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As I concluded in part five, we have seen that the Apostle Paul referred to the Gospel he preached in a variety of ways. He referred to it as the Gospel of the Grace of God, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and the Gospel of Christ. Hoping not to weary you, we are not finished talking about this subject quite yet. It might interest you to know that the Apostle Paul likewise referred to the Gospel he shared regularly as "the gospel of God". Here again are a group of verses which confirm this point. As with the last group of verses, please don't be confused by the fact that none of these verses are related to each other and have no common theme. Again, the reason I am sharing them with you is to simply show you how many times the Apostle Paul used the phrase "gospel of God":

"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,"


"Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost."


"For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things. Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?"


"For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain: But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention . . . But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God."


Last of all, we have this final verse which was written by the Apostle Peter, where he likewise uses the phrase "the gospel of God" in his first Epistle:

"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"


As we learned in part four, let me also remind you that when writing to the Galatian brethren, in order to differentiate between Peter's ministry to the Jews, and his own ministry to the Gentiles, Paul referred to his Gospel as "the gospel of the uncircumcision"; NOT because his message was different in content from what Peter preached, but simply because he and Peter were ministering to different ethnic groups of people. That is all. Please remember that at that Jerusalem meeting, Peter said "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." Stated more clearly, Peter and Paul BOTH preached the Gospel of Grace. Consider the following two verses:

"But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)"


Finally, in Paul's first Epistle to his beloved son in the faith, Timothy, in one instance, Paul refers to his Gospel as "the glorious gospel of the blessed God", as we see by this verse:

"According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust."


By this time, I imagine that your mind is probably boggled a bit after reading through so many Bible verses in a row. However, there is a point to my madness. Stop and consider now how many different ways the Gospel is mentioned in the previous groups of verses. They include the following:

1. my gospel
2. the gospel
3. the gospel of Christ
4. the gospel of God
5. the glorious gospel of the blessed God
6. the gospel of the circumcision
7. the gospel of the grace of God
8. the gospel of the kingdom
9. the gospel of the kingdom of God
10. the gospel of the uncircumcision

Of those ten phrases, nine of them were used by the Apostle Paul in different places in the Scriptures. Now, let me ask you a really simple question. Do you think that each of those phrases means something different? For example, do you really think that the Apostle Paul was referring to nine different Gospels when he wrote the previous verses? Yes, I'm being rhetorical, because, personally, I already know what the answer is.

I am sure you realize that just because Paul referred to the Gospel in nine different ways does NOT mean that there are nine different Gospels. Such a thought would be ludicrous. As I have already made rather clear throughout this long series, regardless of what we choose to call it, there is really only ONE Gospel, and that is the Gospel which announces the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the gateway to the Kingdom of God for those who believe. Period. That is the glad tidings, the good news, the gospel, the "euaggelion".

If you are more or less familiar with my work, then you may know that one of my pet peeves is the way modern theologians, Bible teachers and preachers have invented so many different terms to describe and define our body of Christian beliefs. I mean, it is really mind-boggling, and quite frankly, really confusing. When I was a young Christian over fifty year ago, we didn't have all of this modern, confusing jargon. Yes, we had denominations -- which is a whole different subject -- but we were all just Christians.

Today, however, in the world of contemporary Christianity, it seems that one cannot just be a Christian, and nothing else. Rather, he has to be a Christian with a string of adjectives after the actual word "Christian", as well as a prefix before the word "Christian", which is usually whatever denomination that person happens to belong to. For example, a person might refer to himself as a Baptist Christian, Methodist Christian, Pentecostal Christian, or whatever their particular flavor of Christianity happens to be. And then they will add a string of adjectives after the word "Christian" which describes the particular doctrinal positions they embrace. I mean, it is really ridiculous.

Tragically, our faith is now so divided by so many different denominations, each of which has their own set of conflicting doctrines, that I can almost understand why some people feel the need to add a string of adjectives after the actual word "Christian". But, do you know what? I am now a septuagenarian who has studied the Bible for over fifty years, and to tell you the truth, I honestly do not know what most of those descriptive words they use even mean. Furthermore, I really don't care either.

Quite frankly, I find all of that theological jargon not only divisive, but as I already said, confusing as well. It certainly does not contribute towards the overall unity of the Body of Christ, does it? Instead of uniting us as the Apostle Paul hoped for, using such descriptive labels in fact divides us. It gives us reasons and excuses to explain why we can't get along. Let me share with you those verses from the Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians one more time, as well as some of his thoughts from his first Epistle to the brethren at Corinth. This time I am going to place some of the words in uppercase letters for emphasis:

"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, THAT YE ALL SPEAK THE SAME THING, AND THAT THERE BE NO DIVISIONS AMONG YOU; but THAT YE BE PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER in the SAME MIND and in the SAME JUDGMENT."


"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom ALL THE BUILDING FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are BUILDED TOGETHER for an habitation of God through the Spirit."


Clearly, today we are NOT "perfectly joined together", or a building "fitly framed together". Sadly, we are in fact more divided than ever before due to our diversity of conflicting doctrines and divisive labels. To continue, this is exactly the same problem I have with these Pauline extremists who divide the Gospel into two different parts, one for the Jews in the Gospels, and the other one for the Gentiles in Paul's Epistles. "We should read and adhere to this, while they need to read and adhere to that" seems to be their mantra. Some of these Pauline extremists are setting up barriers and causing division. They are NOT contributing to the unity of the Body of Christ. They are in fact DAMAGING and WEAKENING the Body of Christ through their divisive beliefs.

Now, don't get me wrong. As I said at the beginning of this series, I wholeheartedly agree with 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. As I also said, I have great admiration for the Apostle Paul. I really love reading and studying his amazing body of work. Paul and his writings are definitely NOT the problem. These Pauline extremists who misuse Paul's writings are the real problem. As I have already stated multiple times, there is only ONE Gospel which is signed and sealed with the Blood of Jesus Christ. Either we accept it, or else we reject it, no matter what our ethnic origin is, Jew or Gentile.

So to reiterate one of my key points, this belief in there being two different Gospels is a dangerous doctrine because it conveys a very confusing message to young Believers in Christ. I mean, we really need to think about this. If we accept this belief that Paul is our only Apostle, and that what he preached is our only Gospel, some people -- meaning young Christians -- might be given the mistaken idea that we should simply ignore everything that what said by Jesus in the four Gospels. Now tell me; do you believe that? I most certainly don't!

I mean, gosh, if we accept that misguided view, then forget such well-known, soul-saving verses as John 1:12, John 3:16 and John 14:6. Just throw them in the trash bin. After all, that is not our Gospel. Sorry Jesus, but we've got the words of the Apostle Paul now. He is our Apostle, so You will have to be happy with taking second place from here on out, Lord. Now doesn't that sound just horrible? Those verses apply to everyone, regardless of whether he is a Jew or a Gentile. So to say it one more time, this line of thinking only causes division and drives a huge wedge between the four Gospels and the rest of the New Testament. It breaks the harmony of the Scriptures.

So in conclusion, just as the Apostle Paul haters have gone completely to one extreme of the spectrum and accused Paul of being a devil and a false apostle who did not uphold the Law, and who encouraged others to likewise not observe the commandments either, at the same time, these Apostle Paul idolizers have gone completely to the opposite end of the spectrum, and have set Paul up on a very high pedestal. In so doing, not only are they sowing division in the Body of Christ, but in my view, it makes them guilty of man worship as well.

What is interesting about this is the fact that Paul was very much aware of what was going on. He was very concerned about it, and he did not like it one bit. He was very much opposed to such cultish followings and what basically amounted to man worship. It is for that very reason that he chided the people in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, and he warned them against idolizing him, or any other person who preached the Gospel, as we see by the following group of verses:

"For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?"


"For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase . . . Therefore let no man glory in men . . ."


"And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?"


So, as I said, I hold great admiration for the Apostle Paul and his accomplishments. I greatly enjoy reading and studying his Epistles. But it is a serious mistake to place him, or his words above or before the words of the Lord, as found in the four Gospels. As we have seen, what Paul taught, Jesus likewise taught, as did the Apostles. It is all one and the very same Gospel, and it is meant for all people everywhere. Let's please leave it at that.

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

All Are Given a Chance, But . . .
Are Christians Obligated to Keep the Sabbath?
Are the Gifts of the Spirit for Today?
Dead to the Law: God's Laws Written on Our Hearts
Did the Apostle Paul Start the Christian Faith?
Fifty Days Which Changed the World
Free From the Fear of Death: Law and Works vs Grace
Is the Message of Salvation Meant for All Men?
The Blood Atonement: In Jesus' Own Words
The Faith of a Little Child
What Does "The Truth Shall Make You Free" Really Mean?

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