As has been shown, we lack the power (our wills are bound to self-love) to follow the law and make ourselves righteous or whole.īut the picture changes completely if God’s righteousness is something that is given to us. If God’s righteousness is only a standard for us to attain, then we are out of luck. Just what does Paul say that God is now doing? Basically, he is making clear what kind of God he really is. This brings us to the final and most important part of the comments on these verses. Preachers and teachers would do well to address their hearers in the here and now and avoid the past tense! In other words, this is a message that connects with peoples’ lives as they live today. Paul’s point is that right now, this very moment, God is declaring something to us that we need to hear. This is not a glance back to a “once upon a time.” It is certainly not merely a history lesson. In other words, we are not dealing merely with something that God has done in the past. This is echoed latter in the section when he says “…they are now justified by his grace” (3:24) and “it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous” (3:26, underlining mine). Paul is directing our attention to the present tense. That little word “now” deserves some attention.
However, Paul is making a big shift in our passage as he transitions from futility of the human situation to what God is doing to address the problem.īUT NOW (3:21) says Paul, God is doing something new. We prefer to unpack the big terms that are loaded with theological freight, like “justification” and “righteousness”. It is easy to pass over the small words of Scripture and count them as having little value. It is important for Christians to keep Paul’s stern declaration forever in front of our eyes: “For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds prescribed by the law…” (3:20). Odd as it may sound, doing good works can be spiritually dangerous. Though we know the goal of our efforts on behalf of others is to build up the community, we also understand the temptation to take these good acts and set ourselves apart as special in the eyes of God. Sometimes the most active members of congregations are also infected with an insufferable self-righteousness. Paul is basically reminding us that even our best works can be the occasion for sin. In doing this we reveal the depth of our rebellion. But it is our tendency (sin) to use what is good to promote our own agenda that is the problem. Paul underlines that the law itself is good (7:12). Note carefully that the law is not the problem. The former know the law as it is “written on their hearts” (2:15) while the latter fall short of the law revealed to the people of Israel. Both Greeks and Jews stand accused by the law.
Paul stresses that humanity has no claim whatsoever on God. The opening verses in our passage summarize what Paul has been saying up to this point in chapters two and three. And now we turn to this rich passage from Paul and select some themes that connect with the life of Christians today.
The age-old tendency of humans to justify themselves means the church must always be reformed - and this includes the congregations that claim Luther as a father in the faith. Moreover, they stressed that the core message of Romans is always relevant, no matter how many years separate us from the sixteenth century. Rather they believed they were recovering a teaching from the Bible (and especially Paul) that had been obscured or ignored by the church of that time. Above all, it should be underlined that Luther and the other reformers did not claim to be saying something new. A reading from Luther and a description of why he is important for the church would certainly be appropriate. Though Christians differ on some points of doctrine, most agree this is a great opportunity to lift up the biblical themes of God’s grace and the liberating power of faith. Many churches will celebrate the Reformation this week.
0 kommentar(er)
