The Gospels and the Mystery

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16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Verse 16 was never once instructed by Paul to the Gentiles, but we continue:
Maybe you should like actually read the bible before trying to teach people. Paul baptized both Jews and gentiles when he proclaimed the gospel

And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us. Acts 16:14-15
And [the jailer] brought [Paul and Silas] out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and he was baptized, he and all his, straightway. Acts 16:30-33
And [Paul] departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. Acts 18:7-8
Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Acts 19:4-5
 
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17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
So, those who believe they are under the gospel preached by the eleven and by Christ, they better be able to do all that Jesus said the believers and followers of that Kingdom Gospel were empowered to do, with never any mention of future diminishing as a convenient way out from the demonstration of those things.
How about it, all the single-gospel people out there. Please show to us videos of you all doing these things. We all would very much like to see it.
derp!

Should Mark 16:9-20 be in the Bible?

https://www.gotquestions.org/Mark-16-9-20.html
 

Musicmaster

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The last proverbial straw was this indictment against Israel that no other man apart from Christ leveled against that people:

Acts 7:51-53
51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

Stephen's stoning one year after the ascension of Christ Jesus fits like a glove with this:

Luke 13:6-9
6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung [it]:
9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

This was the beginning of the greater persecutions against the believing Jews in Jerusalem at the hand of Paul in his zeal to go out for a number of hears after this into the outlying provinces seeking out believing Jews and Jewish converts before the Lord finally stopped him on the road to Damascus, and you know the rest of the story from then onward.

MM
 

Musicmaster

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There are those who have doubts that the believing Jews in Jerusalem were still following the Law under the watchful eyes of the apostles and elders of the faith, even though scripture dispels those doubts in a number of places:

Matthew 5:17-20
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

So, during the ministry of Christ on this earth, the Law was still binding upon the Jews. Long after Christ had ascended, we see this statement:

Acts 21:20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

The singular gospel followers I have met through the years have a problem here, and they continue with the singular gospel belief by totally ignoring all this, or writing it off as a non-issue. Such a cavalier attitude toward the texts of scripture leads to many other errors in what they teach others when intermixing works with their salvation message. This is very sad.

Those who follow Peter's Gospel are following a gospel that was not spoken nor written TO us who are in the body of Christ. Only Paul's Gospel was written TO us. The distinctives in the defining elements of the two gospels should not at all be cast aside with such indifference.

MM
 
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Acts 21:20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

The singular gospel followers I have met through the years have a problem here, and they continue with the singular gospel belief by totally ignoring all this, or writing it off as a non-issue. Such a cavalier attitude toward the texts of scripture leads to many other errors in what they teach others when intermixing works with their salvation message. This is very sad.
They were zealous for the law because they lived in Jerusalem. The courts outside the temple were a perfect place for them to meet and teach, but they had to be zealous for the law to prevent unbelieving Jews from accusing them of heresy like they did to Paul when he visited the temple. Peter was not zealous for the law when he wasn't around that culture.

But when Peter came into Antioch, I withstood him to his face because he was to be blamed. For before the coming of some from James, he ate together with the gentiles. But when they [Jews from Jerusalem] came, he shrank back and separated himself, fearing the ones of the circumcision. And also the rest of the Jews played hypocrite with him, so that Barnabas was led away with them to hypocrisy also. Galatians 2:11-13
 

Musicmaster

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Matthew 9:16-17
16 No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
17 Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

The idea that the intermixing of Law with Grace, it is here shown how they cannot be mixed, for they do not belong together. The same is true of water baptism, which is yet again the intermixing of the concept of Law with Grace as preached by Paul. If one has doubts that water baptism is a rudiment of Law, they need only to consider that Jesus also taught the continuance of sacrifices to the leper He had healed, instructing him to go and show himself the to the priest, and to offer up sacrifice according to the Law of Moses.

Why there is this idea of continuing to try and intermix Law with Grace, the dichotomy becomes apparent to the student of the Bible dare he or shoe read the scriptures for what they actually say.

MM
 

Musicmaster

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The age old question of what about those who have never heard the Gospel or of Jesus or of the Law or of the Bible?

Psalm 19:1-5
1 ...The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

This goes hand in hand with Romans 1:

Romans 1:19-21
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

So, given that many out there see God as some sort of 'big meanie, to their warped and unregenerate thinking, they are without excuse the moment their body ceases breathing and their hearts stop forever, from which they are separated out into the torments of Sheol to await their resurrection unto the second death. They have only themselves to blame for refusing to respond even to the evidence of God's existence all throughout nature in those deepest, darkest jungles the world over.

MM
 

Musicmaster

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John 5:39-40
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

Wow. Given that the Lord was talking to the religious leaders of Israel, and rebuking them for thinking that the letter of scripture was the source of life for their souls, and missing the fact that those scriptures spoke of the very Lord standing before them...talk about blind.

And THEN, Jesus stating that those leaders and their blind followers will not COME come to Him for life everlasting. Jesus didn't say "empowered" or anything else that hyper-Calvinism teaches among its false doctrine foundations, it was and is remarkable to say the least.

The will to come unto Christ is in ALL men, with most ignoring that will given that the Lord draws ALL men to him, and that He wills that ALL men be saved. That there are so many who see God as being fickle by doing what is contrary to His own will by choosing for so many that they will go to Hell and be punished for what He allegedly never empowered them to do...that just makes no sense!

MM
 

Musicmaster

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There are mysteries of which were revealed ONLY to Paul. The Bible's use of "mystery" in the contexts of Paul's revelations are defined as "hidden wisdom."

1 - Romans 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.


That blindness will be lifted from Israel after the body of Christ is already removed from this earth. Just imagine, if you will, what impact it will have upon Israel in the disappearance from this earth millions who are followers of Christ and of the body of Christ.

2 - Galatians 1:11-12
11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Paul, therefore, who knew the Kingdom Gospel preached by the eleven, given that he was persecuting and killing all who taught and believed the Kingdom Gospel, is NOT what Paul preached.

3 - 1 Corinthians 2:7-8
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The Lord hid the mystery of the Gospel of Grace, whereby Gentiles could enter in without having to join with Israel for salvation, that had the demonic princes known of it, they would not have pushed humanity to crucify Christ. By grace are we saved through faith...not by works of such things as water baptism or any other ordinances that mankind created in his own vain imaginations. If it were by grace AND obedience, then it is no longer grace, but of works of obedience.

4 - 1 Corinthians 15:51-57
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

5 - Ephesians 1:7-10
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

That this includes Gentiles, apart from Israel, this too was initially revealed to and preached by no other besides Paul. It was not revealed to the eleven nor to the prophets or elders in Jerusalem until Paul came to them to speak the things he had received and seen.

How can we know this is true?

6 - Ephesians 3:1-5
1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
3 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; as I wrote afore in few words,
4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

Who were the apostles of whom Paul spoke?

Acts 14:14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out...

That explains the plurality, for the eleven were still in Jerusalem, having not been sent by the Lord as the apostles to the Gentiles. We are not told that the Lord revealed any of these mysteries to the eleven.

7 - Ephesians 2:14-18
14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

That removal of that middle wall of partition is what surprised the eleven, the elders, the prophets and the Judaizers. Many do not know about that wall of partition, so here is where that was established in the word of God before even the Exodus:

Exodus 11:7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.

Leviticus 20:26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.

8 - Ephesians 3:4-9
4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
7 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.
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;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

Once again, things hidden in God since the foundations of the world were revealed first and only to Paul by Christ, who then taught the other apostles such as Barnabas, et al.

9 - Ephesians 6:19-20
19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

If all this had been prophesied, then it was not a mystery, thus Paul being a liar. Not even Jesus made these things known to His disciples nor to those around them during His earthly ministry:

Matthew 15:21-28
21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Notice what the Canaanite woman did NOT say. Notice that she did not lay claim to Gentiles being fellow heirs, and thus brought into being one with the Jews. It was still hidden in God, and yet many will claim otherwise when assuming it's all one and the same Gospel. I have yet to see where the apostles pointed to the cross when preaching the Gospel given to them by Christ, either before or after the Lord's ascension. Only Paul's Gospel pointed to Christ AND the cross as the center and focus of the Gospel of Grace.

10 - Colossians 1:25-27
25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 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:

Rightly dividing the word of truth is crucial in understanding the Bible. The mass confusions that have created the debates over such things as water baptism being a matter of salvation, others saying no, and others yet making it a matter of obedience to the point of Grace + Obedience = Salvation. Nonsense! Coupling ANYTHING to grace for our salvation is a corruption that injects confusion and controversy into the mix of conversation among professing believers.

MM
 

GWH

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Oct 19, 2024
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When we look at the Gospel as preached by the twelve, and the Gospel given to Paul to be preached to Gentiles and Jews alike, it becomes quite clear, apart from over-spiritualizing everything one reads, that the two messages are not one and the same:

The Kingdom Gospel preached by Christ and the twelve:

Proclaimed repentance and water baptism for salvation (Acts 2:38)
Proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom ([URL='Matthew 4:17, Acts 3.19)
Saved and commissioned within Israel’s borders (Matthew 16:13, 16-17)
Taught in Christ’s earthly ministry
Ministered to Jews only (Matthew 10:5, Galatians 2:7-9)

The Gospel of Grace received and taught by Paul:

Proclaimed “believe” alone for salvation (Romans 4:5-6, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
Proclaimed the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24)
Saved and commissioned outside Israel’s borders (Acts 9:3)
Was taught in Christ’s heavenly ministry (Galatians 1:1, 11-12)
Ministered primarily to Gentiles because of Jewish rejection (Romans 11:13, Galatians 2:7-9)

Paul was not taught by the twelve:

1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received [it] not [as] the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

So, Paul was instructed by Christ Jesus, not other men in the mystery, which is the body of Christ, that was hidden in God, not the scriptures or the prophets:

1 Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

Ephesians 3:2-7
2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
7 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.

Not given to the twelve, but only to Paul, who then preached it to all others from that point onward. Paul already knew that the eleven were preaching, but THAT is the reason he persecuted them, and killed them. If Paul was only preaching what the others had already been preaching, then all the scriptures stating otherwise make no sense.

1 Corinthians 2:7-9
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

See that? Not even Satan and his demons knew of the Gospel of Grace that would be extended to the Gentiles until after it was revealed to, and preached by Paul. They would not have pushed for the crucifixion of Christ had they known that the kingdom of the Gentiles would be greatly diminished from their clutches through Paul's Gospel. They knew of the Kingdom Gospel, but they did NOT know of the Gospel of Grace and its impact until after it was too late.

Thoughts?

MM
I already replied to this awhile back but don't remember what I said. However, since then I have been enumerating the TOP and am just about finished with the initial attempt including Hebrews, which prompts me to express appreciation for this OP as I begin trying to cross-reference the TOP with the TOJ. Maybe I will report some results here if they are relevant to the differences you cited.