Our Need For Justification
Romans 1: 18 - 3: 20
1: 24 - 32- We have all sinned and according to Saint Paul, we have no excuses. The Jews worship the things in nature, that God has created, without realizing that God is present in these very things. For the Apostle, this response to God generates a life of vice for the sinner.
2: 1 - 11- The Jews are no better off with regard to the judgment of God. God favours all who are good, both Jew and Greek equally. However, God Judges the Jew based on his adherence to the Law and the Gentile based on the Law Of Conscience; both relying on God's Spirit with an open heart.
3: 1 - 20- Though the Jew may appear to have an advantage because the Law was revealed to them in Scriptures, all people are under the influence of Sin, leaving no one better off. Everyone will be judged according to their standards.
God's Gift Of Salvation Through Christ
&
Humanities Acceptance Of God's Gift
Romans 3: 21 - 4: 25
3: 21 - 26- We are made right with God through the death of Christ on the Cross. This giving over of His life allows humanity to be reunited with God. The Cross represents, in a very real way, Redemption, not in the far off distant future, but here and now. A world that is now full of Sin is reconciled with God through Christ's death on the Cross. This need for re-union with God is met in Christ on the Cross. However, no one can meet the standards of either Torah or their Conscience. So God has created an opportunity for all people to possess Righteousness and that is the Righteousness of Jesus and it is obtained through the act of Faith.
3: 27 - 31- Saint Paul argues that it is the act of Faith that justifies a person, even above the Law. We can uphold the Law, but we must act in Faith.
4: 1 - 25- Saint Paul cites Genesis 15 as proof of Justification by Faith. The Phrophet Abraham believed the Lord and was made Righteous. Because of this, Faith preceded the Law.
The New Life In Christ
Romans 5: 1 - 8: 39
5: 1 - 11- If we are Justified by Faith, then we are united with God and will experience a joyful life. Saint Paul answers the question of how does one become Justified by Faith. We are Justified by the death of Jesus on the cross and saved by Jesus' life.
5: 12 - 21- The Apostle now compares Christ to Adam. Through Adam's wrongdoing, Sin and Evil and Death exist. But it is through Jesus Christ that the removal of Sin and evil occurs and ultimately we are given true ( eternal ) life.
6: 1 - 14- Saint Paul interprets the Rite of Baptism as a sharing in the death of Christ and in turn, we are united with Christ in His resurrection.
6: 15 - 7: 6- The Apostle uses the analogies of Slavery, being that a slave is absolutely dependent on his sole master, and Marriage, being that a wife is absolutely dependent on her husband throughout her life. Christians should be slaves for God and righteousness, not slaves to their former master, Sin. Nor should they be married to Sin, when it has passed away. Like the widow, they are freed from there past life.
7: 7 - 25- The Law was given to the Jewish people as the supreme gift of God's Grace. However, one becomes aware of Sin through their resistance to the Law. Without the Law, Sin is not an issue. It is the Law that brings out the worst in humanity.
8:1 - 39- Saint Paul returns to the issue of a new life in Christ. He expresses the possibilities of a new life in the Spirit, life as free children of God, and life in eschatological hope and love. It is in these things, not the Law, that makes a new life possible. Christians are freed from the enslavement of Sin and Death, and become renewed spiritual beings, who live in the confidence that they are united with a loving God.
Salvation History
Romans 9: 1 - 11: 36
Israel insists on its belief of righteousness under the Law (10: 3). However, Saint Paul tells us that Christians shouldn't feel superior because Israel has not been rejected by God. He uses the analogy of the olive tree to show that God can re-attach the old branches to the old tree.
According to the Apostle, the purpose of God's plan for Salvation is to make it available to the Gentiles and hopefully Israel will see this new plan and become part of it. Saint Paul agonizes over this fact, but exhorts Christians, Jew and Gentile alike, to welcome all who want to be part of God's Salvic Plan.
Parenisis What is Paul telling us in his Letter to the Romans?
Romans 12: 1 - 15: 33
It is at this point that Saint Paul speaks about Christianity as a unified organic body (12: 3-8) with everyone giving in to the body. Spiritual gifts abound with each person contributing to the whole. All should live well for both the benefit of the Faith Community and in relation to the outside world.
Saint Paul is telling us that our lives have meaning and that God presents Himself through the person of Jesus Christ. Having faith in this justifies us and enters us into a new life with God. By dying away from the Slavery of the Law and accepting the new Adam, Christ, we enter into a New Life. This is God's Saving Grace through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is God's new Salvic plan which is open to everyone, both Jew and Gentile alike.
End.
Part of the originally entitled:
Journal Three - Pauline Christianity
From a Section called
As You Read Through Romans,
Make A Glossary Of The Main Theological Concepts Such As " Justification "
And In This Way, You Will, I Hope, Become Familiar With The Vocabulary And The Main Themes Of Paul's Theology.
submitted to the Rev. Dr. William Cantelon as a Master of Theological Studies course requirement for 505E - Introduction to Christian Scriptures St. Stephen's Theological College University of Alberta Published on February 24th, 1999 {Revised October 23rd, 2024}
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