ROMANS SALVATION FOR ALL GEORGE R. KNIGHT Publishing Association Nampa, Idaho Oshawa, Ontario, Canada www.pacificpress.com
1 CHAPTER Paul s Letter to Rome Romans is the most influential document in Christian history. It stimulated not only the Protestant Reformation but many other revivals throughout history. With that fact in mind it is important that we understand the book itself before we begin to examine its sequential treatment of the plan of salvation. This chapter will discuss the purpose of Romans and its major themes, while chapter 2 will examine the profound tension between Jewish and Gentile Christians that undergirds every section of Paul s presentation, how that tension relates to the book s structure, and the relevance of Romans for twenty-firstcentury Christians. Why did Paul write Romans? The book of Romans has at least three purposes. The first is a practical one. Paul has reached a critical juncture in his ministry. His evangelization thus far had covered the Roman provinces of Galatia, Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia (territories that roughly comprise the modern nations of Turkey, Greece, and Macedonia), and he was preparing to move the focus of his ministry to Spain. But before going to Spain, the apostle needed to visit two other places. The first was Jerusalem, so that he could deliver 11
Salvation for All the contribution for the poor among the Jewish Christians that he had collected from the Gentile churches (Romans 15:26, 27). His second visit on the way to Spain would be Rome (verses 24, 28). Those two impending visits set the stage for Paul s letter to the Christians in Rome. Of course, he could have gone to Spain without stopping in Rome on the way. But Paul hoped that the Roman Christians would provide a base of support for him in much the same way that Antioch had done during his early evangelization of the East. Thus his appeal to have them assist him in his mission after he had gotten to know them in his forthcoming visit (verse 24, NIV). That practical aspect set the stage for what we can call his strategic purpose namely, that if the Roman church was to provide a solid base, its warring Gentile and Jewish factions would have to pull together. Echoes of this controversy, in both its theological and its practical implications, may be heard rumbling throughout Romans. And Paul is seen from beginning to end as an authentic peacemaker, pouring oil on troubled waters, anxious to preserve both truth and peace without sacrificing either to the other. 1 The letter s most extensive treatment of the peacemaking goal occurs in Romans 14:1 15:13, in which he deals with their bickering and mutual judgmentalism over Jewish issues. But his climactic statement on the topic is that God will have mercy upon all (i.e., both Jews and Gentiles) in the plan of salvation (Romans 11:32; cf. 1:16, 17; 3:22, 23). That thought brings us to the apostle s theological purpose in Romans. Put bluntly, Paul felt the need to establish his theological credentials. As a result, he wrote a letter that set forth his view of the logic of the gospel. That was a crucial task since his battles against certain Jewish Christian legalists, as portrayed in the books of Galatians and 2 Corinthians, had given him a reputation for being against the law and, perhaps, even anti-jewish. Rumors of Paul s position on those matters had apparently reached Rome thus the apostle s reference to those who slanderously charged him with saying let us do evil 12
Paul s Letter to Rome that good may result (Romans 3:8, NIV). Paul knew that he must neutralize these rumors and, perhaps, even win over some who were already biased toward him. His tactic was to write out a rather complete exposition of the gospel he had been preaching for more than twenty years so that both Jewish and Gentile Christians would understand his position before he arrived. And while he undoubtedly aimed his gospel exposition at the Roman Christians, as indicated by its repeated reference to the tensions on the racial front, it may also have had other purposes. Some have suggested that Romans may have been a defense that Paul intended to present to the Jerusalem church that might also be useful in Rome. That possibility takes on credibility when we read of Jewish plots against Paul s life (see, e.g., Acts 20:3) and his request that the Roman Christians pray for him that he might be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea (Romans 15:31, 32). And if the apostle didn t live to preach the gospel in the West, we can still view his extensive treatment of salvation in Romans as his last will and testament, a precious deposit bequeathed to the church and through it to the community of the faithful everywhere. 2 The possibility of several reasons for Paul s extensive treatment of salvation in Romans goes a great distance in helping us understand the letter s format. After all, unlike most of Paul s letters, which constantly reflect on local circumstances, Romans 1:16 11:36 presents a very general argument devoid of such issues. Rather than being responses to specific problems, Romans develops out of the inner logic of Paul s teaching. Nowhere in these chapters do we find Rome or a specific situation in Rome mentioned. As a result, Richard Longenecker identifies Romans as a tractate letter rather than a pastoral letter like most of the others. He claims that while tractate letters are broadly pastoral,... their content and tone suggest that they were originally intended to be more than strictly pastoral responses to specific sets of issues arising in particular places. Rather, they were general theological expositions that could fit many contexts. Such letters as Hebrews and James 13
Salvation for All also belong to the tractate category. 3 Having said that, we should not make the mistake of viewing Romans as having tractate qualities in its entirety. After all, Romans 1:1 15; 14:1 16:27 have all the earmarks of a pastoral letter. Thus it is perhaps best to see Romans as an expression of the apostle s pastoral concern that contains a theological tractate nuanced toward the needs of the Roman community running from Romans 1:16 to 11:36. A tractate format for Romans might also explain shorter versions of the letter that apparently circulated in the ancient world and that deleted mentions of Rome in Romans 1:7, 15 and did not contain chapter 16, with all of its personal greetings. The book s theological themes When asked to describe the contribution of the letter to the Romans, the first thing that generally comes to the mind of many people is theology, especially the Christian understanding of salvation. While that is true, it is important to remember that Romans is not a systematic theology that expresses all aspects of the writer s knowledge but a letter written to deal with understandings and misunderstandings in mid-first-century Christianity. Central to the letter and to Paul s ministry was the issue of how Jewish the church should be. On the one hand were those Jewish Christians who were apparently having a difficult time letting go of the ceremonial aspects of the Old Testament and were under the influence of those Jews who saw the law as a means to earn salvation. On the other hand were those who despised all things Jewish, including the law. Our discussion of the theological themes of Romans will take place within that tension-filled framework. 1. Unity in Christ and salvation for all. John Brunt captured the essence of this theme when he wrote that one of the most important theological terms in Romans is the simple term all. 4 Throughout the letter the apostle strives to bring into unity the members of the Roman church who had fractured on the racial line of Jew and Gentile. As we will see more fully in chapter 2, 14
Paul s Letter to Rome the idea of all undergirds every aspect of Paul s letter to Rome. 2. Sin. A second dominating concept that sets the stage for the letter is the fact of sin. Romans 1:18 32 lays out the guilt of the Gentiles while Romans 2 does the same for the Jews. Both groups are under the power of sin (Romans 3:9), because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (verse 23). And since the wages of sin is [eternal] death (Romans 6:23), the outlook for all humanity is hopeless. People naturally, Paul argues, are not only sinners but slaves to sin (verses 12 16). The only hope for them is to unite with Christ who can set them free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2) through His grace (Romans 6:14). 3. Law. The apostle s discussion of law in Romans is multifaceted. The major divide on the topic involves those statements that seem to be negative regarding the law and those that are positive. Heading the negative category is the dictum that no human being will be justified... by works of the law (Romans 3:20). Closely related is Romans 7:4, in which the death of the sinful self releases believers from the condemnation and dominion of the law and frees them to join Christ. Thus they have died to the law as a way of redemption. But believers are not free from the law. Rather, Paul s theology upholds the law (Romans 3:31), which is holy and just and good and spiritual (Romans 7:12, 14). Thus the law has a place in the lives of believers even though it is inadequate as a means of salvation. A major function of the law is to point out human sin (Romans 3:20; 4:15; 7:7) and, thus, the need of God s justifying grace. Every human being has some form of law. Scripture reveals it for Jews (and Christians, Romans 2:1 13), whereas those Gentiles who don t have the revealed law still have a law opened to some extent to their consciences (verses 14, 15). In the end the law will form the standard of judgment (verses 5, 6). Those who hear the law but do not obey it will be found wanting (verse 13). Thus, although the law is not the way to be saved (verse 20), those who are saved and live the transformed life (Romans 12:2) will walk with [Christ]... in newness of 15
Salvation for All life as they obey the principles of God s law (Romans 6:1 8). The basic principle of the law according to Romans is loving one s neighbor (Romans 13:8, 10), even if he or she is on the opposite side of the racial line dividing Jews and Gentiles. In a very helpful way verses 8 10 show how each of the commandments on the second table of the Decalogue flow out of Christ s second great love command (Matthew 22:36 40). Paul could have done the same for the first table, but his readers were having no problems in loving God. His discussion of the law in Romans 13:8 10 demonstrates its spiritual and internal nature. That was important in a culture that focused on outward behavior rather than a person s inward spiritual status. Romans 7:7 also reflects on the spiritual nature of the law when Paul writes that he really didn t understand sin until he grasped the meaning of You shall not covet, the only commandment on the second table of the Decalogue that is an inward indicator of spiritual health rather than an outward action. In summary, Romans presents the law as a guide for life, a convictor of sin, and a standard of God s judgment, but not a way to salvation. 4. Grace. Romans sets forth the path to salvation as one of grace. Grace in Romans is God s free gift through Christ for human salvation (Romans 3:24). The apostle often contrasts grace with works as alternative approaches to getting right with God (Romans 3:20 24; 6:14; 11:6). James Dunn is on target when he writes that for Paul, behind the whole salvation process always lay the initiative of God. No other word expresses his theology so clearly on this point as grace (charis). 5 5. Justification by faith. If grace is God s free gift for the salvation of sinners, Paul expresses that salvation in many metaphors. Romans 3:24, 25, for example, presents three of them, including redemption (signifying God s grace-filled purchase of those enslaved in sin), propitiation (a word having to do with the turning away of wrath, or God s judgment on sin), and justification. It is justification that forms the centerfold in Romans, 16
Paul s Letter to Rome providing the theme text for the letter in Romans 1:16, 17 (justification and righteousness are two English translations of the same Greek word) and the primary substance of chapters 3 5. Paul coined the metaphor of justification to meet the problem of the legal curse of the law with its death penalty (Romans 3:23; 6:23). In Romans 3 justification does not mean to make righteous, but, rather, to declare righteous. The root idea in justification, George Eldon Ladd writes, is the declaration of God, the righteous judge, that the man who believes in Christ, sinful though he may be,... is viewed as being righteous, because in Christ he has come into a righteous relationship with God. Relationship, Ladd suggests, is the key to understanding justification. The justified man has, in Christ, entered into a new relationship with God, who now regards such a person as righteous and treats that individual accordingly. Justification is the opposite of condemnation. It is the decree of acquittal from all guilt and issues in freedom from all condemnation and punishment. 6 And how, we might ask, do sinful humans receive the free gift of grace? Paul is unequivocal on that question. All of God s salvific gifts of grace are always received by faith (Romans 3:25; cf. 1:16, 17). Thus we have the phrases justification by faith and righteousness by faith. At this point a word of caution is important. Faith is not some meritorious work that comes through human effort, but it is another free gift of God that makes it possible for people to accept His other gifts. 6. Transformed living. In Romans being justified, redeemed, and propitiated by grace are not the end of the salvation process. Rather, they stand near the beginning. Thus we find nothing of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called cheap grace. What we discover is transforming grace (Romans 12:2) that leads Christians to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4) and to avoid a life of sin (verses 1 14). At the heart of such sanctified or holy living in Romans is Christ s great law of love to our neighbor (Romans 12:9 13) that flows out into a life in harmony with the Decalogue (Romans 13:8 10) and is not judgmental of other people (Romans 14:13). 17
Salvation for All Readers of Romans who see justification as the high point of Romans miss Paul s point. Justification never stands alone. To the contrary, it is inextricably linked with transformed, or sanctified, living. If you have the first you will have the last. And at the end of time people will be judged and eternally justified on the basis of how God s transforming grace impacted their daily lives (Romans 2:5, 6, 13). We should note that while Romans devotes three chapters (Romans 3 5) to justification, it provides six and one-half chapters (Romans 6 8, 12 15a) to transformed, or sanctified, living. For Paul justification and sanctification form a unit. They are equally important, with the first leading to the second and the second being founded on the first. A Christian, according to Romans, is a person who is both justified and living the transformed life. Take away either part and we destroy the vision of salvation set forth in Romans. 7. Hope and assurance. Hope is another of the great words in Romans. Used 13 times, it appears in Romans more than any other New Testament book. Christians worship the God of hope (Romans 15:13), abound in hope (verse 13), rejoice in hope (Romans 5:2; 12:12), and are saved by hope (Romans 8:24). As a result, hope in Romans is not some wishful thinking about the future but rather a certainty based upon what God has already done for believers in Christ. Thus hope provides the basis for confident daily Christian living and the knowledge that at the end of time God will make all things right (verses 18 25). Closely tied to hope is Romans teaching on assurance. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God who will be glorified with Christ (verses 16, 17). The letter s teaching on hope and assurance climaxes in verses 31 39, in which Paul repeatedly promises Christians that nothing can separate them from the love of that God who is for them. With that thought in mind, perhaps we should see Romans teaching on hope and assurance as the apex of the letter s discussion of salvation. 18
Paul s Letter to Rome 1. John R. W. Stott, Romans: God s Good News for the World (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1994), 35. 2. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, eds., Romans, in The Expositor s Bible Commentary, vol. 11, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 25. 3. Richard Longenecker, On the Form, Function, and Authority of the New Testament Letters, in Scripture and Truth, eds. D. A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1983), 104 106. 4. John C. Brunt, Romans: Mercy for All (Boise, ID: Pacific Press, 1996), 23. 5. James D. G. Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), 319, 320. 6. George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974), 437, 443, 445, 446. 19