Did the Apostle Paul get the message of the Gospel from Jesus Christ on Mount Sinai, just like Moses got the Ten commandments from Mount Sinai, or did Paul go to heaven to get the gospel from Jesus? Paul said he was caught up to the third heaven.
It is true that the Lord gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai as we read in Exodus 24:12, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.” We then read in verses 15-16, “And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.”
The Lord also revealed many precious truths to the Apostle Paul that he passed on to us in his epistles. The other apostles certainly knew the Gospel for the Lord said to them in Mark 16:15, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” The Apostle Peter said in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” In Acts 8:26-39, we learn how the Lord led Philip into the desert to witness to an Ethiopian eunuch. Verse 35 tells us, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.”
In 1 Timothy 1:11, Paul speaks of “…the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.” Paul understood how serious the ministration of the Gospel was and how it was entrusted to him to share the Good News with others.
In three places (Romans 2:16, 16:25, and 2 Timothy 2:8), Paul refers to the Gospel as “my Gospel.” There is, of course, only one way of salvation, and that is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles and the Gospel that was committed to him (1 Timothy 1:11), was the true Gospel of how the Lord Jesus died, was buried, and rose again to pay the sin debt of all who come to Him in faith.
Let’s look at a few incidents in the early life of Paul the Apostle.
Acts 9:1-9 recounts the incident of the salvation of Saul (who was later called Paul). We see that Saul was a great persecutor of the church and was on his way to Damascus to find “any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.” (Verse 2). It was while on the way to Damascus, the Lord met him, presented Himself to Saul, and struck him blind. About the same time, the Lord appeared in a vision to a man named Ananias (verses 10-20). After hearing from the Lord, Ananiah sought out Saul, laid his hands on him, and Saul recovered his sight. We then read in verse 20, “And straightway he (Saul) preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.”
It seems afterwards that Paul entered into a three year ‘training’ session as we read in Galatians 1:15-18, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.” A true servant of the Lord needs time of seclusion and meditation in order to hear from the Lord and become equipped to be of service.
While writing to the Corinthians of the remembrance of the Lord, Paul wrote, “For I HAVE RECEIVED OF THE LORD that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread.” (1 Corinthians 11:23). That Paul received special revelations from the Lord is beyond doubt. In 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 Paul speaks of a time he was caught up into Heaven. He emphasizes that he was not sure whether he actually went to Heaven or whether it was a vision. He then says in verse 7, “And lest I should be exalted above measure through THE ABUNDANCE OF THE REVELATIONS, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.” Paul received MANY revelations from the Lord.
The Lord worked miraculously through Paul and gave him revelations concerning the depth of the Gospel, the church, church order, and future events. How He gave these revelations to Paul is not known. Seeing as how the Lord spoke to several people during this time through visions, it is reasonable to believe that is how He spoke to Paul. However he received these revelations from the Lord, we are so thankful that the Lord did give so many truths to Paul and, by the leading of the Lord, he wrote much of the New Testament and shared with us these precious truths. (CC) (512.4)