Knowing the Christ You Follow: Son of Man Study 5 THE DOCTRINE OF SIN

Knowing the Christ You Follow: Son of Man Study 5 THE DOCTRINE OF SIN In our study of Genesis 3 we traced the development of human sin in its origin. In this development, we see the fundamental dynamics that underlie all sins. All subsequent sins, in all their diversity, horrific magnitude and subtleness, are only multiplications of that one sin. So, a close study of Genesis 3 is essential for getting to the bottom of the problem of sin. But, sin did not remain in its first state. Sin developed in the course of human history, and the Bible presents that development. Sin is by no means static in the Bible. It functions in mankind s relationship with God and ever reasserts itself and develops. So, as the revelation of God is progressively developed, sin develops and is increasingly clarified in scripture. As God progressively reveals himself and unfolds more of his way of salvation, we see more deeply into the nature and problem of sin. The revelation of God and his work of salvation are completely made known in Jesus Christ, and with this, sin is drawn out and exposed fully. This means that only with the completed doctrine of God and salvation, given in Christ, do we have a complete doctrine of sin. In Genesis 3 we see sin at its origin in the human race, but only as God dealt fully with sin do we see sin in its full extent. Thus, with the gospel we receive a complete doctrine of sin. In this study we will open up this doctrine of sin and place Genesis 3 in the setting of the complete revelation and work of God as presented in the gospel. This will enable us to locate the humanity of Christ more fully in the setting of Genesis 3. Our introduction to the doctrine of sin The gospel announces how God dealt with sin to bring in salvation. But, God s work is not simply presented as an objective fact. God engages people to relate to him on the basis of how he worked out salvation, and in doing this God makes people deal with the problem of sin in their lives on the basis of how God dealt with what sin is before him. The gospel does this by calling people to repentance and faith. Repentance and faith involve a total realignment to God. In repentance, as defined by the gospel proclamation, we confess that the way we have responded to the revelation of God is sinful. There is a profound change of mind about sin (the NT word for repentance meaning a change of mind) as we see the religious and self-justifying way of our world as the sin that turned us against God. The repentance of the gospel is only fully realized through faith by which we relate to God through Christ. In Christ God carried out his role as God in this world by taking over the human side of the relationship between God and mankind so that we have to take our human identity from Christ rather than seeking to affirm our natural identity in relation to God. The natural self is surrendered and replaced. This gets at the real root of sin in us, as we will see. Repentance and faith are not matters of doctrinal understanding. They are acts by which we fully take our stand under the full revelation of God. Once we have taken our stand under the truth of the gospel, we must live by and grow in our faith. This growth in the knowledge of our salvation is not a matter of going beyond the faith by which we are saved. Rather, it is a process of maturing in that faith and growing in the knowledge of our salvation to live more fully in the reality of that salvation. Now here we must revisit the question of sin. The doctrine of salvation is inseparably tied to the doctrine of sin. Salvation is ever from sin, and as we grow in our knowledge of salvation we will grow in a fuller understanding of sin. Working out the doctrine of sin The apostle Paul expounded the gospel for the benefit of believers in Romans. This exposition is the gospel for believers as Rom 1.15 makes clear. Paul said that he is eager to preach the gospel to (i.e., to evangelize, so the Greek) you also who are at Rome. The you refers to the believers in Rome. How he envisioned to preach the gospel to the believers is seen in the epistle to the Romans. This epistle works out the doctrine of salvation for the mature understanding of believers. But, at the same time, it works out the 1

doctrine of sin. In fact, Romans can be seen to be a systematic exposition of sin as well as an exposition of salvation. Paul deals with sin under two great themes: justification (chs 1 to 5) and sanctification (chs 6 to 8). The two themes are introduced in the thesis statement of the letter in 1.16-17: the power of God for salvation (v 16) and the righteousness of God revealed (v 17). He takes these themes up in the inverted order (a chiasm). The arrangement is as follows: A1. The power of God for salvation (v 16) A2. The righteousness of God revealed (v 17) B2. Justification (1.18-5.21) B1. Sanctification and the power over sin (chs 6-8) Under the two themes of justification and sanctification, Paul deals with sin from two points of view. The first is sin from the point of view of judgment. Here we see sin as the act that brings people under the sentence of death. Sin is guilt. The answer to sin as guilt is God s verdict of justification on the basis of Christ s death for us. The second view is of sin as a power that operates in the human body. The answer to sin as a power is the liberation from sin as the slave owner that demands our bodies as the instruments of sin and from sin as operating within us through lusts. This liberation comes through our having died with Christ and the operation of the Holy Spirit within us. As Paul works out for the believers God s answer in Christ to the problem of sin as guilt before God and as a power within us, he applies the insights presented in Genesis 3 to our actual experience of sin both up to faith in Christ (Rom 1 to 5) and as believers in Christ (Rom 6 to 8). We will study the doctrine of sin presented in Romans in light of Genesis 3. This will enable us to appreciate the full significance of what we learned from Genesis 3 for the human situation. It will show us how to apply the principles of Genesis 3. This study on the doctrine of sin is part of our larger study on the humanity of Christ. Romans will help us to see how the incarnation and work of Christ fits into the historical reality of sin in the human race and the personal problem of sin in the life of the believer. 2

PART I: SIN IN RELATION TO GOD (Rom 1.18-5.21) The first great theme of Romans is justification which is developed in Rom 1.18-5.21. In this section Paul takes up the two related themes of the wrath of God (1.18) and the righteousness of God (1.17). Paul introduces and develops the themes in a chaism as follows: A1. The righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith (1.17) A2. The wrath of God revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness (1.18) B2. The theme of the wrath of God developed (1.19-3.20) B1. The theme of the righteousness of God manifested in justification by faith developed (3.21-5.21) Justification is coupled with the wrath of God. This link shows up the setting for the doctrine of justification. It is the judgment of God against sin. Justification deals with the sinner in his relation to God. In this theme, sin is looked at for what it is and does in man s relationship with God. Sin is viewed from the point of view of divine judgment. This connects with the themes of the sentence of death for sin and of sin as breaking man s relationship with God in Genesis 2 and 3. So, let us examine how the key issues of sin in relation to God are worked out in Romans 1 to 5. A. SIN IN FOCUS: Rom 3.23 Romans 3.23 provides a summary statement on the treatment of sin and its consequences in 1.18-3.20. Let s begin with gaining a precise statement of what Paul is saying. The NASB translates, for all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. One term that needs clarification is fall short of. What does it mean? The Greek word Paul uses (husterein) has the basic sense of to lack, to be in need of. It was used by the rich young ruler who asked Jesus, All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking? (Matt 19.20). It has the same sense in Lk 15.14 which tells how after having spent his wealth a famine came and the prodigal son began to be in need or lacked the necessities of life. The word was used for the lack of wine in Jn 2.3 and for Paul s experience of having to do without in Phil 4.12. So we can translate, and lack (or are in need of) the glory of God. We should also notice the change in tense. The word sinned is in the aorist tense which means that the act of sinning is seen as a singular fact and completed act. The term for lack is in the present tense and refers to a continued state. So we can translate Rom 3.23 as follows: for all sinned and lack the glory of God. The lack of God s glory is the state that results from the fact of sin. How does Paul understand the act of sin and the lack of God s glory? Within the immediate context which begins with 3.21f., Paul does not work out his meaning of sin and the glory of God. But, he gives the clue in the logical position of v 23. In v 23 Paul is supporting the statement at the end of v 22 for there is no distinction, i.e., between Jew and Gentile when it comes to the righteousness of God. Paul takes over the fact that all sinned from 3.9 which sums up the case he made in indicting Gentiles and Jews in 1.18-3.20. So, we have to define Paul s terms from 1.18-3.20. In 3.23 Paul is making a summary statement of his discussion on sin and judgment. Let s pursue the theme of sin and God s glory in Rom 1.18-3.20. 1. Sin and the glory of God (Rom 1.18-2.29) In this part of our study, we will see how Paul deals with sin in terms of the glory of God. a. Glory and corruption (1.20-32) The theme of sin and the glory of God is introduced in Paul s treatment of the Gentiles in 1.19-32. We will point out the concepts involved. 3

i. The glory of God (vv 23,25) This is the glory of the incorruptible God in contrast to corruptible creatures. God s unique glory is his incorruptible nature. The contrast between the incorruptible and corruptible (v 23) is parallel to the difference between creator and creature (v 25). ii. The root sin (v 21) The first step away from God was to neglect to glorify God as God or give thanks. The Greek word Paul uses (doxazo) means to glorify or ascribe glory to. It involves giving honour (as translated in the NASB), but the specific idea of glory is a key to Paul s whole discussion. So the term glorify should be used here. Paul is looking at two sides in the worshipful response to God the creator. In glorifying God as God we acknowledge the nature of God that sets him apart from creation. We focus on the nature of the giver of the good things of creation. In thanksgiving we acknowledge that we have received the good things of creation from him. The glory ascribed to God must be the worshipful ascription to God of His invisible attributes and divine nature seen through creation (v 20). Paul has in mind that glory which sets God as creator off from the creature, and according to v 23 that is that God is the incorruptible (eternal in his being) Creator incontrast to the corruptible nature of creatures. iii. The effects of not ascribing God s glory to him (v 23ff.) When man does not ascribe to God his glory, he exchanges the glory of the incorruptible God for the form of the corruptible creature (v 23). This means that man derives himself from corruptible nature. God s first judgment on sin is to be handed over to sin. This means that man is handed over to the corruptible nature he worships to be corrupted in himself. This judgment causes people to be dishonoured among themselves (v 24 and v 26 which speaks about dishourable passions). The word to honour (timao) is closely related to the word for glory (see 7). In creation God crowned man with glory and honour (Ps 8.5 and Heb 2.7). Glory is inherent (the virtue of the nature) and honour is relative (the value ascribed to one). Man who worshipped corruptible nature was given over to the lusts by which he lost his honour. The degradation continued. God gave the Gentiles over to their passions and reprobate mind so that in the end they carry in their own hearts the divine sentence of death against them, all the while committing what they know makes them worthy of death while giving hearty approval of those who practice such things (v 32). The degradation of man ends with man self-condemned to death. Paul traces the development of sin and its consequences in terms of the theme of God s glory. We can put it together like this: God revealed his glory as creator through creation. This knowledge comes with the duty to ascribe to God his glory as God, i.e., as the incorruptible creator in contrast to corruptible creatures. Implied in this is the truth that as man ascribes to God the glory of God he is preserved in honour. But, man s neglect to glorify God results in him worshipping and placing himself under the corruptible. This in turn results in man dishonouring himself through lust and coming under the sentence of death from within his own heart. In the condemnation to death, man finds himself at the opposite end of the spectrum from God s glory: in death verses in incorruptible life. b. Glory and judgment (2.1-16) In Rom 2.1f. Paul turns to those who know of and approve of God s judgment on those who practice the flagrant sins of the Gentiles but who think that they will escape this judgment (2.1-5). In response, Paul spells out the principle of universal and impartial judgment in vv 5-11. Here again Paul focuses the discussion on glory. He defines doing good as the pursuit of glory, honour and immortality. Those who seek this goal receive eternal life. Here Paul brings together the related concepts. Honour is a correlate of glory, as we notice above. Also, glory in real terms, as it is in God, is immortality. The triad of glory, honour and immortality is granted and found in eternal life. So, glory is the incorruptibleness of God, and this incorruption involves moral and spiritual character as well as life. In v 10 Paul makes a restatement of the reward for the one who does good (literally, the good ). It is glory, honour and peace. Peace is added this time in contrast to wrath, indignation, tribulation and 4

distress as the judgment on those who do evil (vv 8-9). So, in their positive relation to God, those who do the good receive glory and eternal life, but in relation to God s judgment on the wicked they receive peace. They are thus related to God as he is in himself (immortal) and as judge (he gives peace instead of wrath). For our study, the key point is that Paul sees that man is in need of glory from God. This is not a glory that man has or can achieve but which he must seek from God and receive. This glory is not just immortality as an unceasing vitality of life. It is life with the moral quality of incorruption. So, eternal life is inseparable from the good. c. The problem of the Jew (2.17-29) Paul cannot say that the Jew did not glorify God as God in the way he said this of the Gentiles because the Jews were very orthodox on the monotheism of the Law. But, neither does Paul say that they glorified God as God. In fact, he sets out to place them in a position of dishonouring God that is parallel to that of the Gentiles. Let s see how he does this. Paul opens up by saying the Jews relied on the Law and boasted in God. Both are statements of the Jew s claimed confidence. The word for boast here refers to the confidence one professes whether the confidence is legitimate or not. This confidence in his own position is his starting point in contrast to the needed starting point of glorifying God. A key feature of Paul s characterization of the Jew is the way the Jew dwells on his superior position in relation to Gentiles due to having the Law (vv 18-20). This addresses the Jew s consciousness of being different from other people. But, in his very claims Paul makes the Jew self-condemning for his own sins (vv 21-23). In this Paul lands the Jews rather quickly where the Gentile ended up in 1.32 knowing the judgment of God against sinners he is self-condemned for his own sins. Also, Paul indicts the Jew for the three categories of sins he traced in the pathology of Gentile degradation, but he does it in inverse order. He is guilty of: 1) stealing (v 21), which answers to the social vices of 1.28-31, 2) sexual sin (v 22a), which answers to the sexual depravity in 1.24-27, and 3) idolatry (v 22b), which answers to the idolatry of 1.22-25. The result of the Jew s sins was that he dishonoured God (v 23). He may have ascribed to God divine glory as the eternal God (in his orthodoxy) but he did not give to God the necessary correlate of glory, i.e., honour. Also, he caused the name of God to be blasphemed among the Gentiles (vv 23-24). This answers to the origin of the Gentiles sin in not glorifying God as God in 1.21. So, where the Gentiles began the Jews ended up. The Law by which the Jew was separated from Gentiles places him into the condition of Gentiles. Paul hits the Jew on his own ground of confidence. If he rests or relies on the Law, his own knowledge of the Law condemns him. If he boasts in God for having the Law, his sins dishonour God. If he claims his superiority in relation to Gentiles, he is shown to only cause the Gentiles to blaspheme God. So far, the Jew is only condemned negatively for dishonouring God. He has not been charged of wrong worship. But, Paul goes on to point out the positive error in worship as well (vv 25-29). He closes with charging that the Jew with his outward identity in circumcision is seeking his praise from men who can see the physical rather than from God who only can see the heart. The worshipper is to glorify God to seek glory and honour from God. The Jew, instead, sought his praise from men. Human evaluation and praise replaces God. Through the dishonour which the Jews brought on God and the pursuit of the praise from men instead of from God, the Jew lost his special status that set him apart from Gentiles. He has become uncircumcised. Thus as the Gentiles lost the dignity of life, the Jew lost the dignity of special status. In his indictment of the Jew, Paul works with the same pattern he developed in indicting the Gentiles. Man must ascribe glory to God, and this means not simply an orthodox ascription, but giving God the honour due to him, which is the correlate of glory. To honour God is to receive his praise, i.e., to live before God who sees the heart and so not to have one s praise in what people can see. 5

2. All sinned Paul s statement that all sinned in Rom 3.23 harks back to 3.9 where he draws the concluding verdict on mankind. But, how Paul understood this fact that all sinned must be taken from his indictment of Gentiles and Jews. In this indictment, we see that Paul works with a set pattern that harks back to Genesis 3. a. The pattern of sin The pattern is set in the indictment of the Gentiles in 1.18-32. We will outline it and show how Paul fits the Jew into this pattern. i. The starting point in knowledge of God (vv 19-20) The Gentile has the knowledge of God in creation with the duty to worship God. Paul begins his second indictment with the affirmation of the full knowledge of the truth of God s judgment (2.2). Paul indicts the Jew on the basis of having the Law and the knowledge of God s will through it. The truth of God given to people is important for Paul s case as 1.18 shows. God s wrath is against ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Truth makes people responsible. ii. Step one: neglect to give God glory (v 21) The Gentiles simply neglect to give God his glory, and the indictment of the Jew begins with a conspicuous omission of giving God glory and the bold statement of his own confidence (2.17). iii. Step two: professing themselves to be wise (v 22) The Gentiles profess themselves to be wise, and the Jew professes to be knowledgeable through education in the Law. Notice, the Jew takes an intellectual ground rather than one of obedience (2.18-20). iv. Step three: positively degrading the divine (vv 23-25) The Gentiles boldly replace God s glory with the corruptible. The Jew dishonours God and degrades his name among the Gentiles through his sins (2.23-24). v. Step four: moral degradation (vv 26-31) We have already seen how the moral degradation of the Jews in 2.21-22 answers to that of the Gentiles. vi. End result: under the sentence of death (v 32) As the Gentile is under the sentence of death, so the Jew is stripped of his circumcision and status of favour with God to become a Gentile (uncircumcised) before God. This leaves him exposed to wrath like the Gentiles (2.25-29). This pattern answers to that found in Genesis 3. i) Adam and Eve began with the knowledge of God and his first law (Gen 2.17). God sets up man in his responsibility. ii) After Eve innocently declared her knowledge (Gen 3.2-3), the serpent interjected a statement dishonouring God, contradicting God s word, denying his sentence and making it look like God was denying mankind what is good. Eve accepted the dishonour and acted upon it (Gen 3.4-5). 6

iii) The serpent directed Eve s mind to look at the tree from the point of view of knowledge, i.e., the meaning of the name of the tree rather than the divine command. Eve then took the position of being wise in herself and deciding on what is good from within herself, i.e., her own impressions and imaginations. So she set out on the pursuit of wisdom (Gen 3.5-6). Of course, Eve became a fool. iv) Through the forbidden knowledge, Adam and Eve became like God and so denied God his uniqueness in the world. God takes note of this in Gen 3.22, and it became the basis for executing the judgment of death by exiling man from the Garden and barring him from the tree of life. v) The immediate result was self-degradation in the shame they had of themselves (Gen 3.7). vi) The end result was that they were separated from the tree of life and lived under the sentence of death. God did not say, From dust you came, and to dust you will return. He said, Dust you are (Gen 3.19). Man could have lived in God s glory by living forever in the Garden. But, he had to hold this glory of living forever in moral innocence. When he made himself like God through knowledge, he lacked God s glory in that he was cut off from the tree of life and lived the rest of his days under the sentence of death. In death he would return to dust, and this state dust now defined him. God said of him in his sin, Dust you are. b. All: the collective nature of sin We have looked at the glory of God and the nature of sin in Rom 3.23. To complete our analysis of this verse, we have to look at the word all. Again, the force of this word is taken from the earlier indictment of mankind. In 3.9 Paul said, all are under sin. This is what he has proved in 1.18-3.8. But, Paul did not prove this by arraigning each individual. Such a judgment of each person is the work of God the judge who will render to each person according to his deeds (2.6). All that Paul has done, as he states in 3.9, is charge that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. In other words, he has dealt with the cultural groups and indicted the group in its collective identity. i. The spiritual claims of collective identity We might ask, Why does Paul focus on the group identity? Part of the answer is that he is arguing against the Jew s claim that his Jewish national identity holds him off from the Gentiles in God s judgment of the world. Paul shows that the possession of the Law, which gives him his collective identity actually condemns the Jew for his behaviour and strips him of a favoured position before God. But this is only part of the answer. The other part is that according to the outlook of the Bible people have their individual identity within their people group. We are, after all, born of and into families and societies and share the collective status of our people group. In other words, our natural status with which we begin in our personal decisions and life has been given to us in our natural group. This was very much the case with Jews and their understanding of the covenant as sealed by circumcision. It was equally so of Gentile tribes and nations that had their collective identity in their gods. Peter expressed this when he said to his audience that they were redeemed from their futile way of life inherited from their forefathers (1Pt 1.18). The collective nature of people s status before God was addressed in the gospel preached by the apostles. They did not focus on private sins to convict their audience. They rather focused on the way the society in which they had their status sinned against the knowledge of God given to them. In the case of the Jews, the sin was the act of crucifying the Messiah. The apostles pressed this even on audiences of the Diaspora that did not know about Jesus (Acts 13). Why? Because for a Jew repentance had to be first of all a turning from confidence in his membership in the Jewish nation through the works of the Law. When Paul preached to the Gentiles, he did not address all the vices of people as outlined in Romans 1. He addresses idolatry which gave Gentiles their divinely given identity. If the collective spiritual identity of the society is addressed, then salvation means rescue from that group identity as the stronghold of sin that holds people from God. In Romans Paul is expounding the gospel of such a salvation. As in the preaching of the gospel, he begins by addressing the core sin of human identity in Romans 1 and 2. This raises the question of sin in principle in people s relation with God and takes in sin as a whole. After faith is established, the details of sin in personal behaviour are 7

focused on in the initial instruction for discipleship associated with baptism. Paul will take up this in Romans 6 to 8. ii. The OT basis for collective identity In Romans 1 to 3 Paul deals with the two main groupings from an OT point of view Gentiles and Jews. This way of grouping the people on earth was the reality that came out of OT history, and Paul always worked out from the OT. We should note that this way of grouping people is based solely on the question of the worship of God. Gentiles were left with nature, to worship nature as divine. Israel was given the revelation to worship God free from all nature worship. But, by uniting the two under one impartial judgment and one justification by faith, Paul is working with a more fundamental identity that unites all in sin that in Adam. Paul develops that theme in Rom 5.12-21. For now we just want to point out the collective nature of the core of sin. It is societal and conferred on people by their natural heritage. This is the case because God created mankind as a family and race. As history developed, diversification and division set in, but it happened within the laws of the collective and tribal nature of mankind. The problem of sin is personal and must be addressed as such. But, personal identity only exists in a societal context, and before we are aware of our individual identity we are shaped by the identity of our cultural group. So, the sin that is at the core of our personal life is the cultural sin that gives us our identity. Naturally, societies will not call us to discover our bondage to a human collective identity. They function to secure a collective human identity in the human will. The gospel, as preached by the apostles, makes people aware of this spiritual bondage by calling them to repent of the core sin that makes up the basis of their identity. iii. The individual seen in light of shared humanity We must not leave the indictment of Gentiles and Jews only on a corporate level. We all share one humanity, and the dominant characteristics of human nature must be confessed as reflecting our shared nature. In the prevailing sin and perversity of our culture, we see the reality of our own nature. Our sins may appear in a different dress, but the solidarity of all in sin is evident upon closer probing. We see this in Paul s indictment of the Jew. The Jews had their particular collective identity that was substantially different from that of Gentiles, which difference enabled the Jew to claim a place above the Gentile. But Paul probes beneath the outward difference and finds that the Jew s sins answer to those of the Gentiles. For example, a Jew may condemn homosexuality but he commits adultery. There is, finally, what God sees, and his verdict is presented through the scripture quotations of Rom 3.9-18. What has been proven at the collective level, now is asserted of each person without exemption on the authority of revelation. B. JUSTIFICATION AND THE GLORY OF GOD The truth of Rom 3.23, that all sinned and lack the glory of God, provides the basis in mankind for the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe in v 22. Let s begin by clarifying the meaning of the key terms. 1. The righteousness of God a. God s act The righteousness of God is God s justice as Rom 3.5 and 25-26 make clear. But, the righteousness of God in Romans is by faith and that means that it is not an attribute of God. It is rather an act of God very much like the righteousness of a man is his action. When Paul speaks of the Jews seeking to establish their own righteousness, he is referring to their works as their righteousness (Rom 10.3; see also Phil 3.9). God s righteousness by faith is his act of declaring a person to be justified or righteous. Paul calls the act of justification the righteousness of God to press home that the righteousness in the justification is wholly God s act in contrast to the righteousness being a human act which God simply must acknowledge. Hence 8

this righteousness is apart from the Law which demands human action (works), and it is by faith for the action of carrying out righteousness is God s and so it is to be received by faith. b. Cleared of all sin Paul introduces the righteousness of God in the setting of God s role as judge in 3.4. The first principle of God s role as judge is that he must be declared righteous or justified. If the person on trial before God charges God with sin, he will not receive God s declaration and his verdict of justification. So, Paul is calling all to begin by ascribing righteousness to God as the starting point for approaching God in his judgment. Thus God is left to speak as he will. This attitude is absolutely essential to receiving vindication or acquittal from God. To justify God in 3.4 is to declare God to be cleared of all sin in his act of judging sin. Throughout his discussion on the righteousness of God and justification, Paul keeps in mind the key notion set in 3.4. In Rom 4.5-9 Paul makes God s act of justifying the same as his act of forgiving sins. Justification is the act of declaring one clear of all sin and so to be in a right relationship with God. In God s act of justifying us God demonstrates his righteousness that he might be just (cleared of all sin) and the justifier (clearing of all sin) of him who believes in Jesus (3.26), and this demonstrated righteousness is presented in contrast to the passing over of sin in divine forbearance (v 25). The righteousness of God is his act by which he is cleared of all sin and removes sin from the believer. c. Understanding God s righteousness in the setting of the glory of God The righteousness of God by faith takes place in the setting of sin. Having said this, we must immediately add that it takes place in the setting of sin as defined by God. We must see God s act of justifying the sinner in the context of sin and the glory of God as worked out in Rom 1.18-3.20. Paul introduces and commends the righteousness of God, which he begins to expound in 3.21ff., in Rom 3.1-8. In v 7 of this passage, Paul connects the theme of the glory of God with his righteousness. Let s look at this. Paul is speaking of God s act of judging the world (v 6). Here we must recall a first principle. God will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17.31), and there cannot be any unrighteousness in his judgment. In Rom 3.7 Paul contemplates one form of unrighteousness in judgment: if God were to judge a person for doing that which glorifies him. This ties into the central theme in Paul s indictment of the world. The core sin is neglecting or refusing to give God his glory. It is inconceivable that God would judge as sin that which glorifies him. Now we will see that Paul works out justification in these terms. 2. Justification by faith (Rom 4.17-5.3) a. The justification of Abraham (Rom 4.17-25) In these verses, Paul is explaining from Abraham s exercise of faith in Genesis 17 and 18 why God counted his faith as righteousness in Gen 15.6. The heart of Abraham s faith was that he gave glory to God (v 20). Let s explore this. When God told Abraham that he has made him a father of many nations, God was presenting himself as the God who gives life to the dead and calls the things that do not exist as existing (v 17). Why is this implied in God s statement to Abraham? Abraham showed why. The patriarch declared that the bodies of both he and his wife were as good as dead (v 19). To believe the promise, he had to believe in God as the God who gives life to the dead. More, since God changed his name and gave him the identity of a father of many nations before he had his son, Abraham in accepting his new name had to believe in God who calls what does not exist as existing. Abraham s identity as a father had its sole reality in God s word. So, when he believed in the promise of God, without wavering, he ascribed to God the glory that was revealed through the promise. The fact that God was able to perform what he promised (v 21) was involved in this glory. But, the performance of God s promise was the act of bringing life out of death. So, the glory of God again refers to God s life as creator. Now it is not that he is immortal and incorruptible, that he will never die. Rather, it is the greater glory that he brings life out of death. 9

We noticed earlier that God began by giving the knowledge of his glory as creator in contrast to the creature and that with this knowledge came the duty to ascribe to God his unique glory. Now, in justification we see God working in the same way. His promise to Abraham set before the patriarch the glory of God in contrast to the possibilities of nature (the deadness of Abraham and Sarah) with the demand on Abraham to ascribe that glory to God in unwavering faith. We also saw that in God s pattern, when man gives God his glory then man receives glory from God, and that glory is in life and incorruption. We see this also in the case of Abraham. He believed and as a result received in his own life the glory of life from his dead body. But, before he received the glory of life, he believed, and God credited that faith to him as righteousness. God s glory is never a mere vitality and energy of existence. It is ever morally and spiritually good and right, and Abraham could only receive it in righteousness. What was this righteousness God credited to him? First we must take note of the fact that it was Abraham s faith which was counted for righteousness. Faith was Abraham s response to God. Faith was the way Abraham related to God. This points out a feature of righteousness in the Bible. It is the way one actively relates to another. It is the just or right way of relating. But, the relationship of faith was not one that Abraham could think up or bring about. It was given by God s promise and realized by God s work. God put Abraham into a relationship of life from the dead by God s word and work alone. Abraham s faith came about by God s word (Rom 10.17) and was the act of letting God be God as he revealed his glory in Abraham. So, God put Abraham into a relationship with himself by his own word and action and brought Abraham to relate to him by faith, and then God declared that that way of relating to God by God s word and work is righteousness. The whole relationship of faith is God s work. b. Faith in God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead (Rom 4.23-25) Paul goes on to apply the model of faith and righteousness to the believer in Jesus in vv 23-25. The basic message of apostolic proclamation was that God raised Jesus from the dead, and this was understood as a message of the resurrection of the dead (Acts 17.32). In other words, God revealed himself through Jesus as the God who relates to people as the God of resurrection. This work of giving life to the dead is solely and wholly God s work so that we simply have to relate to God through his work of raising Jesus (and in Jesus raising us) from the dead. The faith involved is not simply faith in something God did. It is believing in God as Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead (Rom 4.24). In connection with v 17, this is a statement of God s very character and glory. The nature of God is seen in the resurrection of Jesus, and to believe in him is to ascribe to him the glory as we take our position before him as dead in sin. This means that Christ took up our sin in death (v 25a) and his resurrection was the verdict of clearance from all sin delivered in the gospel announcement that God raised Jesus from the dead when that announcement produces faith in the hearer (v 25b). c. Justification and glorification (Rom 5.1-3) So far it has become clear that Paul works out the whole question of sin and justification in the matrix of God s glory in relation to human beings. Once Paul has completed his case for justification by faith in 3.21-4.25, he ties justification to the glory of God that we will receive in 5.1-3. We have been justified and have peace with God (referring to God s wrath in his judgment), and we have the hope of the glory of God. This glory is the glory we will receive in the end. The twin themes of peace and glory are opened up in vv 9-10. Being justified (i.e., cleared of all sin) we will be saved from wrath (v 9), and being reconciled to God we will be saved by his life (v 10). God s glory is in his incorruptible life, eternal life. More, it is in his power of resurrection. It is not just that he will never die but that he raises from the dead. When we receive Christ s resurrection life, we will actually and fully receive God s glory. 3. Faith and sin Faith is the act of giving glory to God, and it is the true antithesis to sin which at bottom is always the act of denying God his glory. Faith also is the cure to the self-centeredness of sin. The Gentiles set out by assuming a position of wisdom in themselves, and the Jew s confidence is in his possession of the Law and 10

his knowledge. In direct contrast, faith lets God, by his word and act, define what we are. It is what God is towards us that makes us what we are towards him. Out of letting God be God in his glory of resurrection life, the believer lives in the power of that glory. The sight is first set on the completed reality of the glory of God in resurrection life. But, Paul will show how the moral power of this relationship with God through Christ is at work at present in sanctification (Romans 6 to 8). CONCLUSION The doctrine of justification focuses on sin as it is before God. Sin at its root is the act of denying God his glory in his relationship with mankind, and through this act man is cut off from that glory as he comes under corruption and death. This answers to the issues as defined by the first law given in Eden. Man was to let God be God by denying himself godhood, and the act of denying God his unique glory would result in the sentence of death on man. In justification, God must bring man, out of his position of guilt and under the sentence of death to ascribe glory to God. But this required for God to reveal his glory beyond the glory of the creator. Now the glory of God as incorruptible in life is not enough. God must be the God whose glory it is to raise the dead, and man must enter a relationship with God by ascribing to him this glory. How can life from the dead be inherent in God when he is knows no death in his being? The answer is only in the Son of God who entered death as the act of bringing about life. Jesus is Lord, the one who carries out the role of God in this world. In the story of Eve s temptation we see the subjective side of sin. The pattern of this subjectivity is worked out for the Gentiles who were left with the knowledge of God through creation and the Jews who had the law. God let sin work itself out fully in the setting of the two kinds of knowledge God gave in creation and law. In justifying us, God must change us from this pattern of subjectivity of sin to relate to him on his grounds. Paul works out the subjective side of faith in the case of Abraham and applies the pattern to the believer. Faith is seen as the true and complete contrast to the way sin reacts to the knowledge of God. Sin has its takeoff point in created life and asserts the self in it. Faith has its take off point in one s own deadness before God and must affirm God s glory as the God who makes us what he declares us to be through his word though it is impossible according to our natural state. The possibility is in God and what he did in his Son. 11