Believing instead of achieving

Paul was a contemporary of Jesus. His letters were written prior to the writing of the Gospels, and Romans was his final letter, written circa 57AD - roughly twenty years following the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (probably 33AD). But in the Bible's canon, the Gospels (written between 66-110AD, with Mark being the first) precede the letters of Paul. Furthermore, Romans is the first of Paul's letters to appear in the canon. Romans is also the longest and most complex and it denotes the culmination of his life-work as an apostle of Jesus Christ. The explanation seems to be that the order of the letters was selected according to their length. Thus lengthy Romans is first; brief Philemon is last. 

Paul employs contrasting concepts to convey his message. For instance in Romans 2: 7-10, he contrasts patient continuance in well-doing and obedience to truth with contentiousness, unrighteousness, indignation, wrath, tribulation, and anguish. The former behaviour begets glory, honour, peace, immortality, and eternal life. The latter reaps tribulation and anguish. It makes no difference whether the subject is Jew or Gentile. Paul's main point is that no one should judge another, because from a human point of view (Paul writes: "I speak as a man" Romans 3: 5), we all fall short. 

The question then is: Is being obedient to the Jewish "law" (or dogma) what is required of us? Mary Baker Eddy is clear on this point: "Ritualism and dogma lead to self-righteousness and bigotry, which freeze out the spiritual element. Pharisaism killeth; Spirit giveth Life." (Retrospection and Introspection, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 65:6–8)

Let's examine Romans 3: 28, the famous passage about justification by faith, so important to sixteenth century reformer Martin Luther. Note that according to Strong's concordance, the word translated "justification" in the King James Version means to regard as innocent, just or righteous.

KJV Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

CEV We see that people are acceptable to God because they have faith, and not because they obey the Law.

ERV I mean we are made right with God through faith, not through what we have done to follow the law. This is what we believe.

JB Phillips takes the argument up a notch: 

PHILLIPS What happens now to human pride of achievement? There is no more room for it. Why, because failure to keep the Law has killed it? Not at all, but because the whole matter is now on a different plane—believing instead of achieving. We see now that a man is justified before God by the fact of his faith in God’s appointed Saviour and not by what he has managed to achieve under the Law.

John's message gives a helpful perspective: "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).

Paul was a wonderful student of Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus acknowledged the place of law of Moses, so Paul does not dismiss it. However, he has learned that the law on its own can become a source of authority and pride. He recommends a less strident approach, one that embraces grace - possibly the subject of another blog post.

Julie Swannell