The Five Gospels and Their Significance – Part 2

Paul has a special commission for the Gentile world (Gal 2:7ff.; Acts 13:45-47; 18:5-6; 28:28). He is entrusted with the Gospel for the uncircumcised nations (Gal 2:7). He calls himself the “apostle of the Gentiles” (Rom 11:13) and is described by Jesus as an instrument for the nations (Acts 9:15). Paul’s teaching doesn’t come from Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), nor did he receive it from the other Apostles (Gal 1:11-17). Instead, it came by way of the exalted Lord and through revelations directly from Him. So, he received revelations about, for example, the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:23) and the Rapture (1 Thess 4:15) as a word from the Lord. He also describes the believer’s transformation during the Rapture as the disclosure of a secret (1 Cor 15:51). The same is true of the unity of believers from all nations in Christ—a mystery shown to him (Eph 3:1-5).

Paul doesn’t speak of discipleship but of being children, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17). In this sense, he isn’t talking about emulating the disciples (who had followed the Lord during His earthly life). Paul is speaking of being imitators as beloved children (Eph 5:1). Imitation is more in-depth than mere following (1 Cor 4:16; 11:1; Phil 3:17; 1 Thess 1:6; 2:14). He hardly talks about Jesus’ earthly life. Instead, he typically references the risen and glorified Christ, seated at God’s right hand. Unlike the others, Paul wasn’t called by the “earthly Jesus” but by the heavenly, glorified Christ. Paul’s slogan is, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more” (2 Cor 5:16).

William MacDonald writes: “In other words, it was one thing to know Jesus as a next-door neighbor in the village of Nazareth, or even as an earthly messiah, and quite another thing to know the glorified Christ who is at the right hand of God at this present time. We know the Lord Jesus more intimately and more truly today as He is revealed to us through the word by the Spirit, than those knew Him who judged Him simply according to human appearances when He was on earth.”

Therefore, it’s important that we don’t stop with the Gospels, but use them as a springboard to get to know Jesus more deeply—and the Epistles are trailblazing for this purpose.

In 2 Corinthians 3:6, Paul says of Christ, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament…” Throughout the chapter, the Old Covenant is contrasted with the New:

• The Old Covenant is the ministry that brought death (vv. 6-7), and the New Covenant is the ministry of the Spirit in glory (v. 8).

• The Old Covenant is the ministry of condemnation (v. 9), and the New Covenant is the ministry of righteousness abounding in glory (v. 9).

• The Old Covenant has been done away with (vv. 11, 13), and the New Covenant remains in glory (v. 11).

During His earthly life, Jesus was still under the Old Covenant. This allowed Him to fulfill the Law perfectly. Only at the end of His life did He institute the New Covenant. The Apostles then operated within this New Covenant, which correlates with their letters in the Bible. In the Apostle Paul’s letters, we see a gradual development, a progression of the Gospel—from a kingdom to perfect grace. In Acts 20:24, Paul speaks of “the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” And in Ephesians 2:8-9 he writes, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

The word “grace” occurs 7 times in the Gospels, 12 times in Acts, 7 times in Hebrews, twice in James, 11 times in 1st and 2nd Peter, once in Jude, twice in Revelation, and 98 times in Paul’s Epistles.

Peter mostly speaks of the kingdom but of heaven as well (1 Pet 1:4), and Paul mostly speaks of heaven but of the kingdom as well. He received the most in-depth revelations for the body of Christ during the time of his so-called prison Epistles: Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. If Paul had occasionally mentioned the kingdom in his other letters, he only speaks of heaven in these letters (Eph 1:3; Phil 3:20; Col 1:5). His revelations are something completely new, secrets that go deeper and further than anything that had previously been revealed to him—primarily in relation to the Church of Jews and Gentiles, but also in relation to Israel. The Apostle therefore calls himself “steward of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor 4:1) and “a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you…” (Col 1:25). His revelations don’t replace those of others, but complement and perfect them.

The following mysteries were revealed to the Apostle Paul:

1. The mystery of Israel being hardened until the full number has been brought in from the nations (Rom 11:25ff.).

2. The Gospel mystery of God’s reconciliation with the world, for which Paul was specially called (Rom 16:25; Eph 6:19).

3. The mystery of the wisdom of God, Jesus Christ, and Him crucified (1 Cor 2:7-8).

4. The mystery of the Church’s resurrection and transformation (Rapture: 1 Cor 15:51; 1 Thess 4:13-18).

5. The mystery of God’s intent to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under the headship of Christ, most likely in the Messianic Kingdom and in the new heaven and earth (Eph 1:8-10).

6. The mystery of Christ in relation to the Church as His body (Col 4:3; Eph 3:3ff.; Col 1:25-26).

7. The mystery of oneness with Christ and His Church likened to marriage (Eph 5:32).

8. The mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col 1:27).

9. The mystery of God’s treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:2-3). This mystery contains the entirety of God’s will in Christ.

10. The mystery of lawlessness, and the man of lawlessness as the Antichrist (2 Thess 2:7).

11. The mystery of faith (1 Tim 3:9), the totality of all Christian truths.

12. The mystery of godliness through Jesus’ Incarnation, death, Resurrection, and Ascension (1 Tim 3:16).

Paul had to endure intense suffering for his new revelations (Rom 5:3; Col 1:24; 2 Cor 12:7). The other Apostles write about suffering that Christians endure in this world because of persecution, contempt, and ridicule (under the Roman Emperor Nero, for example). Paul tells of this too. But he also writes about an additional, special suffering that he’s experiencing. It is a personal suffering imposed upon him, because of the many revelations he had received (Col 1:24-26; 2 Cor 12:7-10). Additionally, his teachings on suffering contain entirely new aspects. In the Old Testament, liberation from suffering is a frequent concern. In the Gospels, Jesus performs miracles to free people from suffering. In the Epistles, by contrast, suffering is a part of Christianity just like wheels are part of a car.

Anyone who wants to understand the deepest depths of Jesus’ work of redemption must pass through Paul’s Gospel. He proclaims the fullest spectrum of salvation in Christ. That’s the whole purpose and why God selected and commissioned him. “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:2-3).

Paul was called to open this treasure chest.

Theologian Erich Sauer writes of Paul: “Paul was of special significance for the call of the church. Granting fully the work of the others, from the point of view of the general history of the church he was ‘the first after the One.’ Jesus was ‘the One,’ He who laid the foundation, incomparable, unsurpassable. Paul was ‘the first,’ the herald (1 Tim. 2:7), the chief pioneer of the gospel in the world of the nations, the first in eminence in the great, far-reaching area of the peoples.”

In his work Outline of Paul’s Doctrine, theologian Clifford Henry Brown recalls his childhood and makes a remarkable observation: “This reminds me of when I was a boy and used to go to Sunday school and study under the International Sunday School lessons: six months in the Old Testament—those beautiful stories, such as Joseph in Egypt and David and the giant—and six months in the New Testament. We learned the precious story of the life of our blessed Lord. It was valuable, and I thank God for those things. I came from a home where I did not get these things. But the point I am making is this: We never made an excursion into the epistles of Paul, unless it was to wrest some verse out of its context and get a temperance lesson. We were not given the faintest idea of the grand outline of the ministry committed to Paul. Paul was neglected. That is what one is trying to emphasize in tracing this great servant. God raised him up in this definite line of ministry, and woe to the one who neglects Paul. He is going to be emaciated in his spiritual life; he will be out of communion with the mind of Christ.”

Imagine a company has hired a new employee (let’s call him Dave). The head of the department needs to introduce him to everyone. Some of the relevant information might include where Dave is from, what his training and skills are, what his purpose is, what specific tasks will fall to him, and how he will contribute to the department’s success. But when the supervisor begins to speak, he talks about Dave’s grandparents, parents, and other relatives. Everything he says is true, and yet the employees would say, “You were going to tell us about Dave and his role as part of our team. I’m sure his ancestors are important, but you focused on them so much that we know practically nothing about Dave himself!”

Everything in the Old Testament is right, important, and useful. It is the God-given pathway to the New Testament. But we can’t stop there. We should delve deeply into what the New Covenant of Jesus yields for us. I’ve seen pastors who preached for decades on the Gospels, the Psalms, and the Old Testament … but hardly any of the apostolic Epistles! Occasionally, a verse would be mentioned from them to support a point, but that was it. We can hardly marvel if the Church seems stuck in a rut, with no real victory in our everyday lives, if we aren’t penetrating the perfected treasures of salvation (Heb 6:1-2).

Conclusion

We can see how God is revealing Himself to us in all these details. He is gradually leading us to the pinnacle of our calling. We look with hope to the glory we’ve attained in and through Jesus Christ. We recognize salvation’s deepest meaning, “Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess 2:14).

Salvation isn’t just rescue or forgiveness of sins (which is certainly the foundation). It is more; namely, that we have been made one with Christ. We should be aware of this ... should explore this Gospel more deeply and live by it. Because there is yet another Gospel: the Gospel of our lives. People who don’t read the Bible may be reading your life and mine.

Midnight Call 10/2025