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Alpha & Omega Ministries Apologetics Blog
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Jesus vs. Paul: Round 2
07/24/2010 - Jamin Hubner
Let us return to one of the earlier quotes where Finck pits the gospel of Christ against the gospel of Paul by saying, “Christ taught a gospel – the Gospel of the Kingdom. But under that gospel, He taught that if you want eternal life, you must keep the commandments (Matthew 19:17). It was Paul who first taught the simple gospel of faith.” Finck seems to be asserting that Jesus (like Peter)[1] believes that perfect obedience of Old Covenant law is required for eternal life.Perhaps it would be wise to look at the original context of Matthew 19:1:
16 And someone came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?" 17 And He said to him, "Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." 18 Then he said to Him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS;
19 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." 20 The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?" 21 Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. 23 And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 "Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?" (Matthew 19:16-25, NASB)
The answer to that question – in light of what Jesus just said in verses 16-25 – is clearly no. No one can be saved. There is no salvation, unless you are absolutely perfect. Human beings need to follow the law and the commandments with 100% perfection in order to enter heaven. In fact, Jesus said earlier in Matthew 5:20 with just as much boldness, “For I say that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you not will enter the kingdom of heaven.”
How impossible! And then Jesus goes even further and amplifies the laws that already exist, saying if you so much as look at a woman wrongly, you’ve committed adultery, and if you hate a person in your mind, it’s the same as murdering them. Jesus goes on and on until finally some of his listeners stop asking questions and walk away.[2]
Maybe Joel Finck is right; Jesus’ gospel requires us to obey all the commandments with perfection. Maybe Jesus’ gospel really is outdated and needs to be upgraded to Paul’s gospel of grace.
But this ignores one thing: Jesus’ answer to the question.
26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
If anyone is going to be saved, God Himself is going to have to do the work of saving. That is, God Himself is going to have to fulfill every one of the Commandments Jesus just listed in Matthew 19 for anyone to have eternal life, because the law and holiness of God requires perfection.
But, that leaves anyone asking, who is that? Who on earth can live an entire life without lusting after another person, without thinking a thought of hate, without stepping over the line just once?
God in the flesh: Jesus the Christ. That’s what Jesus meant when he said “with God all things are possible.” Only God the Son can fulfill the demands of God the Father.[3]
So then, if Christians aren’t saved by fulfilling the law, then how are Christians saved? Jesus answers that question in the same way Paul does: by faith alone. (Refer back to the quotations of Christ talking about faith). There is one gospel in the Bible, not two.
Walter Kaiser summarizes:
The case for disunity or a real division of theology between Jesus and Paul is rather weak. While it is to be admitted that Paul does use a different terminology from that used by Jesus, this is not to admit a discontinuity between the two. Often the differences can be traced to the fact that Paul was facing different times and a different culture.[4]
[1] “Is Peter still preaching the necessity of some kind of righteous works to be accepted by the Lord? Yes. Works of righteousness.” Finck, Common Questions, 57.
[2] This is similar to John 6 when Jesus did the same thing. Jesus went on and on about how “no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” until the thousands leave and only twelve remained. Truth mattered more than anything – including numbers and attendance – to Jesus.
[3] See Romans and Hebrews for a fuller discussion of this issue.
[4] Walter Kaiser Jr. in Gary T. Meadors, ed. Four Views on Moving Beyond the Bible to Theology (Zondervan, 2009), 49.
14:46:04 - Category: Exegesis - Link to this article -
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