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Are Jesus and Paul on the Same Page? (part four)

Six ways to resolve apparent contradiction

Steve Mathewson

In part 1 of this series, I argued that there is a fundamental unity to the Gospels and the Epistles.

In part 2, I showed that Jesus does not preach works-righteousness. Preachers who wrestle with how to preach Gospel texts that suggest a kind of works-righteousness must back up a step and address another question. Is works-righteousness really even a problem that Jesus must address?

In part 3, I disagreed with the main conclusion of the New Perspective on Paul.

In this final article of the series, which has shown the unity of the Gospels and the Epistles, we will see the practical implications of this series for preaching. When preaching texts from the Gospels that seem to contradict what the Pauline or general epistles teach, preachers can account for the differences and reconcile the alleged contradictions in six ways.

Six solutions

1. Remember that the Gospels, like the Epistles, are "occasional" documents that were written to address particular issues or concerns in the life of the church. ...