5 JWO_15_03_EliminationofJesus_MessageoftheSermonontheMount_0079

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Table of Contents

• Elimination of Jesus ' Message of the Sermon on the Mount
• The True Meaning of the Sermon: Reading Paul through Jesus' Words

Parent: JesusWordsOnly

Elimination of Jesus ' Message of the Sermon on the Mount

The consequence of putting emphasis on Paul's Gospel over Jesus' Gospel is dramatic. Christians are blatantly told to dismiss Jesus' words in the Synoptics as "unimportant." For example, Jesus' Sennon on the Mount promises the kingdom to people with various characteristics. Without Paul weighing on us, Jesus would promise in the Serron on the Mount salvation for those who are humble, meek, merciful, peacemakers, and who hold their faith under pressure to disavow Christ, etc. With Paul in the mix, this must be dismissed. Walvoord is typical:

[The Sermon on the Mount] treats not of salvation, but of the
character and conduct of those who belong to Christ...That it is
suitable to point an unbeliever to salvation in Christ is plainly
not the intention of this message...The Sermon on the Mount, as a
whole, is not church truth precisely...It is not intended to
delineate justification by faith or the gospel of salvation. [The
Sermon involves] unimportant truth. (John Walvoord, Matthew: Thy
Kingdom Come (Moody Press: 1984] at 44, 45.]

12. Absent pressure to distort the Sermon, Jesus is teaching salvation principles. (Matt. 5:3) et seq. promises the receipt of the kingdom of heaven, mercy, inheriting the earth, and being children of God in return for various behaviors.

Thus, even though Jesus promises the kingdom to persons exhibiting certain behaviors, Walvoord insists this is not about the promise of the kingdom for persons exhibiting cer tain kinds of behaviors. This is about the kingdom being given to persons who do not necessarily have these behaviors. Why? Obviously because Paul tells us the kingdom is for those who simply believe. Because Walvoord does not want us to see the incongruity, Walvoord must direct us promptly away from the Sennon. It is "unimportant truth."

Walvoord actually leaves us puzzled. Jesus is promising the kingdom but then ties the promise to behaviors, making us doubt Paul's canonicity. Yet, that is unthinkable. So how do we cope? Walvoord's answer is that we are to abandon Jesus' words as 'unimportant' and stay on the path of following Paul. To me, it just doesn V make sense that we can be a Christian, treat Jesus ' words as "unimportant" and prefer Paul over Jesus. A sickening feeling should overcome any true Christian. You are being told to ignore Jesus and listen only to Paul. This is the emerging mainstream Christianity of today.

Yet, Walvoord is in line with Calvin, Luther and Billy Graham's Evangelical Association. They insist we must see Jesus' words in Matthew are secondary to Paul's words in his epistles. They claim we need to put Jesus' Gospel aside as "unimportant truth" when compared to Paul's Gospel.

The True Meaning of the Sermon: Reading Paul through Jesus' Words

The lesson of the Sennon on the Mount is clear but is lost on our modem ears. The best description appears from the pastor who runs Believe :

Jesus concludes the sermon by setting up certain requirements that
relate directly to one's being saved or lost. He divides mankind
into three classes: those who (1) follow him (7:1314, 17, 21,
24-25), (2) do not follow him (vss.13-44, 26-27), and (3) pretend
to follow him (vss. 15-20, 21-23). To be saved one must actually
follow the teachings of the sermon, but Jesus does not say they
must be performed perfectly. The saved are those who accept and
actually attempt to direct their lives by the sermon; the lost are
those who pretend to follow or who reject these teachings....Mere
profession of belief, without the following, will secure Jesus'
condemnation, 'I never knew you. You evildoers, depart from me'
(vs. 23). 13

What about Paul's contrary teaching? This pastor accepts Paul, but he shares my outlook. He insists we must read Paul through the lense of Jesus' words and not the other way around. He explains:

An unfortunate feature of much post-Reformation Christianity has
been the interpretation of Jesus in light of Paul rather than the
converse. One of the contributions of Bonhoeffer's treatment of
this sermon is his insistence on reading Paul in light of Jesus
and, hence, his stressing the necessity of doing the
sermon. Perfection is not demanded and aid is provided, but still
the true disciple is 'the who does the will of the Father'
(vs. 21).