Paul did not preach a different gospel

Jan Boshoff

There is only one gospel that saves and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the same gospel that was preached by all the apostles, including the apostle Paul. Many suggest that Paul preached a different gospel, but that is not true. Even during his time, there were people who claimed to be followers of Paul which he strongly resisted. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:11-17. “For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”13Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?14I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. 16Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.” Many people refuse to be baptized because Paul said that Christ did not send him to baptize. Paul Himself was baptized immediately after he was called by Jesus as he also testified in Acts 22:16. Paul only baptized some, but all those who believed were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote in 1 Cor.1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Paul was not talking about believing in the cross of Jesus as so many wrongly preach, he was talking about doing as Jesus commanded, denying yourself, picking up your own cross and following Jesus. He did not repeat the words of Jesus in his letters, as he had already preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Corinthians and were reminding them of the power of obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:1”And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2For I DETERMINED TO KNOW NOTHING AMONG YOU EXCEPT JESUS CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED. 3I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.“ Paul did not preach himself, or his own gospel, He preached Jesus Christ and obedience to Him. Paul wrote in Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” The gospel of Jesus Christ manifests powerfully through those who believe and obey the words of Jesus, as Jesus said it would be. When people believe, repent and are baptized, they are forgiven of sin, delivered from addictions and demon possession. Jesus said to His disciples:“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16“He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. 17“THESE SIGNS WILL ACCOMPANY THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”Mark 16:15-18. The absence of the manifestation of the POWER OF THE GOSPEL in modern day Christianity indicates that modern day Christians have never believed, because they do not OBEY the gospel of Jesus Christ. They refuse to repent, refuse to stop sinning and be holy. They refuse to be baptized in water and that is why the power of the gospel is not manifested through them. Paul was a Jew, he was a pharisee when Jesus called him, but he did not preach or teach the Torah, the old testament Laws and Prophets. He preached Jesus Christ and His commandments, obed