Paul Contradicts Jesus on Salvation

 

Paul believes that salvation lies in faith and not works:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law - Romans 3:28

However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. - Romans 4:5

And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. - Romans 11:6

know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. - Galatians 2:16

etc.


However, this is contrasted in the words of Jesus, as he says that we need works for salvation:

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” - Matthew 19:16-17

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” - Matthew 25:31-46, Parable of the Sheep and the Goats

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. - John 5:28-29

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. - Revelation 20:12-13

etc.


What do scholars say:

Or take a second example. At the end of Matthew 25 is Jesus' famous description of the final judgment, in which the "Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, and he sits on his glorious throne" (Matt. 25:31). There appear before the Son of Man all the nations, and he separates them into two groups, as a shepherd would separate the sheep from the goats. He welcomes those on his right hand, the "sheep," and invites them to "inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the earth." Why are they entitled to the Kingdom? Because, says the king, "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." These righteous ones, though, don't understand, since they had never laid eyes on this glorious divine figure, let alone done anything for him. And so they ask, "When did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you...?" And the king replies to them: "as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me" (25:34-40). He then turns to the group on his left, the "goats," and curses them, telling them to "depart into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Why? Because "I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me." These, though, are equally surprised, for they too have never seen this king of kings. But he then informs them, "Truly I say to you, insofar as you did not do it to the least of these, my brothers, neither did you do it to me." And he then sends them "away into eternal punishment," whereas the righteous enter "into eternal life" (Matt. 25:41-46). What is striking about this story, when considered in view of the criterion of dissimilarity, is that there is nothing distinctively Christian about it. That is to say, the future judgment is not based on belief in Jesus' death and resurrection, but on doing good things for those in need. Later Christians—including most notably Paul (see, e.g., I Thess. 4:14-18), but also the writers of the Gospels—maintained that it was belief in Jesus that would bring a person into the coming Kingdom. But nothing in this passage even hints at the need to believe in Jesus per se: these people didn't even know him. What matters is helping the poor, oppressed, and needy. It doesn't seem likely that a Christian would formulate a passage in just this way. The conclusion? It probably goes back to Jesus. - Bart Ehrman, Apocalyptic Prophet, Page 136

Although there may be persons who deny it for any number of reasons—particularly because of theological objections to the very idea—the New Testament does contain passages in which salvation is by works. The most obvious are in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Epistle of James. Of these, none is more widely referred to than the Discourse on the Last Judgment (the Sheep and the Goats) in Matthew 25:31-46. In that passage those who have come to the aid of the destitute in the world (the hungry, the thirsty, aliens, the unclothed, the sick, and the imprisoned) are those who have served Christ and inherit the kingdom prepared for them. On the other hand, those who have neglected per sons in need are doomed to eternal punishment. There is nothing in this discourse about faith in Christ as a factor in salvation. Nor is there anything here said about divine grace. All is a matter of justice and fair play. Salvation depends totally on what one has done. And so the author of the Epistle of James could write: “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” - Arland J. Hultgren, Salvation: Its Forms and Dynamics in the New Testament, Page 217

Paul’s gospel of justification does not come from Jesus and is not consonant with Jesus, who did not emphasize the priority of retributive justice. According to Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son and elsewhere, offenders are not first required to satisfy retributive justice. This parable is a classic story of return. The prodigal son is welcomed back because he returned and repented, offering to do his duty. The story is an example of restorative justice. Is this not the way Jesus thought and acted? His treatment of Mat thew, Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene, Peter who denied him, the woman caught in adultery, and others clearly shows his emphasis on restoration. Jesus demonstrated that God loves all people, both sinners and saints. He associated with sinners, and he spoke of God’s sending rain on the just and on the unjust. When he spoke of God’s caring for the enemies of Israel, Naaman, and the widow of Sidon, it nearly cost him his life in Nazareth. - Paul W. Newman, Questions about Paul’s Gospel of Justification, Page 441

Paul’s apparent insistence that no works of the law are to be involved in God’s scheme of salvation makes a bilateral covenant seem to be out of the question, whereas Jesus clearly recommended gaining life by keeping the laws of love. - Paul W. Newman, Questions about Paul’s Gospel of Justification, Page 441

Where Paul states that everyone (who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved, Matthew’s Jesus explicitly denies this with the affirmation that not everyone who professes him as Lord is guaranteed entry to the Kingdom. Matthew therefore corrects Paul’s view by adding that obedience to the will of the Father is also necessary for salvation. - David C Sim, Matthew 7.21–23: Further Evidence of its Anti-Pauline Perspective, Page 331






Source: https://annas-archive.gl/slow_download/7b2d30132ed481538f612f82e011006a/0/0

Source: https://sci-hub.ru/10.1111/j.1540-6385.2006.00271.x

Source: https://sci-hub.ru/10.1353/ecu.2020.0036

Source: https://sci-hub.ru/10.1017/s0028688507000161