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Although most theologians would be at pains to say that God’s plan of redemption in Jesus was conceived before the world was made, many people see it as a kind of plan B necessary to save a world which failed at plan A namely obedience to God’s Law. Is the New Covenant really a breaking of God’s original plan whereby one was saved by obedience and can now be saved by “easy” beliefs? Paul’s vision in Romans is grander, both are by grace and both require obedience. Read the rest of this entry »
There is an unstated but deep-rooted assumption in most Christian theology that righteousness is exclusively a moral category. That is, a person is perfectly righteous if they are morally perfect and any degrees of righteousness in a person are in a linear and inextricable relationship to the morality of that individual. This righteousness then becomes the basis of God’s judgement of that person and within this framework it is clear that any acquittal (aka justification) requires adequate moral performance.
Interestingly Catholics and Protestants have historically agreed with this assessment – they have however disagreed on the source and scope of that righteousness in justification. Catholics have said God transfers or implants his own righteousness into believers (Infusion) whilst Protestants have held that God reckons Christ’s perfect obedience unto believers (Imputation). In either case moral righteousness or obedience is the key to justification even if it is received by faith as Catholics and Protestants (now) agree it is. The problem is this: if justification is by grace it must be unmerited and both these models clearly require and account for obedient merit. Read the rest of this entry »
Most Christians hold to the doctrine of Original Sin and, however we dress this up for Sunday, on the street, it translates to “people are born guilty because of Adam”. This is a very damaging doctrine because it gives us a picture of God before whom all, even infants, are guilty and under wrath which is difficult to reconcile with a loving God (no matter what some theologians say). Read the rest of this entry »
Justification by Faith is perhaps the central tenet of evangelical belief. I’ve previously tried to understand and formulate what Justification is, how it is apart from works and what kind of faith is meant. In this article I want to explore what exactly the phrase “by Faith” means and let the spectrum of meaning come to light which we should be keeping in mind as we read and sometimes gloss over this familiar catchphrase. In particular the questions in my mind are: 1) what does “by” mean and 2) whose faith? Read the rest of this entry »
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found,
was blind but now I see.
Grace is indeed amazing because it is God acting to transform humans. Much has been said about the contrast between humans working and God working. Typically Christians would hold that salvation is God’s doing, a free gift we can only receive. This great truth has however sometimes obscured several necessary and active elements of reception namely: repentance, trust and obedience. Read the rest of this entry »
I remember, shortly after conversion, joyfully reading the opening chapters of Romans and thinking “wow, this is amazing, laws are unimportant now, just belief is what counts” – what a relief! I basically read Romans without understanding the context yet latching on to certain phrases as in Romans 3:
20Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law;…blah blah bla…a righteousness from God, apart from law, …blah blah bla… 23comes through faith in Jesus…blah blah bla… 24and are justified freely by his grace…blah blah bla…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.
I concluded that Paul was saying that obedience to God’s law(s) was no longer required but just that we have faith (whatever that meant). I was reading the Bible to find out about salvation ignorant of what Paul intended to communicate and which struggle he was combating. Was Paul really fighting “legalistic spirit” in Romans, doing away with obedience and good works, and setting up faith in its place? I no longer think so and have argued elsewhere that we have often misunderstand what “works of the law” and, more especially “faith” mean to Paul. This view is also known as the New Perspective on Paul [1] and is considered by some, to be a mini-Reformation or at least an exciting re-discovery of Pauline Theology. Read the rest of this entry »
Wright’s Understanding of Justification of Faith
Most people understand the Pauline doctrine of “justification by faith” to mean one is justified because of faith in Jesus. Though this is probable, N.T. Wright has argued in his Commentary on Romans (New Interpreters Bible, Vol. X) that “by” does not mean “because of” but “as evidenced by”. One has been justified and this is evident by one’s faith. As Wright is a Calvinist, faith is not something one produces but a gift of God (Eph 2:8) and this surely influence his interpretation.
Wright argues that faith is the true badge of justification (inclusion in God’s family) over and against the badge of circumcision (works of Torah). This is radically different from the common interpretation as the following example demonstrates: Read the rest of this entry »
I remember how visibly shocked an atheist friend of mine was when I told him that the core message of Christianity was NOT a moral one. Perhaps you are shocked and are sure that Christianity’s chief concern is our morality. Perhaps you are well past personal moral striving (self-righteousness) and into justification by faith but still sure that the whole point is our moral dilemma before God and that Jesus is the solution for our guilt as a result of our immorality. I hope to offer a glimmer of a much bigger plan which Jesus announced and is still being unveiled.
Consider the following two candidates for the title of “The Gospel”:
- Jesus died to pay for your sins so that you can go to heaven and escape hell apart from moral attainment.
- Jesus is the Messiah, God’s anointed King. Through Him God is restoring and renewing all creation.
As Christians we believe both these statements but which is the “Gospel” Jesus and the apostles proclaimed? Both these messages are, in different senses, good news. Let us consider both messages from a Christian (believing) perspective. Read the rest of this entry »
We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Rom 3:28
This verse, for some, stands at the heart of Paul’s letter to the Romans, Pauline Theology, even the Gospel itself. I used to think it meant “we (Christians) get saved because we believe in something (Jesus, the Resurrection, the Gospel) instead of by doing any meritorious works”. Indeed that is how many Gospel presentations run in showing how Christianity is different from all other “striving” religions.
This sounds like Great News, an easier way to heaven, but I’ve been reading and studying Romans in detail and find four mistakes in this interpretation.
