Introduction: Paul’s Radical Gospel
Even critics who claim the gospel has been twisted, or that Jesus Himself was nothing more than a deception, have no real argument against Paul’s message. Why? Because to purposely corrupt something, you must first understand it. Yet most who dismiss it have never grasped what Paul actually proclaimed.
Paul’s gospel was not second-hand tradition. He did not learn it from Peter, James, or the other apostles. He insists repeatedly that the message he carried came directly “through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:12). This was the glorified Christ, risen and exalted, breaking into history to reveal the fullness of what the cross accomplished. That alone sets Paul’s gospel apart: it is not a human philosophy, nor a recycled religion, but a divine disclosure from the living Son of God.
The deep meaning of Paul’s gospel lies here: Jesus Christ is not merely a Jewish teacher or failed revolutionary—He is the crucified and risen Lord whose death destroyed sin and whose resurrection guarantees the life of the world. Paul insists, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” (1 Corinthians 15:17). But Christ has been raised, and Paul, who once hunted Christians, became the loudest witness to this truth—not by choice, but by God’s sovereign interruption.
Paul’s radical gospel demonstrates that Jesus is real because only something utterly divine could have taken a man like Saul of Tarsus—a violent persecutor—and turned him into the most passionate herald of the cross. And Paul’s testimony is consistent: all humanity is shut up under sin, but in Christ all are destined to be made alive (Romans 11:32; 1 Corinthians 15:22).
This is not a message that can be invented, for no human would dare craft a gospel that strips mankind of boasting and lays salvation entirely in the hands of God. Paul’s gospel is the ultimate proof that Jesus is who He said He was, and that the risen Christ continues to act, not in theory, but in history.
Paul’s Radical Gospel: To Know Christ No Longer After the Flesh
2 Corinthians 5:16–17 – “So that we, from now on, know no one according to the flesh. Yet even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, nevertheless now we know Him so no longer. So that, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
The Misunderstanding of Religion
Every religion today, and even many believers in Paul’s own day, make the same mistake: they seek to cling to the terrestrial Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, the man who walked the dusty roads of Judea, the teacher of parables and miracles “in the flesh.”
That’s all Christianity today talks about: “What would Jesus do?” “Imitate the earthly Jesus.” Sermons repeat His earthly walk, His compassion, His teachings. But Paul makes a radical declaration: “We no longer know Christ this way.”
Back then, men literally walked beside Him. They ate with Him, they heard His voice, they saw Him crucified. Yet Paul insists that this “knowing” is not the true basis of salvation.
Paul’s Revolutionary Teaching
Why such a strong statement? Because the cross and resurrection transformed everything.
- Romans 6:9–10 – “Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more; death has no dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives to God.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:18–19 – “All is of God, Who reconciles us to Himself through Christ and gives us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them…”
Paul declares that knowing Christ merely “after the flesh” misses the point: His mission was not to set up an earthly kingdom, but to abolish sin and death for all creation.
Christ as Sin for Us
Paul’s words are staggering:
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For Him Who knew no sin, He makes to be sin for our sakes, that we may be becoming God’s righteousness in Him.”
Christ did not just forgive sins. He became sin itself. He absorbed it, bore it, destroyed it in His death. If Paul were a liar, a fraud, or a deceiver, how could he possibly invent such a revelation? No Jewish Pharisee in his right mind would fabricate a Messiah who becomes sin itself to reconcile not just Israel but the entire world.
The New Creation Reality
To be “in Christ” is not to imitate His earthly ministry, but to participate in His risen life:
- Romans 8:1–2 – “There is now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus frees you from the law of sin and death.”
- Colossians 1:20 – “Through Him to reconcile all to Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross, whether those on earth or those in the heavens.”
Paul proclaims nothing less than a new creation. The old humanity, tied to Adam, bound by law and sin, has died at the cross. A new humanity, born in Christ, has already begun and will encompass all creation.
If Paul Were a False Apostle…
Think about it: if Paul were only a deceiver or “false apostle,” where could such radical truths come from? Could a mere man invent the idea that:
- God was in Christ reconciling the world (not just Israel) to Himself?
- Offenses are no longer reckoned to mankind?
- Sin and death themselves are destroyed in Christ?
- Believers—and ultimately all creation—are not improved versions of the old humanity but are a brand-new creation?
Such a revelation is either the greatest lie in history—or the very gospel of God’s grace entrusted to Paul by the risen, glorified Christ Himself (Galatians 1:11–12).
Conclusion
Paul’s message was not built on tradition, nor on “knowing Christ after the flesh.” It was given by revelation from the glorified Christ. The earthly Jesus saves no one. The crucified and risen Christ saves all.
This is why Paul could boldly say: “We know Him so no longer”—because we now know Him as the One who became sin, destroyed death, and reconciles all creation to God.
🔥 If Paul were false, his gospel would have died in obscurity. Instead, his words echo across centuries, revealing the cosmic Christ who makes all things new.
ebooks and paperback books:
Evil in the hands of a loving God https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FR68ZSB3
Unlearning Christianity: Exposing Christian Myth https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQX7NX7D
In Perfect Control: God’s Sovereignty Over all Creatures and Every Detail https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FFQ8P9FW
Eternal Shores: A Love story of Grace and Truth https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FPT3HJMQ
Death Dies: How God Ends the Grave for Everyone https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FPGH2YRY
No Free Will, No Hell https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FP32Z8XD
The Potter’s Fire: The End of Empty Religion https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FNY9T3SJ
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