Jesus never gave two different gospels—one for His apostles and another for Paul. There is only one gospel, and Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” His gospel was the gospel of the kingdom and obedience to God. When He gave the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19–20, He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” That included keeping His commandments. Jesus never told anyone to stop making disciples and only preach about His death. He commanded them to teach everything He commanded, and His commandments were never abolished.
Paul, however, often wrote things that sound different. He focused heavily on the cross and justification, saying in Colossians 2:14 that Christ was “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” Many wrongly assume this means the Ten Commandments were abolished, but that is not true. The phrase “handwriting of requirements” refers to the record of our sins—the legal debt that stood against us—not the moral law of God. Our sins and the penalty of death were nailed to the cross, not God’s commandments. If the Ten Commandments were abolished, there would be no standard of sin, yet Paul himself said in Romans 7:7, “I would not have known sin except through the law.” Jesus also declared in Matthew 5:17–18, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Heaven and earth are still here, so God’s law still stands. Jesus even warned that anyone who breaks the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:19).
Paul spoke much of grace and faith but gave little emphasis to following Jesus’ teachings. Jesus, on the other hand, made obedience central. He said in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments,” and again in John 15:10, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” On the last day, we will not be judged by Paul’s words but by the words of Christ Himself, for Jesus said in John 12:48, “The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.”
Those who think obedience is unnecessary should hear Jesus’ warning in Matthew 7:21–23: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven… And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” This is serious. Paul never died for us; Christ did. Jesus is the Teacher, the Judge, and the King. He said His gospel will go to all nations and then the end will come, not that it would be replaced by a new gospel focused only on the cross.
There is only one gospel, and it is the gospel Jesus preached—the gospel of the kingdom and obedience to God. In Matthew 13:41–42 He warned that in the end, “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.” Anyone teaching a message that excuses lawlessness is in grave danger. The words of Christ, not Paul, will decide every soul’s destiny.
