The Two Gospels in the Bible: What Did Jesus Reveal to Paul?

Most Christians have been taught that there is only one gospel message throughout the New Testament. But when we carefully compare Scripture with Scripture, we discover something that is often overlooked: Jesus Christ preached the gospel of the kingdom to Israel, while the risen Lord revealed a mystery to the Apostle Paul concerning salvation for the Gentiles.

Are these the same message? If they are, why did Jesus instruct His twelve apostles not to preach to the Gentiles? And why did Paul declare that the gospel he preached was given to him directly by revelation from Jesus Christ?

Understanding the two gospels in the Bible requires us to recognize whom God is addressing, what He promised, and when those promises are to be fulfilled.

The answers are found in Scripture, but we must be willing to believe what we read rather than assume every passage is speaking directly to us.

The Two Gospels in the Bible Begin With Understanding Israel

Before we can understand the distinction between these messages, we must understand something about Israel's relationship with God.

The prophet Isaiah wrote:

"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:" — Isaiah 28:9–10 (KJV)

God's Word is learned through study, repetition, and spiritual maturity. Understanding does not come all at once. We must build upon what we have learned, comparing passages and allowing Scripture to explain Scripture.

Yet Isaiah also warned that Israel would hear God's Word without understanding it.

Jesus Christ later quoted this prophecy when explaining why He spoke to the multitudes in parables.

"Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." — Matthew 13:13 (KJV)

Israel had been given the promises, the covenants, and the prophets. Yet when their promised Messiah appeared, the nation rejected Him.

Their hearts had become hardened through unbelief.

Why Was Israel Blinded?

In Matthew 13, Jesus quoted Isaiah 6 concerning a people who would hear but not understand and see but not perceive.

This same prophecy appears again at the end of the Book of Acts.

When Paul met with the Jews in Rome, some believed his testimony concerning Jesus Christ, while others rejected it.

Paul responded:

"Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it." — Acts 28:28 (KJV)

Consider the progression.

Isaiah warned Israel. Jesus warned Israel. Finally, Paul repeated the warning and declared that God's salvation was sent to the Gentiles.

This is significant because Israel's rejection did not frustrate God's plan. Instead, through their fall, God revealed something previously hidden.

And that brings us to the distinction between the two gospel messages.

The Gospel of the Kingdom Was Preached to Israel

When Jesus sent forth His twelve disciples, He gave them specific instructions.

"Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand." — Matthew 10:5–7 (KJV)

Notice what Jesus commanded.

The twelve were not to go to the Gentiles. They were sent specifically to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Their message was that the kingdom of heaven was at hand.

Why?

Because Israel had been promised a kingdom. They were awaiting their Messiah, their King, and the fulfillment of the promises God had made to their fathers.

Jesus Christ came as that promised King.

The message was not yet that Christ had died for their sins and risen again. He was standing before them, alive, offering the promised kingdom.

The kingdom message was directed to the nation of Israel, which had been prepared through the Law and the Prophets to expect its Messiah.

But the nation rejected Him.

Peter Continued Preaching to Israel

Even after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Peter addressed Israel at Pentecost.

In Acts 2:36, Peter declared:

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." — Acts 2:36 (KJV)

Who was Peter addressing?

The house of Israel.

When the people asked what they should do, Peter answered:

"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." — Acts 2:38 (KJV)

This passage is frequently used today as a formula for salvation. But we must consider its context.

Peter was speaking to the nation that had rejected and crucified its Messiah. He was calling Israel to repentance.

He was not addressing the Gentile church concerning the mystery later revealed to Paul.

When we ignore the audience and the circumstances surrounding a passage, we risk confusing God's instructions to Israel with His message to the body of Christ.

How Israel's Fall Brought Salvation to the Gentiles

The Apostle Paul explains something remarkable in Romans 11.

"I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy." — Romans 11:11 (KJV)

Notice that salvation came to the Gentiles through Israel's fall.

This was not the expectation presented in the gospel of the kingdom. Israel had been promised a future restoration, and the nations would receive blessings through God's promises to that nation.

But Paul revealed that Gentiles could now receive salvation through Christ apart from Israel's national restoration.

This was a mystery.

The Mystery of Israel's Partial Blindness

Paul continues:

"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." — Romans 11:25 (KJV)

Israel's blindness is partial, and it is temporary.

God has not forgotten His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Paul makes that clear:

"For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." — Romans 11:29 (KJV)

God does not take back His promises.

Israel's national restoration remains future, but during this present period, God is accomplishing something distinct through the Gentiles.

To understand what that means, we must examine the revelation given to Paul.

The Two Gospels in the Bible and the Mystery Revealed to Paul

Paul did not claim that he learned his gospel from Peter, John, or the other apostles.

He made a very different statement.

"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 (KJV)

The risen Lord Jesus Christ personally revealed this message to Paul.

Why was that necessary?

Because Paul was entrusted with a mystery that had previously been hidden.

In Ephesians 3, Paul writes:

"If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery;" — Ephesians 3:2–3 (KJV)

The word dispensation comes from the Greek word oikonomia, meaning stewardship or administration.

Paul was entrusted with the stewardship of God's grace to the Gentiles.

This was not simply a continuation of the message preached by the twelve to Israel. It was a revelation concerning the body of Christ and the inclusion of Gentiles as fellow heirs through the gospel.

What Was Hidden in God?

Paul identifies the mystery in Ephesians 3:6:

"That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:" — Ephesians 3:6 (KJV)

Gentiles are now fellow heirs in the same body through Jesus Christ.

Not by becoming part of national Israel. Not by waiting for Israel's kingdom to be established. But through the gospel revealed to Paul.

He further explains his calling:

"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:" — Ephesians 3:9 (KJV)

Notice those words: hid in God.

This mystery was not simply something people had overlooked. It had been concealed until God chose to reveal it.

If Jesus instructed the twelve not to go to the Gentiles, yet Paul was commissioned to preach that Gentiles were fellow heirs in one body, we must recognize the distinction in these messages.

The same Lord Jesus Christ gave both messages, but they concern different aspects of God's purpose.

What Is the Difference Between the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Gospel of Grace?

The distinction becomes clearer when we compare the two messages.

Gospel of the Kingdom	Gospel Revealed to Paul
Preached by Jesus and the twelve to Israel	Revealed by the risen Christ to Paul
Announced that the kingdom of heaven was at hand	Proclaimed salvation through Christ's finished work
Concerned Israel's promised King and kingdom	Concerned the body of Christ, including Gentiles
Called Israel to repentance in preparation for the kingdom	Proclaimed salvation by grace through faith
Connected to God's covenant promises to Israel	Connected to the mystery of the dispensation of grace

This distinction does not mean there are two Saviours.

There is only one Lord Jesus Christ.

But we must distinguish the gospel of the kingdom preached to Israel from the gospel of grace revealed to

Paul for the present dispensation.

Paul summarized the gospel he preached:

"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:" — 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (KJV)

Our salvation rests upon the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Through His death, burial, and resurrection, believers receive forgiveness and justification by faith.

This is the good news entrusted to Paul for the body of Christ.

Why Understanding the Two Gospels in the Bible Matters Today

Much of the confusion in Christianity comes from failing to distinguish between God's prophetic promises to Israel and the mystery revealed to Paul.

When churches combine these messages without recognizing their different audiences and purposes, believers can become confused about salvation, baptism, forgiveness, and their standing before God.

Consider the difference between waiting for a future national restoration and possessing salvation in Christ now.

Paul wrote:

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus..." — Romans 8:1 (KJV)

And in Ephesians 1:7:

"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;" — Ephesians 1:7 (KJV)

Notice the present possession.

We have redemption. We have forgiveness.

Our sins were dealt with at the cross of Jesus Christ. We are not waiting for a future national covenant fulfillment to receive forgiveness.

This is why rightly dividing the Word of truth matters.

We must understand what God promised to Israel and what He has revealed concerning the church, which is His body.

When Will Israel's Blindness End?

Romans 11 tells us that Israel's partial blindness continues until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.

I believe this relates to the completion of the present dispensation of grace, when the Lord will take His church home in the Rapture.

God will then resume His dealings with Israel as a nation, ultimately fulfilling His promises through Jesus Christ.

Israel has not been permanently cast away.

God's promises remain, and His purposes will be accomplished.

Rightly Dividing God's Word Brings Understanding

Understanding the two gospels in the Bible is not about creating division among believers. It is about recognizing the distinctions God has placed in His Word.

Paul instructed Timothy:

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." — 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

We cannot expect to understand the mysteries of Scripture if we refuse to study.

We must be willing to compare passages, examine their context, identify the audience, and believe what God has written.

There is no shame in beginning with the milk of the Word.

But we should desire to grow into maturity and understand the deeper truths God has revealed.

The distinction between the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel revealed to Paul is one of those truths.

And when we recognize the mystery of the dispensation of grace, we begin to understand our position in Jesus Christ, the certainty of our salvation, and the faithfulness of God to fulfill every promise He has made.

The question is not whether we have always been taught these distinctions. The question is whether we are willing to search the Scriptures and believe what they say.

Based on the Bible Message  Sowing in the Word: Part 4 — Two Gospels? What Most Christians Miss by Scott Mitchell – Unlock the Bible Now!