The BIG Picture (Shorts)

In Rom.16:25-26, Paul refers to the gospel as 'his gospel', by saying, "...according to my gospel...". Paul differentiates the gospel he received from the Lord, the Grace Gospel, from the Gospel of the Kingdom, proclaimed by the 12-apostles. These two gospels were both valid during the Acts period, but the Kingdom gospel was suspended by Peter at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15:11 when he said, "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even [in like manner] as they." This is why Paul was able to explicitly proclaim that there was NO OTHER VALID GOSPEL but his grace gospel in Gal.1:8-9. Based on this clarification, Rom.2:15 follows on nicely when Paul proclaims boldly, "in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel". Since Paul's gospel is the only gospel in operation during this grace dispensation, it stands to reason that men would be subject to faith in its ...

COMMENT: Why did Peter command the Jews in Acts 2:38-39 and the Gentiles in Acts 10:48 to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and they would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost? REPLY: That was the only means of salvation then. The grace gospel that Paul taught had not been revealed yet. During the majority of the 40 years, between Jesus' ascension and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, there were two gospels; the Kingdom gospel (only for Jews) and the Grace gospel (for all men). This is the transition period described in the book of Acts when both the 12-Apostles and Paul were preaching; the ministry of the 12 diminishing and the ministry of Paul increasing. By the time Jerusalem fell, the Kingdom gospel was fully suspended due to the blinding of Israel and only Paul’s grace gospel could save. Paul’s gospel will continue to save until the we are raptured, bringing a close to the Grace program. Thereafter, the Kingdom gospel will reactivate for the first half of the...