Paul Or Jesus? Faith Or Works ?

Question

Jesus in Matthew 5.17-20
I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.” His task was not to replace the law by something else, but rather to combat the purely legalistic externalization of religion among the Jews by the addition of the spirit of religion. He laid emphasis on TEACHING and DOING when he said : “Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called the least in the Kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Those are the teachings of Christ himself; but what does Paul say?
"You are served from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness."
Galatians 5.4-5

Justification by faith or Works?

Answer 1

The teachings of Paul created controversy early in the history of the Church between his party and that of Jewish Christians who objected to the teaching of the new religion to the uncircumcised Gentiles (i.e. non-Jews) whom they regarded as unclean. Some of the disciples would not even sit at table with the uncircumcised’ who did not keep the law of Israel. Ultimately a meeting was held between the two factions, and a compromise was arrived at whereby it was agreed that no heavy burdens should be placed on the gentiles who were converted to Christianity from paganism:
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.
Acts 15.22
The delegates, Paul included, were armed with a letter from the meeting addressed to the people of Antioch instructing them the minimum they were required to live up to. The letter concluded:

For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things : that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from unchasteness. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well, Farewell.
Acts 15.28-29

How comes it then that Paul writes to the Corinthians: “Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience”? Paul claims to have been appointed as an apostle of Jesus in a revelation and that he continues to receive instructions directly from the Master even though those instructions might be contrary to what the disciples received from Jesus in person.

To win converts seems to be the be-all and end-all of St. Paul. The doctrine of the end justifying the means seems here to be carried to extreme absurdity.

St. Paul says:

The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach) - because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10.8-9
But let us read from the epistle of James, the brother of Jesus about which Hugh Schonfield in The Pasover Plot writes
“The true spirit of Jesus is manifested in the Epistle of James in the New Testament.” Says James:

What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works ? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is
dead. But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe - and shudder. Do you want to he shown, you foolish men, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the alter ? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness;’ and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way ? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.
James 2.14-26

These doctrines which truly depict the teachings of Jesus are in direct conflict with those propounded by St. Paul. No wonder does Paul insist in undisguised wrath

“And what I do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself l~s an angel of light. So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
2Corinthians 11.12-15
Paul’s motive is thus made even more clear. He wants to win converts by .book or by crook, and to undermine the claim to Christ’s discipleship of all those worthy companions of Jesus who studied at his feet and shared all the tribulations with him. What are we to do when we are faced with such obvious contradictions between two contending parties both claiming to be representing Christ ? The wise thing to do is to go to the Master himself and study those of his sayings which are plain and clear enough to be credible and which generally reflect his overall teachings and life. Jesus’s most sustained preaching is embodied in what is called the Sermon on the Mount. His most categorical statement regarding the law and works is containetj in Matthew Chapter 5. With regard to Jesus’s own view on those who claim to be representing him while at the same time distort his teachings. Jesus is reported to say

Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we nor prophecy in your name, and cast out demons in your name and did many wonderful works in your name 7” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you depart from me; you evildoers. “Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon the house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hews these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.
Matthew 7:21-27

Answer 2

Justification is by faith, and faith alone. But this does not offer an excuse to sin. Those who purposely sin (and teach others to do so) are evil. If you are evil then you are not in a relationship with God, so you cannot be justified by faith because you don't have any.

In Romans 8:5-8, Paul says "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."

So Paul was not contradicting Jesus at all.

Answer 3

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 2:8&9

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

Answer 4

I think they really go hand in hand. I don't think Paul is saying don't do good works or that it is not important. I think the point he is making is that it is not enough to just follow the law blindly. For instance there are people who don't break the law because it is the law and then there are those who don't break laws because it truly is in their heart not to do those things. Works will not get you into heaven. Works done with the right heart will. I feel Paul was warning of the dangers of just following the laws because it says so. As your faith grows you begin to do more works because it is in your heart to do so and not because you are told you should.

Answer 5

Gal5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Love is the answer. Jesus fulfilled the law. All law was based on love. Love God with all of your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.

Answer 6

Jesus did teach approximately grace and faith. as an occasion, check out Jesus's communique with Nicodemus in John financial ruin 3, extraordinarily verse sixteen. "For God so enjoyed the worldwide that whoever believes in Him won't perish, yet have eternal life." It became into the Pharisees who have been coaching of sturdy works and the regulation. As Jesus went around demonstrating His grace by therapeutic, He might many times say to the human beings: "pass, your faith has made you properly."

Answer 7

The thing is that the law is important, and people need rules and restrictions, but not to be saved by them, but to have better lives while in this body.By not stealing, committing adultery, worshipping idols.....etc. we are just leading decent lives in this world but we need something else to open the door of eternity. I believe you know what it is.
If you think that what Jesus wanted to say was that the law is enough for justification, what do you think was his reason for coming to this world then? Do you believe that he deliberately came to be mocked, humiliated, laughed at, tortured and killed just to say something Jews already knew?
And about Paul:Can you believe that God converted him from worst enemy to follower of Jesus Christ to oppose Him in a matter of eternal life and death? Paul knew the law better than any other man in that time and God used him for that reason, there's no need to doubt his words.

Answer 8

Not to be simplistic, but the answer is Yes. When Christ taught he used words for the ones willing to listen and works for the ones who wouldn't. There are many forms of communication that someone can use and each reaches a different group. He knew that and used it. I can tell you not to touch a hot stove, I can tell you a story about someone who touched a hot stove or I can touch a hot stove so you can see how much it hurts me. It goal is to never have -you- touch the stove.

Answer 9

Faith. Sola Fide.

However, real faith will _necessarily_ be demonstrated by works. James and Paul agree w/ Jesus on this. What those works look like varies from person to person, although it always is Love for God, and won't contradict His word.

But, works can be done w/o faith and provide no end value if done on their own.

Answer 10

Well Jesus was a wise man and said many wise things but nothing was written down until at least 60 years after his death so they will be some distortions and inaccuracies. Paul was a very strange character and had had some very traumatic experiences so I would treat anything he said with considerable circumspection

Answer 11

Faith with out works is nothing