Of course the Beatitudes demand works for salvation...But what else do they demand???
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Well there you go...You're already in the dungheap...
Mat 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Mat 5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Still got all your toes and fingers???
The thing you missed is that none of these people had grace, they had no atonement, they had no shed blood to remove their sins and none of them were Gentiles...
Jesus revealed to Paul a NEW Mystery...And apparently it's still a mystery to you...
Paul's mission was only to spread the Word to the Gentiles. It was not to reform, revise, extend, modify or introduce. Why don't you explain what Christ meant when he said "blessed".