PaulVision3

Paul's Temple Vision 3

Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

In the immediate context of this verse, Paul is obviously talking about the doctrine he has just written to the Gentiles in Rome, by way of the book of Romans. In a larger sense, I believe that Paul has in mind "the things you have heard of me." He calls it "my gospel," which he says is "the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began." That mystery includes the fact that Christ died for our sins. It includes the fact that salvation today is through the fall of Israel and not their rise. And it includes the fact of a joint body of believers called the church, the body of Christ. Notice:

1 Timothy 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

In the context of the passage Paul makes no reference to the body of Christ, but by taking into consideration everything else that Paul says, the obvious conclusion is that that is what Paul is referring to. In other words, Paul is the first member, and the pattern for the salvation of all other members of the church, the body of Christ. The salvation of Paul, then, is by grace alone through faith alone in the totally complete and finished work of Christ on the cross.

Paul never teaches that he was saved by the work of the ministry of Jesus Christ during the time he lived on planet earth. Jesus Christ said:

John 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

The Lord made that statement before his death on the cross. That was long before his later appearance to Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter nine. So we know, first of all, by what the Lord said, and also later by what Paul said, that the Lord"s earthly ministry was to Israel, and was not about the body of Christ. The Lord said:

Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Later on, in the book of Romans, Paul says:

Romans 15:8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

But Paul writes:

1 Timothy 6:3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;

Paul is not talking about "the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus Christ" which are spoken in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, because we know that those words, the red letter words in some bibles, were not spoken to members of the church, the body of Christ.

In 1 Timothy 6:3, we know that the "wholesome words of the Lord Jesus Christ" Paul is referring to are the words which were spoken to Paul by the ascended and glorified Lord Jesus Christ, as in:

1 Corinthians 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

So we see, from this, that the words Paul refers to in 1 Timothy 6:3 are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Apostle Paul, and not the words of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Paul is the first and the pattern for the church, the body of Christ. Paul was the first member of the Body of Christ. Since Paul was saved by an unprophesied appearance of Jesus Christ in Acts chapter nine, then that must be the only logical beginning of the body of Christ. In other words we teach that the body of Christ began in Acts Chapter Nine.
We teach that Peter"s message was different than Paul"s, that he never taught the same things that Paul taught, therefore Peter, nor anyone taught by Peter is in the body of Christ".by Peter"s teaching.

Anyone who ever heard the message that Paul preached, that believing that message and trusting in Christ alone for salvation, that they are baptized into the one and only body of Christ. There is only one body of Christ, not more than one, and we all are members of the SAME BODY that Paul, Titus and Timothy and the Galatians, the Corinthians, the Thessalonians and the Romans are members of:

Ephesians 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of THE SAME BODY, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

We teach that a certain group of people heard the gospel Paul preached because they were in the promises of God in Christ and that another group of people became partakers of God's promise in Christ by the gospel Paul preached.

It all boils down to understanding the difference between "the Gentiles" of Ephesians 3:6 as compared to the Greeks of Galatians 3:28, the Greeks of Acts 17:4, the Greeks of 1 Corinthians 1:24, and the Greeks in Romans 10:12. So that we can clearly see what the King James Bible says, let's read all those verses:

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Acts 17:4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

1 Corinthians 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

Now we know that the body of Christ is a spiritual realm. That is, the body of Christ is not a physical body, but a spiritual body of believers. It is a spiritual realm, not physical. We know that in order to GET INTO the body of Christ we must be BAPTISED INTO CHRIST, not baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ.

The Galatians, in Galations 3:28 are baptized "into Christ." As many of the Romans, in Romans 6:3, as have been baptized "into Christ," have been baptized into his death, and Paul says that like as Christ was raised up from the dead, they should walk in "newness of life." The Corinthians, in 1 Corinthians 12:13 are baptized "by the spirit into the body of Christ."

So then, everybody in all of those letters, who have believed Paul's gospel, has been baptized into the body of Christ. Every description, in every case, in all of these verses we have looked at, which represent all of the books which were written to all of the people Paul preached to from the time of Acts Chapter Nine to the time of Acts Chapter Twenty is of the church, the body of Christ, as it existed at that time. In every case, the body of Christ is made up of physical human beings who are identified in the King James Bible as JEWS AND GREEKS.

According to my King James Bible, and also according to yours, there are Jews and there are Gentiles who have become members of the body of Christ. According to my King James Bible, and yours, every single Gentile in the bible who is a member of the ONE AND ONLY body of Christ AT THAT TIME, that is during the TIME PERIOD of the book of Acts, is a Greek. Now here is what we teach:

All GREEKS are Gentiles but not all GENTILES ARE GREEKS. The Gentiles in my bible who are members of the body of Christ during the book of Acts are GREEKS.

What if I said something like this: "All of us Greeks were on the bus to the Holy Land by the 28th, but you Scythians didn"t get on the bus until after the 28th" Some boarded earlier and some didn't get on until later...but it's still the same bus.

So it is in the case of those people who were IN the promises, those who were saved during the book of Acts, as compared to those like the Ephesians who were not in the promises but were aliens and strangers to them. The doctrine all hinges on WHEN Paul was in the temple and had a vision in which the Lord sent him FAR HENCE to the aliens and strangers.

The King James Bible does not say that Paul was in a trance in the temple and had a vision in Acts Chapter Nine.

WE SAY that Paul was in a trance in the temple and had a vision in ACTS CHAPTER EIGHTEEN and not in Acts Chapter Nine. We are saying this, not to contradict anyone's doctrine, and not to cause divisions, and CERTAINLY NOT to cause offenses contrary to Paul's doctrine. We are simply saying this because the overwhelming evidence in the King James Bible is that Paul DID NOT have a vision in the temple in a trance in Acts Chapter Nine. Nowhere in the bible will you find a statement which says that.

Paul makes such a statement in Acts Chapter 22, but he does not say that it occurred in Acts Chapter Nine, instead he says it happened "when I was COME AGAIN to Jerusalem." Paul made five trips to Jerusalem in the book of Acts, and he is making this statement during his fifth trip there and he is making it about SOME previous trip, but he doesn"t say which.

Take a look at the body of Christ as it existed and as Paul describes it in the book of Galatians:

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Now take another look at the same, and the one and only body of Christ, as Paul describes it in the book of Colossians:

Colossians 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

Now I don't notice any Barbarians or any Scythians in the body of Christ as Paul has described it in the book of Galatians, do you? I can only see Jews and Greeks, and the Jews are listed first. Now in the book of Colossians the order of the Greeks and the Jews is reversed and the Greek is listed first and in addition to the Greeks I see some other Gentiles and they are called Barbarians and Scythians. Obviously, then, they are not Jews and they are also not Greeks.

Anywhere you see a description of the body of Christ during the book of Acts, the Jew is always listed first. Anywhere you see a description of the body of Christ during the TIME PERIOD of the book of Acts, it is made up of two groups of people: JEWS AND GREEKS.

All Greeks are Gentiles but NOT ALL Gentiles are Greeks.

There were some people alive during the time period of the book of Acts who had the privilege of hearing the gospel because they were in the PROMISES. The Ephesians are partakers of God's PROMISE in Christ by the gospel and not by being in the promises.

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

So we believe exactly what the King James Bible says. That these Gentiles, here in this verse, were ADDED to the already existing body of Christ when they heard and believed the gospel. We believe that these people had not had the opportunity to hear Paul's gospel because Paul had not been sent far hence, to them, until after his vision in Acts 18.

Galatians 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,

Galatians 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

Galatians 1:17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.

Galatians 1:18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.

Notice that Paul says he abode with Peter for 15 days. There is just nothing in the bible record of Paul's Acts Nine trip that would match the criteria for being "obedient to the heavenly vision" of going to ALIEN Gentiles, if Paul had one in Acts 9.

Acts 26:16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;

In other words, in Paul's account of the events on the road to Damascus, when he was saved, he says that the Lord said, "these things" and also "those things in the which I will appear unto thee." The point is, that the Lord told Paul that he would also appear to Paul later. So Paul says to the king:

Acts 26:19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:

So at some point in time, the Lord appeared to Paul in another vision. Paul says it was in the temple while he was in a trance:

Acts 22:18 And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

This is the vision which some say occurred in Acts Chapter Nine because Paul wanted to "launch" his ministry from Jerusalem. But Paul says that he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Would Paul have been disobedient to another heavenly vision? No he wouldn't.

Now look at what Paul says. He says the Lord said, "make haste" The word is a strong form of a word which means speed, or to urge on. In other words, if your house was on fire you would "make haste" to get out and you would "urge on" anyone else who was in there.

The Lord says, "make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem" When he says "get out quickly" is simply strengthens the first statement, to make haste. It carries the idea of "by all means." In other words, make haste, and by all means get out. And the reason to do that was that "they will not receive thy testimony concerning me."

Now the record of Paul's activities during his trip to Jerusalem in Acts Nine is totally contradictory to these instructions. Paul, himself, says that he stayed with Peter for 15 days, and Luke says:

Acts 9:28 And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.

Luke not only says that he was with them in Jerusalem but that he spake boldly in the name of the Lord:

Acts 9:29 And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him.

Acts 9:30 Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.

You could still insist that maybe Paul went to the temple to pray about the Grecians trying to kill him and that it was THEN that he had the vision, but you still have a problem with the rest of the instructions:

Acts 22:21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

So you have to deal with the fact that instead of going FAR HENCE that Paul went through Syria and Cilicia and preached, not to Goya, not to far hence aliens, but to Jews and Greeks:

Galatians 1:20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.

Galatians 1:21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;

Now it is a known and indisputable fact that there are Gentiles in the regions of Syria and Cilicia. It is also a known fact that there are Gentiles in Galatia. It is also a known and indisputable fact that every single Gentile in the book of Galatians is identified as a Greek.

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Notice this verse:

Galatians 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

As you read the entire passage in Galatians chapter four you find Paul explaining a MYSTERY TRUTH. It was a mystery hidden in the scriptures. It pertained to people of FAITH. Well what did they have faith in? Answer: The God of Abraham:

Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

Galatians 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Those in the book of Acts heard the gospel because they were in the promises of God, having faith in the God of Abraham.

This mystery truth, which was hidden in the scriptures, is called by Paul, the gospel of the uncircumcision:

Galatians 2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;

Think about this. There was a Gentile woman in Matthew 15 and a Roman Centurion in Luke chapter seven. These people, and people like them would be "in the covenants of promise" based on the promises made to Abraham. The Gentiles, who were called Greeks, in all those synagogues of the Jews Paul preached in were also in the covenants of promise on the same basis.

On the basis of the gospel of the kingdom, preached in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the only way these Gentiles were going to be saved was when Israel was saved and Israel was NOT going to be saved until the leaders of the people of Israel repented and accepted their Messiah.

Peter had preached on the day of Pentecost, "repent and be baptized every one of you." But they did not and would not. So at a point, which in looking back we can see, was when Stephen was stoned to death in Acts chapter seven, the kingdom was withdrawn and Israel fell. Things after that were not going according to the order of business which Peter understood. That's why, in Acts Chapter 10, when he is finally convinced to go to the home of a Gentile, he says "it is an unlawful thing." At that time it was. Peter was supposed to get Israel to repent first. They refused. They fell. BUT THEY WERE NOT YET CAST AWAY:

Romans 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people" God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

So the whole point is, that the time period of the book of Acts was a time of promise. It pertained to a MYSTERY. It was God's secret about how he was going to SAVE the remnant according to the election of grace. The remnant were Jews, but among them, and fearing the God of Abraham were these Gentiles who are called Greeks who were in the covenants of promise. So Paul said to them:

1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

The OUR in the context is a reference to the commonwealth of Israel and it INCLUDES all those Jews and Gentiles in 1 Corinthians 12:13 who are baptized by the spirit into the body of Christ. The fact that Christ died for OUR sins, ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, in 1 Corinthians 15 is in TOTAL CONTRAST to Ephesians chapter three:

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;

Now if you carefully compare Galatians 3:8 where the scripture FORESAW the salvation of some people it is is contrast to the verse above which was UNSEARCHABLE in the scriptures.

Ephesians 3:9 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:

The salvation of those Jews and Greeks Paul found in the synagogues of the Jews was a mystery hidden in the scriptures. The salvation of the Ephesians and you and me was a mystery HID IN GOD.

Once the Lord revealed to Paul the MYSTERY he talks about in Galatians chapter three and Galatians chapter four, the gospel of the uncircumcision, he can now go and preach justification without the law of Moses, and that's exactly what he does, in synagogue after synagogue, in place after place, all through the book of Acts. It was a mystery hidden in the scriptures:

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

When Paul goes out to preach in Acts 13 and 14, where does he go? Into the synagogue of the Jews. Who does he find in there? Let's see:

Acts 13:16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.

Who does Paul talk to? Men of Israel and ye that fear God. Those who heard Paul were those who feared God. This mystery pertained to those who feared God. The Ephesians did not fear the God of Abraham. They had their own gods and goddesses. The Ephesians were not in the synagogue seeking wisdom as the Greeks were:

1 Corinthians 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

1 Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

1 Corinthians 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

According to what the King James Bible says, here in 1 Corinthians, who is being called? Jews and Greeks. Where did Paul find them? They were IN the covenants of promise and they were IN the synagogues of the Jews. Back to Acts 13.

Acts 13:16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.

Acts 13:17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.

Acts 13:18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.

Acts 13:19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot.

Acts 13:20 And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.

Acts 13:21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.

Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

Acts 13:23 Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:

Acts 13:24 When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

Acts 13:25 And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am" I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.

Acts 13:26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.

Who is THIS word of salvation sent to? To the children of the stock of Abraham and whosoever among you feareth God. The Greeks in the synagogues were God fearing Gentiles. The Ephesians were not. The Ephesians were WITHOUT GOD. They had their owns gods. Not the god of Abraham. These feared the God of Abraham and their salvation was a mystery hid in the scriptures which the Lord revealed to Paul.

These people, these Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, who were Greeks, could not be saved by the coming of the kingdom because as we know, the kingdom was not to come at that time. But, nevertheless, God foreknew these people and it was His plan to save them and it was his plan to have Paul preach to them the gospel of Christ. So Paul went to the commonwealth of Israel and preached the gospel of Christ to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

On the basis of all these King James bible facts, how could Paul have been told to go "far hence" from the commonwealth of Israel, until God's people, the remnant, could be saved? When the remnant was gathered, then Paul was sent far hence. So the likely place for Paul to have received a far hence vision is not Acts chapter nine, but Acts chapter 18.

The bible record is clear. Paul did not go far hence from the commonwealth of Israel in Acts chapter nine, in Acts chapter twelve, or in Acts chapter fifteen. The only other logical place to put the far hence vision is Acts chapter eighteen, because in Acts 22 and onward, Paul is the "prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles" as in Ephesians 3:1.
In all three cases in the book of Acts when Paul mentions going to the Gentiles he is ALWAYS talking to law keeping, pork abstaining, circumcised Jews. All three cases. Acts 13:46, Acts 18:6 and in Acts 28:28:

Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

By the way, notice that the verse says that it was NECESSARY that the word of God should FIRST have been spoken to YOU JEWS?

Acts 18:6 And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

If you read the account in the King James Bible of what Paul does in Acts 13 and Acts 14, he continues to preach to the Gentiles who are Greeks:

Acts 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

Acts 13:49 And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.

What does it mean that they were ordained to eternal life? It simply means that God foreknew that these God fearing Gentiles to whom Paul preached would believe Paul's gospel and be saved. In Acts 14 the man who was crippled from his mother's womb and is healed because he has faith in the God of Abraham. When Paul encounters some idol worshippers they DO NOT hear a salvation message and in fact, could have participated in the stoning of Paul since it says the Jews came and "persuaded the people."

In Acts 18, when Paul says from "henceforth we go to the Gentiles," he takes all the disciples next door to a house next to the synagogue and the very next person to get saved is Cripus, the chief ruler of the synagogue:

Acts 18:6 And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

Acts 18:7 And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

Acts 18:8 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.

Any time Paul says anything about turning, henceforth going, or salvation sent to Gentiles he is always taking to circumcised, law keeping, pork abstaining Jews, and the idea is to provoke them so that he can save some of them:

Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

Romans 11:14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.

The point is, there was a remnant there during the book of Acts. The law was their schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. The law was never your schoolmaster because Gentiles did not have the law. Israel did.

The salvation of Abraham apart from the law was a big part of the message all the way through the book of Acts. Everybody in the book of Acts was familiar with the circumcision. They could be shown this MYSTERY of how Abraham and they could be justified apart from the law, apart from circumcision:

Acts 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

Acts 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

As far as the Priest of Jupiter in Acts 14, what would he know about the law of Moses, about the circumcision of Abraham, or about Israel's Messiah who died for his sins? What was the reaction of the Greek philosophers who were idol worshippers in Athens?

Acts 17:18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say" other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

So there is a distinction between the gospel of God, the gospel of Christ and the gospel of the grace of God. The priest of Jupiter was in no position to hear a salvation message until he first knew about the God of Abraham, and about the son of God, who had been crucified but had been raised from the dead.

When Paul went to Europe he found, in the synagogue of the Jews in Thessolinica, idol worshipping Jews and Greeks who were with them. How do we know this? Because Paul says that they "turned to God from idols" in 1 Thessalonians 1:9.

Acts 17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:

Acts 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

Acts 17:3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

Acts 17:4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

So what message have they heard at this time? Paul calls it the gospel of God in Romans 1:1-4. It is the identity of Christ. It includes the resurrection from the dead. A person must first know and believe the gospel of God before he can possibly be persuaded of the doctrine in Romans chapters three through eight.

Verse four says that some of them believed. The only thing that has been shown here that they have believed is the gospel of God. They believe that Jesus IS the Christ of prophecy, that according to prophecy he must suffer and to rise from the dead. This is not the complete salvation message of the gospel of Christ. Paul has to leave after reasoning with them for three Sabbath days because the Jews are trying to kill him.

Now notice Paul's concern for those in Thessalonica:

1 Thessalonians 3:1 Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;

1 Thessalonians 3:2 And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith:

Paul left town in a hurry and the Thessalonians were not established in their faith. From what Luke writes about it in the book of Acts and what Paul writes about it when he writes to the Thessalonians, they had only come to the point to where they could understand and believe the gospel of God until Timothy A SHORT TIME LATER got back and established them in the gospel of Christ, which is the "power of God unto salvation."

Nowhere does the King James Bible say that the gospel of God is the power of God unto salvation. It says the gospel of Christ is. The gospel of God, as Paul defines it in Romans 1:1-4 is the testimony of God, concerning his son Jesus Christ, which can be found in the scriptures, and it includes the fact that he was raised from the dead:

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

Romans 1:2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

Romans 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

Romans 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

You can understand why It could take Paul three Sabbath days to get someone to understand just this simple truth, if they had never heard it before. I can understand how Paul would have to go over it and over it and over it again and again, reasoning with them out of the scriptures, because that is where the gospel of God can be found.

I can understand how these Thessalonians could have come to the point of this understanding but had not been brought to the point to where they could really TRUST that Christ had died for THEIR sins, so as to be sealed by the holy Spirit of promise.

So we can understand fully why Paul sent Timothy back just as soon as he could to ESTABLISH them in the gospel of CHRIST. The bible does not say that they are "not saved" but it certainly says that they were not "established." And it also says that Paul sent Timothy back to ESTABLISH THEM.

So with all of that we can state the following:

The gospel of God is a set of facts

The gospel of Christ includes those facts plus some more facts.

The gospel of the grace of God includes all of the above facts, plus one more fact.

By the way, Peter preached the gospel of God:

1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

There is a difference between the message Peter preached and the message Paul preached, the gospel of Christ. Both are based upon the facts of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. That's called the gospel of God. But there is a difference between the gospel of God and the gospel of Christ.

So both Peter and Paul preach the gospel of God. The gospel of Christ, Paul's message, was preached during the book of Acts to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. People who were IN the promises. The gospel of the grace of God is unto ALL men without distinction and without exception.

Things that differ REALLY ARE different.