JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH: AN INVITATION TO ALL OF MANKIND DUE TO CHRISTS CRUCIFIXION - Research Paper Example

? JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH: AN INVITATION TO ALL OF MANKIND DUE TO CHRIST’S CRUCIFIXION Presented (Faculty and department) for BIBL 425– Romans by Student Name Student ID Date INTRODUCTION The context and audience of Paul’s epistle to the Romans reveals an important theological theme; justification by faith. In the letter, Paul addresses both Gentile Christians and Jewish Christians1 in relation to the issue of the Mosaic Law and Christian salvation and through exploring these he brings out the avenue for which gentiles and every other person in the world is to be justified to belong to the Kingdom of God through Christ. The centrality of the theme of justification by faith in Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians is therefore evident and an explorative discussion of this theme in the study of the letter is thus in order. Paul lets us know that all are justified by faith because of what happened to Christ on the Cross regardless of being a Gentile or Jew. BACKGROUND An exegesis of Paul’s letter to the Romans around the theme of justification by faith would ideally require a justification for the choice of this theme. A background on the entire setting of the Bible reveals that the Old Testament was centred upon God’s intervention on the plight of the Israelites through a Messiah and at the time of Paul’s influence the Jews were still waiting for this to happen. Throughout Paul’s letters and especially in Romans he proclaims two things that give the basis for justification by faith. First, God has already intervened through sending Jesus Christ as prophesised in the Old Testament and secondly, belonging to the Kingdom of God is not a preserve for the Jews alone.2 Through faith, all of us can experience the righteousness of God regardless of being Jew or Gentile.3 It is in this bearing that Paul dialogues with Judaism on the issue of justification by Law and Justification by faith with the latter being based on God’s grace to offer mankind Jesus Christ.4 With this background, the epistle of Paul to the Romans can now be studied beginning with the universality of sin and the impartiality of God’s judgment among mankind, the accountability of Jews for sin and relationship with the Law and circumcision and finally the grace of God to save all of mankind, hence its occurrence is entirely through faith. THE UNIVERSALITY OF SIN For Paul to state that justification by faith is available for all mankind he first demonstrates that all individuals, whether Jew or Gentile are sinners and will be judged accordingly. This way God can then reveal His righteousness and save all of mankind through His grace.5 This is evidenced by Paul’s emphatic statement “What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.”6 In this respect, man has sinned against God and suppressed His righteousness and truth and thus there is no excuse at all for God not to Judge them considering that He has already revealed Himself to them. Paul exposes this fact by stating that although mankind knows God, they have abstained from glorifying Him with their hearts becoming dark,7 and that although mankind is aware of God’s righteous decree about the fate of sinners (deserving death), they still go ahead and transgress against God and go a further step of approving of such sin.8 Mankind has committed all kind of sin; idolatry, homosexuality, greed, murder, deceit among others as depicted in the excerpts below: “24Therefore God gave them over to in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for lie and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen. 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion...29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless and ruthless.”9 Paul quotes the scriptures to indicate that sin has been committed by every man, whether Gentile or Jew10 and that all of them lack excuse for this since God and His righteousness has already been revealed unto each one of them.11 One may then ask how both the Gentiles and Jews are accountable to sin. This is especially considering that the Gentiles were not part of the people set apart for God like the Jews are. Paul indicates that God has revealed Himself plainly to all of mankind, “20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”12 Due to this, all of mankind is subject to the wrath of God, and thus all of them are in need of justification through Christ’s word regardless of their nationality, history and human wisdom.13 ACCOUNTABILITY OF JEWS FOR SIN The universality of sin in this exposition further requires that the Jews in the letter to Romans be addressed as sinners in the eyes of God regardless of their position as being the chosen people of God. Paul categorically states that just as the gentiles who are not under the Judaism will receive judgment for their sins, the Jews will also be judged for sins although they are under the law, “12All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous”14 Paul argues that when gentiles keep to the law out of nature they become part of it although they do not know the law. Hence, the Jews are under a misconception that being in knowledge of the law makes them righteous. He insists that those who call themselves Jews and boast about a relationship with God, assuming a moral high ground and using themselves as the yardstick for other people but still fail to obey the same law are sinners. The Jews may teach others about the law, abhor adultery and idolatry but fail to observe the same teachings themselves and thus are the reason why God’s name is blasphemed among the gentiles.15 The Jews seemed preoccupied with the issue that they were circumcised and owned the law given by God to their forefathers. Paul argues that the value of circumcision only comes through observing God’s will and not through the physical nature of it. An uncircumcised person who observes the law and whom the Jew would consider heathen may condemn the circumcised Jews who break the law, while a Jew who breaks the law can be considered uncircumcised. Paul’s argument here lies in the fact that the value of circumcision is in obedience to the law; “28A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God. ”16 The Jews were of the wrong opinion and belief that their sins would be treated differently by God in comparison to the gentiles since they were Jews. Paul enlightens them that not one single person will be declared righteous due to being in ownership of the law rather the law is an instrument through which individuals should be aware of sin and thus avoid it. The fact that the Jews are aware of this has placed them in path of God’s wrath just like the Gentiles. Paul begins by bringing out the fact that the Jews pass judgment on non Jews and then proceed to do the wrong things. They do not deem it necessary to repent since they are under the law and this kind of stubbornness to repent is what has placed them at odds with God’s forgiveness, hence they are also in the line of His wrath. Paul clearly states that all men shall be judged based on truth according to their deeds whether Jew or not; “9There will be trouble for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then the gentile.”17 The impartial judgment that God will undertake will apply to Jews too since they are also sinners. Paul does not accuse all Jews of being sinners since they themselves would admit that no man is without sin. He instead states clearly to them that their sins will not bear any difference before God just because they are in possession of the law. They will receive the same treatment as the Gentiles at the time of judgment; a view that is contradictory to Jewish beliefs with regard to their covenant with God. Paul lays the basis for works of the law versus faith in this manner viewing that circumcision and possession of the law without faith bear no value in one’s standing before God.18 In light of this, the Jews may be tempted to question God’s faithfulness to the promises He gave to their forefathers, and to this, Paul reiterates His faithfulness and patience with the Jews amidst their turning away from His ways and not obeying His will. While the Jews may focus on God’s promises to them, Paul reminds them that God’s word is about blessing the obedient and cursing those not obedient. He maintains that the Jews still bear a special since they have been entrusted with God’s own word. He further goes on to state that God’s righteousness will always be manifest even in the case of mankind’s lack of it, which is line with His judgment according to deeds either obedience or disobedience. Paul then exposits on the equal status of Jews and Gentiles before the eyes of God through quoting the scriptures; highlighting that both are prisoners of sin. His conclusion on this state of equality is that the whole world is held accountable before God, including the boastful Jews.19 RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH FAITH Having indicated that both Jews and Gentiles are in the path of God’s wrath, and that the possession of the law is not the basis to escape punishment, Paul then seeks to teach that righteousness is availed to mankind by God’s grace. Paul has already indicated that the works of the law cannot bring righteousness, and alludes that this is God-given to those who have faith.20 Paul had also earlier indicated that the law is an instrument through which individuals are aware of sin, and now brings out a doctrine based faith to avoid this sin. Without this faith, it is humanly impossible to obey the law and keep to God’s will.21 Paul then undertakes to show how this righteousness is to be achieved.22 He indicates that is not based on work but on faith in Jesus Christ.23 He further reminds us that all of us start at the same level since all of us have sinned, and that justification is free on account of His grace; “22The righteousness of God come through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”24 Hence, God offered Jesus Christ as a path to redemption since it is humanly impossible to achieve this. Paul maintains that Jesus was presented to mankind as a sacrifice through which atonement for since could be achieved, and that God did this to justify mankind before Him. It is important to exposit the central theme of faith in Paul’s letter. He questions the right of the Jews to be proud in light of the fact that it is not the law which justifies a man; it is faith, something that is not based on work but on belief; “27Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”25 To add weight to his argument, Paul then seeks to indicate that the righteousness of Abraham was justified by faith rather than by works. Paul observes that in case Abraham was justified by man then he would have something to boast about in the eyes of men rather than before God. Instead, Abraham believed God first and foremost and this was credited to him as righteousness. Abraham’s case reveals a difference between what one earns through work and what they are given as a gift.26 The wages given to a person are not a gift but an obligation. “5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.”27 Abraham demonstrated faith by believing against all problems that God had all the power and that he would fulfil His promises. He did not waver in this belief even amidst all possible human reasoning and that is why righteousness was credited to him. Paul concludes on this by quoting David professing about the blessed man whose transgressions and sins are forgiven by God. UNIVERSALITY OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH In the previous expository Paul clearly brings out the fact that justification by faith in other words, salvation is due to God’s grace for those who have faith in Jesus Christ. He goes ahead to state that the table is to be shared by both Jews and Gentiles. God is not God for the Jews alone but also for the gentiles. There is only one God who justifies both the circumcised and uncircumcised by the same faith meaning that Jesus Christ died to atone for the sins of all mankind. The universality of justification by faith is further visible through Abraham. Paul begins by questioning whether God’s blessings should be inherent to the circumcised or also to the gentiles. To show that the latter is true, Paul argues that Abraham was not credited with righteousness after undergoing circumcision but before.28 The circumcision was given to him as a seal or sign of the righteousness he gained while he was still uncircumcised. In this respect, it is correct to infer that Abraham is thus the father of all those who believe without being circumcised so that righteousness will be credited to them too just as it was in his case. In a similar fashion, he is also the father of the circumcised who bear similar faith to what he had before he was circumcised.29 God’s promise to Abraham is therefore intended to all those who believe and have faith by Jesus Christ and Paul states that, “16Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.”30 CONCLUSION This expository of Paul’s letter to the Romans indicates first and foremost that sin is universal among mankind and that all of them will be judged equally regardless of whether they are Jews or Gentiles both of whose transgressions have placed them in the path of God’s wrath. However, God offers redemption to all mankind through faith and not work i.e. through His grace rather than human effort. He offers Jesus Christ to atone for the sins of all mankind who will believe just as Abraham did. This is a clear indication that all of us are justified by faith because of what Christ went through on the Cross. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cottrell, Jack. Romans. USA: College Press Publishing Company, 2005. Longenecker, Richard N. Introducing Romans: Critical Issues in Paul's Most Famous Letter. Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2011. Haacker, Klaus. The theology of Paul's letter to the Romans. UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Hurlburt, Ted E. Romance with Romans. USA: WinePress Publishing, 2010. Moo, Douglas J. The NIV Application Commentary: Romans. Michigan, Zondervan, 2009. Moo, Douglas J. The Epistle to the Romans. USA: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1996. NIV Bible. Romans. USA: International Bible Society, 1984. Phillips, John. Exploring Romans: an expository commentary. USA: Kregel Academic Publications, 2002. Schliesser, Benjamin. Abraham's faith in Romans 4: Paul's concept of faith in light of the history. Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2007. Visscher, Gerhard H. Romans 4 and the New Perspective on Paul: Faith Embraces the Promise. Germany: Peter Lang, 2009. Wright, N.T. “The Letter to the Romans: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections.” Westminster Theological Journal. (2003) Vol. 65, No. 2, 365-69. http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Kirk_Romans_Review.pdf Read More