ECT How is Paul's message different?

[turbosixx]

Paul preached the same gospel of grace to unbelievers (Col.1:5-6)

Col. 1:6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,

"You heard it" is past tense. What exactly did Paul preach to them the first time that caused them to believe?

 

[Jerry Shugart]

"You heard it" is past tense. What exactly did Paul preach to them the first time that caused them to believe?

Yes, it is past tense because Paul is speaking about when the believers at the church at Colosee first believed that gospel. At the same place Paul said that gospel had come in all the world so it is clear that the gospel of grace was being preached to unbelievers.

Here Paul speaks of receiving the righteousness which is of God and that righteousness comes by faith:

"And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Phil.3:9).​

If you do not believe that the righteousness of God comes to those who "believe" then you are not believing the gospel of grace of which Paul speaks here:

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Ro.4:5).​

Here is another example of the same teaching:

"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith" (Heb.11:7).​

Again, if you deny that faith alone is sufficient for a person to receive the imputed righteousness in the eyes of the LORD then you are NOT believing the gospel of grace.

 

[Jerry Shugart]

I do see , some 7 different things in Gal 3:28 !!

I'm all ears.

 

[turbosixx]

the gospel of grace.

This is what I'm trying to determine. The gospel of grace is what these people heard and believed to be added to Christ.

Do you realize that those quotes you are using are written near the end of Paul's journeys. Romans is the last letter written on his last journey and the others were written after his arrest.

What was the content of what Paul preached( gospel of grace) to unbelievers so that they would believe?

 

[Jerry Shugart]

What was the content of what Paul preached( gospel of grace) to unbelievers so that they would believe?

Since he preached the gospel of grace to them then that is exactly what he preached to them--the good news of the grace of God.

And that gospel declares that believers are "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Ro.3:24).

And that is exactly what he was preaching when he preached that "Christ died for our sins":

"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 Cor.15:3-4).​

But you refuse to believe the gospel of grace because you continue to insist that it takes more than faith to be saved despite what Paul said about what is required.

 

[turbosixx]

Since he preached the gospel of grace to them then that is exactly what he preached to them--the good news of the grace of God.

And that gospel declares that believers are "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Ro.3:24).

And that is exactly what he was preaching when he preached that "Christ died for our sins":

"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 Cor.15:3-4).​

But you refuse to believe the gospel of grace because you continue to insist that it takes more than faith to be saved despite what Paul said about what is required.

I get the feeling your afraid to answer because you won't agree with what you find.

 

[DAN P]

I'm all ears.

Hi Jerry , and you said that I do not understand what Gal 3:28 means , SO the onus is on you !!

There are 4 verbs in Gal 3:28 , all in the Greek PRESENT TENSE !!

And you are AVOIDING post # 1320 , WHY ?

dan p

 

[john w]

The Lord Jesus Christ was a Jew among the Jews, confining his ministry to the nation of Israel, and announcing Himself as their King. Israel having rejected Him, He went back to glory, and when Israel continued in their rejection, He revealed through the apostle Paul His new program/"dispensation of the grace of God"(Eph. 3:2 KJV), so that now we do not follow Him in his earthly ministry of His humility, as the Messiah, the Christ, of Israel, but we follow Him as the glorified One at the LORD God's right hand, and the head of the body. The apostle Paul, through whom the truth of this age has been revealed, not once in any of his "is given by inspiration" scriptures,refers to anything that "Jesus"(his name of humiliation) said or did while upon earth, except for the cross and the resurrection. In fact, we read:

"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 KJV


As we follow the Lord Jesus Christ today, we are commanded to obey 1 Cor. 11:1 KJV: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." Thus, we are to follow the risen, ascended, glorified, seated Lord Jesus Christ, not "Christ after the flesh"(2 Corinthians 5:16 KJV),..." Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;"(1 Timothy 6:15 KJV).

Although we can learn many spiritual applications from "the gospels", and Hebrews-Rev, our, members of the boc's, doctrine by command(not optional) from the Lord Jesus Christ is given through Paul, "the apostle of the Gentles"(Romans 11:13 KJV). You must "rightly divide the word of truth"-2 Timothy 2:15 KJV is a command, not a suggestion.

The inevitable consequences of failure to rightly divide is confusion, mixing law with grace, the commands given to Israel under the law with the doctrine given to the body of Christ(which was a mystery not previously revealed until given to Paul by revelation-the body of Christ did not exist prior to Paul) through Paul in this dispensation.

Again, the great confusion among believers is failure to rightly divide the word of truth(2 Tim. 2:15 KJV), i.e., confusing the prophetic program, which has as its core the LORD God's dealing with unbelieving Israel and the unbelieving nations under the law and the "gospel of the kingdom", and in judgement and wrath, which was "spoken about since the world began"(Luke 1:68-70 KJV; Acts 3:21-24 KJV), from the mystery program as revealed to the apostle Paul, which "was kept secret, hidden(in God, not the OT scriptures) since the world began (Romans 16:25 KJV; Ephesians 3:5 KJV, Ephesians 3:9 KJV; Colossians 1:26 KJV):


Our command from the Lord Jesus Christ is to follow the doctrine espoused by Paul in Romans-Philemon, for these are the Lord Jesus Christ's words for today, and the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded us to follow this doctrine, for following Paul is following the Lord Jesus Christ:

"Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me." 1 Cor. 4:16 KJV
"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." 1 Cor. 11:1 KJV
" Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample." Philippians 3:17 KJV

Take Romans through Philemon out of Scripture, and you do not have Christian doctrine. NADA.

 

[Jerry Shugart]

I get the feeling your afraid to answer because you won't agree with what you find.

Afraid to answer?

I have already answered but you seem to think that Paul preached only a part of the gospel of grace when he preached to unbelievers:

"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24).​

Why do you think that Paul did not preach the full gospel of grace to unbelievers, the same "good news" of which he spoke at Romans 3:21-24?

Do you deny that Paul received the imputed righteousness which is of God by faith and faith alone when he said this?:

"And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Phil.3:9).​

Please answer these two questions.

Thanks!

 

[turbosixx]

Afraid to answer?

I have already answered but you

You have not answered but evaded like others have said. I've asked you repeatedly what did Paul preach to unbelievers to cause them to believe but all you quote is what he has written to those who have ALREADY believed.

Did God not give us the words Paul spoke to unbelievers that caused them to believe?

 

[john w]

We are commanded to follow Paul today, not Peter, for following Paul is following the Lord Jesus Christ, in this dispensation. The boc's prophet, or leader, is the apostle Paul, "...the apostle of the Gentiles...."(Romans 11:13 KJV). Just as Israel followed Moses, believers in this dispensation are commanded by the risen, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus Christ to follow Paul: 1 Corinthians 4:16 KJV, 1 Cor. 11:1 KJV; Philippians 3:17 KJV, Philippians 4:9 KJV; 1 Thessalonians 1:6 KJV; 2 Thessalonians 3:9 KJV; 1 Timothy 1:16 KJV. The LORD God wrote, through Paul, scripture, the inspired word of God(1 Thessalonians 2:13 KJV; Titus 1:3 KJV; 2 Peter 3:15-16 KJV), and are the Lord Jesus Christ's words and commands in this dispensation: Romans 15:18 KJV; 1 Corinthians 14:37 KJV; 2 Corinthians 13:3 KJV; 1 Thessalonians 4:2 KJV; 1 Timothy 6:3 KJV . The Lord Jesus Christ appointed Paul as :

-our apostle(not Peter, nor "the 12"): Romans 11:13; 2 Corinthians 11:5 KJV; Galatians 2:8 KJV; 1 Timothy 2:7 KJV; 2 Timothy 1:11 KJV
-our pattern; 1 Timothy 1:16 KJV
-the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles in this dispensation: Romans 15:16 KJV; Ephesians 3:7-8 KJV; Colossians 1:23-25 KJV
-a preacher: 1 Timothy 2:7 KJV; 2 Timothy 1:11 KJV; Titus 1:3 KJV
- a teacher of the Gentiles: 1 Corinthians 4:17 KJV; 1 Timothy 2:7 KJV; 2 Timothy 1:11 KJV
- a prophet: 1 Corinthians 14:37 KJV
-the masterbuilder, having laid the foundation of the bocBody of Christ: 1 Corinthians 3:10 KJV
-a steward of the mysteries of God: 1 Corinthians 4:1 KJV
-the administrator, "steward", for the present dispensation of the grace of God: Ephesians 3:1-9 KJV
-authoritative: Titus 2:15 KJV; 2 Corinthians 13:10 KJV

Paul calls The LORD God to witness more often than any other biblical writer, and no other biblical writer spoke with an oath more than Paul: Romans 9:1 KJV; 2 Corinthians 1:18 KJV, 2 Corinthians 11:10 KJV,2 Corinthians 11:31; Galatians 1:20 KJV; Philippians 1:8 KJV; 1 Timothy 2:7 KJV

Despite what you have been taught by "tradition", the Lord Jesus Christ's "marching orders" for today are given through Paul(the mystery program), not Peter(the prophetic program). And the reason for the apostacy of the RCC(I am a former "Roman") and most of so-called "Christianity"? Following Peter instead of Paul, following the prophetic program, and knowing "Christ after the flesh"(2 Cor. 5:16 KJV-his earthly ministry, presented as King of the Jews), instead of the mystery program, and knowing him as "the head of the body", the risen, ascended, glorified Lord Jesus Christ from heaven as revealed to the apostle Paul, "the apostle of the Gentiles"(Romans 11:13 KJV).

Paul alone was chosen to be God's spokesman for this new dispensation. The other 12 Apostles knew nothing about this dispensation; they knew only what Paul taught them ,and that is why Paul said he went by revelation- by direct command of the risen, ascended, glorified Lord Jesus Christ of heaven, to Jerusalem to confer with the 12 Apostles, and to teach them what gospel he preached- Gal. 2:2 KJV. If the Jerusalem apostles had been preaching the same gospel, that would had not have been not only unnecessary, but insane! And thus, we have TBN and the rest of the apostates preaching the gospel of the kingdom.


Again:

Paul is the "apostle of the Gentiles"(Romans 11:13 KJV, Gal. 2:8 KJV), and thus your/our apostle.
Paul is "the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God"(Romans 15:16 KJV), which was committed to his trust(1 Tim. 1:11 KJV).
Paul is "an apostle...a teacher of the Gentiles...(1 Tim. 2:8 KJV).
Paul was "appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles"(2 Tim. 1:11 KJV).
Paul "laid the foundation" for the Body of Christ(1 Cor. 3:10 KJV).
Paul is a "minister of God according to the dispensation of God"(Col. 1:25 KJV).
Paul's writings are the Lord Jesus Christ's commandments today: Romans 15:18 KJV,
2 Cor. 13:3 KJV, 1 Cor. 14:37 KJV:
"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."

Repetiton is learning-we are to follow Paul, by direct orders from the Lord Jesus Christ-following Paul is following Christ, in this dispensation:

"Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me." 1 Cor. 4:16 KJV
"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." 1 Cor. 11:1 KJV
"Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample." Philippians 3:17 KJV
"Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." Philippians 4:9 KJV

Paul is our pattern:

"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." 1 Tim. 1:16 KJV

Paul received his authority from the risen, ascended, glorified, seated Lord Jesus Christ, "the Lord from heaven"(1 Corinthians 15:47 KJV),by revelation, not from man: Acts 20:24 KJV; Romans 16:25 KJV;Galatians 1:11-12 KJV, Galatians 2:2 KJV; Ephesians 3:3 KJV



Let the "boo's, hisses," commence, from the bleachers, from those that cry, "You are to follow everything 'Jesus' taught,you cherry picker, bible stripper!!!! We will pray for you,my dear, misguided John W....."


Cricket...Cricket....Cricket....

 

[Jerry Shugart]

Did God not give us the words Paul spoke to unbelievers that caused them to believe?

Yes, exactly.

And Paul preached the same gospel of grace to unbelievers that he received from the Lord:

"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures" (1 Cor.15:3).​

And this is what Paul received of the Lord and what he preached to unbelievers:

"But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Ro.3:21-24).​

Can you finally see that the imputed righteousness which is of God comes to all who believe?

Or are you going to continue to deny what is so plain in the Scriptures about the imputed righteousness which is of God?

 

[lifeisgood]

Aristarchus and Justus, it seems, were the only two of the circumcision that understood Paul's gospel for the UNcircumcision (Col. 4:10-11). Smart circumcised brethren. Circumcision and Uncircumcision working together in its own marching orders from the Lord Himself.

 

[glorydaz]

One of the most critical things that a Christian must learn is that he cannot live the Christian life. It is Christ who lives His life through us by faith. It cannot be done through the flesh. And this is really critical - The law, any law, has to do with the flesh. It is a rule that tells the flesh, "NO!". Just as circumcision is a cutting off of the physical flesh, the law, which circumcision symbolizes, is a cutting off of that part of ourselves that we refer to as "the flesh". And it makes no difference if you are talking about the Law of Moses itself or the list of rules your pastor has in place for what sort of clothes you're allowed to wear at church or whether your wife can wear her hair down or whether you must give 10% of your income to the church or whether its okay to smoke cigarettes or eat at Burger King. All such rules doom the Christian to failure! Why? Because every one of them presuppose that the flesh lives! They all presuppose that you are better than you are and that you are capable of doing righteousness. You're not! Stop trying! Contradiction cannot exist! You can either reckon your flesh to have been crucified (i.e. that its dead) or you can set up rules in attempt to cut off its desires. You cannot do both!

The only righteousness you have is that which has been imputed to you by God. It is a righteousness that does not belong to you and that you did not earn and that you cannot screw up! It is the righteousness of Christ that has been credited to your account. The key question is, do you believe it? Those that believe it understand that the Christian life is not about working but about resting. The more real the biblical facts concerning your position in Christ becomes in your mind, the more you will relax and simply rest in His completed work. When it stops being about doing and becomes about being then the doing of it will stop being of your flesh and will be of Christ.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”​

This is Paul's Gospel (Romans 2:16 & 16:25; II Timothy 2:18). It does not exist outside of Paul's epistles and if Paul's epistles did not exist we would all be Messianic Jews or the equivalent. It is precisely those who do not distinguish between Paul's ministry and that of the twelve (II Timothy 2:15) who are doomed to be permanently engaged in a constant battle with their flesh. Their flesh is the undead, unrelenting, moaning zombie that they cannot kill because THEY keep resurrecting it! They keep trying to become that which God has already declared them to be. They keep aspiring to that which is already theirs! They cannot reach God because they refuse to believe that they are already IN HIM. Their life then becomes one failure after another, one constant battle between wanting love but feeling guilt. You are not guilty! You were guilty before you came to Christ but once you received Christ, your guilt was transferred to Him and His death paid the price for it. Any further guilt on your part is UNJUST! It is you telling God that Christ's suffering wasn't enough - I must also suffer! It isn't so! There is no place for guilt in the life of a Christian for you are not under law but in Christ. You can no more be guilty of sin than can Christ be.

Colossians 2:20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— 21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.​

Resting in Him,
Clete

I had to repost this part, because it is so important. I've never heard it stated so well. I remember, though, the very day I realized it was true. My children were young and I was trying so hard to be the perfect mom....I could never quite pull it off. Reckon was the word that came to mind. Same thing as believing it to be so. No longer I, but Christ. I put off the guilt I wasn't supposed to be carrying, and BELIEVED it to be so..

Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.​

Thank you, Clete, for sharing with us here on TOL.

 

[whitestone]

You have not answered but evaded like others have said. I've asked you repeatedly what did Paul preach to unbelievers to cause them to believe but all you quote is what he has written to those who have ALREADY believed.

Did God not give us the words Paul spoke to unbelievers that caused them to believe?

In Acts 15 after they had considered the matter did they say in the letter they gave to Barnabas and Paul and sent with two witnesses,Judas and Silas,,, that they were to be circumcised and follow the law or only that in the letter, or that neither of the two still stood and to follow the new covenant?,,, which of the three are missing in what was their decision?

 

[Clete]

This is my 'battle' with Christian friends of mine. As I tell them all the time 'the world has taken our definitions, made a mess of them, changed them, and brought back to us nicely packaged and most take it line, hook, and sinker.'

I agree totally with you that we must define terms before proceeding. Most do not want to do that though. Notice the 'most'.

Oh yes! Not just most but that vast majority are not willing to do the heavy lifting that is actual thinking. The more formal education they have in matters of theology, the more entrenched they are and the more unwilling they are to even consider alternatives to the doctrine that they've spent so much time, effort and money into learning.

The problem, however, is not just the definition of terms. Earlier, way back when this thread first started, I spent a good deal of time discussing the issue of paradigms. Paradigms are, by far, the biggest hurdle to get over when trying to show someone something radically different than what they already think they see clearly. If you've ever had what they call a light bulb moment, then you've experienced a paradigm shift. It happens when you see something for the first time and then afterwards wonder how you didn't see it before. It is only people who are honest enough to want to define terms and ask good questions that have any hope of having such a light bulb moment, which is why I've been willing to spend so much time with Turbosixx.

Clete

 

[Clete]

Again, I would like to address things in this post and hopefully we will in the near future but I would suggest we are dealing with symptoms and not the root issue.

To get to the root, we need to determine the content of the “gospel of grace”, that Paul preached, that was sufficient enough to add them to the body of Christ.

By "them" I assume you mean unbelievers and not already believing converts of the Twelve.

If so, then you surely know this already.

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”​

There is some debate about just what it means to "confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus" but basically it means that you acknowledge your need of a savior and that Jesus is it.

That's all there is to getting into the Body of Christ but that's nowhere close to being the entire gospel of grace and I suspect that you're thinking that it doesn't really answer your question.

You might be thinking, "Well even Peter believed that much, so what's the difference?"

Well, first of all, just that (i.e. accepting Jesus as his savior and believing that God raised Him from the dead) wouldn't have gotten Peter saved, nor any of his converts. In addition to belief, under the previous dispensation, obedience was required. Obedience to what? To the law. What law? The law of Moses (i.e. circumcision et. al.).

This is the chief difference between the two gospels. The circumcision gospel was "Trust and obey, for there's no other way...", but the Gospel of Grace is, "Trust in Christ and rest in His finished work."

"Trust and obey (i.e. work)" is not the same as "trust and rest". Before works of the flesh were required for salvation. This is what the entire book of James is about. Today, works of the flesh will profit you nothing and, in fact, are counterproductive to your spiritual walk. Under law, just getting started was a matter of both faith and works of the flesh (i.e. getting circumcised). Now, if you allow yourself to be circumcised (as a religious rite, not as an infant because of cultural norms) then Christ will profit you nothing. Rather, today we enter into Christ by faith alone, apart from works AND we progress by that exact same method - faith alone apart from works.

Colossians 2:6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,​

Resting in Him,
Clete

P.S. No time for editing. Sorry for any typos or other goofy typing errors.

 

[Clete]

I had to repost this part, because it is so important. I've never heard it stated so well. I remember, though, the very day I realized it was true. My children were young and I was trying so hard to be the perfect mom....I could never quite pull it off. Reckon was the word that came to mind. Same thing as believing it to be so. No longer I, but Christ. I put off the guilt I wasn't supposed to be carrying, and BELIEVED it to be so..

Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.​

Thank you, Clete, for sharing with us here on TOL.

Thank you for reposting it! I cannot read about these truths often enough. It's just so critical that people get that the law has nothing more to say to a person who has been executed! If you are in Him then you were crucified with Christ! Where does guilt live in a dead man? How many times must a man die under the law?

Resting in Him,
Clete

 

[God's Truth]

Paul's message is not different, it is the same.

Acts 26:23 that Christ would suffer, and as the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”

Galatians 1:23 They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.

Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,

Acts 26:20 First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God ,performing deeds worthy of their repentance.

 

[God's Truth]

Paul is the minister to Jesus' gospel, the gospel Jesus preached when he walked the earth.

Paul preached the same gospel that Peter preached.


Acts 11
Peter Explains His Actions

11 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

8 “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

9 “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

11 “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch
19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

22 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.


You all see that? This was before Paul.