One Gospel for Jews and Gentiles, Part 2:
The Argument

This teaching comes from the King James Bible, and every verse I quote is from the KJV.

These are my own convictions from the Word of God, shared through The Prevailing Word of God ministry, and they do not speak for any local church.

Scripture does not teach two different gospels of salvation. There is one Savior, one gospel of salvation, and one body in Christ Jesus. In Part 1 I set out the Scriptures as a reference list. Here I want to walk through them as one connected argument.

The New Testament repeatedly teaches that salvation through Jesus Christ is for everyone who believes, with no difference between Jew and Gentile, male and female, bond and free.

One righteousness by faith for all who believe

All believers become the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-29). The righteousness of God comes by faith of Jesus Christ unto all that believe, because all have sinned and need His grace. The one God justifies both the circumcision and the uncircumcision through faith, not through separate methods of salvation (Romans 3:21-30).

The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him, and the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth (Romans 10:11-13; Romans 1:16-17).

One body made of two

Descriptive.

“For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us” (Ephesians 2:14).

Jesus Christ reconciled Jews and Gentiles to God in one body by the same cross and made of the two one new man. Gentile believers are no more strangers and foreigners. They are fellowcitizens, fellowheirs, and members of the household of God and of the same body (Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6).

Whether Jews or Gentiles, bond or free, believers are baptized by one Spirit into one body, and they share one Lord, one faith, and one God (1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 4:4-6). Jesus Christ calls His other sheep so that there shall be one fold and one shepherd (John 10:16).

In Christ, nation, circumcision, and station do not determine salvation. What counts is faith which worketh by love and a new creature (Colossians 3:9-11; Galatians 5:6; Galatians 6:15; 1 Corinthians 7:18-24).

Peter learned it, and Paul enforced it

Peter declared that God put no difference between Jewish and Gentile believers, purifying their hearts by faith. Both are saved through the same grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 15:7-11).

God taught Peter not to call any man common or unclean and showed him that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:28; Acts 10:34-35). Whosoever believeth in Jesus Christ receives remission of sins, and the household of Cornelius received the Holy Spirit before water baptism (Acts 10:43-48). Peter later acknowledged that the Gentiles received the like gift of the Holy Spirit and repentance unto life (Acts 11:15-18).

Forgiveness of sins and justification from all things are preached to all that believe in Jesus Christ (Acts 13:38-39). There is no respect of persons with God in judgment (Romans 2:9-11; 1 Peter 1:17). Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God to both Jews and Greeks who are called (1 Corinthians 1:22-24).

When Peter’s conduct separated Jewish believers from Gentile believers, Paul withstood him to the face and reaffirmed that a man is justified by the faith of Jesus Christ, not by the works of the law (Galatians 2:11-16). God commands unity, mutual care, and freedom from respect of persons among believers, whether rich or poor (1 Corinthians 12:24-27; James 2:1-5).

One father Abraham, one olive tree

Abraham is the father of all them that believe, both Jews and Gentiles, because the promise is of faith and by grace, not by nation or circumcision (Romans 4:9-17; Galatians 3:7-9). Through Jesus Christ the blessing of Abraham comes on the Gentiles, who receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:13-14).

God calls His people not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles (Romans 9:24). Believing Gentiles are graffed into the same olive tree and partake of its root, while Jesus Christ confirms the promises made unto the fathers and brings the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy (Romans 11:17-24; Romans 15:7-12). Israel’s historical calling does not establish a separate gospel of salvation.

Jesus Christ opened the door to every nation

Jesus marveled at a Gentile centurion’s faith and said that many shall come from the east and west and sit down in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 8:10-12). He commanded His disciples to teach all nations, baptizing them, and He said that repentance and remission of sins must be preached in His name among all nations (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 24:46-47).

As many as receive Jesus Christ become the sons of God by a birth from God, not from human ancestry (John 1:12-13). Whosoever believeth in Him has everlasting life (John 3:14-18). The Samaritans believed and confessed that He is the Christ, the Saviour of the world (John 4:39-42). God promised to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, so that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved, and He now commands all men every where to repent (Acts 2:17-21; Acts 17:30-31).

One Savior for the whole world

Christ died for all, and if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. God reconciles the world unto Himself by Christ and commits to believers the word of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:14-21). God will have all men to be saved, and there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:3-6).

The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, and Jesus Christ tasted death for every man (Titus 2:11; Hebrews 2:9). His propitiation is for the sins of the whole world, and the Father sent Him to be the Saviour of the world (1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:14).

Revelation confirms it. By His blood Jesus Christ redeemed men to God out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation (Revelation 5:9-10). A great multitude of all nations stands before the throne praising God for salvation (Revelation 7:9-10). The everlasting gospel is preached unto every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people (Revelation 14:6).

The biblical conclusion

The New Testament recognizes Israel’s historical and covenantal distinctions, but those distinctions do not establish two different ways of receiving eternal life. Acts 15:7-11, Romans 10:12-13, Galatians 3:26-29, Ephesians 2:14-16, and Ephesians 3:6 explicitly establish salvation through the same grace, faith in the same Savior, and unity in the same body.

Different audiences do not establish different gospels of salvation.

My question to anyone teaching separate saving gospels for Jews and Gentiles is simple. If God put no difference between believing Jews and Gentiles in salvation, and Jesus Christ reconciles both through the same cross into one body, where does Scripture teach two different ways of receiving eternal life?

One Savior. One gospel of salvation. One faith. One body. One new man in Christ Jesus. Let Scripture speak for itself.

Part 1 of this series lists every passage above with a one-line summary for study and reference: One Gospel for Jews and Gentiles, Part 1. Part 3 answers the objections the teaching makes: One Gospel for Jews and Gentiles, Part 3.

Related study: For a full expository answer to the Mid-Acts dispensational teaching of two gospels, read One Saviour. One Saving Sacrifice. One Gospel.

Series guide: Read all four studies in order at One Gospel for Jew and Gentile.

2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (KJV)

18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.