UNDERSTANDING LEGAL REDEMPTION
Pentecost must always stand as the most outstanding miracle of grace besides Tabernacles that ever manifested.
When Jesus was raised from the dead and breathed into them the Holy Spirit and he open their understanding concerning the law and the prophets, and how certain scriptures, related to him.
He also opened the eyes of two of his other disciples.
25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into HIS glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
I believe they understood all authority in heaven and earth was delegated to them in Jesus’s name. but I believe their revelation at that time was limited.
I do not think they understood all the legal aspects of the gospel like Paul did, when he sought the Lord in the wilderness for two years and did not seek the 11 disciples for council.
No one could stand in the upper room and tell that group of 120 that Christ had died for their sins, according to the Scriptures.
No one could tell them that he had risen again for their justification.
No one could stand there and tell them that Satan had been defeated and conquered.
No one could explain that Jesus had carried his blood into the heavenly Holy of Holies and that the Father had accepted it.
UNDERSTANDING LEGAL REDEMPTION
No one had explained to the eleven apostles about the new creation.
They sat there in the upper room, waiting as the Master told them.
During that time, they had tried to find someone to take the place of Judas.
They had cast lots as natural men do. They had selected a man to take Judas’ place.
God never accepted their choosing. Paul was to take Judas’ place, but they didn’t know that.
They were in that upper room as born-again men but not yet filled with the Holy Spirit.
They were hoping that Jesus would restore the kingdom of Israel and break the rule of Rome over them.
The spiritual kingdom was utterly out of the range of their thoughts.
The Holy Spirit came to that upper room where they had gathered waiting.
Suddenly the room was filled with a sound from heaven as the rushing of a mighty wind. It filled the whole house wherein they were sitting. They were immersed in the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told them that they were to be immersed. Then, a second thing happened. Tongues of fire appeared on the head of each one, and they were baptized in fire.
That is what caused the persecutions to come. When man cannot answer, he uses brute force.
But the Spirit recreated them. The Spirit comes and chooses the men for the spreading of the gospel.
Then he filled them with the Holy Spirit.
Notice that he recreated them before he filled them.
Then they spoke in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
No one understood the phenomena of that day. But the Spirit had filled them. Now they go with tongues of fire to tell the world what has happened.
UNDERSTANDING LEGAL REDEMPTION
Fifteen years or more go by. And yet there is no revelation of what happened from the time that Christ was made sin on the cross until he sat down on the right hand of the Father on high. They preached what God gave them.
There was nothing taught about substitution, as far as we know as recorded in the book of Acts.
There was nothing taught about the body of Christ until God gave it to Paul by revelation.
One of the most beautiful things about the early church was the way that John and Peter and the other apostles received Paul’s revelation.
In 2 Peter 3: 14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction.
Peter talks about the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother, Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things. Wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unsteadfast twist.
UNDERSTANDING LEGAL REDEMPTION
In Galatians 1: 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.
Peter told Paul all about his fellowship and walk with the Master.
And Paul told Peter about the revelations that he had received of Jesus and of his finished work.
There was a difference between what happened at Pentecost and what was later revealed through Paul.
We need to understand the confusion about the relationship between the Gospels and Paul’s epistles.
Because what Paul says next will clarify everything.
Paul says in Galatians1: 6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Paul is saying something radical here. Even if he himself came back and preached a different gospel, don’t believe it.
Even if an angel from heaven came with a different message, reject it.
UNDERSTANDING LEGAL REDEMPTION
The gospel he received by revelation is the gospel.
Think about what happened at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. They spoke in tongues.
They went out with irresistible power. But they still didn’t have the full revelation.
They preached what they knew. They told people about Jesus. They performed miracles. But the mystery hadn’t been revealed yet.
For 15 years or more, the church operated without understanding substitution, without comprehending the body of Christ, without grasping the full implications of what Jesus accomplished.
They were saved. They were filled with the Spirit. They were powerful. But they were missing key revelation.
God had to raise up a man who didn’t walk with Jesus in the flesh. A man who persecuted the church. A man who met Jesus on the road to Damascus.
And to that man, God gave revelation that even the twelve didn’t have.
Paul didn’t receive his gospel from Peter or John or James.
He didn’t get it from sitting in the upper room.
He received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.
When Paul shared his revelation with Peter, Peter didn’t reject it.
He didn’t say, who are you to tell us about Jesus? we walked with him for three years’
Instead, Peter acknowledged that Paul had been given wisdom.
He recognized that Paul’s epistles were scripture.
He admitted that some of what Paul wrote was hard to understand.
But he accepted it as truth.
This is humility at its finest.
UNDERSTANDING LEGAL REDEMPTION
Peter who walked on water with Jesus submitted to revelation given to Paul.
John, the beloved disciple who leaned on Jesus’ breast, received what Paul taught.
James, the Lord’s own brother, embraced Paul’s gospel.
They understood that revelation doesn’t come from personal experience with Jesus in the flesh.
It comes from the Spirit unveiling truth.
You can be filled with the Spirit and still need more revelation.
You can be powerfully used by God and still have gaps in your understanding.
You can preach with tongues of fire and still miss critical truths about your position in Christ.
The disciples experienced this, and so do many believers today.
This is why Paul’s epistles are so crucial.
This is why studying Romans, Ephesians, Colossians, and Galatians matter so much.
This is why you can’t just read the gospels and think you have the complete picture.
The gospels show you WHAT Jesus did.
Paul’s epistles show you WHY it matters and what it means for you.
The disciples at Pentecost were baptized in the Spirit, but they didn’t understand the theology of the New Creation.
They were filled with the Spirit, but they didn’t grasp being seated in heavenly places in Christ.
They experienced power, but they didn’t comprehend the full scope of their authority.
Paul brought clarity.
Paul brought depth.
Paul brought revelation that transformed how the church understood itself.
And he was so protective of that revelation that he pronounced a curse on anyone who would pervert it. Even himself. Even an angel. Anyone who preaches a different gospel is accursed.
What does this mean for you today?
It means you need to guard the gospel Paul revealed.
It means you can’t add to it or subtract from it.
It means you can’t mix law with grace.
It means you can’t blend old covenant thinking with new creation, reality.
It means you stand on what Paul received by revelation, not on human wisdom or religious tradition.
UNDERSTANDING LEGAL REDEMPTION
The gospel Paul preached is not after man. He didn’t receive it from man. He wasn’t taught it by human teachers.
It came by revelation of Jesus Christ.
And that gospel is your foundation.
That gospel is your authority.
That gospel is your freedom.
Here’s your assignment.
Study Paul’s epistles with fresh eyes. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the same revelation Paul received.
Let the truth of substitution sink deep into your spirit.
Understand what it means to be in the body of Christ.
Grasp your position in the heavenlies.
See yourself as a new creation.
And guard that gospel fiercely.
Don’t let anyone pervert it with legalism.
Don’t let anyone dilute it with mixture.
Don’t let anyone steal it from you with religious tradition.
The gospel Paul received by revelation is the gospel that sets you free.
The gospel that makes you righteous.
The gospel that positions you as a son.
The gospel that gives you authority.
The disciples at Pentecost were powerful.
But Paul’s revelation made them complete in their understanding.
You can be filled with the Spirit. But without Paul’s revelation, you’ll miss the full scope of what you possess in Christ.
Pentecost gave them power.
Paul’s gospel gave them position.
Pentecost filled them with the Spirit.
Paul’s revelation showed them who they were in Christ. Both are necessary. Both are essential.
Power without position leads to confusion. Position without power leads to theory without experience. You need both.
You need the filling of the Spirit and the revelation of your position.
You need Pentecost and Paul’s gospel.
So, receive it today. Let the revelation that came to Paul become your revelation.
Let the gospel he received by divine revelation become the foundation of your life and live in the fullness of everything Jesus accomplished for you.
Not just what happened at Pentecost, but what was revealed after Pentecost through the Apostle Paul.
That’s the complete picture. That’s the full gospel. That’s your inheritance.