One Gospel

Galatians 2:6-10

Verse 7 has been taken to imply that there were two Gospels, a Petrine Gospel and a Pauline Gospel, which represented a "theological antithesis" or at least contained important differences in content. Actually, howeer the so-called Petrine Gospel is merely the gospel as Peter preached it to the Jews, with the particular approach and emphasis appropriate to Jewish audiences, just as the so-called Pauline Gospel is the same Gospel as Paul proclaimed it among the Gentiles, with the particular approach and emphasis appropriate to Gentile audiences. NICNT

I often find it interesting when I hear or read about arguments meant to convey more than one Gospel. The first thing that I try to do is determine the motives of the person conveying the argument. More often than not there is an element of an attack or an attempt to discredit any Gospel. As fallen beings we are too often attempting to find any weakness, however small, in order to bolster our need to believe in something that is not true and more in keeping with our sinful nature. If there are two Gospels than maybe there are more and maybe those others are more palatable and do not require so much of us. The other thing I try to do is have compassion for the one making the argument. Compassion because I so often fall into error myself, either actively or passively. So often we can be blinded by our sin into thinking that the Bible says something other than it really says. And even a very small deviation from the true path will lead to a wide divergence given enough time. And one of those errors is in thinking that a group or type of people are different from one another spiritually speaking.

We need to be sensitive to other cultures and attempt to speak to people in a manner that they understand. I think that is the reason that Paul and Peter were sent to their respective spheres of influence rather than preaching to all peoplse at the same time. There are nuances that need to be addressed to have people understand the message that is being spoken. But the heart of the matter, the core of the Gospel, remaind the same in both cases and that is the key. When we speak of the Gospel to others we need to be mindful of our presentation without watering down or altering the meat of the message. That is a hard thing to do sometimes but something to which we are called to labor with. And if we do not look at the situation through such a lense we can find ourselves arguing that there are two if not more Gospels and that path takes us away from the Truth.

May God richly bless us this day and strengthen us to the task of spreading the one true Gospel to the glory of His Name.