What was the message and background of the twelve apostles before Paul?
Before Paul, the twelve apostles proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom, a Jewish message tied to the Old Testament, Temple worship, and the covenants, calling for repentance, baptism, and belief that Jesus was the Christ. Their background was the Old Testament Scriptures, not the New Testament or Pauline revelations.
Les teaches that the early church had only the Old Testament; nothing of the New Testament was written yet, not even the Gospels, and Paul’s letters had not been circulated as the Bible. The Gospel of the Kingdom preached by Jesus, the twelve, and John the Baptist was still basically Jewish—connected with Temple worship, the Old Testament covenants, and the promise of the coming Messiah. Its message was repentance and baptism and believing that Jesus was the Christ. Les also notes that the four Gospels belong to the Old Testament, while the blood of Christ is the way to God once we get to the Pauline revelations. Apollos illustrates this, knowing only the baptism of John and nothing of Paul’s Gospel, until Priscilla and Aquila expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.