Chapter 8
                                                           The Risen Lord
                                            
       "Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. (that is concerning Jesus of Nazareth) 32. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, (to the Romans) and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated. and spitted on: 33. And they shall scourge him, and put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again." (Luke 18:31-33)
       “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. (John 11).
 
       Does it matter if Jesus Christ is risen from the dead? For you and for me, this is a matter of life and death. This is not some optional, ‘take it or leave it’ doctrine, where a diversity of opinions is welcome. Whether Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father or whether He remains in the grave, is for us the difference between unfettered happiness and unequalled despair.
       Without the early Christian experience of Jesus' resurrection, there would likely have been no Christian movement at all.  The single most important event that led early Christians to affirm that Jesus was Lord, Savior, and God, was the resurrection experience--Romans 1:3-4; Acts 2:23-24, 36;  13:28-30.  After his death, the early Christians were absolutely convinced that Jesus was alive again.  
       What the Gospels tell us happened after the Crucifixion was the ultimate good news: Jesus came back to human life after three days in the tomb. Somehow a criminal's death and defeat on the Cross, 'Good Friday', as Christians came to call it, were transformed by his followers into a triumph of life over death, and the Passion narratives ended with the story of Easter Resurrection.  This Resurrection is not a matter which historians can authenticate; it is a different sort of truth, or statement about truth.  It is the most troubling, difficult affirmation in Christianity, but over twenty centuries Christians have thought it central to their faith.
            The Resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of our assurance that our sins were forgiven at the cross. If someone says to you, ‘How do you know that Jesus secured your forgiveness on the cross? How do you know whether His death actually accomplished anything for you?’ The answer is the Resurrection. The Resurrection is our tangible confirmation that Christ delivered on His promise. The Resurrection provides visible evidence that Christ’s death effectively secured forgiveness for His people. And we know from the apostle Paul’s testimony that Jesus did not appear to a mere handful of people, but rather, after appearing to the disciples, we are told Jesus “appeared to more than five hundred people at one time” (1Cor. 15:6). More than 500 eyewitnesses to the most impressive miracle in human history!
            There are several scriptural references to the earthly appearance of Jesus having occurred after his death, burial and resurrection, but prior to his Ascension. Among these primary sources, most scholars believe  I Corinthians was written first, by Paul of Tarsus c. AD 55. Finally, the Gospel of the Hebrews recounts  the Resurrection appearance to James the brother of Jesus. 
            The morning after Jesus had been crucified and placed in the tomb, Mary Magdalene went to visit the tomb. It was very early in the morning and it was still dark outside. She saw that the stone had been removed from the front of the tomb and that the tomb was empty.  She ran to Peter to inform him what she had seen. Then, Peter and another apostle, John, ran to the tomb to see for themselves. The body of Jesus was gone and the only thing left behind was the
cloth that was used to wrap his body for the burial. The apostles were confused, they did not understand what was happening. How could the tomb be empty?  Where was the body of Jesus?
            The Apostles returned to their homes. But Mary Magdalene remained by the tomb, crying. Then she turned and saw a man who asked her why she was crying. Mary Magdalene soon realized that the man who was talking to her was Jesus Christ. Jesus who had risen from death. Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the resurrected Jesus. Upon recognizing Jesus, she started to embrace him, but he told her not to touch him because he was not yet ascended.
            The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the beginning of Christianity. If Christ had not been resurrected and seen by many people (more than 500), Christianity would not exist today. Jesus then made twelve more earthly appearances after his resurrection:
            Paul lists several resurrection appearances of Jesus to various "men"  but doesn't describe them. In Matthew,  Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and another Mary at his empty tomb. Later, the eleven disciples go to a mountain in Galilee to meet Jesus, who appears to them and commissions them to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to make disciples of all people (the Great Commission).
            In Luke, Jesus appears to the disciples and eats with them, demonstrating that he is flesh and bones, not a ghost. He tells them to wait in Jerusalem until they are ready to start of their mission to the world, and then he ascends into the heavens. In Acts, Jesus appears to his disciples after his death and stays with them for 40 days before ascending to heaven. Acts also describes Jesus' appearance to Paul, in which a voice speaks to Paul and a light blinds him while he's on the road to Damascus. In the Book of John, Mary alone finds Jesus at the empty tomb, and he tells her not to touch him because he has not yet ascended to the Father. Later, he appears to the disciples. He moves through a closed door and has "doubting Thomas" touch his former wounds to demonstrate that he is flesh and bones. In a later appearance, Jesus assigns Peter the role of tending to Jesus' sheep, that is,leading Jesus' followers. The traditional ending of Mark summarizes resurrection appearances from Matthew and Luke.
            Prior to His crucifixion and death, Jesus distinctly assured His disciples that He had not spoken the last word or summed up the whole truth to them, and that the Holy Spirit who was to come after His departure would reveal to them new and fuller developments of the truths taught by Himself. He contented Himself with the simplest statements as to His death, statements most unwelcome to His disciples, the explanation of which was left to the future when their minds were opened to understand their Master’s words.
            The last book of the Bible is called the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is the Revelation by Jesus Christ to His servant John concerning things that must soon take place. But it is also a Revelation about Jesus Christ. “Jesus, the Risen Lord.”
            “I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus..”  (Rev. 1:9).
            The island of Patmos  was a prison island; an Alcatraz of the ancient world. As an old man, the apostle John had been banished to the island of Patmos because of his testimony about Jesus.
            “On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,”   (Rev. 1:10). This is identifying the day of John’s vision. This is the only place in the New Testament where this specific expression “The Lord’s day” is used. The Day of the Lord and the Day of God in II Peter 3:10-15  are the same. The Day of Christ on the other hand is what the Body of Christ is anticipating – Paul refers to that as the Day of Christ or the calling out of the saints, and meeting our Lord in the air.
              "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.  I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.”  (Rev. 1:11-17). These verses provide a clue regarding the identity of Jesus Christ..
            Later in the book of Revelation, John falls at the feet of an angel. And notice the angel’s response recorded in Revelation 19:10; and the angel says: “At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
            Now go to Revelation 1:17, where the apostle John has just fallen at the feet of Jesus. .How does Jesus respond? ) “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”  (Revelation 1:17-18).
            This is none other than Jesus, the Risen Lord! Notice, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever!” Here, in the first chapter of the book of Revelation, we find a word picture of Jesus, the Risen Lord!
            Does the apostle John recognize Jesus? After all, John had known Him well. John was the disciple whom Jesus loved. John doesn’t tell us if he recognized Jesus or not. One thing is certain. John had never seen Jesus in all of His glory. Even the glory revealed on the mount of Transfiguration didn’t compare to the glory of the Risen Lord! Notice that Jesus stretched out His right hand and touched John. Why is that important?  Why does John record that it was Jesus’ right hand? Because that was the hand of favor. That was the hand of blessing. “Fear not, the Lord, had declared, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand!" This picture of Jesus, the Risen Lord, is so important because Jesus, the Risen Lord, gives us hope! .
            After Jesus had laid down His life for our sins and was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, and after Jesus had rested in the tomb on the Sabbath day, just as God had rested on the Sabbath day after the work of creation was completed, on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, Jesus rose up from that grave. Jesus conquered death! Oh death, where is now your sting? Oh grave, where is now your victory!
            The resurrection of Jesus from the dead gives us confidence that Jesus is indeed the One that He claimed to be—the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
            How does the resurrection of Jesus give us confidence that He was the Messiah? Because Jesus predicted that He would rise from the dead.  Early in His earthly ministry, Jesus gave a startling prophecy. The same apostle John who recorded the Revelation of Jesus Christ also recorded these words of Jesus, found in the Gospel of John, chapter 2:19. “Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
            Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus gave another prophesy concerning His impending death and resurrection. “They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. "We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise." (Mark 10:32-34).
            Take note of the expression “Son of Man” used in that passage.  That is a term that is used in reference to Messiah. And that expression is also found in the picture of Jesus in Revelation chapter 1. Jesus, the Messiah, not only died for our sins, according to the Scripture, but He rose from the dead, a victor over death and the grave, just as He had predicted!
            And the resurrection of Jesus from the dead was so undeniable to His followers, and such an undeniable truth that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, that they were willing to go to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, boldly proclaiming that Jesus was risen from the dead!
            And more than that, these followers of Jesus, and followers of Jesus down through the centuries, have been willing to give their lives because of their faith in Jesus, the Risen Lord! This picture of Jesus, the risen Lord, gives us hope because we can be certain that He is who He claimed to be: the Messiah, the Son of God, our Savior.
            But there is a second reason why this picture of Jesus in the book of Revelation is so important. Jesus, the risen Lord, gives us hope because He is who He claimed to be—the Messiah, the Son of God, our Savior. But secondly, Jesus, the risen Lord, gives us hope. Jesus, the Risen Lord, gives us hope, because by faith in Him, we too have conquered death!
            Go to Revelation 1:18. What does Jesus, the risen Lord, have in his hand? The keys of death and Hades. Death and the grave. Why is Jesus, the risen Lord, holding the keys of death and the grave? Because Jesus has conquered death. Jesus has conquered the grave. Not just for Himself, but for all of us. Jesus has conquered death for you and for me.
            How do I know that Jesus, the risen Lord, has conquered death and the grave for me? Go to John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life..”
            Now listen to the words of Jesus in John 6:39-40. “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
            And again in John 10:27-28. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” No one can snatch us out of His hand. Not even death!
            Jesus, the Risen Lord, gives us hope! He gives us hope because His resurrection from the dead confirms that He is indeed the Messiah, the Son of God, our Savior. And Jesus, the Risen Lord, gives us hope because, by faith in Him, we too have conquered death and the grave. We too, as followers of Jesus, saved by His grace, can boldly declare, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” Why? Because Jesus, the Risen Christ has the keys! That’s why Jesus, the Risen Christ gives us hope!
             When the dead in Christ rise from their dusty graves, there’s going to be a whole lot of joy. We can trust the words of Jesus, the risen Christ. He promised “I will raise them up at the last day.”
            Jesus, the Risen Lord, gives us hope. He has the keys of death and the grave. And because He lives, we too shall live. Because He lives, we can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Let the risen Christ fill your life with peace. Let the Risen Christ fill your life with joy. Let the Risen Christ fill your life with hope.
 
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                                                                    Part 1
                                                  God Chooses the Apostle Paul
 
            As we saw in chapter 7, the Nation of Israel was presented with their Messiah-King, in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. From the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament to the first half of the Book of Acts in the New Testament it is primarily a work of God dealing with the Nation of Israel, and His charge to them to help bring mankind back to its original perfect state as it was first created.  God’s final solution to the problem of sin and death was to die on the cross with the shedding of His blood, and then after three days in the grave He was resurrected to eternal life. This was all necessitated because of the attribute of freewill in man gone astray through the sin of pride.
            Through their covenants with God, and the Kingdom Gospel, Israel was to have gone to all Nations with the knowledge of their God, but they reject and crucify Him. In the early Chapter of Acts, even though everything has been consummated for the Salvation of the whole human race, God continues to deal with the Jew. He does not immediately go to the Gentiles, but for a few years continues to deal with the Nation of Israel in the early Chapters of Acts, until we are introduced to Paul and the Body of Christ, the Church. You only hear that phrase ‘the Body of Christ’ from the Apostle Paul. You don't see that terminology until that revelation is given to him. After Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, the Lord told Ananias:  "But the Lord said unto him, `Go thy way, for he(Paul) is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles,...'"  (Acts 9: 15).
Everything that Jesus said back there in the four Gospels was before the cross, for the most part, and still under the Law. So, everything He said has a law-keeping connotation to it. But, when He now opens up this Age of Grace, He isn’t on earth ministering to us like He did to Israel, but as the Risen Lord He designated the Apostle Paul to act as His spokesman.
            Now that's the turning point in God's dealing with the human race. He raised up that Jew, Saul, later called by the name of Paul, the thirteenth Apostle if you want to call him that, and He sends him specifically to the Gentiles. And then after the Church Age is completed and the Body of Christ is full, God has to take the Body out of the way before He can resume the Old Testament program in those final seven years of the Tribulation. After the seven years of Tribulation we have the Second Coming of Christ, and then comes in the thousand-year reign and rule of Christ in the Kingdom. This is the way we understand the whole seven thousand years of time that God has laid out prophetically, and much of it is already historical. As soon as Christ was crucified, a short period of time was to elapse, then the Tribulation was to come in, Christ was to return, and the Kingdom was then to be set up to the Nation of Israel. But that hasn’t happened yet.
            Acts 4 and 5 is about  the Jerusalem assembly, primarily Jewish believers preaching  that Jesus was The Christ, the promised Messiah. Peter and the eleven are still under the Covenant program that began with Abraham. They were looking for the Kingdom just over the horizon.  And all through Christ's earthly ministry, why was He ministering to the Jew? To prove to them that He was The King coming in fulfillment of that Abrahamic Covenant. Gentiles weren't involved in that until The King was in place and then they could flow into it as Isaiah says. Then they would flow to Jerusalem. It was a valid offer to the Nation of Israel, but that didn't happen because of their rejection of The Messiah, and the dispersion of the Jew after the stoning of Stephen.
            When Christ came to the Nation of Israel the first time He presented Himself as their Messiah and King, but they never comprehended Who He was. Only a few did. Remember, Stephen's whole purpose was to bring the Nation of Israel to the knowledge that the One they had killed was The King. This is the whole premise of the early Chapters of Acts. Yes, they killed the Christ, but God raised Him from the dead, and He could still be their King if they will just believe it and repent of that awful deed.  Israel was aware of what Peter and the rest of the disciples had been preaching, that they killed Him, but God raised Him from the dead, and He could still be their King because He was alive.
           
The Risen Lord Chooses Paul
            To this point in our treatise it has been all Jew. The Nation of Israel as a people was chosen by God to carry out His will to bring all mankind to a knowledge of God, but they blew it!  After God sent His only Son to a sacrificial death on the cross, and the Jews were still in unbelief, He decided a change was necessary if His will was to be done. To this end, God singled out the man Saul(Paul). 
            After spending forty days consorting with the Risen Lord, and seven more years after His ascension, where should these Twelve Disciples have been by now? They should have covered the whole Roman Empire spreading “the Good News.!” Even with the modes of transportation of that day they could have covered a good portion of the then-known world. Paul proved this could be done. But where do we find them? They are still in Jerusalem. There is nothing in Scripture to indicate that Peter ever went into a ministry with the Gentiles. The one exception was his visit to the house of Cornelius, which was a special case.   For the next 20 years He stayed in Israel to “tend his sheep.”  Were they derelict in their duties? No. They knew they could not go beyond the borders of Israel until Israel had her King. They still had the hope that Israel would yet repent of their national sin of having crucified their Messiah, and then Christ could return and set up the Kingdom.
            These Twelve men were not derelict in their duties, they knew their role, and they knew they could not have a ministry to the Gentiles until Israel came to recognize that the One they crucified was their Messiah. Then He could have returned and set up His Kingdom.  So they didn't go to the Gentiles, they didn't go down into Egypt or over to Greece, (if they did it was to Jews). They were still preaching to Jews only. Remember the Old Testament was used to prove that the One that Israel crucified was The Christ. That was the Jewish message all the way through .
           As one comes up through the Book of Acts it's been all Jewish.  But with the stoning of Stephen, Israel has come to the crescendo point of her rejection. “We'll not have this Man rule over us.”  So as they reach their pinnacle of rejection, and then we see God introduce what we call the Gospel of Grace with the Apostle Paul. The man who will now go to the Gentiles, without benefit of Israel. The man who will make all the difference to the rest of the world. The man who will communicate the will of the Risen Lord.
           A few years ago even one of our secular news magazines took  note of the Apostle Paul for the influence that he had upon the world. And for being the one that introduced Christianity. Normally everyone will say Jesus The Christ introduced Christianity. Always remember that Jesus is the very foundation and basis of it, but God chose the Apostle Paul to take it out to the Gentile world. Now, as Saul(Paul) is introduced, he's not in a very good light is he? He was the one holding the garments of those that were throwing the stones at Stephen.
            That was the Jewish assembly there at Jerusalem. Saul wasn't just a casual onlooker at Stephen's stoning. Rather he was one of the leaders of it. And he hated anything concerning Jesus of Nazareth. Why? Because he was a good religious Pharisee, and thought Jesus was an impostor.
            The Book of Acts just comes alive when you are able to see that God was still dealing with the Nation of Israel during the early chapters, and how Israel rejected the message. Then God in so many words said, " You’ve had more than 2000 years to prove yourself, but now I’m going to turn to the Gentiles without you." That is exactly what happened. In early Acts we are still pretty much on Jewish ground. We have just seen the stoning of Stephen, and Saul of Tarsus consenting unto his death. He was actually promoting and leading the assault on these early Jewish believers.
            “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth and he heard a voice saying unto him, `Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?'"  (Acts 9:1-4).
            Saul was totally religious. He is an absolute believer in the Old Testament. He believes in Judaism, in the Mosaic Law; he's a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and of the tribe of Benjamin. He is a Jew through and through. But he hated with a passion Jesus of Nazareth, because he felt He was an impostor who was trying to destroy that which, to him, was his whole life. And so Saul of Tarsus felt that Jesus was destroying the very bulwarks of Judaism and the only way he could do God a favor was to stamp it out with persecution. He's doing it in the name of religion. And he is fervent, sincere and devout.
            Saul was still intent on getting those believing Jews from Damascus. It didn't make any difference whether they were men or women or children. He would take them back to Jerusalem and commit them to prison or death.
            But now, on the road to Damascus, God in His Grace, stops Saul in his tracks with this penetrating light from Heaven, and knocks him from his horse. From his prostrate position on the ground he looks up, knowing that the shining light is coming from Heaven. Where does any religious person normally think of as the abode of his god? Heaven! So as Saul saw this penetrating light coming from above, second nature told him that his God is dealing with him (The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph).
            "And he said, `Who art thou Lord? And the Lord said, `I am Jesus who thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks '"  (Acts 9:5)
            God is showing him that he was fighting a losing battle. When the very One he thought he was hating; the very One he thought he had to stamp out any memory of His name; of His miracles; of His ministry; was the same person as his Jehovah from the Old Testament! Saul suddenly realizes that the One he was trying to stamp out was the same One that he worshipped. What a revelation! God's Grace saved him there on the spot. But the first thing God does is strike him blind.
            "And he trembling and astonished said, `Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' And the Lord said unto him, `Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight and neither did eat nor drink.”
            "And there was a certain disciple (or believer) at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, `Ananias,' And he said, `Behold, I am here, Lord.' And the Lord said unto him, `Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth (Saul is on communication ground now with the Lord Himself).' And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, `Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here, he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.'" "But the Lord said unto him, `Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles; and kings, and the children of Israel.'" (Acts 9:10-15) Here is the big turning point in the Book of Acts. I'm going to send him, God said, to the Gentiles.
            Do you see the metaphor of the three days when Saul was sightless in the verse above? Saul is going through a death, burial and Resurrection even in his own life. He's going from the big man in Judaism to that lowly servant, which he says in Ephesians 3 "is a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles." How long was Jonah in the whale's belly? Three days and nights, then he was a changed man and could go to Nineveh. Saul is now going under the name Paul. So, why was the apostle's name changed? We can speculate that this Romanization of his name is an embracing of his mission as an apostle to the Gentiles (see Acts 15). We can also speculate that this new name is a break with the legacy of his covenant-breaking namesake. Now as Paul makes his way up to Damascus, just a little north of the Sea of Galilee, the amazing thing is that all Twelve of the original disciples were chosen within the borders of the then-known Palestine. Not one was chosen from Gentile territory. They were all commissioned while was Jesus was in His earthly ministry within the borders of Israel.
            Paul is unique in more ways than one. Paul, by birth was a Jew, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee of the Pharisees. But as we find out later in the Book of Acts, Paul was also a Roman, by birth, by citizenship, because his father was. Paul had absolutely no connection with the Twelve. He separates himself from them. He has no connection with the Twelve, they were apostles of Israel. They were chosen within the borders of Israel. This man is going to be the apostle of the Gentiles. And so God chooses and commissions him on Gentile ground. He takes a man who is not just a Jew, but is also a Gentile by Roman citizenship .
            Paul separates himself by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit  "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man." What's he intimating? He didn't go back to Jerusalem and check with the Twelve. That would have been the logical thing to do. They had spent three years with the Lord and so that's the place to go and get instruction. But Paul says, "For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." (Galatians 1:11,12)   Revelation in Scripture means just what it says. God revealed directly to this man these doctrines of Grace. He wasn't taught it from the Twelve, nor from the chief priests or Rabbis. He got it from supernatural revelation from the ascended Lord in glory.
            "For ye have heard of my conversation (or manner of living) in times past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church (the ecclesia) of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews' religion (he was in the hierarchy and probably on a big salary) above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers."   (Galatians 1:13,14)
             Scripture hates that word `tradition.' It's going to doom more people than any one thing you can think of except maybe the word `pride.' And this is what God had to break Paul away from. The traditions of the fathers.
            "Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia,...."   (Galatians 1:17 ).
            It is very clear as Paul writes his letters, how he disassociates himself from the Twelve, so far as their doctrines and their Gospel were concerned. Because God has revealed something to this man that no one else has heard before.  Remember, God keeps things secret until He is ready to reveal them. That's the way to look at the things given to Paul. God saw fit to keep them secret. The Twelve couldn't comprehend it. But Paul does, and consequently, God is going to designate him as being the apostle of the Gentiles. Whereas the Twelve were apostles of Israel, and the gospel of the Kingdom.
            In Acts 22, we see what kind of man Ananias really was. Here Paul is speaking in the first person many years after the Damascus experience, and is recounting his conversion to the multitude of Jews.
            "And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one Ananias (the one spoken of in Chapter 9), a devout man according to the (what?) Law!...."  (Acts 22:11,12)
            So what is Ananias? He is a believing  Law-keeping Jew. No one has told Ananias yet, "You're not under the Law, you're under Grace." No one has told these Jewish believers to quit Temple worship and stop legalism. They have maintained their Judaism, but at the same time they recognized that Jesus was The Christ. Do you see the difference? That is what we call the Gospel of the Kingdom - that Christ was the King of Israel; He was ready to give them the Kingdom, but they had to repent and be water baptized in order to be ready for that Kingdom. So Ananias is a believer that Paul was coming after.
            In Acts 26 Paul is rehearsing in the first person all of this.  "I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth." He never got over it. But nevertheless, he had to recognize that this was what he had to go through before God could use him.
"Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints (these Jewish believers) did I (he takes responsibility for it himself. So he had to be very important in Judaism to have that kind of authority) shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death...." (Acts 26:9,10 )
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The whole purpose of that miraculous three years of earthly ministry for Jesus was to prove to the whole Nation of Israel Who He was. And to those Jews who did believe, they had Salvation and became disciples. This is as much as even Paul knows at this time - that Jesus was The Christ. But God had greater things in mind for Saul. So God's going to move him out. 
            "And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him:"   (Acts 9:23-25). These are the orthodox Jews who were still back where Paul was before he was converted. But Paul found out about the conspiracy, and He makes arrangements to get out of Damascus, and God is going to lead him.
            Between Acts 25 and verse 26 is a three-year gap in time. Go to the Book of Galatians 1 to pick that up. To see the difference between Peter and Paul, read Galatians  1 and 2 carefully and slowly, and with an open mind. In 1:16, where Paul (many years later) is writing this little epistle to the Gentile believers up there in Galatia.  "To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen (Gentiles, the non-Jews); immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:" In other words, in Damascus after his conversion, there were several days involved, but time-wise it was short. "Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me;...."   (Galatians 1:16,17a) 
            Paul didn't go back to Jerusalem to ask Peter to fill him in regarding the three years Peter was with The Lord, or the forty days after His Resurrection. Paul didn't say, "Fill me in so I can go out and preach with some authority." He makes it so plain that he did not do that. He did not have contact with the leadership in Jerusalem. "...but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus."  (Galatians 1:17b).
            From Damascus he made his way down to Mount Sinai in Arabia. We believe that happened because in Galatians Chapter 4, Paul is using the allegory of Ishmael and Isaac. And look at the geography that comes up in verse 25: "For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia,..." (Galatians 4:25a)
            We know that Mount Sinai was the place where God gave the Law to Moses. And similarly, it is only appropriate to believe that this is the place in Arabia where God took Paul to reveal to him the doctrines of Grace and associated mysteries.  As Moses was chosen, so also, Paul was chosen, both for the ultimate purpose of bringing mankind back into that perfect relationship with God.
            Paul spent the next three years at that place under the private tutelage of the Risen Christ Himself. No one except him and the Lord so far as we know. That's a long time. But he had a lot to learn and, consequently, from those three years of being alone with the ascended Lord, out of it comes this Apostle prepared to go to the Gentiles, not with Judaism and the Law, but with the Gospel of Grace. Not with just the Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus was The Christ, but with the Gospel of Grace which is that Jesus is The Christ, The Son of the living God, Who died for our sins, shed His Divine blood, was buried, and rose from the dead. Do you see the difference? That is what Paul writes and talks about primarily from that point on.
            Paul, an apostle of Christ was now a personal messenger of Jesus Christ, sent by the Risen Lord Himself. He was the only true vicar of Christ (if you will pardon the expression!). He represented the interests of Jesus Christ to men, and relayed the mysteries held in the mind of God until God made them known only to His Apostle Paul.
            The Apostle Paul reiterates that the Holy Spirit of God, not a man, is the infallible teacher of all true Christians: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man' s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth..." (1 Corinthians 2:12-13).
 
God Speaks Through the Apostle Paul!
A fascinating fact of the New Testament is Paul’s command to believers to follow or imitate him. He issued this command several times throughout his letters. No other writer of Scripture made such a demand or claim. We do not find it with Peter, John, James, etc. in the New Testament nor Moses or any of the prophets in the Old Testament. The only other person to issue such a command was Jesus the Messiah, the Lord God Himself.
The glorified Christ specially commissioned him as the apostle to the Gentiles. The God who separated , i.e., marked him off, from the womb also separated him from the Twelve after his salvation. Why? Because God had a special plan for Paul. The risen, glorified, heavenly Christ revealed “secrets”  to Paul that He had not revealed in His earthly ministry to the Twelve.
 Paul received his gospel and doctrine directly from the Lord . He wasn’t for a minute going to let their ideas overturn Christ’s direct commands to him. Fortunately, at the end of the day, the Holy Spirit moved Peter to recall his encounter with Cornelius , and Paul carried the day. This was a watershed event.  In the conclusion, Peter made a most remarkable statement: “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” The idea that Jews would now be saved as Gentiles was unthinkable before this time. The conclusion of the Jerusalem Council was a massive paradigm shift in salvific history. After this decision, Paul wrote that anyone who preached a gospel different from his gospel was accursed(by God).
Paul claimed that he was the “first” ( in succession and/or rank)  to be saved in a new program of salvation.  He went on to explain that as “first” he formed a prototype of those who would follow him in salvation. Those who would follow Paul in salvation comprise the Church, the body of Christ. God revealed to Paul the gospel of the grace. In Paul’s gospel one is saved by faith(alone)–believing that Christ died for one’s sins and rose from the dead. Those who respond to this truth form the great organism of the Church, the body of Christ, which was one of the mysteries God revealed to Paul alone. 
Every true believer is a member of the Body of Christ. But Jesus never once mentioned the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is a term that you cannot find in the Four Gospels. You can't find Peter using this term either.
Here we have the description of the Body of Christ. That term was only given by revelation to the Apostle Paul in this Age of Grace   For as the body (this human body from which he's going to draw a comparison or allegory) is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ." ("so also is Christ" is referring to the Church or Body of Christ)  (I Corinthians 12:12).
Here we are with a human body of ten fingers and toes, our ears, and eyes, and all the functions of this physical body, but where is the control of these fingers and toes? Up in our brain. So also is the Body of Christ. We are now members of the Head Who is in heaven, and that's why that's where our citizenship is. That's where the Head is, that's where the nerve center is. So Paul says by inspiration that we believers are members of that one Body of Christ. How did we get there?
"For by one Spirit (the Holy Spirit again, as it's a capital `S.') are we all (notice that says all. Not just the most spiritual, not just the ones that have had an emotional experience, but every true believer regardless of where he is or how great experience he's had, we are all members of the Body of Christ because the Holy Spirit has) baptized into one body, (this is the only time that Paul teaches a baptism by the Holy Spirit. When we are saved the Holy Spirit immediately places us in the Body of Christ, it's a baptism, and there is no water involved. But rather the Holy Spirit did it, and that of course is our guarantee that we are Christ's and He is our Savior) whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." (I Corinthians 12:13).
There will be no unbelievers in the Body of Christ. We are baptized or placed into the Body of Christ by an act of the Holy Spirit who can search the heart. When a person becomes a child of God, the Holy Spirit immediately places them and that’s what the word baptized here means, the Holy Spirit places them in to the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit will never place an unbeliever into the Body of Christ. Because you see, that’s the Holy Spirit’s work that when a person becomes a child of God, the Holy Spirit immediately places them and that’s what the word baptized here means, the Holy Spirit places them into the Body of Christ.
"For the body is not one member, but many."  (I Corinthians 12:14)
We are part of the many into the one whole, and that's the whole picture of the Body of Christ. There's a oneness we have in Christ. Then Paul goes through and uses all the bodily members to show the example,  Every part of the body functions together for the purpose of using and energizing the body:
"If the foot shall say, `Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body;' is it therefore not of the body?" Of course not, just because the foot is not the hand that doesn't take it away from the body, it's exactly where it belongs. It's a place of function.
"And if the ear shall say, `Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body;' is it therefore not of the body?"   "If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, `I have no need of thee;' nor again the head to the feet, `I have no need of you.'  Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:"  (I Corinthians 12:15-22)
Take the little toe for example. The little toe almost seems insignificant doesn't it? But if you ask someone who had one amputated they'll tell you they miss that little toe almost as much as a complete hand. Why? Because that which is the most feeble is sometimes the most important.
Now the reason Paul uses this analogy of the human body, some believers, their role is nothing more than a little pinkie. Some may even have the role of a little toe, which most people never see. Some are going to be more visible, but every one of us, regardless of where God has placed us in the Body have a function in that Body, be it small or great.
Paul has been explaining that the Body of Christ, that invisible make-up of all believers from wherever they are on earth, and of whatever background, every true child of God becomes a member then of that Body of Christ. And that is a revelation that was given only to the Apostle Paul, because you do not see the Body of Christ taught until Paul comes and shares the revelations that he got from the ascended Lord.
The Body of Christ which is composed of people who have been baptized by the Holy Spirit. That Holy Spirit baptism may not be an emotional phenomenon, or a physical thing, because you may never feel a thing, or realize anything had happened when the Holy Spirit baptized you into the Body. We know it happened only because Scripture says so, and that's the only way we know that we were placed into the Body of Christ, and we take these things by faith, and not by feeling.
"Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."  (I Corinthians 12:27)
As an individual, we don't just come into the Body of Christ as a number, but every one of us is an individual in God's sight, whom He knows. And He knows our every need, and He knows our every heartache and joy. It's just as if you are the only one in the throne room with Him, and that's the kind of God we serve.
Paul commanded believers to imitate him. And although Paul was as human as you and I(with free will), such that his  personal behavior was sometimes in view, his primary concern was that believers follow the doctrine he had received from the risen, glorified Lord.
Paul called these doctrines “mysteries” or “secrets.” Paul used this term because the teachings the Lord gave him were secrets, i.e., doctrines the Lord had not revealed to anyone before. The ascended Lord saved Paul to become a prototype for a new creation, namely, the Church, the body of Christ. As believers today, to imitate Paul means to recognize and obey the truths God revealed to him.. Such obedience is essential to the process Christians call sanctification. Apart from it, the believer in Christ cannot mature spiritually and conform to the image of His Son. Only by obeying the doctrines the glorified Lord revealed to Paul can we grow into the person Christ has destined us to be.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.”(John 13:20) The warning here is obvious. If anyone is to receive the Lord Jesus Christ, he must do so through the Lord's chosen messenger. And the Bible states in at least 14 different places that Paul was the apostle through whom the Lord spoke to the Gentiles.
The Lord tells Ananias in a vision that He has chosen Paul to go to the Gentiles. “But the Lord said unto him (Ananias), Go thy way: for he (Paul) is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:” (Acts 9:15)
For Paul, Christ is the center, the focal point, both of Paul’s life and of the universe. Paul’s passion for Jesus led him to proclaim Christ and the Gospel very creatively, in ways relevant to his time.
To the Apostle Paul was given God's new message for all everywhere in this dispensation of His grace. Paul did not go forth preaching the same gospel that was preached by the Twelve. He did not receive his gospel from them, he received it directly from God. He said, "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" (Galatians 1.11-12). Then further in Galatians he writes, "But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter" (2.7). Here, temporarily, we have two separate gospels, one committed to Paul,  and the kingdom gospel preached during Jesus’ earthly ministry, and afterwards by Peter and the Twelve.  After Paul, there is only one gospel, the gospel of grace.
For roughly two thousand years God had confined His dealings with humanity to Abraham's seed, the nation Israel. Now, turning away from Israel for a season, God reaches out to the Gentiles, to all everywhere regardless of race. Saul of Tarsus, saved on the Damascus road, was to be the Lord's chosen vessel to bear His name before the Gentiles. In Acts 13 his name is changed to Paul and he is commissioned, and with Barnabas sets forth on the first great missionary journey to the heathen world. On their return to Antioch from this journey, which lasted well over a year, they gathered the church together and rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how He had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles (Acts 14:27) The door of faith to the Gentiles was not opened with Peter on the Day of Pentecost, but with the Apostle Paul. He wrote: "For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office" (Romans 11:13). Also in Ephesians 3:8, "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." In this verse we have three things: the man, his mission, and his message. Paul preached salvation for the sinner by grace alone, apart from Israel's law or human endeavor, and that the believing sinner is made one with Christ and a member of the Church, His Body. This truth was unsearchable, it could not be searched out in the Old Testament Scriptures for it was hid from ages and generations past. The holy writers knew nothing about anything such as this. It was a secret hid in God until revealed to and through Paul.
To Peter was given the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16: 19) and he used these keys at Pentecost to open the door to kingdom blessings for the Jews. He later used the keys in the house of Cornelius to open the door to kingdom blessings for the Gentiles. When the kingdom is finally established, not only will it mean blessing for Israel but also blessing for the Gentiles through Israel. Now regarding Peter's ministry to Cornelius: It is 'the kingdom,' and not the Church. Peter received the keys of the kingdom, and he used those keys, first to open the kingdom to the Jew, and then to the Gentile. But Peter never received a commission to unfold the mystery of the Church. Even in his epistles we find nothing of it. With the commissioning of Paul in Acts 13 the kingdom program is interrupted and no longer do we see Peter working with the keys of the kingdom. In fact, Peter is mentioned 56 times in the first twelve chapters of Acts, but only once thereafter, when he speaks at the Jerusalem Council. Paul becomes the dominant figure, mentioned 126 times, and through him we learn that God has brought in a new order, and as this new program expands, the old order fades out of the picture. This new order was the dispensation of grace and this was given to Paul to make known. In Ephesians 3: 1-2 we read, "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward." This dispensation of grace did not begin with Peter on a Jewish feast day, but it began with the Apostle Paul. But unto none of these twelve apostles did God reveal the great body of doctrine for this age. God chose Saul of Tarsus to be the revelator and unfolder of that great company of God's elect, called the Church, the Body of Christ, the individuals of which body are called members of the Body of Christ members of Christ Himself.
The gospel which Paul preached was the gospel of God's grace and this had to do with the work of God's Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. In I Corinthians 15:1-4 it is clearly stated that the gospel is that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. At Calvary God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, and thus God is enabled to reach out in grace to all mankind.  It was at the Cross the Son of God, the Lord of glory, laid down His life, shed His blood, putting away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and doing all the work necessary to save the sinner and assure him of a home in heaven. The sinner is to believe this and to act upon it, to cast his doing down and to come empty-handed and receive from the God of all grace a pardon for all his sins. Salvation is by grace apart from law keeping and human effort, and apart from religious pretensions and performances of any kind. This is the gospel Paul preached and in Acts 20:24 he says he received it of the Lord Jesus. It wasn't handed down to him by the Twelve, nor was it something he learned at the feet of Gamaliel. He said, "For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians I: 12).
The Pauline gospel is a distinct and new revelation and not a carry-over from that which had gone before. It is important to note the difference between God's program for Israel, administered by the twelve apostles, and His program for the Church, administered by the Apostle Paul
 
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Peter Comes to Paul’s Defense
            In the three years while Paul was in Arabia with the Risen Lord, God was also doing something to get ready for another future event. Because of His foreknowledge He does things way back just to have something ready way out in the future. In this case, He was preparing Peter for that great conference in Jerusalem which would take place twelve years later. Had Peter not had this experience with Cornelius in Acts chapter 10, he would have never come to Paul’s defense in Acts 15 and Galatians 2, where they finally agreed that Paul would be the Apostle of the Gentiles. Peter would have never agreed to that. But at the house of Cornelius God brought Peter to an understanding Paul was going to save the Gentiles. Had this event never occurred, Christianity as we know it would never have happened.
            Prior to the conference in Jerusalem, Peter was the spokesman for the twelve. He was the moderator - the head man. But, by the time we get to the conference, Peter has been sitting off in the corner, not really having a part in the discussion because he has relinquished his leadership to James. This is no doubt the James who was the half-brother of Jesus.  During the discussion at the conference, Sovereignly, God shakes Peter up, brings him to the forefront, and he makes this statement that God had shown him at the house of Cornelius that Gentiles could be saved the same as Jews! Here we are almost ten years after Pentecost, and the Twelve have made no overture to approach the Gentiles, except this one time when God forced Peter to meet with Cornelius, so that about twelve years later Peter could come to Paul’s defense in Acts 15 and Galatians chapter 2.  So James, who is now the moderator, shows just how far the Kingdom program has already slipped. 
Probably the greatest proof of Paul's apostleship and authority is found in 2 Peter 3:15-16.  Peter writes about Paul:  14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.  (2 Peter 3:14-16)
Of course, Peter and Paul knew each other.  Peter says Paul's writings and letters are difficult to understand.  Another thing about verse 16, Peter compares Paul's epistles to "other Scripture"...Peter here acknowledges that Paul's letters are Scripture...This is very interesting to have this said to be Scripture as the letters were being read among the churches.  For a writing or writings to be classified as Scripture is a process.  The writings must be reviewed and studied for their content, must be God inspired, authenticity and other requirements of a governing theologian body and then be "canonized" as an authoritative writing.
 Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, that All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful in teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness...By using and knowing scripture we will be equipped for work, life, and what life will show to us...The scriptures will make one wise for our salvation is through faith in Jesus, our Messiah...
 Peter must have felt that Paul's letters were God-breathed, useful in teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness... .Peter surely felt that Paul's writings were carried along by the Holy Spirit and were inspired by our Great LORD...
Peter refers to Paul as "our beloved brother." He states that Paul wrote "according to the wisdom given him." Finally, Peter refers to (apparently) a collection of Paul's letters and calls them "Scripture." It is true that, in the early church, the term "Scripture" was generally used to refer to that of the Old Testament. But notice that Peter categorized the writings of Paul in the same class as "the rest of the Scriptures," thus giving a clear indication that Paul's writings are indeed inspired, truthful, and authoritative.
            Paul then becomes the preeminent apostle to the Gentiles. For the next 1900+ years God’s program is called the Age of Grace. Israel has been set aside and is now out in dispersion. At the completion of the Age of Grace just prior to the event called the Tribulation, God will then resume the Kingdom program with Israel. It is at that time we find the Body of Christ being called into heaven because they have to be removed prior to the Tribulation.  Law and Grace cannot exist simultaneously.  So in Acts chapter 11 we have the visible unfolding of the transition from Jew to Gentile into the Age of Grace. What God told Israel in the dispensation of Law is a whole different set of directions from what Paul gives us in the dispensation of Grace.
            Just as God chose Moses to be the revelator to Israel of the Ten Commandments, and all connected with the Law dispensation; so God chose Saul of Tarsus be the revelator and unfolder of those mighty truths connected with our Lord's burial, resurrection, and His ascended Person. And all the "mysteries" or "secrets" revealed to God's people in this dispensation by the Holy Ghost are revealed by Paul. Finally, Paul is the unfolder of that great company of God's elect, called the Church, the Body of Christ, the individuals of which body are called members of the Body of Christ - members of Christ Himself.
            No other Apostle speaks of these things. Peter himself had to learn them from Paul (II Peter 3:15-16). When Paul finishes his thirteen great Epistles (Romans to Philemon), those which belong to the Church, God indeed permits him to give a message to the Hebrews. This is not part of the Church's doctrine but is simply explaining to Hebrew Christians the character, the real application, the typical meaning, of their Levitical system - that is, how it pointed forward to Christ.
            James addresses his Epistle to "the twelve tribes" - that is, his Epistle has special reference to the Jewish Christians in the early days, and to such throughout the dispensation, for that matter. Peter writes to "the strangers who are sojourners of the Dispersion," that is, to the dispersed Jews who acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah.
            In Galatians 2 we are distinctly told by Paul, that James, Cephas and John were to go to the circumcision(the Jew), while Paul tells us that his message was to the Gentiles. Since then the testimony by the Jewish Apostles to the Jews was duly given, there is now no distinction between Jews and Gentiles; and Paul's message holds good for the world, both Jews and Gentiles.
            So that we find Paul finally sets the Jewish nation aside in the last chapter of the Book of Acts, and opens his great Epistle to the Gentile center of the world with the statement that "there is no difference" between men; for "all have sinned;" and that there is again "no difference," for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," since the same Lord is "Lord of all" (Rom. 3:22-23 and Rom. 10:12).
            God does as He pleases, and it pleased Him to choose - first to save people in this dispensation through "the foolishness of preaching," or the "preached thing"- that is, through the message about the Cross, and what was done there (See I Cor. 1:21). And second, it pleased Him to choose Paul to be the great proclaimer and revealer of just what the Gospel is for this dispensation.
            No matter how wonderful a man may seem in his gifts and apparent consecration - if his Gospel is not Pauline, it is not THE Gospel; and we might as well get our minds settled at once as to that. Paul calls down the anathema - that is the curse of God Himself - upon anyone who preaches any other Gospel than that which he declared (Gal. 1).
            Not for one moment are we to believe that James, Peter and John were at variance with Paul. Not in the least. They were given certain things by the Spirit, to say to certain classes of people. They do not conflict with Paul. And their words are included in the statement that "All Scripture is profitable" (II Timothy 3:16).
            But, nevertheless, Paul is the declarer and revealer of the Gospel to us. Take Romans to Philemon out of the Bible and you are bereft of Christine doctrine. For instance, if you were to take Paul's Epistles out of the Bible, you cannot find anything about the Church, the Body of Christ, for no other Apostle mentions the Body of Christ. You cannot find one of the great mysteries, such as the Day of Christ, or the calling out of the Body of Christ (Church) (I Thes. 4, 1 Cor. 15) or the mystery of the present hardening of Israel (Rom. 11). No other Apostle speaks of any of those mysteries. Paul alone reveals them-the great doctrines such as Justification, Redemption, Sanctification. And what is perhaps the most tremendous fact of every real Christian life, that of this personal union to the Risen Lord in glory. Paul is the great divinely chosen opener to us of truth for this age.
 
                                                            Part II
                                    The Mysteries Revealed to Paul Only
 
            Paul often defended his right to speak for God. Every time he said, "I am an Apostle," he was saying, "I am a sent one from God." At the end of Colossians 1:23 he says, "...I, Paul, am made a minister." In other words, he didn't choose to become a minister, God made him a minister. That fact gave him credibility and power in speaking to the Colossians. When Paul referred back to his ministry, then, he was defending his right to speak for God--to establish his authority. He also did it to express his wonder.   Paul was always in awe that God called him into the ministry. He knew what a sinner he was, and so he continually reiterates the truth of his ministry because it was such a thrill to him. So, it was more than just a defense of his rights as an Apostle, it was also something that was exciting to him.
            Paul wanted the people to hear him as the spokesman for God--not as a self-styled, self-appointed, noncredentialed teacher like so many that existed in the world. So, he repeatedly accredited his ministry. The Lord makes ministers. His ministers are those who are called. He did it throughout the Old Testament. Read the stories of the prophets. There weren't any self-styled, self- appointed prophets. They were all called of God.
"Whereof I am made a minister, (That is, to minister to the Body of Christ.) according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil (complete) the word of God;"  (Colossians 1:25a)
Now, we know that the Law was given to Moses to be given to Israel. But to Paul was given this whole body of truth, and this whole body of truth that is wrapped up in  the dispensation of the Grace of God.
In that dispensation of the Grace of God are all these mysteries, or secret things, that have never been revealed before in Scripture or in all of human history until God speaks it through this one man. If other Scripture doesn’t agree with Paul, then you take Paul. Yes, even if the words of the Lord Jesus don’t agree. Remember, that what Paul says are the words of the Risen Lord Jesus, because it’s Holy Spirit directed, and Christ is speaking through that Apostle.
For doctrine, not for background, of course, we still use all of Scripture for background, for our learning, and for our understanding. But, when it comes to salvation doctrine, when it comes to the Christian life, when it comes to end-time events, we have to go by what the Risen Lord has revealed through the Apostle Paul.
Throughout Paul's writings, he makes it clear that he was put into the ministry by the Risen Lord. In Romans 15 he says, "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...."  Paraphrasing Paul, "The reason I'm so bold in writing to you Gentiles is that the Lord has made me a servant to you. I'm only carrying out my ministry and doing that which God has called me to do."
In 1 Timothy 1:12 Paul says, "And I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me, in that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry." Paul says, "I'm here because He put me here!" In 1 Timothy 2 Paul says, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. For this I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle...a teacher of the Gentiles...." His ministry was ordained of God--not something whimsically chosen.
In 2 Timothy 1:11 Paul says, "Unto which I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles."  In Colossians 1:25 Paul says, "Of which I am made a minister, according to the dispensation [or `the stewardship' of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God." A steward  didn't own anything, he just managed something for somebody else. In those days, a homeowner with a large estate would have a steward who would manage his whole house. He would take care of everything--employment, wages, supplies--and make sure everything was carried out. It was a very great responsibility.
Well, God owns the church; it's His house...His temple. So, when Paul says, "Of which I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me...," he is saying, "God appointed me to rule in His church on His behalf." The wording in this verse also suggests that God gave him a great estate to manage. It was a God-given responsibility--a divine office. Paul says, "It's God's plan, God's church, God's gospel, God's Christ, God's message, God's truth, and God's Word. And God wants me to manage it for Him. I'm in the ministry because God has put me here. I'm a steward."
            In 1 Corinthians 4:2 "Moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." So Paul says, "God has given me a task--a divine responsibility. I'm obligated to fulfill it. God is the source of my ministry." In 1 Corinthians 9:16-17 "For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!" Paul says, "Look, don't come up to me and say, `Oh Paul, you're a minister. What a self-sacrificing, wonderful human you are.'" If someone had said that, Paul would have simply said, "I was going down the Damascus Road minding my own business when I got thrown into this deal. So, don't pat me on the back. I didn't ask for it. In fact, if I don't fulfill what I've been called to do, I'm in a lot of trouble. So don't pat me on the back about it. I had nothing to do with it."
            Then in verse 17 he says, "For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me." In other words, Paul says, "If I had entered the ministry willingly, I could be commended. But I did it against my will. It is strictly a responsibility that was committed to me, that's all. I didn't ask for it, but I'm in a lot of trouble if I don't fulfill it. So don't pat me on the back-- pray for me!"
            In Galatians 2:7 Paul says, "But, on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel [to] the uncircumcision was committed unto me...." The gospel to the Gentiles was committed to Paul. He didn't have any choice.  In Ephesians 3:1-3,7 "For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles--if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me toward you, how that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery...of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me...." In other words, Paul says, "God has called me and        made me a prisoner of Christ. I'm chained to Christ; I can't get away. I have this tremendous responsibility to dispense the mysteries that God has given me--the truths of God's Word." So, Paul was made a minister.  
            In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul is referring to the divine power and gifts when he says, "But by the grace of God I am what I am. And his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I laboured more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." The translation fails to convey the sense: "But God's kindness made me what I am, and that kindness was not wasted on me. Instead, I worked harder than all the others. It was not I who did it, but God's kindness was with me." Paul is attributing all his usefulness to the endowment and power of God, not just his kindness, and he regards himself only as one through whom God has chosen to work. He cannot boast of anything. His good works are not his own, they are God's. Even his faith is a gift of God.
            "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus,..."  (II Corinthians 11:4a). Paul is alluding to people who are expounding a message that differs from the teaching that the Jesus Who died for the sins of the world, and rose in power and glory from the dead. But Paul says, `If they come preaching another Jesus than the One which he preached which was:
            "But we preach Christ crucified,..."  (I Corinthians 1:23a ).  And here Paul says:  "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."  (II Corinthians 11:4).  Now in verse 5 we have the crowning statement of the defense of his apostleship.
            "For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles"  (II Corinthians 11:5).  He’s talking about Peter. Paul says he's not a whit behind him.
            "I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: You forced me. Why? Because of them constantly accusing him of not being a rightful apostle. Paul didn't have letters of commendations, he couldn't say, "Well, I ministered with Christ for 3 years like Peter did.") for I ought to have been commended of you:(II Corinthians 12:11a).  (was he? No, but he should have been. He was the one who brought them out of paganism, he was the one who brought them into the light of the Gospel of the Grace of God as found in I Corinthians 15:1-4. Now they are turning against him and not even giving him credit for it.) for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing."
            We know the Holy Spirit, by inspiration, over and over throughout Scripture repeats things that need to be repeated, and here are two of them in two Chapters. In Chapter 11 Paul says, "For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles." and in Chapter 12 it's repeated again as he says, "for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles. though I be nothing. " Paul doesn't claim to be anybody. But when it came to being an instrument of God, he was everything.  Go to Galatians Chapter 2. These verses defend Paul's apostleship. Who is speaking through this man?  "But I certify (or guarantee) you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man, (Paul didn't pick up someone else's mantle.) 12. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, (by other men) but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."  (Galatians 1:11,12)
            Go to Acts 2. The disciples have now called Paul and Barnabas up to Jerusalem. This is the great Jerusalem counsel of about AD 51 and this chapter is a parallel chapter of Acts 15. At this counsel the disciples have been coming down hard on Paul. They want him to back away from all of the claims of his apostleship, they want him to quit teaching that Gentiles can become believers without keeping the Law. (Acts 15:1 and Acts 15:5-6) They want him to embrace Judaism and circumcision, along with a belief in Christ. Now verse 5, and look what Paul says by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
            "To whom (these men in Jerusalem, Peter, James and John and the rest) we gave place by subjection, (see what that says? He was under pressure to do what they said. But Paul says, `We didn't give into to them') no not for an hour; (and what was the end result of not giving in?) that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. (Gentiles). Now verse 6) 6. But of these (the Twelve) who seemed to be somewhat,..."  (Galatians 2:5,6a). They thought they were still head and shoulders above him, but they're not. They thought they were, but their authority had slipped through the cracks and Paul's had ascended. And so these who seemed to be somewhat: "But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were,..."  (Galatians 2:6a). That's past tense. They had been, they were the Twelve, that Jesus had chosen. But Israel has rejected it all, and Israel is slipping away. In just a few years after this is written the Temple will be destroyed, Jerusalem is destroyed, and Israel goes into a dispersion among the nations of the world. Oh sure these disciples had had their time. But because of Israel's unbelief they had lost it. 
            "But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference (when they really started comparing notes of doctrine, not experience.) added nothing to me:"  (Galatians 2:6 ).
            Now when it came to experience then who could have had the most? Well the Twelve. Look what they had experienced with all the miracles. Peter could even say, "Well Paul, I walked on the water." And Peter made a few steps until he sank, but he did walk on the water. The Twelve could rehearse all of that because they had the experience. But you see Paul had the doctrine. Paul had the revelations from the ascended Lord.
            "But contrariwise, when they (the Twelve) saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision (the Gentiles) was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision (the Jew) was unto Peter. 8. (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, (Jew) the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) " (Galatians 2:7,8). What did Paul mean in verse 8 when he said, "the same?" The same Christ, the same God, the same Lord Jesus Who commissioned the Twelve to go to Israel, and they followed Him for 3 years, they ministered unto Him. But now that has all fallen through the cracks and the apostle Paul comes to the front, and now with this same Jesus he becomes the apostle of choice.
            "And when James, Cephas, (Peter) and John,..."  (Galatians 2:9a). In Scripture there is a probably a reason for the order of names. And here Peter is not first. It's not Peter, James and John, in fact the James of the Peter, James and John we read about in the Four Gospels is already dead, he's been beheaded. This James is the one that wasn't even one of the Twelve. This James is the half-brother to Jesus.  But he is now at the head of the list. Peter has already lost his place of primary authority. Peter is not even moderating this meeting, but rather James is.
            "And when James, Cephas, (Peter) and John, who seemed (they weren't really, but they thought they were. So they seemed ) to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, (to be the primary apostle now) they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; (they shook on the whole deal, and all agreed) that we (Paul and Barnabas) should go unto the heathen, (Gentiles) and they (would continue to go) unto the circumcision. (Jews) (Galatians 2:9).
            Now the Twelve can only go to the Jews a few more years, because the Romans over-ran Jerusalem, and Israel ceases to be a viable entity (until 1948) as they are scattered into every nation on earth. But until that happened, Peter, James, and John are going to hold forth among the children of Israel. But it was practically a lost cause because of Israel's unbelief. So the reason Paul has to constantly defend his apostleship is because of those Twelve men in Jerusalem who refused to give up their authority. And that's just human.  But all this just shows their humanity, that they weren't ready to relinquish that power and authority and admit that this Jew is now the primary instrument of God. 
            Remember, our salvation is based on what Christ has done for us, (His death, burial, and resurrection) but the one who got that message out to the Gentile world was this man. Paul was literally sold out to Christ.
            "I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little." (In other words he said, "Let me just tell why I think God has used me as He has.) 17. That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting."  (II Corinthians 11:16,17).   
            "I speak not by commandment,..."   (II Corinthians 8:8a). Paul says in effect that it was his own words, and yet we know that he was inspired to write those words or else it wouldn't be in here. Remember not a word is in here that the Holy Spirit didn't cause each of these writers to write.
            "I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also." (II Corinthians 11:21).  .
"Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I."  (II Corinthians 11:22).
            Here Paul is talking about the people that are constantly opposing his apostleship. They were Jews! These most likely were the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. Because they are still not ready to accept the fact that these pagan Gentiles could enter into a salvation experience without becoming a part of Judaism. That's pure speculation, and the Scripture doesn't say, but whoever he is referring to was Jewish. Because that's what he says: Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
            Here Peter is speaking: "And when Peter saw it, (the arousing of the crowds when they healed the lame man) he answered unto the people, `Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? v13. The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, ....'" (Acts 3:12-13a).
            This tells us that the twelve cited those ancient Jews as the very engine of everything they were doing. Their heritage went back to the father of the Hebrew race, Abraham. And the Covenant men, Isaac and Jacob. And this is what motivated these Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. And so Paul says, "You think I'm not part of that? You think I'm not an Israelite? Well, I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrews." And in Philippians he said, "A Pharisee of the Pharisees."
           
            All of the above is Scripture points to the special apostleship bestowed on Paul by the Risen Lord. That is why it is so important to for us to accept every inspired word written by Paul as if it came out of the mouth of the Risen Lord Himself. 
            The following is a fairly complete list of those doctrines revealed by the Risen Lord only to His chosen Apostle Paul. These are the things kept secret that the Risen Lord now wants all believers to understand as members of the Body of Christ.
            1. The unrighteousness before God of all men.
2. The impossibility of justification by works before God-that is, of any man's attaining a stand of righteousness before God, by anything done by him. Do what a man may, he is a condemned sinner still.
3. The fact and the scripturalness of righteousness on the free gift principle-that is, of a Divine      righteousness, separate from all man's doings, conferred upon man as a free gift from God.
4. Propitiation: That satisfaction of God's Holy nature and law for man's sins rendered by Christ's blood.
            5. Reconciliation: The removal, by Christ's death for man of that obstacle to righteousness which   man's sin had set up between God and man.
6. The plan of the actual conferring of the gift of righteousness upon all who believe, without any   distinction, This change of a sinner's standing before God, from one of condemnation to one of righteousness, is called Justification, Negatively, it is deliverance from guilt on account of Christ's        shed blood, and deliverance out of the old creation, by identification in death with Christ on the             Cross. Positively, it is a new standing in the risen Christ before God.
7. Redemption-the buying back of the soul through the blood of Christ from sin, from the curse of        the law- even death, involving, exclusion from God, under penalty; from the "power of death," which involves the hand of he enemy; and from all iniquity.
8. Forgiveness-the going forth of Divine tenderness in remitting penalty for sin, in view of            the blood of Christ trusted in; and in complacency and fellowship, to creatures who before we're    necessarily under Divine judgment.
9. Remission of sins-that is, the actual removing of transgressions or trespasses from the sinner,          so that for all time and eternity his sins shall not again be upon him.
10. Identification- (see above, Justification) the great fact that those who are in Christ were united with Him at the Cross, by God's sovereign inscrutable act; were crucified with Christ and buried with Him; so that their history is now ended before God; and when Christ was raised up as the First-born of the new creation, they also were raised up with Him, and their history began as new creatures in God's sight, in Christ, the last Adam. Of course, in the experience of the Christian, there comes a time when he is actually made partaker of this new life-that point of time when he is, as we say, saved, or converted, or born again, etc. Nevertheless, the life that is in every  Christian came up out of the tomb, and it is in Christ Jesus that a man is created anew.
11. Incorporation. This tremendous doctrine Paul alone mentions, and he makes it  practically the foundation of all his exhortations to the saints with regard to their conduct and life. By "incorporation" God  means the fact that all those who are really saved and are new creatures in Christ Jesus become members of one organism, which is more real than the very earth we tread upon called "the Body of Christ,"- Christ Himself in heaven being the Head of this Body, and every real Christian a member of it. So that believers are thus members of Christ in heaven, and also members one of another here on earth. This is why Paul iexhorts the saints to love one another when they are members one of another! (Rom. 12, 1 Cor. 12 and Eph. 4).
12. Inhabitation. The wonderful fact that the Body of Christ and each member of it individually is inhabited, indwelt, by the Holy Spirit Himself, and not only so, but that the Church is being "built together" as a great temple of God so that in the future God's actual eternal dwelling place will be    this wonderful, mysterious company built into a building called "a holy habitation of God in the Spirit."
This mystery is a great and marvelous one, the fact that we are saved, are partakers now of the life of the Lord in glory, that the Holy Spirit indwells us.
13. Divine Exhibition - that is, that through the Church, in the ages to come, is to be made known   that which God counts His "riches," even His Grace (Eph. 2:7; 3:10).
 
The failure or refusal to discern the Pauline Gospel as a separate and new revelation and not a "development from Judaism," accounts for two-thirds of the confusion in many people's minds today as regards just what the Gospel is. Paul's Gospel has nothing to do with works on the one hand or religious pretensions and performances on the other. It is as simple and clear as the sunlight from heaven. The end of man is where God begins in Romans 3, at what might be called the opening of the Pauline Revelation. Most unsaved people today believe in their hearts that the reason they are not saved is because of something they have not yet done, some step that remains for them to take before God will accept them. But this is absolutely untrue. When Christ said, "It is finished," He meant that He had, then and there, paid the debt for the whole human race. "He gave Himself a ransom for all" (I Tim. 2:6).
            Now Paul in his wonderful revelation declares that God hath reconciled the world to Himself; that God was in Christ (at the Cross) reconciling the world unto Himself (11 Cor. 5:19). Men do not know this, but they conceive that something stands between them and God, before God will accept or forgive them. If you tell a man that God is demanding no good works of him whatsoever, no religious observances or church ordinances, that God is not asking him to undertake any duties at all, but that God invites him to believe a glad message that his sins have already been dealt with at the Cross, and that God expects him to believe this good news and be exceedingly happy about it - if you tell an unsaved man such a story as this, he is astonished and overwhelmed - yet this is the Gospel!
            When you separate what God revealed to Paul,  and what He does with Israel, and completely separate the two; then the Bible becomes so understandable and not all that difficult. No other religion has resurrection as the very basis of their beliefs. This is so unique to Christianity, that the very core of everything that we believe, and everything that The Bible teaches, is based on this doctrine of resurrection. This life does not end at the grave, but rather there is also a life for eternity. This is made manifest in the inspired writings of Paul.
            As Paul was confronted on the road to Damascus, it didn't take him a minute to figure out Who The Lord was. It didn't take him very long to understand Who Jesus was. There are too many people who don't know who Jesus was/is. He's the God of glory. He's the God of Creation.  People do not understand that Jesus Christ of the New Testament is the Jehovah God of the Old Testament. Jesus of the New Testament is the God of Genesis 1:1. They are One and the same. The only difference was that in the New Testament He manifested Himself in the flesh.
            So this is where the apostle is now after his years of taking the Gospel that was revealed to him to the Gentiles, and still having a heart for the Nation of Israel. We don't elevate Paul to glory. He was just a common human being like the rest of us that God saw fit to use. But through Paul, everything was to bring glory to the God of heaven.
            Until Acts 9  it's Peter and the eleven and the Nation of Israel. And now all of a sudden with just one exception in Chapter 10, where Peter comes back on the scene momentarily, all the rest of the Book of Acts covers this one man. Peter is now completely forgotten so far as the Acts accounts are concerned. Remember at that time the Gospel of the Kingdom was the only Gospel that had been revealed.
            "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God:..."  (Deuteronomy 29:29)
            He is a God who can keep things secret as long as He cares to, and this whole volume of revealed truths found in the writings of Paul was one of those. God just did not reveal it, not even a hint of the Church age, and the removal of the Body of Christ in any of the prophecies, or His earthly ministry. And that's a good way that we can divide the Scriptures. The Old Testament was based on the prophetic word. Everything was based on what God said, "I Will, I Will, I Will," That was prophecy! And all sitting on that Abrahamic Covenant. So Christ came in fulfillment of that Covenant. He came only to the Nation of Israel (Matthew 15:24) as their Messiah, and their King.  But Israel rejected it, (Acts 28:27-28) they didn't believe Who He said He was. Now God's going to turn to the rest of the world by putting the Nation of Israel into a dispersion, and not using the Jew with the exception of this one man, the Apostle Paul who was a Jew, a Pharisee of the Pharisees of the tribe of Benjamin. So this Jew now has revealed to him and him only these mysteries, these secrets, and now He can take it to the Gentile world and reveal it.
            The Old Testament prophets searched the Word diligently, to find the time period (Age of Grace) that we now live in, but they never found it. They knew that Christ would come to bring salvation to the world, but they couldn't find in the Word when that would be, or what would happen afterward. It was never revealed by God in His Word. God kept it a secret. But when the time was right, The Risen Lord revealed the mystery (secret) to the apostle Paul:
            Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:  (Romans 16: 25, 26).
            The third chapter of Ephesians covers the topic of the mystery:
            “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation [administration] of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward; How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)” (Ephesians 3: 1 - 4).  Here Paul is referring to the Grace Administration in which we now live. By revelation, God revealed the mystery to Paul, which he then wrote to the Christian churches. “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now [lately] revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:” (Ephesians 3: 5, 6). Part of the secret was that the Gentiles could belong to the family of God. It was not reserved just for the Hebrews.
            “Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship [administration] of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who by Jesus Christ created all things. “ (Ephesians 3: 7, 8, 9).
            Paul's ministry was to preach to the Gentiles the unreachable  riches of Christ, and to make known the mystery. The word 'fellowship' in verse 9 is the same word translated dispensation (administration) in verse 2. The Grace Administration was a mystery before the first century.
            “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: “(Colossians 1: 26, 27).
            The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was not completely understood by the first century believers until Paul's revelation. The new birth means we have Christ in us. Hope refers to something in the future and we can look forward to the glorious second return of Jesus Christ when the devil and his works are permanently destroyed.
            “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes [Satan and all of his minions] of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. “ (I Corinthians 2: 7, 8).
            Once again, Paul tells us about the mystery being hidden until the time was right. Why did God keep it hidden? Because if Satan  and his angels knew the secret, they never would have conspired to have Jesus Christ killed. When Jesus Christ was walking the earth, he could only be at one place at any given time. Since he gave his life for us, and we now have 'Christ in us', it means we take his place on earth. Every born-again believer can walk with the same power that Christ did. This is the last thing Satan wanted to happen. He was better off with only one Christ on earth. But Satan did manage some damage control and has continued to keep the secret hidden from the majority of believers.
             How many read these passages in the New Testament and don't understand the meaning? It is time for those who know the mystery to proclaim it to others, just like Paul did in the first century. God purposely kept the mystery hidden for ages and for generations, but now it is time for all believers to know and understand. The secret is out.
            About 30 years before the dispersion of the Jews took place in about 40 AD, the Apostle Paul was called by God, and he now is going to be progenitor of this Gospel of Grace and the calling out of the Gentile Body of Christ. Now when this Body of Christ, which is made up of Jews and Gentiles, is complete, and the last one has been saved, that's when the Body of Christ(His Church and saints) will be removed from earth to heaven.  This is when the soul and spirit of believers that have been in the presence of Christ after they died, are brought to the atmosphere by God Himself in the Person of Christ, and their bodies will be resurrected to be reunited with their soul and spirit in the air. And then in the next instance we believers who are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet The Lord in the air.
            Then after that has taken place, the final seven years are ushered in and are associated only with the prophecies concerning the Nation of Israel, which in 1948 became a nation again. We call that period the final seven years or the Tribulation. Of course the ending of the Tribulation will bring about the Second Coming of Christ to the earth. This is when Christ will stand on the Mount of Olives.
            Now there were all kinds of mysteries revealed to Paul, and they were unknown to the rest of Scripture. For example, that Jews and Gentiles would be brought into the Body of Christ on equal ground. Keep in mind  Israel's Covenant position, as the favorite nation of God. Present day Israel is where it is only because of that. But we must never lose sight that for a Jew today to experience salvation, he's on the same level playing field that we as Gentiles are on. The Jew today is not in a place of special privilege when it comes to his personal salvation. He's a sinner who needs salvation. just as much as a Gentile. But in the great scheme of things they have to be in the land of Israel for the culmination of the Prophetic Scripture.
             Israel has to be in the land at the end-time scenario for that final 7 years. She has no choice because all of prophecy is directed to that. If you take them off the scene God's Word would fall apart, and we know God's not going to let that happen. Remember God has said that they are not going to disappear. They're going to be there for the end-time.
 
                                                       The Pauline Gospel
                                             The One and Only Gospel By Which                                                      Gospel Are You Saved
            There is now only one gospel in the Bible and that is the gospel which was known to Paul as the gospel of grace:
            “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24)
            The gospel of grace is the gospel and there is no other. This gospel is built on Jesus Christ himself:
            “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth … From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Jn 1:14, 16-17)
            Whenever you read the word “grace” in the Bible, you can substitute the name “Jesus.” Jesus is grace personified. What does the grace of God look like? It looks like Jesus. What does the grace of God sound like? It sounds like Jesus. How do we know that God is gracious? He gave us Jesus who is full of grace and truth. So when Paul refers to the gospel of grace in Acts 20, he means exactly the same thing as when he and others refer to the gospel of Christ or the gospel of God or the gospel of his Son or the gospel of peace in other places. All of these gospels reveal the One who is called Grace, who was given to us out of the fullness of the Father’s grace, and through whom we have received grace upon grace.
            What about when Jesus refers to the gospel of the kingdom (Mt 24:14)? Is this a different gospel?
            Whenever you hear Jesus talking about the “kingdom” you can substitute the word “king” because the kingdom is nothing without the king. Who is the King? His name is Jesus. When Jesus says we are to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,” he is essentially saying “seek me and my righteousness.” And where do we find his righteousness? In the gospel!
            “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” (Rms 1:17)
            To sum up, the gospel of the kingdom is the gospel of Christ which is the gospel of God which is the gospel of grace. They are different labels for the exact same gospel message.
 
What is the gospel of grace?
            Paul summarized the gospel of grace in his letter to the Corinthians:
            “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time… (1 Cor 15:1-6)
            What are the four most important bits of the gospel message according to the Risen Lord‘s chosen apostle? They are that; (i) Christ died for our sins as foretold in the Scriptures, (ii) he was buried, (iii) he was raised as the prophets foretold, and (iv) he appeared in resurrection to many.
             "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 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."   (Galatians 1:6-9). Here Paul warned anything which adds to or detracts from the good news of God’s grace, is a distortion or perversion of the true gospel. That Jesus Christ (God the Son) died and shed His blood for our sins, was buried 3 days and 3 nights and arose the 3rd day—That is it. Plus nothing. That work of the cross finished it and it is sufficient. That is why if anyone adds to that gospel, they are under the anathema of God.  Let God be true- —it is faith plus nothing. Then good works follow.
            On the cross Jesus became our sin offering, taking our punishment and securing our eternal forgiveness. He died so that we might live, he was wounded that we might be healed, and he was cursed so that we might be blessed. Jesus forged a new covenant in his blood, exchanging our sinfulness for his righteousness. His miraculous return from death confirmed that Jesus was God’s Son, just as he said he was. It also showed that the demands of justice had been fully satisfied and that no further payment was necessary. Jesus’ death on the cross was “perfectly perfect and completely complete.” There is nothing more that needs to be done.
            The gospel is good news whether you believe it or not, but it will only save you if you believe it. As Paul declared to the Corinthians, “by this gospel are you saved.” By the gospel of God’s grace: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph 2:8-9)