Paul vs. Jesus

If you have studied the Bible you probably noticed contention between Paul’s writing and Jesus’ message.  Most noticeable is that Paul expounds ‘salvation by grace alone, thru faith alone apart from all works’ (Romans 3:28) vs. Jesus way of salvation is repenting of sin, keeping the commandments of God (Luke 10:17, Matthew 19:16) and doing acts of charity (Matthew 25:31-46).  Jesus required works, deeds, obedience, charity as well as faith, but Paul says faith alone.  Apart from doing some theological tricks, these two positions cannot be reconciled.

 

Jesus said very little, almost nothing, about faith, but that’s not to say that it was assumed that anyone that listens to him already has their share of faith.  One way or another, according to Jesus and James, faith alone will not save, and Paul said it would.  This wouldn’t be a problem, if Paul considered that works were included in his definition of faith, but Paul specifically says, “faith without works.”

 

Paul wrote in Romans 1:17, “The Just shall live by faith”.  Of course this isn’t original with Paul, he quoted Habakkuk 4:2, where it says that ‘the just shall live by faith’.  Many people read this and say, ‘all I have to do is believe in Jesus and I will be saved – that is saving faith’.  James said the devils have that kind of faith and are not saved.

 

Since Paul excluded works from his definition of faith, it seems that for Paul, to live by faith, is to live your normal sinful life with a mental assent to certain truths. But is that what Habakkuk meant by faith?

 

If the 'just' live by ‘faith’, it should be profitable for us to study to understand how the ‘just’ lived - or what it means to live by fiath.  Did the Old Testament writers assume that works were part of faith?  When we understand that, then we will know how to live by faith – with works or without works?  We can learn about the lifestyle of the ‘Just’ from Ezekiel 18:5-9, where Ezekiel defines what it is to be ‘just’, i.e., those that live by faith.  It says,

 

5 But if a man is just  (a just (or righteous) man)
And does what is lawful and right; (keeps God’s laws and does right)
6 If he has not eaten on the mountains,  (not eaten meat sacrificed to idols)
Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, (does not worship idols.)
Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife, (does not commit adultery)
Nor approached a woman during her impurity; (obey God's purity laws.)
7 If he has not oppressed anyone,  (is fair and merciful with others)
But has restored to the debtor his pledge;  (acts in mercy and kindness)
Has robbed no one by violence,  (does not steal, or violent.)
But has given his bread to the hungry  (feeds the hungry – acts of charity.)
And covered the naked with clothing; (Clothe the naked – acts of charity.)
8 If he has not exacted usury (loans without interest – acts of charity)
Nor taken any increase,  (doesn’t take advantage of the poor)
But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity (repents when sinned.)
And executed true judgment between man and man; (acts in fairness with all people)
9 If he has walked in My statutes  (practices God’s statutes/command.)
And kept My judgments faithfully  (practices God’s judgments.)
He is just;  (that person is Just (or righteous))
He shall surely live!”  (he will receive eternal life)
Says the LORD God.  (THUS SAYS YAHWEH GOD)

 

A just man living by faith will live in the manner described by Ezekiel, keeping the commandments, and doing acts of charity – being fair and impartial.

 

That’s how Isaiah 58 defines the ‘righteous’.  Isaiah 58:6-8, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.”

 

It seems that the way in the Old Testament to be righteous, just or be saved is by keeping the law and doing acts of love, mercy and compassion.  And that seems to agree with Jesus’ view and James’ writings. Did Paul agree that faith must include works to be valid?  No.  Not according to his writings, he rejected that idea.  See below;

Romans 3:28, Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

Romans 4:5, But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,  

Romans 7:6, But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Galatians 4:5,  to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Galatians 2:16,  knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

 

Abraham was saved by His faith that was accredited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), right?  Sure he was.  What kind of faith did he have?  Genesis 26:5,  “because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” In addition he killed a calf to feed to hungry strangers that came to his door ----thus his faith was accredited to him as righteousness – for he had the same as the faith the just person described in Ezekiel 18.  Had Abraham not kept God’s commandments, not obeyed His voice, not kept God’s Statutes and laws, I doubt that God would have accredited his faith as Righteousness.  To ‘believe’ God is to have a motivating faith that obeys.  The word for ‘faith’ in Genesis 15:6, could also be translated as ‘faithfulness’.  Which works better in light of Genesis 26:5.

Nehemiah says that Abraham's faith was really faithfulness.

Jesus said (John 3:16), ‘that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life’.  I guess some people would say, there we have it, ‘just believe in Jesus’.  Are we to believe that Jesus exi­­­sted, died and rose again, or are we to believe in all of that and also believe and obey every word he spoke? Jesus himself answers that question.  John 8:5, says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”  To ‘believe in Jesus’ means to believe and keep every word He said because what he said came from the Father – and He said that the Law (Torah) shall not pass away, even the slightest stroke of the pen, until heaven and earth pass away. (Matthew 5) To have ‘Jesus in you’ means to have his teachings in you and accept them as your own. John 12:48 (NKJV), “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” To ‘accept Jesus’ is to accept and keep his words, to reject Jesus is to reject his words.  

 

Paul said it was OK that we eat meat sacrificed to idols three times….Romans 14:21, 1Cor 8:4-13, 1 Cor 10:19-29 ---Yet  Jesus condemns the practice three times in the Book of Revelation, and in Acts 15 the twelve Apostles also said that practice was forbidden.  Who is right, Jesus and his 12 apostles or Paul?

 

Jesus said in Revelation 2:14 that it was a New Testament Balaam that was teaching men that it was OK to eat meat sacrificed to idols.  Who is this New Testament Balaam?  Who is Balaam in the Old Testament?

 

Balaam was a seer that the King of Moab hired to curse God’s people, kind a like Saul/Paul going to Damascus to persecute Christians.  Then on his way, on a donkey, Balaam had an encounter with God’s messenger, kind a like what happen to Saul/Paul on his way to Damascus.  Balaam was blinded from seeing God’s messenger on the road, and Saul/Paul was blinded by the light of God’s messenger.  God’s messenger gave Balaam a prophetic message to bless God’s People, kind a like what happened to Saul/Paul.  Accepting the message Balaam blessed God’s people as commanded, kind a like what Saul/Paul did.  But then Balaam turned away from being God’s servant and led God’s people into sin so that they would be cursed.  Does that pattern also fit Saul/Paul?  Balaam, after his encounter with God, started off as a true prophet, but then for some reason, he ended up giving evil council to God’s people.  It seems as though Paul had a good message for God’s people, but later Paul’s advice was in many ways is contrary to what Jesus taught while on earth, i.e., salvation, faith, law, divorce, and eating meat sacrificed to idols.  Did Jesus really give that ‘new’ message to Saul/Paul that was contrary to what He taught when He was on earth?

 

Who do you believe?  Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, ‘go into the world and teach them all that I have taught you’.  Shall we go into the world and teach what Jesus taught or what Paul taught?

 

Marcionism was a heresy that was started by a man named Marcion (144A.D.).  Marcion wanted a Bible that consisted only of Paul’s writings, and contended that only Paul had the true Gospel message and the other books of the New Testament should be discarded.  A key spokesman for the early church, Tertullian of Cartage, North Africa in about 207 A.D. wrote against Marcion.  He reminded everyone that Paul’s authority was subordinate to the Twelve apostles.  Tertullian insisted Paul could not be valid if he contradicted the twelve or Jesus.  Tertullian even noted that if we were being scrupulous, we must note that there is no evidence, except from Paul’s own mouth, that Jesus made him an apostle.  Since nothing can depend on one witness. John 5:31, “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is no true”.  Thus we cannot prove that Paul was a true apostle.

Paul is blunt in Ephesians 2:15, Colossians 2:14, 2Cor 3:11-17, Rom 7:13 and Galatians 3:19… The Law is abolished, done away with, nailed to a tree, has faded away and was only ordained by angels who are not gods.

 

Paul calls the Law; In 2 Cor 2:14, “ old covenant”, Gal 5:1 “yoke of bondage”, Rom 10:4, “Christ is the end of the Law”, 2Cor 3:7, “law of death”, Gal 5:1, “entangles”, Col 2:14-17, “a shadow”, Rom 3:27, “law of works”, Rom 4:15, “works wrath”, 2Cor 3:9, “ministration of condemnation”, Col 2:14, “wiped out”, Gal 3:19, 4:8-9.”given by angels…who are not gods and are weak and beggarly celestial beings”.  (Even though the Bible clearly says that God, YHVH, the Father, gave Moses the Ten Commandments, Paul twice says that they were given by angels – to negate its’ importance.  Paul’s point then is that the commandments are of little value simply coming from angels.) This theology leads to lawlessness, a practice condemned throughout the scriptures and by Jesus.

 

Jesus said, Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

 

Paul tells us to reject God’s law, but in Romans 13:1-7 he tells us to obey our civil authorities – how confusing is that?

 

Paul teaches that one can be justified by faith without works. (Rom 3:28, 4:5, Gal 2:16)  James taught the exact opposite in James Chapter Two.  Faith without works cannot justify and cannot save.  (James, the brother of Jesus agrees with Jesus on this issue, see Jesus’ teaching on the Sheep and Goats, Matthew 25:30-46).  Jesus and James agree with Isaiah 58:5-8 which teaches that works of charity are necessary for salvation - -  Isaiah 58:5-8 define righteousness.

 

In 1Cor 10:23, “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.” Paul wrote an amazing statement that works as a catchall for justifying most any sin.  This phrase can be used to justify adultery, theft, or whatever.  The sinner just claim that his is ‘in Christ’, and ‘covered by the blood’ and all sins are forever ‘forgotten and forgiven’.  Could this not lead to lawless living?  Jesus called for repentance and obedience.

 

The Hersey of docetism is found expressly in Paul.  Docetism teaches that Jesus was too holy to ever inhabit human flesh, for human flesh is sinful – Paul said we all have original sin.  For Paul writes Jesus only appeared to be a man in sinful flesh.  Romans 8:3 says Jesus came in the “likeness” or “appearance” of “sinful human flesh”, also Phil 2:7, “appeared to be a man”.

 

John wrote against such thinking, as if it were a rebuttal to Paul’s teaching, in his Gospel he clearly states that Jesus became flesh, in 1John 4:1-2 condemning those that say Jesus did’t come in the flesh.  John wrote this epistle in the city of Ephesus, where Paul taught and was eventually cast out as a false teacher.  In Revelation 2 that church was commended to rejecting those that called themselves Apostles and were not. In Revelation 2:2, identifies “a liar” was in Ephesus.

 

“Accordingly, when John’s epistles tell us the four characteristics of a false prophet and teacher who left associating with the twelve apostles, they fit Paul like a glove.  Scholars agree that John is identifying a flesh teacher who one had been at Ephesus who taught Jesus did not come in truly human flesh.  This too fits Paul like a glove.  Paul expressly taught Jesus did not come in human flesh—it only appeared that way.  John in his epistle is thus pointing precisely at Paul without using Paul’s name.

John, in effect, tells us in 1John4:2-3 to regard Paul as uninspired and a liar, no matter how appealing Paul’s theological arguments may sound.”  From JESUS” WORDS ONLY by Douglas J. Del Tondo, Esq.

 

If we look to see what books of the New Testament were written first, it was Paul’s.  That is very significant.  For we see that after Paul wrote those epistles, it seems that true apostles we not pleased with what they read or the impact that Paul’s writing had on the people.  It was between 10 and 20 years after Paul wrote his epistles that the true apostles in response wrote the Gospels and their epistles, and Revelation.  Much of what they wrote was in direct contradictions, or a correction, to what Paul taught. 

Paul is not a true apostle.  Jesus chose 12, one failed and was replaced, but that was not Paul.  In the Book of Revelation, Jesus said that His church would be built on the foundation of the 12 Apostles, they were listed and Paul was not one of them.

 

Jesus told His disciple (Matthew 28) to go and preach and teach all that He taught them, not what Paul taught them.  The Apostles wrote gospels and epistles, all of which uplifted Jesus words and YAHWEH’s law, what they wrote and taught was in compliance with what the Old Testament teaches, Paul negated YAHWEH’s law and devised his own doctrine – contrary to all other scripture writers, old and new..

 

We are taught in Paul’s teachings that salvation is by faith apart from works, and we are suppose to believe it, even though it is contrary to what Jesus, James and the twelve taught…..Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate what we believe.

 

Conclusion     While we see issues with what Paul wrote, I am not personally suggesting that we completely discard all of Paul’s writings, but rather that we have a bias for what Jesus and his 12 apostles said and did.  If in some points Paul doesn’t agree with Jesus, we have to make a decision as whether to follow Paul or to follow Jesus.  I don’t need to tell you what the wisest course of action would be.       

                                                                                                                        

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