Are Believers ONLY to Receive From THE EPISTLES OF PAUL?
Published: 12th June 2025
There’s this false doctrine going around that Paul taught a separate gospel to that of Jesus Christ and his apostles, namely James, Peter & John and what is written in their epistles, not to mention the prophetic book of Revelation. The four gospels of Christ are dismissed as well. As such, followers of this doctrine teach that the only New Testament books relevant to Gentile believers are the thirteen epistles from Romans to Philemon (and maybe the chapters in Acts spotlighting Paul’s ministry). The core issue, of course, is that they think that Paul didn’t teach the necessity of repentance, but this is also gross error.
If Paul taught a separate gospel to that of Christ, James, Peter and John, why did he write epistles to the same people that Peter wrote to, as verified by Peter here:
15Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
2 Peter 3:15-16
If Paul only preached to Gentiles, why did he plainly say:
“I have declared to both Jews and Greeks [aka Gentiles] that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus”
“First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.”
He preached this to both Jews and Gentiles, not just Jews, which is also observed in yet another statement he made:
20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
It’s true that Paul was commissioned to reach the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; Galatians 2:9), but the above passages show that he ministered to Jews at the same time, such as the smattering of Hebrews at the Antioch fellowship in Galatia (Galatians 2:11-13). He acclimated the message of Christ to those he was reaching and added details, but this didn’t change the core truths.
Consider how the Lord Christ instructed five of the seven churches addressed in Revelation to repent of this or that (2:4-5, 2:15-16, 2:20-23, 3:1-3, 3:14-19). These assembles were composed of mostly Gentile believers, but Jewish believers as well, not just one or the other. Can you imagine the Lord saying to these assemblies: “Now this particular message about repentance is only for the Jews present, not the Gentiles. You Gentiles follow Paul’s gospel, not my gospel; so you don’t have to repent of anything, ever.” The idea is absurd.
Repentance and faith go hand-in-hand, as observed by Paul’s statement in the aforementioned Acts 20:21, as well what Christ taught (Mark 1:15), not to mention the writer of Hebrews, who pointed out that repentance is the first basic doctrine of Christianity, followed by faith (Hebrews 6:1). To ‘repent’ simply means to change your mind corresponding to the particular truth you receive, which is the result of actual faith or belief. You can look up the Greek word here. Of course, if you truly change your mind, it will be reflected in your actions and lifestyle.
Now let’s address the “different gospel” that Paul condemned in this passage:
6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
Galatians 1:6-9
This “different gospel” is not a reference to the gospel of Christ preached by the Lord’s apostles, like James, Peter and John, but rather the false doctrine that the Judaizers preached to the Gentiles in Galatia, which was rooted in the idea that observance of the ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant were necessary for eternal salvation, such as the practice of circumcision, traditional fasts and observing various holy-days (Galatians 2:3, 4:10). This is what Paul condemned as anathema, not the gospel of Christ & his apostles.
James, Peter and John all agreed that Paul was commissioned by God to focus on reaching the Gentiles with the gospel of Christ and had their blessing. Witness for yourself:
6As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. 7On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, a just as Peter had been to the circumcised. b 8For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9James, Cephas c and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.
Galatians 2:6-9
As you can see, nothing is said about Paul preaching a different gospel from the one that James, Peter and John preached. Paul was simply focusing on reaching the Gentiles while the other apostles were focused on reaching the Hebrews.
As far as the moral law goes, we are not under the law, but we uphold it, as Paul said: “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law” (Romans 3:31). But how do believers “uphold the law”? He plainly taught: “in order that the righteous requirement of the law [i.e. the moral law, not the ceremonial or dietary laws] might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). In other words, living by the spirit — i.e. walking in the spirit — is the answer to fulfilling the moral law and living free of the corrupt desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:16; Romans 13:14). Peter taught the same thing in different words in 2 Peter 1:4.
Paul plainly instructed Gentiles: “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men a nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). He elsewhere spoke of those who “claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him” (Titus 1:16). He happened to be speaking to Titus, who was a Gentile. Notice that Paul didn’t add anything to the effect of: “I’m only referring to Jewish believers here since Gentile believers aren’t obligated to repent of immorality.”
Christ taught similarly in Matthew 7:15-23 (more on this momentarily).
The Law of Christ (the Law of Love) vs. the Law of Moses
What law did Christ and the apostles preach to believers, including Paul? They preached the law of Christ—as opposed to the law of Moses (John 1:17)—which is the law of love (1 Corinthians 9:19-21; Galatians 6:2). It has three applications: LOVE GOD and LOVE OTHERS as you LOVE YOURSELF (Matthew 22:37-40). James also clearly preached this law (James 2:8). Paul explained the law of love as such: “whoever loves others has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8), which includes tough love when appropriate (Proverbs 27:5). This is the law that all believers in Christ are under, whether Jew or Gentile.
The Mystery of the Ages
As for the mystery of the ages, it’s “Christ in you, our only hope for glory” (Colossians 1:27 NCV), which takes place through spiritual regeneration and is augmented by the indwelling Spirit (Romans 8:9). As such, Paul said that believers are “created to be like God in true righteousness” (Ephesians 4:22-24), spiritually speaking. Jesus Christ taught this (John 3:3-6), James taught this (James 1:18), Peter taught this (1 Peter 1:3) and John taught this (1 John 3:9). By the Spirit, Paul added meticulous detail to this awesome message (2 Peter 3:15-16), but this didn’t change the essence of it.
Separating From Other Believers Based on the Idea of Only “Following Paul” Is Nothing New
Some Gentiles in Corinth did this way back in the 1st century as detailed here:
11My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas b ”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so no one can say that you were baptized in my name.
1 Corinthians 1:11-15
As you can see, Paul rebuked believers for saying “I follow Paul” in a sectarian sense (not to mention the others listed). He was totally against the divisions in the body of Christ that such a position caused and he would have the same attitude today.
Closing Word
The false doctrine that Paul taught a totally separate gospel to that of Christ & his apostles — one that stresses useless mental assent misnamed ‘faith’ — will result in “many” appearing before Christ at the Judgment saying ‘Lord, Lord,’ but he will respond: “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:22-23).
Lastly, the idea that believers can only feed from Paul’s 13 epistles from Romans-Philemon in essence cuts out 14 books of the New Testament, which — needless to say — smacks of “taking away” from God’s Word (Revelation 22:19; Proverbs 30:5-6; Deuteronomy 4:2; Deuteronomy 12:32). It’s a satanic strategy to cut believers off from huge portions of New Covenant Scripture! It’s what Paul called (by the Spirit) a doctrine of demons (1 Timothy 4:1)!
For relevant insights on this topic, see this excellent 6-minute video by Dennis Pollock:
For important details, please check out our sister articles: Did PAUL’S MESSAGE Contradict Jesus & James’ Gospel? and Does Christ’s GREAT COMMISSION Only Apply to Jewish Believers?
Related Topics:
What Are the SIX BASIC DOCTRINES of Christianity?
New Testament Believers are NOT UNDER THE LAW (Torah)
What Is the MYSTERY OF THE AGES?
When Did THE NEW TESTAMENT Start? When Did THE CHURCH Begin?