2 Corinthians 5:16).
During Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry, Paul was lost, and Paul (known then as
“Saul of Tarsus”) was persecuting, imprisoning, and killing Jews who had trusted
Jesus as their Messiah (Acts 8:1-4; Acts 26:9-11; Galatians 1:13; 1 Timothy 1:13).
The resurrected, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus Christ revealed to
Paul alone the “revelation of the mystery” (Romans 16:25; Galatians 1:11-18;
Ephesians 3:1-11; Colossians 1:25-26). Peter, James, and John
never used the
expression “the revelation of the mystery” in their epistles—only Paul used
that term, so that
should grab our attention.
Read what the Apostle Peter wrote toward the end of his life in 2 Peter 3:15-16:
“[15] And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation;
even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom
given unto him hath written unto you; [16] As also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to
be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest,
as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
For those who want to discard Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon
and reject the Doctrines of Grace, they would also have to throw away the
apostle Peter because Peter identifies Paul’s writings as “Scripture.”
If you
deny Paul’s apostleship, then you are forced to deny Peter’s as well!
Furthermore, the Apostle Peter admitted that he did not understand everything
that Paul taught and wrote. If Peter and Paul preached the same Gospel and
Doctrines, then Peter would have no trouble understanding Paul’s teaching.
Peter had great difficulty grasping the Doctrine Paul taught, so
it is only
logical to conclude that Paul and Peter preached different messages.
Why did Peter not understand the writings of Paul? Peter
could not
and
did not understand Paul’s message because, like it was stated
earlier, Jesus Christ selected Peter as an apostle of
the nation Israel
(Matthew 10:5-7; Galatians 2:9). On the other hand, Jesus Christ selected
Paul to minister to the Gentile, non-Jewish world. Paul was “the apostle of
the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13; Romans 15:16; Ephesians 3:1; 2 Timothy 1:11).
Peter did not need to understand Paul’s doctrine, because
Peter was not ministering to Paul’s audience (Peter had his
own doctrine in his own program and had his own audience).
To be continued in Part II