Failure to understand Jesus’, Paul’s and James’ teachings within context can lead to pitting one against another. A context-sensitive interpretation reveals a harmonious message.
Two contextual questions are critical. Who was the speaker or author addressing? What was the speaker’s or author’s goal?
In a nutshell, Jesus, Paul and James all addressed God’s people. Jesus’ ministry focused upon the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 15:24). Paul’s letters were written to God’s holy people in various locations (Romans 1:7). James likewise addressed Christians, probably Jewish Christians whom he termed "the twelve tribes in the Dispersion" (James 1:1).
Since their audiences were God’s people, we should not expect them to be teaching how to become God’s people! They already were! Yet, all three of them do use salvation language such as inheriting eternal life, justification, etc. (Luke 10:25-28; 18:18-22; Ephesians 2:8-9; James 2:14,24).
Since Jesus, Paul and James were teaching God’s people, why touch on ideas involving salvation and when doing so endorse such diverse principles such as: obeying commands, loving God and neighbor, saved by faith or justified by works? It is easy to understand why many view their teachings as being at odds with one another.
However, they were not in conflict. They were in agreement. To perceive their unified message we must answer the second question: What was speaker or author seeking to achieve with their messages by addressing God’s people?
Next week we will explore answers to this second contextual question. For the moment, we should be able to agree that Jesus, Paul and James were not instructing the world on how to become God’s people. Rather, all of their messages were focused at God’s people.
- Jesus, Paul & James on Salvation - 2025-08-06
- Beyond Our Ability? - 2025-07-30
- Forgiving Ourselves - 2025-07-16