Paul vs. the Gospel

In many parts of the New Testament, particularly in the epistles of Paul, there are verses of scripture that seem to support teachings of other Christian churches instead of the LDS Church, or even contradict our doctrine. For example, in a few places Paul says, in effect, that all you need to do is have faith in Jesus and confess Him with your mouth, and you will be saved--a staple teaching of many churches, but patently against our understanding that faith is an essential part of the whole gospel. Of course, the trouble with such a reading is that it takes the verse in isolation, rather than in the context of all of Paul's teachings.

In 1 Corinthians 1:17 we find one such seeming inconsistency: Paul says, "Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel." Some churches have interpreted this verse to mean that baptism isn't essential, but we know that baptism is an absolute requirement to gain exaltation. I think that the lesson we can learn in these examples is twofold: there are no quick-and-simple solutions to the gospel, no easy way to heaven; and we ought to study out the gospel as far as we can to enrich our knowledge and understanding of its principles. If you study all of the teachings of Paul, and understand the context in which he is teaching, it becomes clear that he merely meant that the important step for that man at that time was to have faith and be humble enough to confess the Christ, and that Christ sent him not just to put people in the water, but to teach the whole gospel. Thus by really studying the scriptures we can learn true doctrine, and come closer to our Savior.