By Jerry Shugart

In a Bible tract entitled Paul's Gospel Acts 2 dispensationalist William R. Newell wrote:

"The twelve Apostles (Matthias by Divine appointment taking the place of Judas) were to be the 'witnesses' (Acts 1:22) of Christ's resurrection--that is, of the fact of it. They were not to unfold fully the doctrine of it, as Paul was...But unto none of these twelve Apostles did God reveal 'the great body of doctrine for this age'...The great doctrines that Paul reveals may be outlined as follows...The fact and the Scripturalness of righteousness on the free gift principle--that is, of Divine righteousness, separate from all man’s doings, conferred upon man as a free gift from God" (Newell, Paul's Gospel).

After reading this Bible tract Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founding President of Dallas Theological Seminary, said:

"This is a great tract, a clear treatise on the truth of God for this age. The author was one of America's greatest Bible expositors. It glorifies the Savior as the author desired it to do. It should be distributed by hundreds of thousands" (Editor, Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, Autumn 1994, Volume 7:12).

Today Dallas Theological Seminary is considered the leading Acts 2 dispensational seminary in the world, and the founding President of that seminary recognized the fact that the "gospel of grace" was not preached by anyone before Paul. Therefore that gospel was not preached on the Day of Pentecost and the present dispensation did not begin on that day.

The second President of Dallas Theological Seminary, John F. Walvoord, wrote that "The gospel of Grace was given to Paul as a 'new' revelation" (Walvoord, "The Preincarnate Son of God", Bibliotheca Sacra, Oct.-Dec. 1947, Vol. 104, # 416, p.422).

Charles Ryrie, Professor Emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary for many years, wrote the following:

"The apostle Paul was principally, though not exclusively, the agent of the revelation of the grace of God for this dispensation. Christ Himself brought the grace of God to mankind in His incarnation (Titus 2:11), but Paul was the one who expounded it" [emphasis added] (Ryrie, Dispensationalism [Chicago: Moody Press 1995] p.56).

Since the "gospel of grace" was not preached on the Day of Pentecost then what "gospel" does the Lord Jesus refer to here?:

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mk.16:15-16).

This is the same "gospel" which the Lord Jesus said would go out into the whole earth in the Olivet Discourse:

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Mt.24:14).

It was the "gospel of the kingdom" that was to be preached first in Jerusalem:

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

The "gospel of the kingdom" was the same gospel which John the Baptist preached that announced the soon coming of the earthly kingdom. Here are the Baptist's words concerning the purpose of his ministry:

"This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for He was before me. And I knew Him not: but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water...And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God" (Jn.1:29-31,34).

The Baptist's ministry was to manifest the Lord Jesus as both Israel's promised Messiah as well as the Son of God. On the day of Pentecost Peter used the facts of the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus in order to prove that He is Israel's promised Messiah (Acts 2: 23-35). And then he summed up his argument by saying:

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2: 36).

Charles Ryrie says that the theme of Peter's sermon was proving that the Lord Jesus is Israel's Christ or Messiah:

"To us today it does not mean much to say that Jesus is Christ or Messiah. To a Jew of that day it was an assertion which required convincing proof, and it was the theme of Peter's sermon. Peter's proof is built along very simple lines. First he paints a picture of the Messiah from the Old Testament Scriptures. Then from contemporary facts he presents a picture of Jesus of Nazareth. Finally, he superimposes these two pictures on each other to prove conclusively that Jesus is Messiah" [emphasis added] (Ryrie, "The Significance of Passover," Bibliotheca Sacra, Oct. 1955, Vol.112, # 448, p.335).

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