St. Paul vs. the Sermon on the Mount
Several times I have heard the idea expressed from some Protestant quarters, that the Sermon on the Mount and other such teachings of Jesus Christ seem to tend toward obedience to the Law, fasting, penitential living and generally tending toward “works” because Jesus was speaking as a Jew, to Jewish people and was still himself under the Law as a Jew. This was because he had not yet died and risen from the dead and therefore the New Covenant was not yet in force. This explanation, of course, is a result of Sola Fide or Faith Alone, and is a necessary part of its foundation.
This idea builds a dichotomy, a divide between the Old Covenant and the New, just as we touched on in the previous post, Jesus did not come to abolish the Old Covenant, that does not exist for St. Paul the primary author of the New Testament. One way of describing this idea is by contrasting Jesus with St. Paul and in the following two segments Scott Hahn goes into some detail in pointing out that there is a convergence for us of the two, and the divide is false one.
The relevant part begins about halfway through the first segment just after Marcus Grodi wonders what happened to the career of Gamaliel.
As well, Scott Hahn describes Christ early in the second segment as Christ the Representative in contrast to Christ the Substitute, a deeply held element of much of Evangelical Protestant theology.
For the rest of the series go to A Calvinist’s Conversion page.
May 7th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Greetings! A good post, but I would like to take exception with statement in particular: “This explanation, of course, is a result of Sola Fide or Faith Alone, and is a necessary part of its foundation.”
In fact, it is only the dispensationalists who would ever dare to suggest that the Sermon on the Mount and other teachings of Jesus were for Jews (only) and not Christians. Indeed, they have created a dichotomy between the Old and New Testaments that does not exist… and their error is a grievous one!
Those who believe that justification is through faith alone need not have any difficulty with the Sermon on the Mount. Saving faith has never been a lonely faith - indeed, it will always prove itself by works. Here is where Paul is often misunderstood. At times he seems very critical of the law, but at other times it seems he is zealous in its defense. Of course, the law has not (nor could it have) been abolished. It is as good and as relevant today as it ever was except when we treat it as a means to salvation.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus was describing the Christian… not how to become a Christian but what a Christian is and what a Christian does.
May 9th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Thanks for the comeback.
Point taken Stephen. I would agree that the dispensationalist theology does indeed segment the whole of Scripture and the history of salvation in a very pronounced way, with special emphasis on a break in the New Covenant from the Old. Their influence is quite widespread in Protestantism, even among those who would not necessarily call themselves dispensationalists.
“In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus was describing the Christian… not how to become a Christian but what a Christian is and what a Christian does.” This goes to the issue that I was discussing in the post regarding Mike Gendron more recently.
There is a definite blurring of the distinction regarding sin in general and sin on the part of a Christian. As Catholics we believe that our baptism removes original sin (and any personal sins up to that point in our lives if we are baptized as adults) and then as Christians there are degrees of sin as we “work out our salvation in fear and trembling”, striving for holiness. But any sin as Christians requires us to repent and seek forgiveness.
I think the same blurring sometimes goes on with respect to the Law. As Scott Hahn pointed out, in the minds of those of Israel serious about their faith in God, the Law was considered a gift, a grace if you will, from God, and therefore precious beyond measure.
Thus when the Word became flesh for all time and dwelt among us, and once the final, for all time blood sacrifice was made on the cross and the promised Holy Spirit had come after the ascension, grace abounded and for St. Paul, that realization caused him to exclaim that in comparison everything that he was before was nothing.