While it’s true that our salvation does not rest on our works, but on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:1-4), to state that Peter and Paul preached different gospels is entirely false. There has always been and forever will be only one gospel message concerning the salvation of men:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph 2:8-9)

Peter’s different “gospel of the Kingdom” referred to above is clearly described by a group called Grace Ambassadors (and others):

“The message taught by Peter, James, and John was that Jesus was the promised Son of God, and whomever believed this truth and followed the commandments would be counted worthy of eternal life (Acts 3:26, 1 John 5:12).”[i]

Note that both the Ephesians passage and the Grace Ambassadors’ definition of being “counted worthy of eternal life” are both talking about salvation! To be ‘saved’ and ‘counted worthy for eternal life’ are to be considered “righteous” before a just and holy God. Lest there be any shadow of doubt, consider the following:

“And he (Abraham) believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (Gen 15:6)

“For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” (Rom 4:2-3)

William MacDonald, in the Believers Bible Commentary, tells us that there is one gospel with different features/emphasis:

“While there is only one gospel, there are different features of the gospel in different times. For instance, there is a different emphasis between the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of the grace of God. The gospel of the kingdom says, “Repent and receive the Messiah; then you will enter His kingdom when it is set up on earth.” The gospel of grace says, “Repent and receive Christ; then you will be taken up to meet Him and to be with Him forever.” Fundamentally, they are the same gospel—salvation by grace through faith—but they show that there are different administrations of the gospel according to God’s dispensational purposes.”

Those who maintain the ridiculous notion that there are two separate gospels, one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles will even propose to us that the only portion of scripture that pertains to believers today range from somewhere in the middle of the book of Acts through Paul’s letter to Philemon and that the remainder of scripture was spoken only Jews. However, we need only to consider the Council at Jerusalem for clarity.

The record of the Jerusalem Council is recorded in Acts, chapter 15. To summarize, The Jewish leaders of the believers in Jerusalem, along with the missionary team of Paul and Barnabas met in 49/50AD, to discuss the attitude some of the Jewish believers in Jesus towards Gentile believers. Apparently, there were Jews who believed that Gentile believers must be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses in order to be saved.

Luke, the author of Acts, records the post-debate words of Peter:

“⁷And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. ⁸And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, ⁹and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Act 15:7-11)

Additionally, the Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, spoke of the Council meeting in Jerusalem and the acknowledgement by all that Paul had been entrusted with proclaiming the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles (uncircumcised) and Peter having been entrusted with proclaiming the gospel to the Jews (circumcised).

“⁷On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised ⁸(for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), ⁹and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” (Gal 2:7-9)

There is absolutely no indication that Peter and Paul had different gospels, but only different primary missions.

If that isn’t sufficient to settle the issue of different gospels, we can look at how Peter and Paul described redemption:

Peter:

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1 :18-21).

Paul:

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4).

So What?

It seems abundantly clear that Peter was entrusted with sharing the gospel of salvation by faith in Christ primarily with a Jewish audience and Paul’s mission was to preach that same message to Gentiles. They were both chosen by God for their ministries and had the blessing of the Apostles for their respective tasks. To maintain otherwise is in error. What are we do to with these truths?

It’s quite simple, actually! First, continue to share the glorious message of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Christ. Secondly, if you are approached by someone or come across the idea that Peter and Paul preached different gospels, be ready to give an answer with gentleness and respect (1 Pet 3:15).

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[i] Did Paul Preach a Different Gospel? (graceambassadors.com)

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NOTES:

1. The earlier post with the same title can be found here: Did Peter and Paul preach different gospels? | The Battle Cry (thebattlecry49.com)

2. The Grace Ambassadors teach what is called Mid-Acts Dispensationalism.  Their basic teachings can be found here: What is Mid-Acts Pauline Dispensational Right Division? (graceambassadors.com)