Gospel:  How did the prophets know our gospel?

The simple but correct answer to this is that those who are spoken of as Old Testament prophets didn’t! They knew nothing about it. Even the Twelve Apostles didn’t know about this until they learned about it from the apostle Paul.  They of course knew He’d been crucified and that He had been buried and risen from the grave, but they didn’t know what He had accomplished through it all until it was later revealed to them through the revelation God had given the apostle Paul.  The apostles of Christ were all in a state of panic when the crucifixion occurred.  They had no idea what God was doing through that.  But then you may say but the Bible tells us they did know what happened when He was on the cross.  The passage that gets referred to as “proof” of this is this one—

Romans 16:25-26

²⁵ Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

²⁶ But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: [Emphasis added]

There are those who claim that the King James Version of the Bible is “perfect.”  While we should all believe that the original text, what is called the Textus Receptus [Latin for the Received Text] from which this passage was translated, IS perfect.  But the King James Version of the Bible is simply what it claims to be—a version of the Bible. Is this “version” perfect? Absolutely not! Again, it is the Textus Receptus from which it was translated that is perfect, not any English [or any other language] translation is perfect.  This passage in Romans proves to be one of many examples of that.  The translators themselves were not perfect in their making of the translations.  And there’s no objective proof that they were, only opinions and false claims about it.

I’m well aware that some people who read these statements I’ve made will immediately think I’m wrong.   But, again, where’s the proof of that? Again, I’d agree completely if we were talking about what is called The Textus Receptus which refers to a succession of printed Greek New Testament texts.  All that certainly is perfect.  It is without any flaws linguistically or in any other way.  But the KJV is just a translation of that.  There’s no actual authoritative evidence anywhere that tells us it is PERFECT. 

All this is one main reason why a pastor or any other serious teacher of the Bible needs some study of the original languages of the Bible—the Greek as well as the Hebrew but especially the Greek because all the apostle Paul’s thirteen letters were originally written in what is called Koine Greek.  The KJV is just one of many translations.  As of November 2024, the Bible has been translated into 756 languages, with the New Testament translated into an additional 1,726 languages, and smaller portions of the Bible translated into 1,274 other languages. This means that at least some parts of the Bible have been translated into 3,756 languages. This tells us the Bible is the most translated book in history. 

I fully agree that the King James Bible is a good translation, far better than so many others, but it can’t be rightly said that it is perfect.  In addition to all I’ve just said about this, we all need to realize that meanings of words in any language often change, especially over hundreds of years.  The King James Bible was first written in 1611 with there having been numerous changes in the meanings of certain words since then.  If you doubt that, please do your own research as I have.

For more information about all this, please see my other articles on this website that are related to this subject.  You can find them through the search box under these names—

Bible:  How is it that it is inspired?

Bible:  Is it a trustworthy book?

Bible:  Must one know the original languages to study it?

Bible:  What are we to think of the King James Version (KJV)?

KJV:  Does it need correcting?

KJV:  Which verses demand the Greek text to be understood?

To find any of these, just type a key word or more in the search box and tap your enter key.  Obviously, having written so many articles about different facets of this subject, it is my firm belief that this is a matter that needs to be addressed.  Aside from all these other things I mention in these articles is the fact that in the original text, the word “prophets” in Romans 16:26 is an adjective, not a noun as it is incorrectly translated in the KJV.  What the verse actually speaks of is the prophetic, the forthtelling scriptures, not the scriptures of the prophets.  Again, the word mistranslated as “prophets” is an adjective in the Greek text, not a noun.  If the KJV is correct, it would be a contradiction to what is said about this subject having been a “mystery,” meaning a secret held in the mind of God that the prophets of old knew nothing about.  Now let’s look at this as Paul speaks of it in another one of his letters.

Ephesians 3:1-6

¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery [MUSTERION = secret]; (as I wrote afore in few words,

⁴ Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery [MUSTERION = secret] of Christ.

⁵ Which in other ages was NOT made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

⁶ That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: [Emphasis added]

The “prophets” in what we speak of as Old Testament times knew nothing about this.  Again, that’s why it is spoken of in the apostle Paul’s writings as a mystery, a secret. Even though they forthtold this; they didn’t foretell it.  The Greek word for “prophets” here is PROPHETEIA which is used in the Bible for both foretelling and forthtelling.  It is even used in connection with those who are said to have had the spiritual gift of prophecy.  For more information about these special gifts of the Spirit, please see my article about it—

Spiritual gifts:  Do they exist today?

This present age of grace that is called the dispensation of the grace of God was not known to any of the prophets of old.  This is why it is called a mystery [MUSTERION = a secret].

Again, Ephesians 3:1-3

¹ For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

² If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

³ How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery [MUSTERION = secret]; (as I wrote afore in few words, [Emphasis added]

Of all the many writers of Scripture, the apostle Paul was the only ONE who wrote about this.  No one else! For more information about this, please see my other articles about it—

Mystery:  What is this Secret that Paul wrote about?

Mystery:  What is the key to understanding the Bible?

Mystery:  What is the fellowship of the mystery?

This mystery, this secret about a coming time when both Jews and Gentiles would be brought together into one body of people was first made known through the special revelation given of God to the apostle Paul.  It was this one man who then wrote about these things in his letters to various churches—assemblies of believers.  No one else! Again, those who are spoken of as Old Testament prophets didn’t know anything about it and they, therefore, didn’t write anything about it.  It is because of there being so much misunderstanding about this that this is one of the main reasons for so much controversy and resultant division among believers and churches today.  People often ask why there’s so much division in beliefs today among professed Christians.  It is this that is the main reason for that.  So many church leaders have little if any understanding of the meaning of this verse—

2 Timothy 2:15

¹⁵ Study [SPOUDAZO = be diligent] to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. [Emphasis added]

Furthermore, these people also have little or no understanding of the subject of dispensations.  There’s such controversy about the subject of dispensations that many modern translators of the Bible even refused to use the word in their translation.  Please note how the KJV translates Ephesians 3:2 and how the NIV translates it.

King James Version (KJV)—

Ephesians 3:2

² If ye have heard of the dispensation [OIKONOMIA = household law, a compound noun – OIKOS = house & NOMOS = law] of the grace of God which is given me [Paul] to you-ward: [Emphasis added]

This “household” law consists of the policies and promises God gave to a particular people.  In our case, it is us who make up what is called the church which is the body of Christ that is made up of all believers since the salvation of the apostle Paul to the coming future event known as the Rapture.

New International Version (NIV)—

Ephesians 3:2

² Surely you have heard about the administration [OIKONOMIA = household law, a compound noun – OIKOS = house & NOMOS = law] of God’s grace that was given to me [Paul] for you, [Emphasis added]

With the salvation of this man, Saul of Tarsus at the time of Acts 9, a whole new and different program was put into place.  The details of it were given to him only and are recorded in his thirteen epistles.  For more information about the role of this wonderful man, please see my articles about him on this website—

Paul:  Do we make too much of him?

Paul:  Was he the rightful replacement for Judas Iscariot?

Paul:  Who exactly is this man to us?

Peter & Paul:  Was their message the same?

No, the Old Testament prophets knew nothing at all about our gospel.  Even though they wrote about it by divine revelation [as in Isaish 53 and Psalm 22] they knew nothing about the meaning of what they were stating and writing about.  It has been through the revelation God gave the apostle Paul that these things have now been made known.  Even in the apostle Peter’s last words, he directs us all to the writings of the apostle Paul for a full explanation and understanding of these things.  Unfortunately, “the church” has paid little attention to him on this.  But please notice Peter’s last recorded words.

2 Peter 3:15-18

¹⁵ And account that 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;

¹⁶ As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

¹⁷ Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

¹⁸ But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. [Emphasis added]

It is the apostle Paul who was commissioned to reveal this message of God’s grace that we now have in his writings, his thirteen epistles—Romans to Philemon.

Conclusion—

Those we speak of as the Old Testament prophets knew nothing about our time and the doctrine, the provision God would make for us.  Until it was all made known through special revelation given to the apostle Paul it remained a mystery, a secret held in the mind of God.  The mistranslation of Romans 16:26 in the King James Version of the Bible and others has added to this confusion and misunderstanding about this and some other things.  This proves to be another reason why people need to be able to somehow see what’s stated in the Greek text of Scripture.  Only then will they be able to come to a full knowledge of the truth.