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I INTRODUCTION TO ~
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I THE LETTERS OF SA INT PA U L IiJ

II CHRONOLOG Y J
I
U
Through the Acts of the Apostles and through his own letters Saint Pau l

II I.
is more familiar to us than any other figure of the New Testament. These two
mutually independent sources confirm and complement each other in spite of
certain discrepancies of detail. We are also able to con struct a fairly exact o
()
I

chronology of Paul's life from references to dated events such as Galli o's
proconsulate in Corinth, Ac 18:12, and the year Festu s succeeded Felix,
Ac 24:27-25:I. 1.1
I

Paul , born at Tarsus in Cilicia, Ac 9: II ; 21:39 ; 22:3, abou t 10 A.D. of aJewish

family of the tribe of Benjamin, Rm II-I; Ph 3:5, was a Roman citizen, Ac 16:37f;
22:25-28;23:27. As a young man he was educated in Jerusalem by Gamaliel who
gave him a thorough grounding in religious doctrine of the school of the Phari-
sees. He became a bitter persecutor of the infant Church, Ac 22:4f; 26:9-12;
Ga 1:13 ; Ph 3:6, and played some part in Stephen's martyrdom, Ac 7:58 ; 22:20 ;
26:10; but on the road to Damascus, c. 34 A.D., a vision of the risen Jesus
changed his whole life. The risen Lord opened his mind to the truth of the
Chri stian faith and revealed that he had chose n him to be th e apostle of th e
pagans, Ac 9:3-16p; Ga I:12,15f; Ep 3:2f. From then on, Pau l dedicated his life
to serving Christ who had personally chosen him as his follower, Ph 3:12. After
spend ing some time in Arabia he returned to Dam ascus, Ga I: 17, and bega n his
preaching there,Ac 9:20. In about 39A.D .after a brief visit to Jerusalem, Ga I: 18;
Ac 9:26-29, Paul went to Syria and Cilicia, Ga 1:21; Ac 9:30, till Barnabas
fetched him back to Antioch where they preached togethe r, Ac II :25f and
cf. 9:27. During Paul's first missionary journey (45-49) to Cyprus, Pamphilia,
Pisidia and Lycaonia, Ac 13-14, he started using his Greek nam e Paul instead
of his Jewish name Saul , Ac 13:9, and , becaus e he preached better, started to
becom e more famous than Barnabas, Ac 14: 12. In 49 A.D ., fou rteen years
after his conversion, Ga 2: I, he went to Jerusalem to take pa rt in the apostles'
council, and it was partly through his influence that the council agreed that
the Jewish Law was not binding on Christian converts from paganism, Ac 15;
Ga 2:3-6. His mission as apostle to the paga ns was formally sanctioned,
Ga 2:7-9, and he set out once mor e. The dates of his second (50-52 ;
Ac 15:36-18:22) and thi rd missionary journeys (53-58; Ac 18:23-21:17) are
discussed late r unde r the letters he wrote at inter vals during those journeys.
In 58, Paul was arrested in Jerusalem , Ac 21:27-23:22, and imprisoned at
Caesarea Palestinae until 60 A.D ., Ac 23:23-26:32. In the autum n of60, Festus the
procurator sent him to Rome under escor t, Ac 27:1-28:16, where, after t he
statutory two years (61-63), Ac 28:30, Paul 's case was dismissed for want of
evidence and he was set free. It is possible that he went to Spain. as he had

IN T RO DUCTION TO SAINT P A UL 25 2
hoped to do, Rm 15:24,28; but the pastoral letters suggest that he travelled
again in the east. A subse quent imprisonment in Rome ended, according to a
very anc ient tradition, in martyrdom, probably in the year 67.
THE C H A R A C T E R O F P A U L
As well as this chronology, it is possible to recover qui te a detai led portrait
of Paul from his letters and from Acts .
He was a person of great dedicatio n, capable of pursuing an ideal with a
complete disregard for the cost. For him , the only thing that mattered was God,
and as God's servant, Paul refused any sort of compromise. It was with equally
single-minded determination that he had per secut ed tho se he cons idered God's
enemies, I Tm I: 13, cf. Ac 24:5, 14, and later preached Christ as the one,
universal saviour. This saviour he served passionately and selflessly for the
rest of his life. He knew what work he had been given to do, I Co 9: 16, and
he let nothing stop him doing it: hard work, exhaustion, suffering, poverty,
danger of death, I Co 4:9-13; 2 Co 4:8f; 6:4-10 ; 11:23-27. Far from letting
these things weaken his love for God or Christ, Rm 8:35-39, he welcomed
J them, since they helped him to grow into the image of his suffering and crucified
;1 Master, 2 Co 4:lOf; Ph 3:IOf. The knowledge that his vocation was unique
gave him an enormous ambition, but it did not make him arrogant. It was
I with holy humility that Pau l felt a personal pride in being responsible for so
I many chur ches, 2 Co I I:28, cf. Col I :24, and claimed to have done mo re
missionary wo rk than others, I Co 15:10, cf. 2 Co II :5, and offered himself
as a mod el to his converts, 2 Th 3:7 +. H e never forgot that having persecuted
I
th e Church of Christ, he was the unworthiest of all the apostles . All the grea t
th ings he succeeded in do ing he att ributed to God' s grace work ing through
him, I Co 15:10 ; 2 Co 4:7 ; Ph 4:13; Col 1:29; Ep 3:7.
I
Paul had a sensitive temperament that showed itself in his attitude to those
he had converted. He had a childlike trust in the converts at Philippi, Ph I:7f;
4:10-20, a deep affection for those at Ephesus, Ac 20:17-38; he was furious
1 with those in Galatia who were on the verge of apostasy, Ga 1:6; 3:1-3, and
deeply upset when he thought that the Christians in Corinth had become
vain and unstable, 2 Co 12:11-13:10. When he was being ironical with people
he considered.superficial, I Co 4:8; 2 Co 11:7; 12:13, or when he was outspoken,
Ga 3:1-3; 4:11; I Co 3:1-3 ; 5:1-2; 6:5; 11:17-22; 2 Co 11:3f, it was only for
their own goo d, 2 Co 7:8- 13, and after these outbursts he soon became tende r,
2Co 11:1-2 ; 12:14f,andfathe rly, I C04:14f;2C06:13,cf.1 Th2:II ; Phm 10,
even mot herly, I Th 2:7; Ga 4:19, and anx ious to restore the earlier affection,
Ga 4:12-20; 2 Co 7:11-13.
Paul's fiercest outbursts of indignation were directed against everybody who
tri ed to seduce his conve rts, whether they were Jews, who opposed him wher-
ever he went , Ac 13:45,50 ; 14:2,19; 17:5,13; 18:6 ; 19:9 ; 21:27, or J udaising
Christians who wanted all followers of Christ to follow the Law, Ga 1:7;
2:4; 6:12f. H e never minc ed his words with either of these groups, I Th 2:15f ;
Ga 5:12; Ph 3:2, and , however unprepossessing, he felt himself to be an irre-
sistibl e weap on wielded by divine power against ambitious, a rrogant and
unspiritual opponents, 2 Co 10:1-12:12. G od's weapon was Paul' s selfless
sincerity, Ac 18:3+. It has been suggested that the people against whom he
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253 INTRODUCTION T O S A IN T PAUL 0:
inveighs were in fact the senior apostles in Jerusalem , but this is impossible. ,0:
Some of the J udaeo-Chri stians, who remaine d faithfu l to the Law, invoked -'0
u
Peter, I Co 1:1 2, and Ja mes, Ga 2:12, in an att empt to discredit Paul, but Paul
alway s respected the au th ority of these ap ostles, Ga 1:18; 2:2, t hough he
clai med to be jus t as much a witness to Chr ist as they were, Ga I: 11f; I Co 9:I ; ~
15:8-11. Even when Paul had his disag reement with Peter, Ga 2:11-14, his
attitude was conci liato ry, Ac 21:18-26, and he organised a collection for the
poor Christians of Jerusalem, Ga 2:10, since he considered th is wou ld be the w
best possible proof that his pagan converts were tru ly one with the Christians
of the mother church, 2 Co 8:14; 9:12-13; Rm 15:26f.
J
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PAUL AS PREA C HE R
Wha t Paul proclaimed was in all essentials the apos tolic 'kerygma' , Ac 2:22+, I
i.e. that Christ had been crucified and had risen from the dead and that this l
had been foretold in th e scriptu res, I Co 2:2 ; 15:3-4; Ga 3:1. What he calls
'his' G ood News, Rm 2:16; 16:25, was identical with the fait h commonly
held, Ga 1:6-9 ; 2:2; Col I:5-7, but emphasised the conversion of paga ns,
I
'" I
Ga 1:16; 2:7-9, in line with the missionary policy initiated at Antioch. Pa ul
accepts and somet imes appeals to the apostolic tradition, 1 Co II :23; 15:3 -7,
to which he was deeply indebted . Though he probably never met Jes us during
his earthly life, cf. 2 Co 5:16+ , Paul was familiar with his teaching, I Th 4:15;
I Co 7:10f; Ac 20:35, and confidently claimed to have seen the risen Christ,
not only on the Da mascus road , Ac 9:17; 22:14f; 26:16; I Co 9:1; 15:8, but on
several occasions subsequently, Ac 22:17-21; 26:16. He also had revelations
and ecstasies, 2 Co 12:1-4, but everything he had received from apostolic
tradition he could also attribute, and justly, to direct communication from the
Lord, Ga 1:12; I Co 11:23.
These mystical experiences have sometimes been attributed to Paul's excitable
and morbid temperament, yet this is hardly likely. The disease that detained
him in Galatia, Ga 4:13-15, was probably an att ack of malaria, and the 'thorn
in my side', 2 Co 12:7, may well be the persistent hostility of Jews, his brothers
'according to the flesh', Rm 9:3. Paul does not seem to have had a very vivid
imagination judging by his spa ring and pedestria n use of imagery: the sports-
ground, I Co 9:24-27; Ph 3:12-14; 2 Tm 4:7f, and the sea, Ep 4:14. Two images,
farming, I Co 3:6-8, and building, I Co 3:10-17 ; Rm 15:20; Ep 2:20-22, are
so basic t hat he often mixes them, I Co 3:9; Col 2:7; Ep 3:17, cf. Col 2:19;
Ep 4:16. His genius was much more intellectual than imaginative, his enthusiasm
was never divo rced from the rigid logic with which he explains his teaching
and adapts it to the needs of his audience. It is to th is intellectual need
to adapt his teaching to the occasion that we owe the remarkable theo logical
analysis to which he repeatedly submits the kerygma. His logic, which is based
on the rabbinical method in which he had been trained, may seem strange to
some people today (e.g. Ga 3:16 ; 4:21 -31). His genius, however, was never
restricted by these scholastic conventions, so that however unattractive some
people may find the method, it does not obscure the profundity of his teaching.
Paul was a Jew with a G reek cultural background which he had possib ly
begun to acquire when a boy in Tarsus and which was certainly reinforced by
. repeated contact with the Graeco-Roman world; this influence is obv ious

! I I N T R O D U C T I O N TO SA IN T PA U L 254
no t only in his logical met hod but also in his lan guage and style. He so meti mes
quotes Greek writers, I Co 15:33; Tt I: 12; Ac 17:28, and was fami liar with
pop ula r Stoic -based ph ilosophy from whic h he borrows co ncepts (e.g. of the
soul separated from th e body and bound for another world, 2 Co 5:6-8; the
cosmic pleroma in Col and Ep) and cliches (I Co 8:6; Rm II :36; Ep 4:6).
From the Cynics and Stoics he borrowed the rapid question and answer method
(the diatribe), Rm 3:1-9, 27-31, and the rhetorical device of heaping word on
word , 2 Co 6:4-10. Even 'his use of long, packed phrases in wave after wave,
Ep 1:3-14; Col I:9-20, has a precedent in hellenistic religious literature. The
Greek that was a second mother tongue to Paul (cf, Ac 21:40), that he was able
to usc so familiarly with on ly occasional semitisms, was a cultured form of the
koine, i.e. the Greek of his own day . Pa ul never attempted Attic elegance,
and he deliberately avoided rhetoric so that his au d ience wou ld be convinced
not by the fo rm but by th e content of his message of faith and by t he signs
the Sp irit had pro mised to provide to co nfirm it, I T h 1:5 ; I Co 2:4f; 2 Co 11:6 ;
Rm 15: 18. T his is one reaso n why his gra mmar is sometimes wro ng and his
sentences unfinished, I Co 9: 15 ; anothe r is that he sometimes thought too fast
or too emotionally; a th ird is that wit h rare exceptions, Phm 19. he normally
dic tat ed his lett ers, Rm 16:22, (a common p ractice at the time) an d only wrote
~
the fina l greeting by way of signat ure, 2 T h 3:17; Ga 6: II; I Co 16:21 ; Co l 4:18.
So me pa ssages in his lett ers were obvio usly written only after lon g and careful
th o ught, e.g . Col I: 15-20, but mos tly his letters suggest spontaneity and lack
of revision , and this is why Paul's sentences so und dy namic, and why he seems
to pa ck so m uch into them . He is not eas y to read , 2 P 3:16; profound thoughts
expressed by an urge nt wr iter never a re; how ever, so me passages hav e an
ext raord inary religio us and literary power.
It is importa nt to re mem ber that Pa ul's letters were not meant as th eological
treatises: they are simply his response to a par ticu lar sit uation in a particular
)1 churc h. They begin acco rding to the usua l epistola ry co nvention, Rm I: I +,
1;1
but ca nnot be classed eith er as privat e lett ers, or as literary 'epistles' ; they are
Pa uline dissertations intended for a spec ific circle of rea de rs and, in a general
J way, for all th e fa ithful. Pa ul's lett ers do not give an y syste matic a nd ex ha ustive
exposition of his teaching, th ey are all co mmenta ries on certain po ints of ser mons
th at he preached, a nd th e existence of these ser mons m ust always be remembered
by t he reader. T his doe s not detract from their valu e: th e de pth and ra nge of
his lett ers give us all th e essen tia ls of Pa ul's message. No matter what th e
reason was fo r writing or who th e peo ple were to who m he was wri ting, his
bas ic teac hing remained the same: that Chr ist d ied a nd ro se fro m the dead.
T he ap ostle who was all thin gs to a ll men , I Co 9: 19-22, adapts t his, his one
basic do ctr ine, to the listener ; he de velops an d enriches it. Pau l has so metimes
been acc used of being an eclect ic, in the sense of ado pting not only d ifferent but
co ntrad ictory opinions accordi ng to th e circum stances in which he found
hims elf, of being interested less in truth than in pers uad ing peopl e to believe
in Christ. He ha s a lso been acc used of not hav ing a n open min d , of being
o bsessed by th e vision th at co nverted him , and of never having allowed his
ideas to dev elop. T he truth betw een th ese two extremes seems to be that Paul's
the ology does rema in hom ogen eous but tha t it did develop unde r the guidance
of th e Sp irit, who inspired eve rything he did as an apostle, and that Pa uline
th ought reached its highest dev elop ment in the letter to th e Ch ristians at
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255 I N T RODUC TI O N TO SA INT PA UL
Ephes us. To show th is development of Paul's th ought, his letters ha ve to be '~ ~
read in the sa me or der in which the y were wr itten; the order, how ever, in - u
whic h th ey are pr inted here is the traditional one that arranges them in ord er of
diminis hing length .
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PAUL'S J O U R N E Y S AND LETTERS
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1 and 2 Thessalonians. 50-51 A.D.
T he first letters to be written were to the converts Paul had made in Thessa-
lonika in the su mmer of 50 A.D. during his second missionary journey,
Ac 17:1-10. As a result of the hostility of some Jews he went on to Beroea,
and from there to Athens and Corinth where, it seems, he' wrote I Th during
..
1
!
the winter of 50-5 1. When he wrote this letter, his companions were Silas and
Ti mot hy . Timothy had paid a second visit to Thessalonika, and brought back J
o
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the good news of the ir faith under persecut ion , hence the affectionate t one of
the opening chapters, 1-3; these are followed by a ser ies of practical recom-
mendations, 4: 1-12; 5:12-28, interrup ted by an opportune instruction on the )
III
destiny o f the dead and on Christ' s parousia, 4: 11-5:II . 2 Th was probably I
written at Corinth a few mont hs later, making furt her practical reco mmen-
dations, I; 2: 13-3: 15, an d offeri ng fresh instruction on the time of the parousia
a nd t he signs that were to co me before it, 2: 1-12.
T he litera ry resemb lance betw een I and 2 Th is so close that some critics
consider 2 Th a forgery ma de by one who had a bsorbed Pa ul's ideas and
style, but it is ha rd to exp lain why t his should have been done; a more obvious
exp lana tion is that when, abo ut a year later, Paul had deepened his esc hato-
logical thought, he wrote th is secon d lett er but repeated various expressions
from th e first. The two are not co ntradictory but com plementary and the
earliest authorities believed that t hey were both wr itten by Paul.
T hese two lett ers are partic ularly imp ortant becau se of th eir escha tological
teach ing, but they also introd uce man y poin ts elaborated in subsequent lett ers.
At thi s earli er sta ge, Pa ul's ideas were str uctur ed aro und th e question of how
th e resurrection and parousia of Chr ist ca n bring salvation to his followers
whe ther alive or dea d, I T h 4: 13-18. Pa ul descr ibed th is parousia in the tr adi-
tional term s of Jewish an d the ea rliest Chris tian apocalyptic literature (i.e. th e
'eschatological d isco urse' of t he Synop tics, and pa rticularly of Mt). Like Jesus
himself he so metimes so em p has ised, I Th 5: I-II , the unpre dic table imminence
of the Co ming and the necessit y for vigilance, as to give the impression
t hat he an d his readers wo uld live to see it, I Th 4: 17 ; but in 2 Th
2: 1-12 he tried to allay the anxiety natura lly aroused and reminded his readers
that th e day co uld not come till certain signs had pre ceded it. Wh at t hese
signs were to be is not as clear to us as it mu st have been to the first rea ders.
Paul seems to co nsider the 'Ad versary' to be an ind ivid ua l pe rson who had to
wai t till the end of th e age before he co uld appear ; some writer s consi der
th at by th e phrase ' that which at present holds him back', 2 Th 2:6, Pa ul mea nt
the Roman empire, others that he meant th e pr eaching of the gospel ; no
con clusion has been reach ed .
1 and 2 Corinthians. 57 A.D.
Pa ul wrote th e letters to T hessalon ika during th e eighteen months he spe nt

I)
I N T R O D U CTI O N TO SA INT PA U L 25 6
evang elising Corinth, Ac 18:1-15, fro m the end of 50 to the middle of 52 A.D.
H is policy was always to estab lish the Christian faith in a cent re of pop ulation,
and here he chose the great a nd populous port of Co rinth, so that it co uld
spr ead from there into the whole of Achaia, 2 Co 1:I; 9:2. The Chris tian
I
com munity he esta blished grew stro ng, and was composed mostly of poor
peopl e, I Co I:26-28, but Cori nth was not only a great centre of hellenism
J and a magn et to every sort of phi losop hy and religion, it was also a notorious
centre of immorality; it was a milieu that could only create awkward problems
for those newly converted to a faith tha t had only recent ly been introd uced.
It was to the solutio n of these problems that Paul addressed himself when he
wrot e his two letters to the Christia ns of Corinth.
I Ho w these two letters came to be written now seems clear enough, though
some details a re still disp uted. T here had been an earlier letter tha n these two
If canonical ones, I Co 5:9- 13, but the date at which this first letter was writt en is
unknown and it has not survi ved. Before the end of the two-and-a-hal f years
J
he spent at Ephesus (54-57) on his third missionary journey, Ac 19:1-20:1,
I a Co rinthia n delegat ion a rrived to ask Paul certain ques tions, I Co 16:17;
an d as he had also received news of Corinth fro m Apollos, Ac 18:27f; I Co 16:12,
and fro m Chloe's household, I Co I:II , he felt obliged to write a second letter.
Th is is I Co, and it was written sometime near Easter , 57 (I Co 5:7f; 16:5-9 ;
compare Ac 19:21). Shortly afterwards, some sor t of crisis developed in Corinth
an d Pa ul was forced to pay a brief and pa inful visit, 2 Co I :23-2: I ; 12:14;
13:1-2 ; while there he promised another and a longe r visit, 2 Co I:15-16, which
never in fact took place . Instead , Pa ul sent a representative to whom he delegat ed
his a uthority : all that happened was that a second crisis developed; Paul's
a ut hority, committed to this delegate, had been flouted, 2 Co 2:5- 10; 7:12.
Pa ul still did not pay the promised visit, but sent a severe letter writt en ' with
ma ny tears ', 2 Co 2:31', 9; this third letter had the desired effect, 2 Co 7:8- 13.
This good news that he heard from Titus only reached Pa ul after he had gone
to Macedonia, 2 Co 2:12f; 7:5- 16, after leaving Ep hesus as a result of serious
disturbances of which we know litt le, I Co 15:32 ; 2 Co 1:8-10 ; Ac 19:23-40.
At this stage , towards t he end of 57, he wrote 2 Co . He must subsequently
have travelled via Corinth, Ac 20:11', cf. 2 Co 9:5; 12:14; 13:1, 10, to Jerusalem
where he was arres ted at Wh itsun.
It has been suggested that 2 Co 6:14-7: I is a frag ment of the lost first letter,
and 2 Co 10-13 part of the letter written 'in tears'. It wou ld be hard to prove
th at they were parts of these two pa rticular letters , but it is quite certain that
these two sections are not in their or iginal contex ts. The first section reads
like a n insert ion, 2 Co 7:2 follows naturally on 6:13, and the whole insertion,
6:14-7:I, has rema rkable affinity with some of the Essene literature discovered
at Qumran. The vehemence of the second sectio n, 2 Co 10-13, is certainly
not in place after the friendly tone of the first nine cha pters. To these two
dislocations sho uld be ad ded the fact that 9: I doe s not make sense after what
has been said in ch. 8 abo ut the collect ion, and is probably part of a completely
different note on the subject. The se are probably fragments of things Paul
wrote on different occasions , that were late r put in their present place as par t
of the pr ocess of preserv ing a co llection of the apo stle's writings.
In these letters to Cori nth, even the deta ils about Pa ul and the way he treated
his converts are important doc tri nally. I Co in pa rticular contains a great dea l
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25 7 INTRODUCTIO N TO SAI NT PAUL
of information about urgent pro blems that faced the chu rch and about the
.~ ~
decisions mad e to meet them : internally there were q uestions of moral conduct, -u
I Co 5:1-13, 6:12-20, of marriage and virginity, 7:1-40, of liturgical and eucha r-
istic meetings, of the charismata, 12:1-14:40 ; externally, questions of appeals
to civil courts, 6:I- I I, and eating foods sacrificed to idols, ch . 8-10. It was ~
Paul 's religious genius to turn what might have remained cases of conscience or
liturgi cal instruction int o a vehicle for the profound doctrine of Christian 5:
liberty, the sanctification of the body, the sup remacy of love, unio n with III
Christ. When forced to defend his apostolate, 2 Co 10-13, he does so in a
style of immense pow er, 2 Co I:12-6:10; and when he brings up the business
of collecting mone y, 2 Co 8-9, he discusses th e collection in the light of the ideal
J
I
of union between the churches. The eschat ological basis of his doctrine is
U.
always present in Paul's mind , and provides the perspective in which he explains
th e resurrection of the body, I Co 15; here, however, the apo calyptic imagery
of I and 2 Th gives place to a philosoph ical method of ju stifying a doctrine J
th at the G reek mind found so unsympath etic. As Paul penetrat es this new
Gre ek enviro nment, he tries to adapt th e Good News he proclaims, and this
he does with particular skill when presenting the folly of the cro ss to Greek hi
"
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wisdom . The apostle's conv erts at Corinth had split into faction s, each proud
of its own leader and boasting about his talents ; Paul remind ed them tha t
there is only one master, Chri st, and only one message, the cross , and th at
there is no wisdom outside that message, I Co I: 10-4:13. The importance
of this is that quite naturally through the way events had developed , without
surrendering anything of th e primacy of his eschatological thought, the inner
development of Paul's idea s led him to the point where he had to stress how
th e life we lead here and now is already a life of union between Chr ist and
his followers and that this union is achieved by faith which is th e only way to
know him. Later, when the Galatian crisis develop ed, Paul had to relate this
teaching to Judaism, and in doing so he explored further depths of this new
life into which people are born by faith.
II
,/
Galatians . Romans. 57-58 A.D .
The letters Paul wrote to the Christians of Galatia and Rome need to be
treated together, since both letters analyse the same problem. The first was
Paul 's immediate reaction to a particular situa tion , but the second, which is
his more considered opin ion , is more like a theological treatise than a letter,
and in it Paul systematically arranges all his new idea s that had emerged fro m
the argum ent. This close relationship between the two letter s is really the strong-
est reason against the early dating of G a (pre-49 A.D., the council of Jerusalem)
which some scholars have suggested. They argue th at Paul's seco nd visit to
Jerusalem, Ga 2:1-10, was the second visit mentioned in Ac 11:30; 12:25,
not the third, Ac 15:2-30, since several details here differ fro m Pa ul's account,
and that, as Pau l seems una ware of th e decree of the council, Ac 15:20,29
(cf. Ga 2:6), this lette r must have been written before it. All difficulties disappear
if it is supposed that th e 'Galatians' are th e Chr istia ns of Lycao nia and Pisidia,
evangelised by Paul on his first missionary journey when he returned by th e
way he had come; this would explain th e double visit that Ga 4: 13 seems to
imply. This hypothesis does not have very muc h to support it apart from the
fact that Lycaonia and Pisidia had been part of the province of Galatia in

INT ROD UC TI O N TO S A I N T PAUL 258
36-25 S.c.; in the Ist cent ury A.D ., however, 'Galatia' normally referred to
Galatia properly so called which lay to th e north of Lycaonia and Pisidia,
and it is unlikely that the Inhabita nts of each district were both called 'Ga latia ns' ,
Ga 3:I. T his 'South-Ga latia' hypothesis would not even be necessary if the
second visit of Ga 2:1- 10 could be identifi ed with the third visit of Ac 15;
and in fact this th ird visit of Ac seems to resemble the visit in Ga much more
closely than it does the second, Ac 11:30 ; 12:25, which could hav e been suffi-
ciently unimportant for Paul to have been j ustified in leaving it o ut of the
discussion in Ga, in spite of his assu rance, Ga I:20. It is even po ssible t hat
this seco nd visit of Ac never took place but is simply one of L uke's literary
doublets ; cf. Introd uction to Acts and Ac 11:30+ . In this view, then, (that
the letter to the C hristians of Ga latia was probably written eight years after
the co uncil of Jerusa lem) the reaso n Pa ul does not mention the decree could
be that the date of the decree was later than that of Ga (cf. Ac 15: I -l-). T his
would exp lain Peter's co nd uct that Pa ul says he critici sed, G a 2:11-14. T he
converts to whom the letter was addressed would then be the inhabitants of
the 'Galat ian terr itory' (i.e. North Galatia) through which Pa ul passed on his
second and third journeys, Ac 16:6; 18:23. The letter may have been written at
1
Eph esus, or even in Mac edon ia, abou t th e year 57.
The letter to the Chris tians of Ro me mus t, in th is case , have been written
f soo n afte r. In the winter of 57-58 Pau l was at Cor inth preparing to go to
I Jerusalem and fro m there to visit Rome on the way to Spain, Rrn 15:22-32;
I cf. I Co 16:3-6; Ac 19:21 ; 20:3. He had not fo unded the Roman church, and
any information he had abo ut it (fro m peo ple like Aq uila, Ac 18:2) was not
considera ble: all we learn fro m occasional allusions in the letter is that it was a
I mixed com munity and t hat there was a dan ger of Jewish and non-Jewish
co nverts loo king down on each other. In view of this danger, Paul tho ught
it would be prudent to pave the way for his visit by sending a letter (through
Pho ebe the deaconess. Rm 16: I) in which he stated systematically his ideas
I' abo ut the problem of how J udaism an d Christianity were related to each
ot her ; these ideas were the ones he had been forced to develop by the Ga latian
cris is. In R m he reassem bled all th e ideas he had expressed in Ga and by doing
so made them even more prec ise. Ga has a mixed personal and emot ional
appea l, I:12-2:21, with do ctrinal a rgument, 3:1-4:31, a nd earnest ad mon ition ,
5:1-6:18. Rm on the other hand is a carefull y planned who le: it has only a few
ma in sectio ns a nd these a re shown to be a ll part s of one whole by a preliminary
sectio n in which Pa ul o utlines a ll the subjects that are subseq uent ly developed .
Like Co a nd Ga, t he a ut henticity o f the letter to Roman Christians is not
serio usly disp uted though it is suggested that ch. 15 a nd 16 are late r insert ions.
Cha pter 16 has many greeti ngs. and it may qu ite easily have been a separate
not e for the church at Ep hesus, but in spite of certa in MSS ch. 15 cannot be
amp utated so easily. C ritics who keep ch. 16 as part of the origina l letter
suggest tha t it was qu ite possible for Pa ul to have met a great man y C hristians
who, as Jews . had eight yea rs previously been expelled under Cla ud ius and then
late r o n go ne back to Ro me, a nd that it was dip lomatic for him to mention
thei r na mes in a lette r to a ch urch he had not yet visited. The unusual style
of the doxo logy, 16:25-27, cer ta inly suggests that it co uld be a later insertion,
but this in itself is not sufficient a rgument against its authenticity.
T he letter to Cori nth co nt rasted C hrist as the Wisdo m of God with the
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2 59 IN T RODUCTI O N T O SAI NT PAUL cr
human wisdom of ph ilosophers, but in the letters to Galatia and Rome, Paul
contrasted the perfection people can achieve by purely human effort with , cr
"8
Christ who is the Perfection of God. What Pa ul was trying to do was to correct
the unbalance of the Greek outlook that relied too exclusively on reason,
j ust as in the earlier letters he had tried to correct the unb alance of the Jew ish
outlook that relied to o heavi ly on the Law . J uda ising Christians who had ~
visited Galatia ad vised the pagan conve rts to have thems elves circumcised to
ensure the ir salvation. Th is wo uld have meant ad optin g all the prescri ptions u.
w
of the La w, Ga 5:2f, the implications of which, to Pa ul, made no nsense of
Christ' s redemptive work , Ga 5:4, a nd it was for this reason that he opposed
t he circumcision of his converts so violently. He maintained that the true value !
of the Law could be appreciated only by seeing its plaee in the development of I
U.
God's plan , Ga 3:23-25. The Mosaic Law was good and holy, Rm 7: 12, because
it really did conve y God 's will to the Jews, but as law it was unable to provide
anyone with the spiritual power necessary to obey it: all the Law could do was
make people aware of sin and of the need they have for Go d to help them, o
Ga 3:19-22 ; Rm 3:20; 7:7-13. All human being s need this help , and it is neces-
sarily a gift fro m God : it was promised to Ab raham long before the Law was
~:
formulated , Ga 3:16-18; Rm 4, and has now been given in Jesus Christ: his [
death a nd resurrection have created the human race anew: once polluted
by Ada m's sin, it now has Christ himself as its prototype, Rm 5:12-21. All
human beings united to C hrist by faith , and living the new life by sharing the
Spirit of Christ, a re made perfect gratuitously a nd so enabled to live in the way
God wants human beings to live, Rm 8: 1-4. T his faith must result in t he h uman
person doing 'good work s', but these will not be at all t he same as th ose 'good
works ', commanded by t he La w, o n which Jew s were so pr oud to rely ; th ey will
be work s prompted by th e presence of the Spiri t, Ga 5:22-25; Rm 8:5-13,
and they will be open to all who have fait h, whet her Jew or pa gan, Ga 3:6-9, 14.
The prepa rat ory or Mosaic stage of religion is over, and Jews who claim they
are continuing to fulfil the Law are in fact pu tting themselves outside the pale
of salvation. Had God not permitted their blindness, how ever, the pagans
would not ha ve found themselves invited inside . Th is cannot be taken as
meaning t hat G od has failed to keep his prom ise to the Jews, it means that their
failure to live up to G od's or iginal choice will no t be permanent: some of them,
the 'remnant' fore told by t he prophets, have already becom e believers, and one
day all of them will, R m 9-11. Meanwhile, all converts with out exception,
whether t hey are Jews or not, must love a nd help each other as one fa mily,
Rm 12:1- 15:13. The general outlines of this th esis were sketched in Ga; the
details added in Rm are much deeper insights into mysteri es such as the pos ition
of the hum an race as waiting for salva tion, Rm 1:18-3:20; the spiritual struggle
of each individ ual to be saved , Rm 7:14-25; God's gift of salvation, Rm 3:24
and passim ; what th e death and resurrection of Jesus actuall y achieved,
Rm 4:24f; 5:6-11, and how Chri stian s shar e in thi s by dying and risin g in faith
and baptism, Ga 3:26f; Rm 6:3-11; the vocati o n of th e whole human race to be
children of God, Ga 4:1-7 ; R m 8:14-17; the love and wisdom of God who,
being perfec t a nd faithful to his promi ses, only reveals his salvific will stage by
stage, Rm 3:2 1-26 ; 8:31-39. Pa ul's thought is still bas ically eschatological
- we are saved 'i n hope ', Rm 5: I- I I ; 8:24 - b ut, as in his letters to Co rinth,
the stress is on the already present reality of salvation: t he Spirit that was

))
INTROD UCTION TO SAINT PAUL 260
promised is already possessed, as 'first -frui ts', Rm 8:23, by the Christian
who from now on lives in Christ, Rm 6:11, an d Christ in him, Ga 2:20.
T he letter to the Romans is a mag nificent though incom plete synthesis of
Paul's theology: it does not exhaust his doctrine. The Lutheran controversy
showed it was the most important of Paul's letters, but it would be a pity if
this led people to neglect the other letters which are necessary to complete a
really adequate review of all Paul's theological ideas.
Philippians. 56-57 A.D.
The Roman colony of Philippi was one of the principal cities of Macedonia ;
it had been evangelised by Paul in 50 A.D . during his second missionary journey,
Ac 16:12-40, and he revisited it twice du ring his third: in the a utumn of 57,
Ac 20:1-2, a nd at Passover 58, Ac 20:3-6. His co nverts there had proved their
affection by contributing to his support first at Thessalonika, Ph 4: 16, t hen
at Corinth, 2 Co I I:9, and later still had commissioned Epaphrod itus to take
further contributions to him, Ph 4: 10-20. Paul wrote a letter (Ph) to thank
them, and to say that he accepted their gifts. Normally, Paul was afraid of
doing any thing that might give the impress ion that he was trying to mak e
money out of his preaching, Ac 18:3+ , so it seems he was on terms of special
inti macy with his converts at Philippi.
At the time of writing, Pa ul was under arrest, Ph 1:7, 12-17, and for a long
time this was assu med to be t he first Roman captivity. Rome , however, was
( so far away t hat it seems unlike ly that communications between Paul (with
whom Epap hroditus was stayi ng) and Philippi could have been as frequent
or as easy as they ap pear to have been, 2:25-30. Nor is it clear why, if Paul
were under arrest in Rome or in Caesarea, Ac 23:23, the Philippians should
say that the con tribution brou ght by Epaphrodit us was the first chance they
r had had since the second missionary jo urney (cf. t he gifts mentioned in 4:10,16)
of helping the apostle, since Pa ul had visited them twice on his third journey.
It may be easier to suppose that Pa ul act ually wrote th is letter dur ing the
third journey, before reac hing Philippi, i.e. while he was at Ephes us, the capital
of Ro man Asia, in 56-57 hoping to visit Macedonia after his liberation (compare
Ph 1:26; 2:19-24 and Ac 19:2I f; 20: 1; I Co 16:5). The 'Praetorium', Ph 1:13,
and 'Caesar's household', 4:22, do not necessaril y refer to Rome, since the re
were praetoria in all the major cit ies and there were most certa inly detachments
of the praetorian guard in Ep hesus. It is tr ue that t here is no reference anywhere
to an Ephesian captivity; but Luke says very litt le about Pau l's three years there,
Ac 19:1-20: I, and Paul himself mentions having foug ht with beasts at Ephesu s,
1 Co 15:32, and troubles and imminent death in Roman Asia, 2 Co 1:8-10.
If we accept this hypothesis we shall have to dissociate Ph from Col, Ep
and Phm and group it with the 'great letters', notably with I Co . The style
a nd content of t he letter are q uite consistent with this. It is not particularly
doctrinal, it is just a frien dly letter, giving some news to his converts at Philippi ,
warning them against the 'bad work men' who are rui ning his work in oth er
places and might turn on t hem next, and, above all, appealing for the unity
of corporate humili ty. As part of th is appeal Pa ul gives us, 2:6-11, the poem
on th e humili ty of the Messiah ; a nd whether he wrot e it or is q uoting it, this
poem is o ur chief proof that the earl y Church believed in the divine pr e-existence
of Jes us.
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26/ I N T R O D U C T I O N TO S A INT P AU L 0:
The authenticity of the letter is generally accepted , and it is quite possible ,
, 0:
as some writers suggest , that it may be made up of several or iginally separate ' 0
~ ()
notes.
Ephesians. Colossians. Philemon . 61-63 A.D.
The letters to the Christians of Ephesus and Colossae (both in Roman Asia) ~
and the letter to Philemon are closely related: the mission on which Onesimus OJ:
u,
is sent in Col 4:9 is the same as that in Phm 12; the same is true of Tychicus w
in Col 4:7f a nd Ep 6:2If; Paul's companions in Col 4:10-14 are the same as in
Phm 23-24 ; Col and Ep are very similar in style and doctrine. All three were
written while Paul was under arrest, Phm I, 9f, 13, 23; Col 4:3,10,18; Ep 3:I ;
4:1; 6:20, and this is almost certainly his arrest (61-63) in Rome rather than u..
(58-60) in Caesa rea where it would be difficult to account for the presence
of Mark and of Onesimus, or (56-57) in Ephesus since there is nothing to
suggest that Luke was ever the re with Paul. The degree to which Pa ul's style
o
has changed, and his doctrine developed, suggests some interval between
Col, Ep and the 'great letters' Co, Ga , Rm. This interval (57-61) came to an
end when Epaphras, Col I:7, Paul's delegate, arrived from Colossae (a church "I
I
Paul had not found ed) 1:4; 2: I, with disturbing news. Paul promptly wrote a
letter to the Christians there, and gave it to Tychicus to deliver. The inherent
dangers of this new situation stimulated Paul to rethink things at a deeper level,
and just as Rm had systematised the ideas outlined in Ga , so now, at about
the same time as Col, Paul wrote another letter in which he restructured his
teaching from the new ang le that he had been forced to adopt by the recent
developments at Colossae. Th is new synt hesis of Paul's thought is referred
to as the lette r he wrote to the Ch ristians at Ephesus. The title, however, is
misleading, and has very sca nty MS support, cf. Ep I: I. This is a general
letter in which Paul is speaking to the who le Ch urch and not jus t to the chur ch
at Ephesus where he ha d spent th ree years, Ep I:15; 3:2-4, th ough it was mean t
in a special way for Colossae and th e other Christian communities of the
Lycus valley among whom he asks for it to be circulated, Co l 4:16.
Cr itics have often disputed who the a utho rs are of these two letters: for
Col th e balance now is in favo ur of Paul, since not only does it reta in his basic
ideas but the new ideas in it are such as seem to be sat isfactorily explained
by the circu msta nces menti oned a bove. T here is, however, no such agree ment
that Ep, in the for m in which we have it, is a letter of Pa ul's. Among arg uments
in favo ur of Paul are: I. that Ep is not the work of any derivative thinker
like a disciple, bu t of someone with a genius for creative thinking; 2. that
the leisurely, rich and extravagant style of Col and Ep which contrasts so
much with the quick, jerky discussions of earlier letters, can probably be
explained by these wide new horizons that Paul was opening for himself ;
3. that the style of the earlier letters is not at all consistent, and two early
examples of th is later contemplative, semi-litu rgical manner can be found in
2 Co 9:8-14, Rm 3:23-26; 4. that the slavish and awkward borrowing by
Ep of ph rases from Col might be due to t he fact that Paul was not in the hab it
of composi ng every word of his letters, and on this occasion he may have
allowed a disciple to playa greater pa rt tha n usual.
The danger at Colossae was due to the basically Jewish (Col 2: 16) speculations
they had taken up about the celestial or cosmic powers . These were the powers

I NTRODUCTIO N T O SAINT PAUL 262
thought to be responsible for the regular move ment of the cosmos, and the
speculations about them. much influenced by hellenistic philosophy, attached
an importance to these powers that threatened the supremacy of Christ. Paul
accepts these cosmological premisses and, far from expressing any doubts
about these powers, he associates them with the angels of Jewish tradition,
2:15; all he is concerned about is to show their subordinate place in the schem e
of salvation. Their task had been to 'mediate' the Law and to administer it
and that task is now accomplished: Christos Kyrios, Christ the Lord , has
established a new order of things and he now governs the cosmos. Raised up to
heaven, he is above all the cosmic powers and has stripped them of the ir ancient
dignities, 2: 15. Because he is the Son, the Father's image, he was their lord
already when the wor ld was made; now in the new creation he is their confirmed
and absolute master, for gathered into him is the pleroma, the fulness of Being,
that is to say the fulness both of God and of all that exists through God' s
creative power, I: 13-20. Christians have been set free from these 'elements
of the world', 2:8,20, through being united with their Master and thus sharing
in his fulnes s, 2: I0, Christia ns must never again accept their tyranny by sub-
mitting to an old and now impotent law, 2: 16-23. United to the dead and risen
Christ by baptism, 2: 11-13, they are parts of his Body and live a new life,
his life, because as Head of his body he communicates his life to it, 2: 19. Paul had
always taught that salvation consisted of sharing the life of Christ in this way;
the new perspective in which the arguments at Colossae forced him to see
things was one in which he saw the effects of Christ's work on the entire
cosmos . Since the human race forms part of the cosmos, the cosmos itself
must be influenced by the salv ific act of the one and only Lord of all creation.
In this pe rspective, Paul is able to widen his whole concept of the 'Body of
Christ', wh ich was an idea that, five years or so before in I Co 12:12f, he had
only touched on. Three aspects of this broader view, which focusses on the
function of Christ as Head, are : that the scope of salvation is seen to be cosmic;
that Christ, into whom the Ch urc h has to str uctur e itself, is this same victor
who has triump hed over the whole cosmos; and finally that the concept of the
futu re, eschatological, promise, as already realised, becomes very muc h mo re
centr al, cf. Ep 2:6 + .
When Paul wrote the letter we know as Ephesians, it was along the same line s,
but this time he can assume th e conclusions of the previous letter about th e
subordinate place of th e Powers, Ep I:20-22, and give furth er thought to how
the Church as th e Body of Christ embraces the whole of the new Universe,
' the fulne ss of him who is filled , all in all ', 1:23. This concept of the pleroma
is the inner most depth of Pa ul's vision , the central statement of everyth ing
he wrote. It for ms th e new foc us ro und which he can synth esise many of his
p revious ins ights . In particula r he reco nsiders some of th e probl ems he had
alread y dealt with in Rm , which is the mo st importa nt stat eme nt of Pa ul's
previou s period of thoug ht. In a few phrases he reca lls his survey of hu manity
under the sha dow of sin and of how salvation is a gift given by Go d th rou gh
Ch rist, 2: 1-10. Next, he re-exa mines th e pro blem of Jew an d pagan tha t had so
tro ubled him before, Rm 9- 11; but this time, in th e calm eschatological light
of the cosmic Christ, he is awa re of the unity of Jews an d pagans, who are now
reconciled since each is equally part of the New H uma nity, and who, together,
advance toward the Father, Ep 2: 11-22. Th at it should be the non -Jew who
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26 3 I NTRODUCTION TO SAI NT PAUL Cl:
should be benefited by t he Messi ah who came to save Israel is the 'mystery',
1:9; 3:3-6,9; 6: 19; Col 1:27; 2:2; 4:3, which occupies his thoughts for the last ~~
-u
five years or so of his life and which he writes about in the inimitable Pa uline
way. He writes about the infinite wisdom of this 'mystery', 3:9f; Col 2:3, abo ut
how it proves Christ's love to be inexhaustible, Ep 3:18f, and about how, out ~
of all possible people, God had made the unexpected choice of Paul, who was
'the least of all', to proclaim this mystery, Ep 3:2-8. That the full truth, about :r
Q.
salvation being for the whole human race, was not revealed before, was itself w
part of the very scheme God had for realising this salvation, Ep I:3-14, the
culmination of which was the salvifie act of marriage between Christ and the
human race which is his bride, the Ch urch, 5:22-32.
CL
The short letter Pa ul wrote at abo ut the same ti me as Co l and Ep is to tell
Phi lemon of Co lossae, v.19, one of Paul 's converts, that Ones imus, a ru naway
slave belonging to Philemon , and also one of Pa ul's converts, had returned.
It is a very short note, and Pa ul wrote it in his own handwriting, v. 19. The 8
letter reveals a gentle, affectionate side of the apostle, and also shows how he
applies his views on slavery to a particular case, Rm 6:15 +: as far as society is
concerned, the master still owns his slave, but the two of them should remember III
that they are brothers serving the same Master, v. 16; cf. Col 3:22 ; 4:1. ~
1 Timothy. Titus. 2 Timothy. 65 A .D.
Paul's two letters to T imothy and his letter to Titus are all three of them
closely related in substance, form and historical backgro und. I Tm and Tt
both seem to have been written from Macedonia, T imothy being at that time
in Ephesus, 1 Tm 1:3, where Paul hoped to j oin him in the near future, 3:14;
4: 13, while Titus was in Crete where he had been left by Paul , Tt I:5, who
planned to winter at Nicopolis in Epirus where Titus was to join him, Tt 3:12.
By the time he wrote 2 Tm , Paul was a prisoner in Rome, 1:8; 16f; 2:9, b ut had
visited Troas, 4:13, and M iletus, 4:20. The position is not hopefu l, 4:16, and
Pa ul feels sure he will die soon, 4:6-8, 18; he is lo nely and wou ld like T imothy
to come to him as soon as possible, 4:9-16,21. In spite of certain similarities,
th is is no t the sit uation either of the Roman captivity, 61-63, or of the j ourney
th at preceded it. So me critics have concl uded that the letters were wri tt en
not by Pa ul, but by a forger who put in these details to make the lett er seem
more a ut hentic and as Pauline as possible. There is, however, no proof th at
Pa ul d ied at the end of his first captivity, in fact Ac 28:30 suggests he was set
free. It is not impossibl e, therefo re, for Pa ul to have made another jou rney,
not necessarily to Spain as he had once planned seven or eight years before,
Rm 15:24,28, but in the east as he had planned a year or so ago, Phm 22. It is
possible then that I Tm and Tt were written abou t 65 A.D . on that jo urney
thro ugh Crete, Asia Minor, Macedonia and Greece . T he backgr ound of 2 Tm
seems to be a fresh captivity, ending in Pau l's dea th ; in tha t case, th is letter
woul d be Paul's last will and testament, and m ust have been wr itten shortly
befor e his marty rdom in 67.
Paul wrote t hese lett ers in order to instr uct two of his most loyal followers,
Ac 16: 1+ ; 2 Co 2:13+ , how to organise and gove rn the communities he had
co nfided to their care; since the 18th cent ury they have gene rally been grouped
as the ' pastoral letters' . Some critics suggest that they pres uppose a stage in the
evolution of the Church's hierarchy that only occurred after Paul's death:
), I N TR O D UCTIO N TO SAI NT PA UL 264
others think that the situation they do supp ose would not have been at all
unlikely towards the end of Paul 's lifetime. The titles 'episcopos' and 'presbyter',
Tt 1:5-7, are still, cf. Ac 20:17,28, practically synonymous, as they had been
in the earliest communities governed by a college of elders, Tt 1:5+. There is
no trace in these letters of the monarchic bishops of whom Ignatius of Antioch
writes for ty years later. There are signs, howeve r, that this development is
taking plac e: Tim othy and Titus are empowered to act as delegates of Pau l ;
they are responsible for several communities though they a re no t att ached
to any of them , Tt 1:5; they are living in an interim period when ap ostolic
authority was in the process of being transmitted, since the apostles themselv es
were dying. Not long after the dea th of Paul this authority beca me vested in the
head of the college of presbyters, t he ' bishop ' . To invent the interim period
represented in the pastoral letters would seem to be so poi ntless that its presence
is a valuable indication of th eir authenticity. It sho uld also be noticed that these
episcopoi-presby teroi are not j ust ad ministrat ive officials; they a re that, but they
are also primarily responsible for teaching and governing, I Tm 3:2,5 ; 5:17;
Tt 1:7,9, and as such they are the ancestors of our 'bi shops' and 'priests'.
Man y criti cs have thought the insistence on 'sou nd teaching', I Tm I: 10, etc.,
and on keepi ng the depo sit of faith, I Tm 6:20 ; 2 Tm I: 14, uncharacteristic
of a bold ori ginal thinker like Paul. On the ot her han d it must be remem bered
that Paul felt his end was near and tha t he probably felt it his duty to warn
his youn g helpers against the so rt of speculation he had seen developing.
r The re were new ideas going ro und which, if believed in, would make shipwreck
of th e faith , I Tm 1:19. There is no need to assume tha t these ideas were 2nd
century Gnostic teachings being attacked by someone writing under Paul 's
name. T hese idle q uestions, I Tm 6:4, empty problems, ' myths and endless
genealogi es', I Tm I:4, 'Je wish myth s', Tt 1:14, 'disputes about the Law',
Tt 3:9, and the various ascetical practices they seemed to involve, I Tm 4:3,
would all appear to belong to those groups of hellenised and syncretistic ideas
r affecting Judaism , which had formed part of the crisis in Colossae.
These letters are certainly not written in Paul's distinctive style: they flow
smoothly without any of the fire and exuberance of the early letters, and the
r vocabulary used is very different. Some critics have tried to explain th is by
saying th at Paul was getting old, and that being in prison affected him ; but
Col , Ep, Ph were written less than five years before, and Paul was not un der
arres t when he wrote I Tm and Tt. Attempts have been made to separate the
r authentic sections fro m lat er additions, but these have not proved very satis-
factory. T he alter native would appear to be that Paul , as in the case of Ep
but to a greater degree, must have given someone who was both disciple and
secretary an unprecedented amou nt of freedom. Lu ke was with Paul at the time,
r 2 Tm 4:II, and critics have occasionally maintained that they could detect
similarities between his style and th at of the pas toral letters.
Hebrews. 67 A.D.
The q uestion of who wrote this letter to the Jewish Christians has, unli ke
the disputed aut hors hip of the pastoral letters, been a subject of debate from th e
earliest.times. Not that its canonical status was often qu estioned, but up to the
end of the 4th cent ury the Western Church denied that Pa ul had written it,
and the Eastern Church only affirmed it with many reservations about its
2 65 I NTRODUCTIO N TO SAINT PAUL
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o
a:
litera ry composition (Clement of Alexandr ia; Origen). Its vocabu lary and style
have a simplicity and a distinction qu ite uncha racteristic of Pau l; the way in ~~
~ (J
which it q uotes and uses the Old Testament is different from Paul's; the usual
Pa uline greetings and int roduction are lacking, and though its doctri ne has
Pauline overtones, it is so original that its immediate att ribution to Paul is
~
difficult. Most crit ics agree that Pa ul could not have been its author in the same
sense as he was author of the other letters, but he is felt to have had sufficient :I:
u,
influence, direct or (more likely) indirect , to warrant its inclusion from early W
times in the corpus Paulinum.
No sor t of agre ement exists as to who act ually wrote the letter ; Barnabas,
Silas, Ar istio n, etc. have been suggested; per haps the most likely is Apo llos,
the Alexa ndrian Jew who is praised by Lu ke for his eloq uence, apostolic zeal u,
a nd knowledge of the scriptures, Ac 18:24-28. No t on ly are these q ualities
re flected in the lett er itself, but its language a nd tho ught , by having sufficient
affi nity with Philo, also suggest Alexandr ian culture. The arg ument of the letter, (J
pleaded with rhetorical sk ill, is founded ent irely on the Old Testament.
The place and date of writing are equally uncertai n, and who it was intended
VI
for is unknown . But t he autho r seems to be writing from Ita ly, 13:24, and he 111
;r
I--
spea ks as if the Temple were still open for wor ship , 8:4f, warn ing his readers
again st the temptation of going back to it, and , when he emp hasises the tra nsit-
ory natu re of the Mosaic cult, he make s no reference to t he destruction of the
Temple. This suggests he was writing before 70 A.D . On the other hand, he
certain ly makes use of Pa ul's letters from pr ison a nd therefore wro te after 63.
If the crisis beh ind the a uthor's urgent appeal for unsha keable fait h, 10:25 etc.,
is the first thr eat of the Jewish War, the letter co uld be dated 67 A.D .
The tit le ' to the Hebrew s' da tes from t he 2nd cent ury and is well chosen.
The lett er clearly assume s not only that its readers are thoroughly familiar
with the Old Covenant but that they are Jewish Christians, perhaps even
Jewish pries ts, cf. Ac 6:7, to j udge by the emphasis on public wor ship and
ceremoni al. Ha ving become Chr istians, they seem to have left Jerus alem
and gone for shelter to some coastal town like Caesarea o r Antioch. They are 11
I
tired of exile a nd th ink longin gly of the sple ndo ur of Te mple worship a nd of the
pa rt th ey played in it ; t heir new faith is not very stro ng, and they have not
yet prop erly understood it; persec utio n disco urages them an d they are tempted
to go back .
The letter was written to them to try to prevent th is happening, 10:19-39.
To t hese exiles t he author presents Christia n life in the perspect ive of the
Exod us, marc hing to the Place of Rest, t he Promised La nd of heaven , an
exod us led not by Moses but by Christ, 3:1-6, a nd led by the same light of faith
and hope that had accompanied their ancesto rs o n the Exodus and had illumined
all the saints of old, 3:7-4: II; I I passim. Christ himself replaces the old
priesthood a nd, being a priest like Melchisede k, he is higher tha n Aaron ,
4:14-5:10; 7. T he ineffectual sacrifices of levitical wors hip are replaced by the
one uniquely efficacious sacrifice of Ch rist himself, 8:1- 10:18. To prove th is,
the a uth or shows how Jes us Ch rist, the incarnate Son of God ; is, as Leader
and Priest, higher tha n all the ange ls and ruler of all things, ch. 1-2.
In this lette r, st rictly the ological and exegetical passages alternate with
passages of exhortation, but th e main themes t hemselves are interwoven in
a very intricate and oriental way, as disco ncerting to some modern western
 ::;
o
I NT RO D U CTI ON TO S A I N T PAUL 266 cz:

rea ders as its met h od of usin g sc rip t ure. T hese are the reasons why this letter
.~ ~
can tell us so mu ch ab ou t t yp ology, abou t th e way the earliest Christians - U
co nceived t he ha rm on y of th e Old an d New Testaments, and about the way
th ey un derst ood the redemp tive work of Jesus in terms of God's whole plan of
sa lvation. Add to a ll t ha t it te lls us its deep int uitions into the centre of Christian ~
belief, and it will be clear why this semi-Pauline unsigned document is one of
the most important books of t he New Testament.
ROMANS ::r:
a.
w

THE LETTER OF PAUL

TO THE CHURCH IN ROME c,

Address- o
Ac 26:16- 18
From Paul, a serva nt of Christ Jesus who has been called to be an apostle, b Ga 1:10,15

1 and specially cho sen to preach the Good News that God -promised long
ago thro ugh his prophets in the script ures.
Ph 1: 1
Coll:l
,
l Ui
2 S 7:1 + "I
3 This news is abou t th e Son of God who, accordin g to the human nature he M ' 9:27+ If-
I Tm 3:16
4 took. was a descendant of David: -it is about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the Rv 22:16
9:5+ ; 10:9
order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed' Son 1 Co 6:14
of God in all his power through his resur rection fro m the dead." -T hrough him
He b 11;8
we received grace an d ou r apo stolic mission to preach the obedience of faith'
Ac 9:15
6 to all pagan natio ns in hon our of his name. •You are one of these nations, and
7 by his call belong to Jesus Ch rist. -To you all, then, who are God's beloved in
Ac 9:13+
Rome, called to be sain ts, may G od our Father a nd the Lord Jesus Christ send 1 Co 8:6
grace an d peace.
Tha nksgiving and prayer
16:19
8 First I thank my G od thro ugh Jesus Christ for all of you an d for the way in
I Thl:8 ;2:5
9 which your faith is spoken of all over the world. •The God I worship/ spirituall y'
2 Co 1:23
by prea ching the Good News of his Son knows that I never fail to mention you P h 1:8
2 Tm 1:3
10 in my prayers, -and to ask to be allowed at long last the op portuni ty to visit I Th 2:17
I m 4:15
11 you , if he so wills. •F or I am longing to see you eithe r to stre ngthen you by

1 a . Ad op ting the co nventio n o f hi s t ime Paul begin s
lett ers wit h an int ro du ctory para graph (na mes o f sende r
an d receiver, good wishes) fo llowed by th a nk s and a
wish . He co lo urs thi s, howev er . with h is own C hris tian
s p irit. a nd o fte n manage s to fit th eol o gica l id eas int o
it so as to anticip ate the pr inci pal t hemes of eac h
le tte r. In R m th es e t he me s a re: God's freedo m (0
ch ouse his peo pl e; t he co n nec tion between fait h a nd
be ing mad e ho ly ; sa lva tio n through C hr tsr'a d eath and
re sur rect ion: th e harmo ny of the two Test a ments.
b. A Jew is h titl e t ha t mean s 'en voy', d . I n 13:16:
2 Co 8:23; Ph 2:25. so me times use d in the N .T . for the
T welve ch osen by Chr ist. M t 10:2 ; Ac 1:26 ; 2:37. erc. :
I Co 15:7 : R v 21:14. to be his wit nesses. Ac 1:8 1- .
so me times in a wider sense fo r those sen t to p rea ch
th e gospel. Rm 16:7 : I Co 12:28 ; Ep 2:20 ; 3:5 ; 4:11.
T ho ug h Pau l was no t a mem ber o f the T we lve. the
fac t th at he h ad been appoin ted mi ssionary to the
gentiles by G od. Ac 26:17; R m 11:13: I Co 9:2 : Ga 2:8 ;
1 T m 2:7. co nsti tu tes h im an ap ostl e of C hr ist. Rm 1:1:
I Co 1:1: etc.• equal to the Twelve, Ac 10:41. beca use
Ilke the m he ha d see n the rise n Christ. I Co 9: 1. an d
bee n se nt by h im . Rm 1:5 ; Ga I: 16. to be ~i s witn ess.
Ac 26:16. In spi te of being ' th e leas t of th e apos tfes",
1 Co 15:9. he is th eir eq ua l, I Co 9:5 ; Ga 2:6-9, beca use
h e d id not learn the Good News he p reaches from
t he m. Ga 1:1, 17.19.
c. Yul g. 'p red esti ned',
d . For Paul C hris t rose on ly because God ra ised
him . I T h 1:10; I Co 6: 14; 15:15 ; 2 Co 4;14; Ga 1: 1;
Rm 4:24: 10:9 : Ac 2:24 + : cf. 1 P 1:2 1, t hus dis p laying
h is 'p ower' , 2 C o 13:4 : Rm 6:4; P h 3:10 : Co I 2:12:
En 1: 19f ; Heb 7: 16 : a nd because God ra ised h im to
life th rough th e Hol y Sp irit . R m 8:11. C h rist is esta-
b lished in Rlo ry as Kvrios, P h 2:9· 1l + : Ac2 :36;
Rm 14:9 . dese rvi ng anew, t his time in virtue of his
messiani c wo rk, t he n ame he had fro m e tern ity. 'Son
o r God ', Ac 13:33. Heb l :5; 5:5,Cf. R m8:ll +;9:5 +,
c. Subjec tive aen it lve: the obedience im plici t in the
virtue of fait h. Cf. Ac 6:7 ; Rm 6: 16-17: 10:16; 15:18 ;
16:19.26: 2 Co 10:5-6 : 2 Th 1:8 ; I P 1:22 ; Heb 5:9;
11;8,
f. Lit. ., o lTer wors hip in my sp iri t'. T he ap os tolic
mini stry is a n ac t of wo rshi p offere d 10 Go d. cr. 15:16.
like th e C hris t ia n life itsel f, sinee both depend on
chu rity, 12:1 ; Ph2;17 +; 3:3; 4: 18; Ac 13:2 ; 2 Tm 1:3;
4:6; Hcb9:14; 12:28 ; 13;15; 1 P2:5 .
g . By sp irit ( pneuma I Pa u l someti mes mea ns the.
hie hes t ele me nt in a h uma n bein g. R m 1:9 ; 8:16:
1 Co2: 11: 16;18; 2 Co2: 13; 7:13; Ga6:18; P h 4:23 ;
P hm 25; 2 T m 4:22 ' cf. M' 5:3: 27:50; Mk 2:8; 8:12;
Lk 1;47,80 ; 8:55; 23:46; In 4;23f; 11:33; 13;2 1; 19:30 ;
Ac 7:59: 17: 16; 18:25 : 19:2 1. T his. he dis ting uis hes
from the flesh . t he lo wer ele ment (l Co 5:5 ; 2 Co 7: I :
Co I2:S: cf. Mt 26:4 10 : 1 P 4:6: Rm 7:5), from the
bod y (I Co 5:3f; 7;34; er, Jm 2:26 ; Rm 7:24). and from
 I:I 2 ROMANS 268 26 9 R O MA NS 2:8
sha ring a spiritua l gift with you , -or what is better, to find enco uragement 12 4 doi ng exactly the same, do you th ink you will escape God's ju dgement? ·Or are
a mo ng you from our common faith .• \ want yo u to know, brothers, t hat [ ha ve you a busin g his abundan t goodness, patience and toleratio n, not rea lising that W5 11:23 ~~
13 Si 5:4 -u
15:23
Ac 19:2 1 ofte n plann ed to visit yo u- thou gh unt il now J have always been prevented- this goodness of G od is meant to lead you to repen tanc e? •Your stubborn refusal 2A cP 7:53:9
/
I' in the hope that I might wor k as fruitfully among you as J have done among th e to repent is only adding to th e ange r G od will have to war ds you on th at da y of 2z»T h/:14- /8
1:5-10
Ps6
anger when his just judgement s will be made known. • He will repay each one as Heb 11:6p 2:12
other pagans. • \ owe a du ty to G reeks" just as muc h as to bar barians, to t he
~
14
edu cated just as much as to the uneduc at ed, -and it is t his that makes me wa nt! 15 his works deserve," •Fo r thos e who sought renown and hon our and imm ortality 1 P 1:7
II to br ing the Go od News to yo u too in Rom e. by always doing good there will be eternal life ; -for th e unsubm issive who
refused to take trut h for the ir guide a nd took depravity instea d, there will be :I:
0-
W

SAL V A T I O N B Y FAITH th e psy che a lso (l Th 5:23 +: cf . Heb4:12: Jude 19): (2 T m 4 :7 : cr . 1:14 ; I Tm 6:20) righ t UP to the vision

II I. J U S TI F I C A TI O N
it bea rs some rela tio ns h ip to nons (Rm 7:25 : Ep 4:23).
C r. al so 'd isp osition s o f the sp irit' in I Co 4 :2 1:
2 Co 12:18 ; Ga 6:1; Ph 1:27 . By c hoosing th is tradl-
tion al te rm (c f , Is 11:2 +) inst ea d of the nons of the
and po ssess ion of G od (I Co 13:12 : cr. 1 Jn 3:2).
k. In th e actual dev elo p me n t of salvation hi st o ry
the Jews co me first : ' sa lva tio n co me s fr om the Jews'
(I n 4 :22 ). C f. Rm 2:9·10; M l lO:5f ; 15:24 ; M k 7: 27 ;
G ree k philosopher s. the N .T. ca n sug ges t a deep Ac 13:5 +. Bu t a bu se of t h is pr ivileg e co u ld condemn c,
The theme stated affin ity be twee n th e hu m a n spirit an d th e Sp iri t of G od th em .
Ac 13:38 th a t s tim u la tes and gu ide s it , R m 5:5 + : Ac 1:8 .- . I . No t 'd istr ib u ti ve' just ice (reward for deeds)
Fo r I am not ashamed of th e Go od News: it is t he power of God sav ing all
rI I C o 1:18-
25 ; 2:1- 5
who have faith l- Jews first," but G reeks as well- ·since th is is wha t revea ls the
16
17
T he re a re m a ny text s where it is h ard to te ll wh e ther
it is th e nat ur al o r s upe r na t ura l SPirit th a t is referred
b u t the savi ng ius rice (cf . Is 56:1) o f G od . 3:26, who
fu lfils hi s p ro mise to s ave by giv ing sa lva tio n as a free ..J
2 Co 12:9f
/ :/6 ~ to , t he per sonal o r the indwel lin g spi rit - cf. e.g. gif l. o
just ice' of God to us: it shows how faith leads to fait h, > o r as scripture says: R m 12:11 ; 2 Co 6:6 ; Eo 4 :3.2 3; 6:18 : Ph3:3 var . : m. T he exp re ssion nr obablv mean s th at fa hh is the o
Hab 2:4 The upright 1/11/11 finds lif« through lui/h. Co l 1:8 : J ud e 19. etc. o ne necessa ry co nditio n to e ns ure th is re vel at ion .

[I G a 3: 11
Heb 10:38 b. In co n trast to 'barb ar ians '. 'Greeks' mea ns the
inhabita n ts of the hellen ic wo rld (i ncludin g the Romans,
who h ad adopted the G r eek c ulture); in co nt ras t to
n . By way o f a n t ithes is, th e sub ject of the Good
New s be in g t he re vela tion of G o d' s sa vin g jus tice.
I : 16-17 (res umed in 3:2 1f), is in terru p ted b Yco nsi de ring VI
1I 1J
'Jews' it mea n s the p agans in ge neral, 1:16: 2:9- 10; wh at t he hum an race is like before it he ar s the G ood '1
A . GOD'S ANGER AGAINST P AG A N A N D JEW" 3: 10 ; 10: 12 ; 1 Co 1:22-24 . etc. Ne ws . In it bo th pa ga n. 1 : 1 8 ~ 3 2, and Jew , 2:1-3:20. are 1-
I. Alt ernat ive transla t ion'A nd therefore . in so far su b ject to God 's 'a ng er ' which accou n ts for th e inc reas e
God's anger against the pagans as it is in my power, I a m pre p a red to . . . ' o f sin . and wh ich will rea ch its climax in the Last
j . Fa ith. which is the response of a hu man being J udgeme n t, 2:6 +: M t 3:7 + .
Ps 69 :24 : o. To kn ow th ere is o ne , personal G od means to
85:3 -5 T he a nger of G od is being revea led fro m heaven aga inst all t he impiety a nd 18 to God as t ruth a nd go od ness a n d so th e o ne sou rce
Mi 7;9 of sa lvat io n, re lies on th e tr u th of G od 's prom ise s a nd kno w th a t o ne mu s t pray to him and ad or e h im .
Z p 1:15 dep rav ity of men who keep truth impriso ned in their wickedness. • Fo r what can IY on Go d's fa ithfulness to th e m ( R m 3:3f; 1 T h 5:24 : p, T he tr ad it ion al bi bli cal p h ras e ' G od a ba ndo ned ',
be kno wn a bo ut G od is perfect ly plain to them since G od himself has made it 2 Tm2: 13: Heb 10:23 : 11: 11) a nd on h is po wer to o r ' left th e m', used thr ee times for em p has is, me an s
I W S 13:1-9
Si 17:R plain . • Ever since God created the wo rld his everlasting power a nd deity - 20
implem ent t hem (Rm 4:17- 2 1: Heb 11:19) . A fter th e
long O .T . period o f pr eparat io n (Heb 10 G od has
that reli gio us e rro r, if bla me worthy , res ults in mora l
a nd so ci al ills . Sin pro d uces it s ow n con seq ue nce s a nd
Ac 17:24-29 however invisible-have been there for the mi nd to see in the thin gs he has sp oken through h is So n (Heb 1: l) . W e m ust beli eve its ow n punishment : cr . Ezk 23 :28-2 9 : Is 64 :6 :
I Cn 1:21 th e So n (c f', M t8: 10 +; In 3:1 1+) and t he k erygm a W s 11: 15-1 6 : 12:23- 27. T ho ug h Pa u l ju d ges and
Ws 11: 15
Is 5: 21: 40 ; made. T hat is why such peo ple a re without excuse: - t hey knew G od " a nd yet 21 or proclam a tio n ( R m lO:8- 17 ; I Co l :2 1; 15:1 1.14 : co ndem ns paga n so cie ty he does not co ndem n indi vi-

(I 26:28
£1'4:/7-/ 8
J C ol J:1 9-10
refused to ho nour him as G od o r to tha nk him; instead, they made non sense
out of logic and t heir em pty minds were da rkened.•T he mo re th ey ca lled 22
cf.A c 2:22 + ) of t he G ood News(Rm 1: 16 : I Co 15:1· 2 :
Phi : 27 ; Ep 1:13) made by the ap ost les ( Rm 1:5 :
1 Co 3:5 : cr. Jn 17:20) . T he ke rygma pr o cl aims tha t
du als (w hose in ten t io ns God a lo ne mu st judge , 2:16:
I Co 4:5: 5: 12- 13) since he p resupposes, Rm2 , t ha t
th er e a re pagans who o bey the natural law wr itten in
Ps 10 6:20 themselves philoso phers, th e more st upid th ey grew, -u ntil they ex changed the 23 God raised Jesu s from the dead. made him Kvrt os th ei r hear ts . 2:14-1 5. To do that . a hu man be in g mu st
Ex 3 2 (R m 4:24f; 10:9 ; Ac 17:3 1; I P 1:21 ; cf. 1 Co 15: 14.m. admit th at he is a si n ner .
glory of th e immo rta l God for a wo rt hless imitat io n, for the image of morta l man , a nd th rou gh hi m o ffe rs life to all who be lieve in h im Q. A clever twis t he re: as a pu nishmen t for refusi ng

rr DI4:16-1 8
Ws 11: 15 ;
12:24 ; 13:
10f
of birds , of q uad rupeds a nd reptiles. •T hat is why G od left t hern« to their filthy
enjoymen ts a nd the practices with which th ey disho nour their own bod ies,
! Jr 2: 11
1':"4:1 9
since t hey have given up div ine truth for a lie an d have wors hipped and served
crea tures instead of the creator, who is blessed for ever. A men !
r T ha t is why God has a ba ndo ned them to degrading pas sions: why the ir wo men
have turned from nat ura l intercou rse to unnatura l practices -and why the ir
menfo lk have given up natu ral intercourse to be cons umed with passio n for each
ot her, men do ing shameless thin gs with men an d getti ng an a pprop riate reward
24 ( Rm 6:8- 11; 2 Co 4:1 3f; Eo 1:19f : Co l 2: 12 ; 1 T h 4: 14 ).
Fa it h in th e name, or person . of Jesus ( Rm 3:26 : 10: 13;
cf . Jn 1: 12; A c 3:16 : 1 In 3:23) who is t he Mess iah
25 (Ga 2: 16; of. Ac24:24 ; I In 5: 1). t he Lo rd ( Rm 10:9;
I Co 12:3 ; P h 2:11; cf. A c 16 :30 a nd Son o f G od
(G a 2:20: cr. J n 20:3 1: 1 In 5:5: Ac 8:37: 9:20) is t hu s
26
27
th e necessar y co ndi tio n o f sa lvat io n (Rm 10:9-13 ;
I Co 1:21 ; G a 3:22 : cr. 157 :9 +: Ac4: 12; 16:31 ;
Heb 11:6 : In 3: 15- (8) . F ai th is not o n ly int ell ectua l
asse nt , it is to trust a nd obey ( R m 1:5 : 6:17 ; 10: 16 ;
16:26: cf. Ac 6:7) t he lifegfving tr ut h (2 T h 2: 120.
Fa it h whic h th us un ites a Pers o n with C h ris t (2 Co 13:5 :
to use it properly. mor al iud gem ent, whi ch go es with
knowing about G od. v, 2 1. d isappea rs.
r , Here. a s he fre qu ent ly does e lsewh ere. P a ul uses
III
,
lis ts o f v ices taken fro m cu rrent p aga n a nd (even mo re
so) Jewi sh literature: 13: 13; I Co 5: 10-11 : 6:9-10 :
2 Co 12:20: Ga 5: 19-21; Eo 4:3 1; 5:3-5; Co l 3:5-8 ;
I T m 1:9-10 ; 6:4 ; 2 T m 3:2-5; Tt 3:3 . Cf. als o
MtI5: 190 ; I P 4 :3 ; R v2 1:8 ; 22:15 .
s , Add . 'forn icat io n' .
t . O thers tra ns late ' ha tefu l to G od' , bu t cr, 5: 10;
8:7 .
u . Add . (V u l•. ) "lo yal ty", c r. 2 Tm 3:3 .

r for their pe rversion .

In ot her word s, since t hey refused to see it was rational to ac knowledge God,
Go d has left them to th eir own irra tio nal ideas and to their monstrou s behaviour. q
13:13
And so they are steeped' in all sor ts of dep ravi ty, ro ttenness, greed and ma lice, '
an d addicted to envy, murder, wrangling, treachery and spite. • Libellers,
28
Ga 2: 16.20 ; Ep 3: 17) a lso co nfe rs t he Spi rit o n h im
(Ga 3:2,5, 14: cr. I n 7:38f : Ac 11:17). th e Spi r it of th e
sons of G od (Ga 3:26 ; cr. In 1:12). F a ith is re lia nce
on God and no t on self (Rm 3:27 : Ep 2:9) and t hus
co nt ra s ts wit h t he old o rder of the La w (R m 7:7 1·)
29 with it s vain sea r ch (Rm 10:3; Ph 3:9) fo r holi ne ss by
30 wo rks (Rm 3:20 .28 ; 9:31f: Ga 2:16: 3: 110 : o nly fa it h
v. T h e La tin text tra dit io n read s 'They know th a t
God is lu st . a nd yet th ey d id no t unders tand th at t hos e
wh o be hav e like thi s de serv e to d ie . an d not o nl y th ose
wh o d o th is bu t th o se wh o enco ura ge t hem '.
2 a . He re Pa ul turn s to the Je ws n ot act ual ly nami ng
them , vv. 1-16. unti l 2:17-3 :20 . He is a war e, as he
co nd e mn s others. t hat he is co nde m ni ng h ims elf if he

r sla nderers, enemies of G od,' rude, arroga nt a nd boastful, en ter prising in sin, ca n effec t t ru e ho liness. th e savin g ho line ss of G od beh av es in the wa y th ey do. vv. 1-5 : 17-24 . N oth ing

W S 14:2 2
rebellious to pa rents, - wit h o u t brain s, hon our, love" o r pity . •T hey kno w what
God's verdict is: that tho se wh o behave like t his deserve to die-and yet they
do it ; and what is wo rse, enco ura ge ot hers to do the same . v
The Jews a re not exe mpt from God 's anger"
M t 7: 1
n him self ( Rm 1:17 + : 3:2 1-26 ), received as a free gift
from him ( R m 3:24 ; 4 :16 : 5: 17 : Ep 2 :8; cf'. Ac 15: 11>.
Fai th relates to the promise m ade to Abraham ( Rm 4;
Ga 3:6- 18) a nd so m a kes sa lvation ac cessible to ever y-
on e , pagans inc lu ded (Rm 1:5,16: 3:29f: 9: 30 ; 1O:lI f :
16:26 ; G a 3:8) . It is co up led wit h bapt ism ( R m 6:4 +) ,
calls for p ublic profession (Rm 10:10 : 1 Tm 6: 12), an d
expresses its elf in cha rity (G a 5:6 ; cr. Jm 2: 14+) . Faith
is o bscure (2 Co 5:7 ; He b 11: 1: cf . In 20:29) , a nd
can take th e p lac e o f persona l vir tue : not the La w.
vv , 12·1 6 , not ci rc umc ision , vv . 25· 29 , not even th e
scr truures . 3: l aR. T he Jew as we ll as th e pa gan will
be ind ivid ually jud ged by G od , 2:6- 11. s ince each is
eq ua lly liabl e to s in , 3:9-20 .
b . T he p ro ph ecy o f a 'da y o f Ya h we h' wh ich will
be a d a y of a nger and sa lva tio n . A m 5: 18 +. wi ll be
fu lfilled esc ha toloaica lly in th e 'day of t he Lo rd '. when

2 So no matt er who yo u a re, if yo u pass j udgement you have no excuse.

In j udg ing ot hers yo u co nde mn yo urself, since yo u behave no differentl y
from th ose yo u judge. •We know that Go d co ndemns that sor t of behavio ur
En 2:3 im partially: -a nd when you ju dge those who behave like th is while you ar e
inv o lves hop e as its con co mitan t ( R m 5:2 -i-). It mu s t
be a llowed to grow (2 Co 10 : 15 : I T h 3: 10 : 2 T h 1:3)
ami d st ru ggles a nd su fferi ngs (P h 1:29: Ep 6 : 16;
1 Th 3:2-8 ; 2 T h 1:4 ; H e b 12:2; I P 5:9). de ma ndi ng
fo rti tu d e (l Co 16:13; Col 1:23; 2:5,7) a nd tenacit y
C h ris t re tu rns in s to rv. I Co 1:8 t- . O n thi s 'd ay o f
iu d gement ' (c f. M t 10:15: 11:22.24 : 12:36, 2 P2:9 :
3:7 : I J n 4 :17) t he dead will rise aga in . I T h4:13- 18 ;
1 Co 15: 12-23,5 1f. a nd th e whol e hu m a n race will b e
judged in G od ' s Cour t, Rm 14 :10 , and in C h rist' s ,
 2:9 ROMANS 27° 27/ ROMA NS 3:24
There is not a good man lef t, no, not one; Ps 14:1-3
anger and fury .• Pain and suffering will come to every human being who employs N O::
himself in evil-Jews first, but Greeks as well; - renown, honour and peace will 10 11 there is not one who understands, ~8
DIIO:17 + come to everyone who does good-Jews first, but Greeks as well. - G od has II not one who looks f or God.
Ac 10:34 +
II no favourites. 12 All have turned aside, tainted all alik e;
there is not one good man lef t, not a single one. ...J
The Law will not save them 13 Their throats are yawning graves; Ps 5:9
~
Sinners who were not subject to the Law will perish all the same, with ou t their tongues are full of deceit.
II 12
Vipers' venom is on their lips, Ps 140:3
th at Law ; sinners who were under the La w will have th at Law to j udge the m . J:
a.
MI 7:26-27 14 bitter curses fill their mouths. Ps 10:7 w
Lk 8:2 1 It is no t listen ing to the La w but keeping it that will make peopl e ho ly in the 13
Jm 1:22-25 15 Their feet are sw if t when blood is to be shed, Is 59:7-8
sight of G od. •For instance, pagans who never heard of the La w but a re led 14

II by reaso n- to do what the La w commands, may not actually ' possess' the La w,
but they can be said to 'be' the Law. -They can point to the substance of the 15
16
17
wherever they go there is ha voc and ruin.
They kn ow nothing of the way of peace, ...J
Law engraved on their hearts-they can call a witness, that is, their own 18 there is no fea r of God before their eyes. Ps 36:1 ra.
conscience-they have accusation a nd defence, that is, their own inner mental 19 No w all thi s t ha t the La w! says is said, as we know, for the benefit of those In 10:34 :
12:34 :
[I 2:6 +
1 Co 4:5 dialogue." ' .. .on the day when: according to the Good News I preach , G od,
through Jesus Christ, judges t he sec rets of mankind.
16

20
who ar e subject to th e Law , but it is mea nt to silence everyo ne a nd to la y the
who le world o pen to G od's judgeme nt ; -a nd t his is beca use /10 one can be justified
15:25
Ga 3:22
Ps /43 :2
G .2:16 0
Is 48:1-4 If you call yourself a Jew, if you really trust in the Law and are proud of
Am 5:21+ 17 in the sight of God by keeping the Law: " all t ha t law do es is to tell us wha t is R m 7:7
o
MI3:8-9 your G od, -if you know God's will thro ugh the La w a nd can tell wha t is right, 18 .."
I n 8:33f sinful.
I n 9:40-41 if you are convinced yo u ca n guide the blind and be a beacon to those in the 19
M I23 da rk, -if you can teach the ignorant a nd instruct the unlearned becau se your Law 20 VI
Lk 18:9- 12 'w
Ps 50: 16-21 embodies all knowledge a nd truth, -t hen why not teach yourself as well as the
ot hers? You preach agai nst stealing, yet you steal ; -you fo rbid adultery, yet you
21
22
B. FAIT H AND T HE .JU S TI C E OF GOD
~
r commit ad ulter y ; you despise idols, yet you rob t heir temples. - By boasting about 23 The revelation of God's justice
the Law and then disobeying it, you bring God into contempt. - As scripture 24 21 God's ju stice that was mad e known t hro ugh the Law and th e Pr op hets has 10:5
I K 8:46
Is 52:5 LXX says : It is your fault that the name of God is blasphemed among the pagans. 1:16 +
Ez k 36:20 22 now been revealed o utside the Law, -sincc it is th e sa me ju stice of Go d that G a 2: 16 ;3-
Jm2:7
2 P 2:2 com es throu gh fait h to everyon e, Jew a nd paga n alik e, who believes in Jesus
Cir cumcision will not sa ve them
~i C hrist. - Both Jew an d pagan sinned a nd forfeited Go d's glory," -an d bo th are 5:2. 13
I Co 7:19 It is a good th ing to be circumcised if you keep the Law; but if you break the 25 D n 9:24
G . 5:3 ju stified through the free gift of his grace: by being redeemed- in C hrist Jesus
Jr 9:24-25 La w, you might as well have stayed uncircumcised. -I f a man who is not 2£
2 C o 5: 10 : cr. M t 25:3 1f. Thi s tri al is inesca pa bl e, it m a y echo so me of Paul 's d eb at es in th e sy nag og ue s.
cir cumcised obeys the commandments of the Law , surely that mak es up for not R ill 2:3 ; G a 5: 10 ; I Th 5:3. an d impart ial, v. 11 : b . T he ar gume n t co m pa res t he gro up : faithfuln ess
M , 12:4 If
being circumcised? - More than that, the man who keeps the Law, even though 27 C o l 3:25 ; d . I P 1: 17 ; it is c o nd uc ted b v G o d . t ru t h (t r u th fu lness), in tegrity, wi th its a n ti-gro up :
Rill 12: 19 : 14:10 : I Co 4:5 : cf. MI 7:1p. T hr o ugh funhl cssness, fal seh ood , si nf ulness.
he has not been phys ically circumcised, is a living condemnation of the way you C h rist. v, If,; 2 Tm4:1; cf. J05:22 : Ac 17:31 . G od c . Lit. ' n u t (var. ' F or' ) if th roug h m y untr uth -
d iso bey the Law in spite of being circumcised and having it all written down. \..-ill jud ge ' the livi ng and the dead', 2 Tm 4: I : cf. fuln ess G o d 's trut hf uln ess abou nds to his glory'.
Ep 2:11 Ac 10:42 : I P 4:5. He exa m ines the hea r t , v , Hi: d . By twisti ng Paul's words as in G a 3:22: Rm 5:20 :
Ph 3:2f To be a Jew is not just to look like a Jew, and circumcision is more than a physical 28
J C o 4: 5 : d . Rv 2:23. and hi s t ri al is by tire. cr. 6: 1.15.
Je 4:4 + operation. -The real Jew is the one who is inwardly a Jew, and the real circum- 29 1 Co 3: 13-15; he wil l tr eat everyo ne accord ing to his e . Dis p uted tra nsla tio n ; some prefer ' wh at excuse
7:6; 8: 2 + cision is in the heart-something not of the letter but of the spirit. A Jew like that wor ks. I Co 3:8: 2 Co 5: 10: 11: 15 : Ep 6:8 : cf. M l 16:27 : then can we o lTer?' or 'Are we wo rse off , t he n?' '" J
2 Co 3:6 I P 1: 17 ; R v2:23: 20:1 2 ; 22: 12. W ha t has been sown
may not be praised by man, but he will be praised by God. will he rea ped. G a 6:7-9 : cr. Mt 13:39: ltv 14 : 15. f. 'Law ' here m ea ns a ll the D.T .• cf. 1 Co 14:34 ;
A n~r i ly he \..' ill d estroy , Rm 9:22 . ev il po wer s, Jn 10:34. et c .
I Co 15:24-26 ; 2 T h 2:8 . and ev il peo p le . 2 Th 1:7- 10 : g. S ince Ps 143 says tha t no hu m a n be ing wo uld
God's promises will not save them cr. Mt 13:41 ; Ep 5:6: 2 P 3:7: R v 6:17 : II :I X. But for e ver be Ior xl vcn if God judged him by his ac tio ns,
t he cho sen . i.e. th ose who h av e do ne Rood , t here will the re mu s t be so me th ing else tha t will account for

9:4- 5
Ps 89:30-37
3 Well then , is a Jew any better off?" Is there any advantage in being circum-
cised? -A great advantage in every way. F irst, the Jews are the people to
whom God's message was entrusted. -W hat if some of them were unfaithful?
2 Tm 2:13
Will their lack of fidelity cancel God's fidelity? -That would be absurd. God will
Ps 116:11
always be true even though everyone proves to befalse; so scripture says: In all
Ps 51:4 LXX you say your justice shows, and when you are j udged you win your case. - But if our
1:18 +
J b 34:12. 17
lack of holiness makes God demonstrate his integrity, b how can we say God is
unjust when -to use a human analogy- he gets angry with us in return? -That
would be absurd, it would mean God could never judge the world. -You might
9:19 + as well say that since my untruthfulness makes God demonstrate his truthfulness
and thus gives him glory,' I should not be judged to be a sinner at all . -T hat
6:1. 15 would be the same as saying: Do evil as a means to good. Some slanderers have
accused us of teaching this," but they are justly co ndemned.
All are guilty
Well: a re we a ny better off?e Not at all: as we sa id before, Jews and Greeks
11:32
S1 8:5 ar e all under sin 's d ominion. -As scrip ture says:
1
2
3
be freedom . Ep 4:30 : cf. R m 8:23. res t, Ac 3:20 :
d . I T h 1:7: l-Ieb4:5- I I , rcward.cf. Mt5 : 12 : Rv 11: 18.
s alva tio n, I P 1:5 . h on ou r, I P 5:6 . pra ise , 1 Co 4:5,
a mi ~ I or y , Rm R:18f ; 1 Co 15:43; Co l 3:4: er, M t 0 :43.
4 c, I.e. gu ided by co nscience, not by re vea led la w.
A s Jew s ar e no t meant to be saved by the Law but
guided by it to sa lvation , so the na tural law in h is
co ns cience can gu ide any hu man bei n g.
d , 'th ey ha ve . . d ialo gue' : li t. 'an d t he accusin g
o r defe nd ing t ho ug hts t hey ha ve about themsel ves
(or : a bo ut eac h o the r) '.
c , Anacolutho n: v. 16 fo llo ws gra m matica lly on
v , 13. A lte rn at ive tra nsla tion 'in t he co urt where G od
fud ges. . ' . cr. I Co 4:3 .
3 a. T here is on e furt her ar gumen t in favour of th e
Jews: if Is rael is th e peo ple chosen by God to re cei ve
t he promise , t hen ho w ca n th ere be any ot her way to
sa lvat io n? Late r, eh . 9- 11, P a u l develops at great lengt h
th e brief a nswer he gives he re: however m uch humans
ar e un fai th ful to the pact, this ca nno t abrogate Go d 's
p romi ses ; inde ed the way h u m an s behave on ly m ake s
th e promises more rem ar ka b le , a fact ho wever whi ch
9 does not SlO P God being ang ry with th e sinner (v. 6) ,
o r absolve his s in (v. 8). The d ia logue used here seems
10
ju st ificatio n , a nd Pau l finds th is in God 's p ro mises to
sa ve his peop le: t his is G o d 's ' justi ce' th at was promised
fo r t he me ssian ic era and t hat, as Pa ul say s , v, 21 , is
ma nifest in Je sus C h rist. The Law , w hich mer ely
rc gulut es be ha viour. wa s no t mean t by God to elimi na te
sin bu t to ma ke sinners awa re of t he fac t, cf. 1:16+ :
7:7 + .
h . 'G lo ry' in O.']". sens e , Ex 24: 16 + . that is to say
G od as pre se nt 10 hum a n beings and commun ica ti ng
him self to them more a nd more, a process t hat can
on ly reach its climax in th e messian ic era, cf . Ps 84:9 ;
Is 40 :5, e tc .
i. T h is word ( charts) whe n used w it h refe re nce
to hu man re lat ionsh ips can mean eit her th e Qua lity
th at ma kes a pe rso n att ractive (Ae 2:47) , or it can
mean thanks for a gift (Lk 6:32-34: 17:9), or it
ca n mean so meth ing give n free a nd unea r ned (Ae 25:3:
I Co 16:3 : 2 Co 8:6· 7, 19). T his las t se nse p red om -
ina tes in th e N .T ., and espe cia lly in Pa ul <John
uses ag a pe) who uses the wo rd to des cribe t he way
G od sa ves t hrough Jes us: it is a wo rk o f spon-
ta neo us lo ve to whic h n o o ne had any claim . It was
a n ac t o f ' grace' for Jes us to come on eart h (2 Co 8:9;
T ~ 2: l l; I n 1:14. 17). to die (Heb2:9) , for h is Fat her
 3:2 5 ROMANS 272 273 RO M AN S 4: I 8
I I n 2:2 ; 4:10 who was a ppointed by G od to sac rifice his tife so as to win recon cilia tion thr ou gh 25
in who m he put his faith, and who brings th e dead to life and calls into being D ' 32:39 +
Is 48: 13
Heb2: 17
what does no t exist." 2 Co 1:9 .,:, ~
faith .s In this way G od ma kes his jus tice known ; first, for the past , when sins H eb 11:19 ~ U
Rv4:1 1
Ac 17:30 went unpunished becau se he held his ha nd,' -t hen, for the pre sent age, '" 26 Abraham's faith, a model of Chr istian faith
5:6 ; 11:30 by showing posit ively that he is j ust. " and that he ju stifies everyo ne who believes
II Is 53:11
1 T m 2:7 in Jesus.
18 T hough it seemed Abra ham's hop e cou ld not be fulfilled, he hop ed a nd he
T' I :3 to give him up as a gift lO us , a gift th at incl u des all
d ivine favo urs ( R m 8:32: cf. I C o 2:12: Ep 1:60;
of C h rist . Ac 20:2 B: Eo 1:7 : Heb 9: 12: I P 1: 18f;
Rv 1:5 : 5:9. Th is redempt ion. beg un on C a lva r y and
~
What faith does just ific a ti on, sal va tio n. and th e ri gh t to inhe rit by gua ra nteed by t he pr esent Rift o f the Sp irit. En 1:14 ;
I' I C o 1:29 So what become s of our boasts? The re is no ro om for them. W hat sort of 27
h a vin g fai th ill hi m wi t ho u t ha vin g 10 perform the works
o f th e Law (Rm 3:24 ; 4:4f; Ep 2:5.8 : T t 3:7 ; er,
4:30, will be co m p lete o n ly a t t he parousia, Lk 2 1:28,
when delive rance from death is secu red by t he res ur-
:I:
Q.
W
2: 17; 4:2-3: law excludes them? T he so rt of law that tells us what to do? On the contrary, Ac 15: I I ); it will a lso be an ac t of ' gra ce' for C hr is t to rectio n of th e bod y, R m H:23.
5:2+; \l~ come again a t th e end of th e worl d and for us to recei ve
G a 6:13-14 it is the law of faith," -s ince,> as we see it, a man is j ustified by faith and not 28 ev erlasting glo ry (l P 1:13 ; 2 T h 1:12) . It was by gra ce k. Li t. 'w hom G od pu t for wa rd as (or : destined

II Eo 2:9 by doing somethi ng the La w tells him to do . • Is G od the God of Jews alon e and
not of the pagans too ? Of th e pagans too, most certainly, -since there is o nly one
29
30
th a t A bra ha m recei ved th e p ro mise (Rm 4: 16: G a 3:18)
a nd that a few Israelite s were chosen to sur vive
(R rn I I :50 . Since grac e is God' s love for us . it is
inexh aus t ib le ( Ep 1:7 ; 2:7 : cf. 2 Co 4:15 ; 9:8. 14 :
to be) a p rop itia to ry t hr ou gh fa it h by his b lood' . For
th e ' p ro p it ia to r y' , o r ' th ron e of mercy' , c f. Ex 25:17 + :
an d cr. Heb 9:5. O n t he Da y of At o ne ment , Lv 16:1 +.
this wa s sp rink led wit h b lood, Lv 16: 15. The blood of
G od, and he is the one who will justify the circum cised because of their fait h Do
I T m 1: 14) and it co nq uers sin ( R m 5:15, 17.20>. Th e C h ris t has per fo rmed what t he a ncient ri tua l cou ld
8:4 and justify the uncircumcised through their fait h. • Do we mea n that faith mak es 31
M15:17 o ne wo rd 'grace ' is so usef ul a nd full o f mea nin g th at on ly sy m bol ise: p uri ficat ion from si n. C f, also the
Ac 24:14 the La w poi ntless? Not at all: we ar e giving the Law its true value. q it ca n be used to ind ica te t he en tire messia n ic era blo od of th e cove nant . Ex 24:H + : M t 26:28 +.

III (Rm 5:2 1) tha t succeed s the era of the Law (R m 6:14:
G a 2:2 1: 5:4). th e same messian ic e ra t hat was o nce
p rocl a imed by th e prophet s (l P 1:10) a nd is now
p rocl a imed as t he G o od New s (Col 1:6; cf. Ac 14:3 ;
C. THE EXAMP L E OF ABRAHAM 20:24.,12). T he wor d su ms up t he gifts of G o d so well
[I G n 12:1+;
15:6 +
Ga 3:6-9
Jm 2:14+.
Abraham justified by faith
th a t Pau l bc aiu s a nd en ds hi s letters by wish ing 'g rac e'
to a ll his readers (I T h 1:1 and 5:28 , etc. : cf. 1 P 1:2 :
5: 10. 12 : 2 I' 1:2 ; 3: 18 ; 2 I n 3: Rv 1:4 : 22:21). II is by
2<}-24
Ap ply this to Abra ham, a th e ancestor from whom we are all descended . b an ac t o f gr ace t ha t 't he G od o f all gra ce' (1 P 5:10)
S/44: 19-21
3:27 4 If Abraham was justified as a reward for doi ng so methi ng, he would really
ca lls m en to salvat io n (G a 1:6: 2 Tm 1:9 : t P 3:7),
load s t hem w ith a ll spi ri tu al gifts (l Co 1:4-7: cf.
rI have had something to boa st ab out , th o ugh not in God' s sight > because scri pture 2 T h 2: 16; Ac 6: tn , ma kes Pa u l an ap os tle of the
pa ga ns (Rm 1:5 ; 12:3 : 15:15f ; I Co 3: 10; Ga 1:15f ;
G n 15:6
Ga 3:6
sa ys: Ab raham put his f aith in God, and this fa ith was considered as jus tify ing" him . 2:9 ; En 3:2,7.H; P h 1:7) and as sig ns to eac h Ch ris tian
Jm 2:23 If a man has work to show , his wa ges are not considered as a favour but as his 4 the pa rt he has to p lay in t he life of t he C h urch
( Rrn 12:6 : I Co 12:1 +: 2 co s . i : Ep 4:7 ; I P4:1O):
du e ; •but when a man has nothing to show except faith in the one who justifies sim ila r ly, it is a 'u rac e ' to su ffer for C hrist (P h 1:29 ;
sinners, then his faith is co nsidered as j ustifying him ." • And David says the sa me: I P 2:19-20) . Mar y 'f ou nd gr a ce ' wit h Go d (Lk 1:30:
cf. Ac 7:46 and LX X passim) : Je sus h imself recei ved
a man is happy if G od considers him righteo us, irrespective of good deed s: th e ' grace' o f th e highest n am e o f a ll (P h 2:9: cf.
Lk 2:40). Fo r hu man bein gs to be aureeable to God
Ps 32:1-2 Happy those whose crimes are forgiven, depend s prim ar ily o n God ' s ini tia tive and seco ndarily
on h u man resp on se . It is p os sib le to receive grace in
whose sins are blotted out ; va in (2 Co 6:1 : cf. I Co 15:10). to fa ll from gra ce
happy the man whom the Lord considers sinless. (Ga 5:4), to forfe it grace (H eb 12:15). a nd th us to
insult th e Sp irit of gra ce ( Heb 10: 29). G rac e obt ai ned
mu st bc ca refu lly gua rded (R m 5:2 ; Heb 12:28; I P 5:12)
J ustified before circ umcision and used wisel y ( I P 4 : IO): it is no t eno ug h to rem ain
in grace (A c 13:43: cf. 14:26 : 15:40>. it m us t increase
Is this happiness mea nt only for the circumcised, or is it meant for others as (2 P 3: IH), to s tr e ng the n us (2 T m 2: 1), and help us to
well? Th ink of Abraham again: his f aith, we say , was considered as jus tifying him, persist in o ur Ro od inten tio ns (H eb 13:9). Th is divi ne
hel p is aivcn to the hu mb le (J m 4:6: I P 5:5) an d is
but when was this done? When he was already circumcised or before he had been
( Gn 17: 11
I n 7:22
circumcised? It was before he had been circumcised, not after; -and when he was
circumcised later it wa s on ly as a sign and guarantee' tha t the faith he had before
10
11
o btained by p rayer. since t his is to ap proa c h 't he throne
o f gra ce' co nfident ly ( He b 4:26) . G race will be gran ted
a nd will be fo und sufficie nt : it is the po we r of C hrist
o pcrutt na in wea k man (2 Co 12:9 : cr. 1 Co 15:10). a nd
Ga J: 7
his circumcision justified him. In this way Abra ham becam e the ancestor of all t his gr ace o f C hrist t rium p hs over un spiri tua l wisdom
(2 Co I: 12). T he sa me wo rd char ts is a lso used for
I Co 9:12
uncircumcised believers, so that the y too might be consi dered righteous; -and 12 thank sgiving (Rm 6: t7: 7:25 : I Co 10:30 ; 15:57 :
an cestor, also, of those who though circumcised do no t rely on that fact alone , 2 C o 2:14: 8:16 ; 9:15 ; Co l 3:16; 1 T m 1:12 ; 2 Tm 1:3 ;
an d cf. th e ve rb eucha r istei m, since gra tit ude to G od
r but follow our ancestor Abraham alon g the path of faith he trod before he had is th e fund ament a l and necessar y d ispositio n for grac e .
been cir cumcised. F ro m all th ese sh ad es of meani ng it is clea r th a t the
word charts is alway s us ed to em p hasise that the Rift
is absolu tely fre e: to b rin g o ut it s power and its
Not justified by obedience to the Law inw a rd ness Pau l a lso us es th e word pneuma (cf'.
I. A quasi-fo rgive ness : G od dec lin ed to a tt ach ~wilt
(a paresis o r 'p assing o ve r') ; s uch 'non-imp utation'
wo u ld be a n idle pro cedure if po sit ive forg iveness were
.J
o
o
not to fo llow. I.e. t he utt er des tru ction of sin by man 's
iustitlcauon. O ther s t ran slat e 'wit h a view to the
remiss io n of sins ' .
m. This 'present age' is in God 's pl an of salvation
the ' t ime a ppoin ted ', Ac 1:7 I·. for C h ris t' s redempt ive
Vl
t ut
I
work . R m 5:6 : J 1:30 : I T m 2:6: Tt 1:3. which com es •
in t he appoint ed time, Ga 4:4 +. once for a ll. Heb
7:27 +. and inau gur a tes the escha to logica l era . Cr.
Mt4:170 : 16:30 : Lk 4:13 : 19:44 : 21:8 ; I n 7:6.8.
n. I.e . exe rcising his (sav ing , cr. I : 17 -l- ) jus tice, as
he had p rom ised . by ju s tifying man .
o . 1.e. the ' law ' which is fai th. Pa u l contrasts two
regimes: of la w. 7:7 -t- . and of fait h. 1: 16 +; cr. 4: 13.
p, Va r. 'Therefore ' .
Q . Li t. 'we est a blish ( the) Law': it is on ly by mean s
of the reg im e of faith th a t th e La w achieves wha t it was
in te nded to do. viz. to make peop le holy, cf. 7:7 + .
4 a. Lit. 'W hat th en s ha ll we say about Abraham'?'
Va r. (VuI R.) ' W ha t then s hall we say t ha t A bra ha m
has Rained? '
b . T he recur re nce o f the fatherhood o f Abraham
the me marks t he stage s in the argumen t. vv , 1.12, 16-18.
c. Jew ish trad ition, pr eo cc up ied with Abraham's
loy alty and his fo rt itude und er tri al. h ad mad e him t he
o u tst an di n g examp le o f ju st ificat ion by wor ks, Ws 10:5 :
Si 44:20f; I M 2:52 (and cf. especially the Boo k of
Jub ilees . ch. 11-12: 16: 19f, etc .) cf. al so Jm 2:22 +. III
1111
sec 2: 14 -1- . Pau l ho wever find s that th is just ification
and th ese wo rks ha ve the ir so urce in A braha m 's faith ..
G n 12:1 t and 15:6 + . c r. H ob 11:8f.
d . The words them sel ves are capab le of var iou s
int er p re tatio ns: by reason of h is fait h Abrah a m was
reck oned a ri gh teou s man b y God. though in fa ct he
wa s no t so; o r. by reason o f h is fa ith A b ra h am had
co n ferred upo n h im gra tu ito us ly by God a r ta hteous ness
(or ' jus tice') t ha t wa s no t his when he ca rne to beli eve :
or t hird ly. in God 's eyes (an d hen ce in fa ct) fa it h th at
is operati ve is on e and the sa me with r ighteo usness.
T he firs t of these interpretation s is. ho wever. tricorn -
natl ble with Pa u line tea ch ing as a wh ole. so also , it
wo u ld see m. is the seco nd: th e thrrd is co m pl ete ly
co ns is tent wit h it.
e. T his word . snhraz ts, (li t. 'sear or 'i m pressio n of

r G n 12:7+
G a 3:16-18
The promise of inh erit ing the world was not made to Abraham a nd his
descendants on accoun t of a ny law but on acco unt of the righteousness wh ich
consists in faith.! •If the world is only to be inher ited by those who submit to
th e Law , then fai th is pointless a nd the promise worth nothing. • Law
Ga 3:10 involves the po ssibility of punishment for breaking the law-only where there
R m 5: 13; 7:
7+ is no law ca n th at be a voided . v -That is why what fulfils the promise depends on
faith, so that it may be a free gift a nd be avai lable to all of Abraham 's
descendants, not only those who belo ng to the Law but also those who belong
G n 17:5 to the faith of Abraham who is the fath er of all of us. -A s scripture says: I have
made y ou the ancestor ofmany nations- Abraham is our father in the eyes of God,
13
Rm 5:5 +) .
i. Ya h weh had 'r ed eemed' Isr ael by d eliveri ng her
from the slave ry of Egypt. to provid e himself with a
nat io n fo r his ' in herita nce' , D t 7:6 +. When the
14 pr oph ets sp oke of t he ' rede m p t ion ' fro m Bab ylon .
IS Is 41 :14 + , t hey hint ed at a d eliverance mo re profou nd
an d less res tri ct ed . t he for given ess th at is deliverance
from si n, Is 44:22: cr. Ps 130:8 ; 49:7-8. T h is mess iani c
re dem p tio n is Iulfl lled in C h ris t. I Co 1:30 : cf. Lk 1:68 ;
16
2:38. God th e Fa ther th rou gh C h ris t- a nd ind eed
C hris t himself- has 'de livered ' th e ne w Israel from the
slav er y o f th e Law . G a 3:13; 4:5: an d of sin . Col 1:14;
Ep 1:7 : lI eb 9: 15. by 'acqu irl nn' her, Ac 20:28. making
17 her his own . T t 2:14 ; p urchasi ng her , Ga 3:13: 4:5:
1 Co 6:20 : 7:23 : cr . 2 P 2: 1. Th e pri ce was the blood
a sea l') came very soo n to be ana logic ally used of
baptism, th e sacrament o f C h ristia n fa ith .
f. Lit. ' th e righ te o usness of fa it h ', i.e. that r-ight-
eo us ne ss w hic h is pr ecise ly th e act of be liev ing with
a liv ing faith . T he inh erit ance is co nferred no t to rew ard
peo p le who respect the cl au ses of a contract (a law).
but to im pl em ent pro m ises acce p ted in a d ispositi o n of
fa it h. Cf. 3:27.
g . Lit. ' Fo r la w br ing s ang er wh ereas (var. 'for')
whe re th ere is no law t her e is no law-brea kin g ei t her' .
h. As a t the creati on . T hese two mos t s trik inA:
man ifesta tio ns of G od 's o mn ipo tence pr ep a re th e
reader for th e all usion to C hr ist's re surrection in v. 24.
 4: 19 ROMA N S 274
believed, and through doing so he did become the father of many nations exactly
G n 15:5 as he had been promised: Your descendants will be as many as the stars . • Even
Gn 17:1.17 the thought that his body was past father hood-he was about a hundred years
Heb 11:11 old-and Sa ra h too old to become a mother, did not shake his belief.' -Since Go d
Mk 9:'3
He b ll : lf had promised it, Abraham refused either to deny it or even to do ubt it, but drew
J , 32:17
L k 1:37 strength from faith! and gave glory to God, -convinced that God had power
to do what he had promised. -This is the faith that was 'considered as j usti-
fying him' . • Scripture however does not refer only to him but to us as well
1 Co 10 :6+ when it says that his faith was thus 'co nsidered'; -our faith too will be 'considered'
1:4+ if we believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, -Jesus who was
1 l:~V~~i~ put to death fo r our sins and raised to life to justify us .s
II. SALVATION
Faith guarantees salvation"
i n 14:27
5 Sojudged
far then we have seen that, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith we are
E p 3:12
righteous and at peace> with God, -since it is by faith and through
3:2" f- Jesus that we have entered this state of grace' in which we can boa st a bout
3:23 + looking forward to God's glory." -But that is not all we can boast about; we can
2 Co 12:9-10
Jm 1:2-4 boast about our sufferings. These sufferings bring patience, as we know, -and
I P 4: 13- 14
R v 1:9 patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope, -and this hope is
1 Co 13:13 + not deceptive, because the love of God' has been poured into our hearts by the
8:14- 16
G a 4 :4-6 H oly Spirit which has been given usJ· We were still helpless when at his appointed
3: 26+ moment Christ died for sinful men . • It is not easy to die even for a good man -
1 P 3:18
though of course for someone really worthy, a man might be prepared to die-
8:32 but what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still
i n 15:13
I in 4 :10.1 9 sinners. •Havin g died to make us righteous, ' is it likely that he ,""ould now fail
I Th 1:10 to save us from God's anger? •When we were reconciled to God by the death of
2 Co 5:/8
his Son, we were still enemies; now that we have been reconciled, surely we may
count on being saved by the life of his Son? •N ot merely because we have been
reconciled but because we are filled with joyful trust in God, thr ough our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom we have already gained our reconciliation .
A . DELI VE R AN C E FROM S IN AND DEATH AND LA W
Adam and J esus Christ"
r G n3: 1+
Ws 2:24 Well then , sin entered the world through one man, and through sin death,' and
S i 25:24
l C oI5:21-22 thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has
3:2 3 : 6:23 sinned.' -Si n existed in the world long before the Law was given. There was no
Gn 3:1 7.19
law and so no one could be accu sed of the sin of 'law-breaking', 'yet death reigned
4: 15; 7:7 + over a ll from Adam to Moses, even though the ir sin, unlike tha t of Adam, was
not a matt er of breaking a law.
Ada m prefigured- the One to come , • but the gift itself considerably outweighed
the fall. If it is certain that through one man's fall so many' died, it is even more
certain that divine grace , coming through the one man, Jesus Ch rist, came to so
ma ny as a n abundant free gift. -The results of the gift also outweig h the results of
one man's sin: for after one single fall came judgement with a verdict of condem-
na tion , now after many falls comes grace with its verdict of acquittal. · Jf it is
certain that death reigned over everyone as the consequence of one man's fall,
it is even mor e certain tha t one man. Jesus Christ, will cause everyone to reign
in life who receives the free gift th at he does not deserve, of being made righteous.
Again, as one man's fall brought condemnat ion on everyone, so the good act of
one man brings everyone life and makes the m justified. -As by one ma n's diso bed-
Is 53: 11
ience man y were made sinners, so by one man ' s obedience many will be made
275 ROMANS
20 righteous. m • When lawn came, it was to mult iply the op porturuties of falling,
19 21 but however great the number of sins com mitted, grace was even greater ; -and
so, just as sin reigned wherever there was deat h, so grace will reign to bring
20 eternal life thanks to the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ our Lord.
21 I. Lit. ' T h o ugh he considered his ow n body dead
22 (and that Sarah's womb was dead ) it w as wi th uns haken
fa ith ' , Te xt. Rcc. and Vu la . 'His faith was not shaken .
23 no r did he give a thought to his own b ody that was
24 dead al read y' .
i. Fa ith is a ll-powerful. Mk 9:23. It shares in the
25 di vine om n ipote nce itself. cf . 2 Co 12:9-10 .
k . 'J us tice' , o r 'righteousness' , is in effect the initial
s ha r ing in the life of the risen C hris t, 6:4: 8:10. e tc. :
Pau l never iso la tes the dea t h o f Jesus from his resur-
rec t ion .
5 a . T he theme of the second sec tio n. ch . 5- 11: fo r
th e C hr is tia n who has received iustlftcatlon. cf . ch , 1-4,
the lo ve Go d ha s for him a nd t he Sp ir it bes towe d o n
hi m is a pledge of sa lva tio n . After t he ant ithe s is o f
5: 12-7:25 thi s th e me is resu med in ch. 8.
b. Va r. ' le i us be at pea ce ' .
c. Lit. 'w e ha ve access to th is gr ace (I.e . th e
enj o yme nt o f G od' s fr iendship) in which we stand'.
d . Lit. ' a bo u t the hope of the glo ry of Go d '. For
a C h rist ian 10 ho pe is to be co nfid ent that he will ~e t
the esc ha tolog ical gift s: t he res urrection of t he bod y,
RmH :IH-2J: I Th4:l3f: cf. Ac 2:26 ; 23:6: 24:15:
26:6-8: 28: 20. the rich inh erit an ce o f the sain ts, E p I: 18 :
cf . He b 6:1 If: I P 1:3(, eternal life, Tt 1:2 ; d .
I C o 15:19, glo ry. Rm 5:2 : 1 I n 3:2f, in s ha n. salvat ion,
I T h 5:8: cf. I P I :3 ~5, of self and neig hbou r, 2 Co 1:61':
I T h 2: 19. Th oug h it m ea ns p rim a rily t his virt ue of
exp ectation , 'hope ' is used sometimes fo r th e ex pec te d
gifls th em selves. Ga 5:5: Co l 1:5 : Tt 2:13 : Heb 6: 18.
Of o ld , t his hope wa s given to Is ra el, Ep 1:11·12: cf.
Jn 5:45 : R m4: 18, and not to t he pa gan s, Ep 2: 12;
cf . I Th 4: 13: but it wa s a s te p to wa rds a higher hop e ,
Heb 7:19, o ffered no w 10 the paga n wo r ld a lso, ED I: 18 ;
10 Co l l:2 7 : cf. M t 12:21 ; Rm 15: 12. throu gh t he 'my stery'
of C hr ist, Rm 16:25 + . The ba sis o f t h is hop e is God
himself. 1 T m 5:5; 6. ! 7; 1 P 1:21 ; 3:5, h is lo ve,
II 2 T h 2:16, his in vitation , 1 P 1:13· 15 ; cr. Ep 1:18:
4:4, wit h t he po wer , R m 4:17-21. tr u thf u lness , T t 1:2;
Heb6: 18, fide lity. Heb 10:23, in implementing th e
promise s declared in the written wor d, Rm 15:4. and
in th e gos pel mess age . Co l 1:23, p ro m ises fu lfilled in
C hrist 's person. 1 Tm 1: 1: I P 1:3,21. T he hope is
th erefore not illusory, Rm 5:5. Sinc e the gifts it expe cts
a rc in the fu ture. Rm 8:24 ; Heb 11:1. fa ith is its prop ,
R m 4 : 18; 5: l f; 15:1 3 ; Ga5:5 ; Hc b6: l l f : I P 1:21 ;
cha rit y is it s food . Ho m 5:5 : I Co 13:7 ; ho pe a nd fa ith
an d cha rity . t he thr ee th eo lo gic al virt ues , a rc clos ely
12
all ied , I Co 3: 13 +. Ho pe' s excellin g so urc e is the Ho ly
Sp irit. Ga 5:5, greates t of a ll the esc ha to log ical gifts
an d in part al rea dy co nferred , Rm 5:5 -t- ; Ac 1:8 + ;
thi s en lig h te ns, En 1: 17(, and str engthens hop e,
13 Rm 15: 13. an d in spi res its p rayer, R m 8 :25~ 27. effecting
the u ni ty of the Body, fo r thi s ho pe is co m mo n. En 4:4 .
14 Ami because hop e is b ui lt on jus tificat ion thr ough
faith in C h ris t. Rm 5: If ; cf. Ga 5:5, it is ric h in confi d-
ence, 2 Co 3: 12 ; He b 3:6, co nsola t ion . 2 Th 2: 16:
lIeb6: I N. JOY, Rm 12:12 ; 15: 13; I T 11 2:19, a nd is a
15 thi ng to be proud of, Rm 5:2 : I Th 2: 19; Heb 3:6: th e
s ufferi ngs of t his p res en t tim e canno t d is may it . t hese
ca n not co mp are with the glo ry to come, R m 8: 18:
o n th c con trary th ey sus tain it. giv ing it a consta ncy,
Rm 8:25 : 12:12; 15:4: 1 Th 1:3: cf. I Co 13:7, th at
16 tes ts. Rm 5:4 . and fortifies it. 2 Co 1:7.
e . G od's lo ve for us : of this th e H o ly Spi rit is a
pled ge a nd to t his, by his a ctive pre senc e withi n us. he
17 bears witness: cf. 8:15 and G a 4 :6. Th r o ug h him we
sta nd be for e God as sons before thei r father: the lov e
is mutu a l. T h is te xt therefore, in th e tigh t of its pa rallel
p assage s. asserts that t he Chris tia n sha res in th e life
of the T ri nity through 'sa nctifying grace ',
f. T he promised Spirit, Ep 1:13, cr. G a 3: 14 :
18 Ac 2:33 -+- , d is tinctive of t he ne w cove na nt as co nt ras ted
19 with the o ld , R m 2:29 ; 7:6 ; 2 Co 3:6 : cr. Ga 3:3: 4:29:
Ezk 36:27 -t-, is not merely an exh ib it ion of healing or
cha ris ma tic power, Ac 1:8 +; it is a lso, a nd es pecia lly,
5:2 1
7:7 +
Ga 3:19
N Ir
11:32 ' 0
-U
6:23 : 7:25
~
a n in ward pri nciple o f new life . a principle that God
'gtves' . I T h 4 :8, etc .. cr. L k 11:13: In 3:34 : 14:16[;
Ac 1:5 : 2:38 e rc.: 1 In 3:24, 's en ds ' , Ga 4:6 ; cf. Lk 24:49:
In 14 :26: I P 1:12, 's upp lies' , G a 3:5: P h 1:19, 'po urs
;x:
OUI' , R m 5:5 ; Tt 3:5f : cf. Ac 2:33. Rec e ived in to the a.
C h rist ia n by fa ith . G a 3:2, 14 ; cr. In 7:38f: Ac 11: 17, w
a nd bapti sm , 1 Co 6: 11; T t 3:5 : cf In 3:5; Ac 2:3 8:
19:2-6 , it dw ells wit h in him , R m 8:9 ; 1 Co 3:16 :
2 Tm 1:14: cf. J m 4: 5, in his spir it. Rm 8:16 : cf.
Rm 1:9 + , and e ven in his body , 1 Co 6:19. T h is Spi r it,
the Spirit of C h rist. Rm 8:9 ; Ph 1;19; Ga 4:6 : cf. -'
2 Co 3: 17 ; Ac 16:7 ; In 14:26 ; 15:26; 16:7.14 : makes r
0..
the C hris t ia n a so n o f G od, Rm 8: 1 4~ 1 6; Ga 4 :6(, a nd
establishes C h r ist in his he art , ED 3: 16. Fo r the
C hris tia n (as for C hr is t hi msel f, Rm 1:4 + > th is Spir it
is a principle o f resur rec tio n, R m S:I I -t- , in virt ue of
a n esc ha tolo uica l Kift wh ich eve n in life signs him as
with a sea l, 2 Co 1:22 ; Ep 1:13 : 4:30 , a nd which is o
present within him by way o f pled ge, 2 Co 1:22: 5:5;
o
ED 1:14, a nd of firs t-fr u its , Rm 8:23. It ta ke s the p lace
of th e ev il pri ncipl e in man th at is 'the flesh ' , R m 7:5 -t-,
and beco m es a pr tncinle of faith , I Co 12:3; 2 Co 4:13 : VI
cf. 1 In 4 :2f, of supernatu ral kno wled ge. 1 Co 2: 10- 16 : • UI
' ;!
7:40 : 12:Hf: 14:2f: E p 1:17: 3: 16. IS: C o l 1:9: cf.
In 14 :26 + , o f love, Rm 5:5 : 15:30 : C u i 1:8, of sancn-
Iicatton , R m 15:16: I Co 6: 1I ; 2 Th2:1 3 ; cf. I P 1:2,
o f m oral co nd uct. R m 8:4·9 ,13: G a 5: 16-25, of apostolic
courage , Ph 1:19 ; 2 Tm 1:7f : cf. Ac 1:8 + , o f hope,
R m 15: 13: G a 5:5: E D4 :4, o f prayer. Rm 8:26f : cf.
Jm 4:3 .5: Jude 20. Th e Sp irit must no t be q ue nc hed,
I Th 5: 19, o r gr teve d. Ep4:30. It un ites men with
C h rist. 1 Co 6: 17. an d t hu s secu res the u n ity o f his
Body, I C o 12:13 : Ep 2: 16,18; 4:4.
~ . Lit. ' Bein g justified in his b loo d' .
h . S in dw e lls wit hi n man , Rm 7: 14-24 : no w death,
s in's chas tise ment. ca me in to th e wo rld as a resu lt of
Ada m 's fa ll, Ws 2:24: fro m thi s Paul co ncl udes that sin
itse lf ente re d into all men thr ouah that firs t fa ll. We
ha ve he re th e do ctr ine o f o r igina l s in. It s inte res t for
Pa u l lies in th e para lle l it enab les him to dr a w between
th e d ea dly work o f th e first A da m a nd t he more than
su ffic ien t co mpensat ion o f the ' seco nd Ad am' , vv. 15-19;
1 Co 15:21 f.25, It is as the new head o f the huma n rac e,
the grcu t image in which Go d remakes hi s c rea tio n,
R m 8:29 +: 2 Co 5:171--, t ha t C hrist is mankind ' s
sav io u r. '"
.!U
l. Sin divides man fro m God . T his separa ti on is
'dea th ' , d eath spir it ua l and ete rna l ; p hysica l death is
th e symbo l o f it. cf Ws 2:24 ; Heb 6: 1 -i-.
I. M ea ni ng d isputed . Either b y s h ari ng in Adam's
s in, Cal l hav e s in ned in Ad a m') o r e lse by th ei r o wn
per son a l s ins , cf. 3:23. In this seco nd inter pre ta tion
the G ree k co u ld be tra ns la ted ' fo r th is rea so n th at
everyo ne . .. ' a nhruse in tr od ucln a a si tu at io n ac tuall y
occ u rrlna which a llowed (e ternal) d eat h to th reaten a ll
m ank ind . Sin's power whic h t h ro ue h Adam ma de its
en tra nce into t he wo rld d id in fact brin g a bou t eternal
death by mean s o f pe rso na l si n, itsel f a n acquiescence
in Ad a m's rebcl tton . ( Pau l is of co ur se spe a king of
ud ul rs.) A fu rt he r tr an slati on is possib le ' by reason
of whic h ( l.c. o f t he dea th-situat ion br ou ah t abou t by
Ada m's s in ) eve r yo ne ha s s inne d' .
k . ' prctlgured', cf. I Co 10:6 1-: the lik ene ss . there-
fore . is not co m p lete - he nce the co m p ariso n . begu n
in v, 12 a nd Inte rru p ted by the long paren the sis of
vv, 13 a nd 14, becom es a co n tras t in v, 15.
I. The wor d ' ma ny' me an s all mankind , cf. v. 18 :
see Mt 20:28 t.
m, No t onl y at t he La st J ud gement (fo r Pau l reg a rds
ius tlficat ton as a pre sent co nd itio n, cf. 5:1. etc .) b ut
p rog ress ively as eac h ind ivid ua l be com es re bo rn in
C hr ist.
II. ' la w' wit ho ut the de finite a rt icle , i.e . a state of
thi ngs in whic h la w is t he governing factor.
 r'
6: I ROMANS 27 6 277 RO M ANS 7:6
~I Co I2:12· 13
T t3:5-7
I P 3:21-22
Baptism co nversion- our sinful passions , qu ite un subdued by the Law, fertil ised ou r 7:7f
0::
D oes it follow that we should remain in sin so as to let grace have greater
3:8;6:15
6 sco pe? -O f cou rse not. We a re dead to sin, so how can we continue to live
bod ies to make t hem give birth to death. - But no w we a re rid of the La w, freed
6 a . Li t. ' therefo re'; var . ' fo r ' . soci e ty t hat is. aft er a ll, tr an sient , 1 Co 7:20-24,3 1, it
6:7 ':' 0
-0

II Ga 3:27
Co12:12
in it? - Yo u have been taught that when we were baptised in Christ Jesus we were b. Ba p tism is no t se parated fro m falth bu t goe s has no rea l sig nifica nce in t he ne w order estab lis hed
baptised in his death; - in other words," when we were bapt ised we went int o 4 with it. G a 3:26f; En 4:5 : Hc b 10:22 : cf. Ac 8: 12f.37 ; b y C hris t, I Co 12: 13 : G u 3: 2~: Co l 3: I t : th e C h ristian
16:3 1· 33 ; 18:R: 19:2-5, a nd z ives it outwar d ex pre ssio n
s
s la ve has be cn enfra nchised by the Lo rd Ch ri'sl, and ..J
1:4 + the tomb with him and joined him in death, b so that as Christ was raised from b y the op erative sv m bot ism of the baptism al cer em o nia l. t he s la ve a nd h is mast er ar e equally se rva nt s o f C hr is t,
Ex24:16 + the dead by the Fat her 's glory , we too might live a new life. Fo r t h is rea so n Paul ascribes to faith a nd to bap tis m I Co 7:22 : c f. E p 6:5-9 : Co l 3:22-4: 1: Ph m 16 ,
I' Ph 3: 10-1 1 If in uni on with C hrist we ha ve imitated his death, we shall also imit at e him
t he sa me effects (cf Ga 2: 16-20 a nd Rm 6: 3-9). T he
si n ner is immersed in water (the et ym ol ogic al meani ng
i. Or ' wha t d id yo u Ret from a ct io ns t ha t n ow
m ake yo u blu sh '! ' :r:
8:11 + n,
E p 2:6 + in his resurrection . -We must real ise that our former selves have been crucified o f ' bapt ise ' is 'd tp') and thus ' bur ied' wit h C h ris t, 7 a, Pa u l no w an nro uches a s ubjec t whic h has been
w
C o l 2: 12, with whom a lso he em er ges to res ur rectio n , in hi s mind for so me ti me . 3: 20: 4 :15 ; 5:20 : 6: 14: the
Co l 3:9·10 + with him to destroy this sinful body and to free us from the slavery of sin. -When
G(l5 :24; 6: 14 R m R: l l --1- . as a ' new cre ature', 2 Co 5:17 +, a ' new emanci pa t io n of the C hr is tia n from t he Law , and t his
ma n ' , EO 2: J 5 +, a member of th e o ne. Bod y a ni ma ted
!IIIIII Co I 3:4-5 -!
6:/ 4 a man dies, of course, he has finished with sin. C
But" we believe that having died with Christ we shall return to life with him :
by the on e Spiri t, I Co 12: 13 ; Eo 4 :4f. T his re surrecti o n
ca uses him to exp la in the ro le o f the La w a s God
int ended it, cf. 7:7 +.
will no t b e complete or final un til the end o f tim e, b . Elsewhe re Pa u l refe rs t o the lib e ra tion o f the
..J
Ac 13:34 C hrist, as we know, havi ng been ra ised fro m the dead will never d ie again . Death 1 Co 15: 12 + (b u t cr . En 2:6 1-), but is a lre ady ta ki n g C h ristia n either bi bli call y as ' rcd emn tlo n' , 3:24 + , o r,
I C o 15:26 p lace in the for m of a ne w life lived 'in the Sp iri t ', bellcnlsr lcallv. as 'e nfra nc hiseme n t', 6: 15 +. H e a lso
5:
c,
2 Tm 1:10 has no power over him any more. -When he d ied, he died, once for a ll, to sin,' 10
Hcb 2:14r vv. 8- 11.13: 8:2f: G a 5:16- 24. Th e de a th -re surrecti o n d escr ib es it Ireq ue nt tr as a del iveran ce fr o m dea th ,
Rv l:l S so his life now is life wit h God ; -a nd in tha t way, you too must co nsider yourselves II sy m bolism o f ba p tism is parti cula rly Pauli ne, bu t t h is s ince de ath free s a m an fro m his p as t wi t h all its
u,« 7:27 + initi al rite o f th e C h ris t ia n life , Heb 6:2, is al so s po ke n tyra nnica l demand s, 6:7 : 7: 1-3, T he C hristia n , in u nio n
to be dead to sin but alive for G od in C hrist Jesu s.' o f in th e N .T, as a cleansi ng b a t h . Ep 5:26: Heb 10:22 : wit h t he dead a nd risen C hr ist , 8: 11 + . a nd b y virtu e
..J
cf . I C o 6: I t ; Tt 3:5, a ne w bi rth . In 3:5 ; T t 3:5 ; of fa it h, 1: 16 /- , and ba p tism , 6:4 1-, is now d ea d to 0
Holiness, not sin, to be the master cf. I P 1:3: 2:2, an enli gh te n men t, H eo 6:4 : 10:32: s in 6:2, l l. cf. I P 4 : I , to the Law , Rm 7:6 : Ga2:19 +, 0
7: 14-24
I C o 6: 15
T ha t is why yo u must not let sin reign in your mortal bodies" or command 12
cf Ep 5:14. On t he ba p tism of wa ter a nd the bap tis m
o f the Spir it. ct. Ac 1:5 + : th ese two as pects o f the
to th e p r incip les o f th e wo rld , Co l 2 :20 , and so lives
under the ne w o rd er o f grace an d th e Sp iri t. Rm 8:5-13.
.
co nsecra tio n of the C h rist ian ar e ap pare nt ly th e Li ke a n e ma ncipated s lav e en s laved to a ne w m as te r,
yo ur o bed ience to bodily passions, -w hy you must not let any part of your bod y 13
'an ointin g' and th e ' seal' of 2 C o 1:21f. Acc ordin g to 6: 15 1-, t he C h ris tia n, r isen in C h rist , lives no lo nge r VI
turn int o an unho ly weapon fighting on t he side of sin; you should, instead, 1 P 3:21 th e ark of Noah is an a n tc ty p e of ba p tism . for him self b u t fo r C h rist and for God , 6: l l~ 1 3 : 14:7[ ; ' Il l

offer yourselves to God, an d consider yo ur selves dead men brought back to life; c . Poss ibly in t he sen se that he 110 lo nger has the
means 10 sin, havi ng lost his 's in fu l bo d y' , v. 6 : be ing
yo u shou ld make every pa rt of your body into a weapon fighti ng on the side of no more ' in the fles h', 8:9, he is freed from s in on ce
and fo r a ll, cf. I P 4: I. Possibly in the sense that in la w
6:6 God ; -and then sin will no longer domi nate you r life, since you are living by 14
the death of the accused ca nc els lega l proceeding s.
grace and not by law. c r. 7: 1.
d . v ar. ' F o r ',
c. C hris t was s in less, 2 Co 5:2 1, bu t ha vin g a
Th e Christian is freed from the slavery of sinh ph ysical body like o u r ow n . R ill 1.':3, he belonge d to
(c l ; 14: 1 Does the fact tha t we are living by grace and not by law mean that we ar e 15
t he orde r o f s in; wh en he beca me 's p ir itual' ,
1 C o 6:12 ; I C o 15:45-46, he be lon ged o n ly to the d ivine o rd er .
7:2 1 free to sin'? Of cou rse no t. •You know th a t if you agree to serve and obey a 16 Sim ila rly , thou gh t he C h ris tia n rem ain s ' in the Ilc sh '
In R:34 for a ti me , hc a lre ady li ves b y th e sp ir it.
2 P 2 : 11) ma ster you becom e his slaves. Yo u cannot be slaves of sin that lea ds to death f. Text. Rec. an d Vuln . ' C hr ist Jesu s o ur Lo rd ' .
and a t the sa me time slaves o f obedience that leads to righteousness. - You were 17 C r. 14:7f : 1 Co 3:2 3 .J ; 2 C o 5: 15 : Oa ~ :20 : I P 2:24 ,
1:5 ! J::. T houg h bapt ism has destroyed s in i n ma n , as
/ 6 :/ 7 once slaves of sin, but tha nk G od you submitted without reservation to th e lo ng as his body has not bee n 'clot hed wit h i mm ort-
11/ 8 :J(,
(Ja 5: 13 creed you were taught. - Yo u may ha ve bee n freed from the slavery of sin, but only 18 a Uty' , I Co 15:54 , s in ca n s till find a way to reassert
1 P 2:24- to becom e 'slaves' of rig hteous ness. -If I may use hu man ter ms to he lp yo ur 19 itse lf in a ' m o rt a l' bo dy , i.e. one where co nc u p isce nce
st ill has a ho ld , cr . 7: 14f.
I P 1:14-1 5 natu ra l wea kness: as once yo u put you r bod ies at the service of vice an d imm or - h . C hr ist has fr eed huma n bein gs fro m e vil so as
a lity, so now you m ust put th em at t he ser vice of righteo usness for yo ur sancti- to rest or e t hem to G od. Pa u l develop s th e bib lica l
idea s of ' re de m p tio n' . 3:24 + , a nd of liberati on fro m
ficati on. dea th, 7: I -j , a nd in o rder to b ring o u t th ei r im pli ca tion s
m ake s freq ue n t u sc o f a me ta ph or t ha t h is co n tc moo-
The reward of sin and the reward of holiness ra r tcs \vould lind impress ive: t he slave redeemed and
SC i free who can be a sla ve no lo nge r bu t m u st ser ve
W hen you were slaves o f sin, yo u felt no ob liga tion to righteousness, -and ~? his new ma st er freely a nd faith f u lly, Ch r ist has paid
for ou r rede mn uo n wit h his life , 1 Co 6:20 : 7: 2 .~:
Dt 30 : 15-20
H:6 what d id you get from th is? No thing bu t exper iences tha t now mak e yo u blush ,' G a 3: 13 : 4 :5 : and he ha s m ade u s perma nent ly free,
P,10:16 ; since that sort of behaviou r en ds in dea th . - Now, however, you have been set 22 G a 5: 1, 13. T he C hris tia n m us t be caref u l not to let
12 :28 him sel f be cauut u agai n b y th ose who o nce ow ned h im ,
In 1.5:8./ 6 free from sin, yo u ha ve been made slaves of God, and you get a reward lead ing G u 2:4f : 4 :9 : 5:1. i.e. by s in, Rm 6: IH·22 ; the La w.
5: 12.2 1 to yo ur sa nctifica tio n a nd endi ng in eternal life. - For the wage pa id by sin is 23 R m 6: 14: 8:2: G a 3: 13: 4:5 : cf. R m 7: 1 -1- , wi th its
G n 2: 17
Ga 6:7-9 r itu a l ob ser va nce, Cia 2:4 : the pr inciples o f t he wo r ld ,
Jm 1: 15 death ; the prese nt given by God is eternal life in C hrist Jesus our Lo rd. Ga 4:3,H, cr. C o l 2:20-2 2 : an d corrupti o n, Hm H:21-23.
He is a fre e man , I Co 9: I, so n o f a free mo the r. i.c . th e
A c 15:10-11 The Christ ia n is not bound by the La w" s piritua l Jer usa lem , G a 4:26 ,31 , This libe rt y is not
Ikencctnsi n ,Gu5 : 13 : cf. I P 2 : 16:2P 2: 19. lt mc<l ns
Gu 2: 19 . Brot hers, those o f you who have studi ed law will kn ow that laws affect
I C o 7:3\,l 7 a perso n only d uring his lifetime. " - A ma rrie d wo man, for instance, has legal
ob ligatio ns to her hu sband wh ile he is a live, bu t all these ob ligat ions co me to
s er ving a new m aster. God , R m 6:22: cf . I 'I'll 1:9;
I P 2: 16, th e Lord Christ , Rm I : I, c rc. : Jm I : I ; 2 P I : I :
Jude I: R m 14: IS: 16: I S, etc.. to whom t he C hr isti an
nm v bc lon ps, I C,) 6: 19: 3:23, for who m he lives and
a n cnd if the husb and d ies. -So if she gives herself to a no t her man while her di cs, H m 7: 1 1 : t his (lbed ien t ser vk e is prom Pled b y
fa it h a nd leads 10 righteousness and holines s, Rm 6:
hu sband is still a live, she is lega lly a n adulte ress ; bu t after her hu sban d is dea d 16- 1(J, This is the so n of free do m a son ha s. <la 4:7,
her legal o bligations co me to a n end, and she ca n ma rry so meo ne else without o ne who has bec n o ne ma de free by "t he law of t he
Sp ir it ' , Rm H:2 : c f. 7:6 : 8: 14f: 2C n 3: 17 (and cf. J m
6:5-6 beco min g a n ad ulteress. -Tha t is why yo u, my brot hers, who thro ugh the body 1:25: 2: 12). and he mus t be prepared to su rre nder
o r C h rist'· a re now dead to the Law, ca n no w give you rselves to a no ther husba nd , it ( 0 se rve his nci~ h bo u r in chari lY, Cia 5 : 13: cf. 2 Co 4:5,
6:X- I I .2 2 and respect f()r so meo ne e ls t~' s scr up les r cqu ire it,
I n 15:ts to h im wh o rose from the. dead to make us productive for G od. - Before our I Co 10:23-33 : Rm 14: cf. 1 Co 6:12-1 3 ; I Co 9: 19.
S lavery as a social inst it uti o n may be to lcrated in a
cr. 2 Co 5:15 : G a 2:20. t
c. As th e C hr is tia n is dead to s in, so he ie; dead
to th e Law , by virt ue of t he de ad and rise n 'body o f
C hr ist ' , d. 7: 1 +,
d . Lit. ' \Vhil e we were in t he flesh', 1. T he pri ma ry
m eaning of ' Iles b ' is the m ailer o f w hic h the bo d y is
made . I Co 15:39 : cr. Lk 24 :39 : R v 17: 16 : 19: 11.' : it is
t he o ppo sit e of sp ir it, R rn 1:9 + : it is t he bod y with its
se nses, Co l 2: 1,5, a nd es peci a lly th e mediu m or sex ua l
uni on . I Co 6: 16 : 7:28 : Ep 5:29.3 1: d . M t 19:5p ;
In I: 13 ; Ju de 7, by whic h peop le becom e pa ren ts an d
heirs, Rm4:1 : 9:3 ,5 : 11: 14 : cf. Heb 12:9 , T hus ' ttes h ".
lik e basar in b iblica l us a te . em p has ise s t he wea k and
neti s hable s ide of hu ma n bein gs, R m 6: 19: 2 C o 7:5:
12:7 ; O a 4: l3f: d . Mt 26:4 1p, an d th eir ins ig nifica nce
in co m par ison wit h God . Rru 3:20 . a n d Ga 2: 16 :
I Co 1:29 ; c f'. M t24 :22 p: Lk 3:6 ; In 17:2 ; Ac2 : 17:
I P 1:24. This exp la ins the words Pau l uses whc n
co m nar tng naWTC wit h ar acc 'accor din g to th e fles h' ,
I Co 1:2fi: 2 C o 1:17 : Ep6:5 : Co l 3:22; cr. Ph m 16 :
I n H: 15, ' fles h a nd b lo od ' , I Co 15:50 : G a I: 16 : E n 6: 12 : '",II
lI eh 2:14 : cf. M t 16:17, and ' ffeshlv. R m 15:27 :
I Co 3: 1.3 : 9: 11: 2 C o 1: 12 : 10 :4. 2, Si nce the send in}!
of th e Sp irit is wha t e tves this es cha to log ica l age its
c ha rac ter, Pa u l ca n u sc the word "flesh ' 10 s i ~ n i fy the
o ld di sncn surion as o pposed to th e new , R m 9:R:
( ia 3:3 ; 6: 12f : Ph 3:3f: En 2: I I : d . Hob 9: 10 , 13: I n 3:6 :
6: 63 : s o a lso t he p hrase 'ucco rdi na ro th e flesh'.
I C o 10: I X: 2 Co II : IH: (:i;1 4:2 3,29 : cf. R m l :3f :
2 Co 5: 111, a nd ' l1c'ih ly', lI eb 7: l h : bu t d . I Co 1O:3f.
J , Fur Pau l th e ' flesh ' is espe ciall y th e s ph ere in wh ich
t he p assions and s in operat e, R m 7:5 , 14. IK.25 : 13: 14 :
2 Co7: 1; (i n5: 1 _~, 1 9 : Ep 2:3: Co I2: IJ, IS.23: cf.
I P 2: 11: 2 P 2: IO. IS: I I n 2: 1f1: Jude l.',23, co nd e mned
to co rr u rni ou . I Co 15:50 : (ia 6:H: cf. Jm 5:3;
/\c 2 :26,3 1, and to d eath. Rm H:h, 13 : I C o 5:5 :
2 Co 4 : I I : cr. I P 4 :6, so m uch so th at ' fles h' be co mes
pc rsonl flc d a s a Po we r \If e vil hos tilc to G od , R m H:7f ,
a nd to th c S ni r tt , Rill H:4· 9, 12f; G n 5: 16f. C h rist has
de fe a ted th is Pow er hy assu m in g ' sinfu l nesh ', Rm l.': J:
cf. I 'I' m 3: 16: In I : I ~ : I J n 4: 2 : 2 I n 7 , an d pull ing
it to d e ~Hh o n th e cross , Rm S:3 : En 2 : 14- 16 ; ('0 ] 1:22 ;
d. lIeh 5:7f : 10:20 : I P 3:I X; 4 :1. I k i n ~ lIni te J wil h
h im , JI\ 6 :51f. C hris tia ns a rc no lo n!-lcl' ' in Ihe llesh' ,
Rill 7:5: X:9, s ince they ha ve cr ucilied th e fles h. ( i a 5:24:
d , I P 4 : I , a nd cas t iI o fT O)' bap t is m , C o l 2: II : m or e
preci se ly, l hey <\ re s ti ll ' in th e tles h' as Io n)!. as , hey
rem ai n in l h is wo r ld, Ph 1:22-24 : cf. I P 4:2. b ut a re
no t s la ve s to the llesh a n}' more , 2 C o 10:3 : th q ' arc
its m a ~ t c rs t nfllu~ h thei r un io n wit h C hris t by fa it h ,
G a 2:20 , and s u lre ri ng , Co l 1:24 ,
 7:7 ROMANS 27 8 279 RO MA NS 8: I I
MI9:1~:n by death from our imprisonment, free to serve in the ne w spiritual wa y a nd no t
are not in the unspiri tual , but in the spiri tua l, since the Spirit of God has made Ps 5 1:11
Na:
2 Co 3:6 the old way of a written law . in 3:5-6
' 0
his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not -U
T he function of the Law ' 10 belo ng to him . •Though your body may be dead it is because of sin, but if Christ
3:20 : 5:20:
II is in you then your spirit is life itself because you have been justified ;" -and if the
7:5 : H:3
D oes it foll ow t ha t th e Law itse lf is sin ? Of cou rse not. What I mea n is t hat
Ga 3: 10.19
Spirit of him who raised Jesus fro m the dead is living in yo u, then he who ra ised 6:4 +
Ezk 37:10
..J
I sh oul d no t have know n what sin was except for the La w. I sho uld not fo r ~
Ex 20:17
J esus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Sp irit 1:4 +.-
6:8- 11
4: 15: 5: 13
instance ha ve know n what it mea ns to covet if thc Law had not sa id VOII shall living in you .'
Jm 1:14- 15 not co vel . • But it was this co mmand me nt t hat sin took adv an tage of to produce :I:
I Co 15:56 a ll kind s o f coveto us ness in me, for whe n th ere is no Law, sin is dead . c. In itsel f the Law is ho ly and go od si nce it 0-
I. Var. 'rea son's law ' as in v, 23. W
Gn 2:17; 3: ex p res ses G o d ' s will. 7: 12-25: 1 Tm 1:8: it is the glorious m. Li t , 'from th e body o f this death '. P a ul is
If O nce, when there was no Law, II was a live ; but w he n the commandme nt 9 pre rog a tive of Is rael. Rm 9:4; but cf. 2:14f. And ye t co ncerne d wit!' the bo dy an d its co mpo nent members,

II L \' 18: 5
E zk 20: 11

G n 3:13
ca rne , sin ca me to life -and I die d: th e commandment was me an t to lead me to 10
life but it turned out to mean death fo r me , • bec au se sin took a dvantage o f th c I I
co m ma nd men t to mislead me , a nd so sin, throu gh tha t co mmand ment, killed me.
DI 4:H
1 Tm I :H T he Law is sac red , and what it co mma nds is sacred , ju st a nd good . - Docs : ~
it Seems to have bee n a fa ilure: in spite o f [he Law th e Rm 12:4: 1 Co 12:12,14f, tha t is to say wit h the human
Jews ar e s inners li ke." everyone else , Rm 2:21-2 7: being as he a ctually is, a sen tient crea tu re, 1 Co 5:3;
G .. 6:13 : En 2:3 . and o bedi ence to it even mak es them 2 Co 10:10 , wit h a sex u al life , R m 4:19 ; 1 Co 6: 16 ; ..J
so con fident, Rm 2: 17-20: 3:27 ; 4 :2,4 ; 9:3 If; Ph 3:9 : 7:4: Ep 5:28. be cause it is in the body tha t man lives i:
Ep 2:fl , t hat they are sh u t o ff b y it fro m t he gr ace of mo ra lly a nd relig ious ly. The body, t hough tvra nnised 0.
Chris t, Cia (,:12 : Ph 3: 18: cr. Ac 15: 1; I R:13 ; 21:21. by the ' flesh ' , Rm 7:5 +, by sin, 1:24 : 6:12f : 7:23; 8: 13;

II Jm 1:25
5:20
th a t mean that so met hing goo d killed me? O f course not. But sin, " to s ho w itsel f
in its tr ue co lo urs, used tha t good thin g to kill me ; and thus sin , thank s to th e
1n s ho rt, the Law is po wer less to ma ke an y man lust. I Co 6: 18, by death , Rm 6: 12; !'l:1O. a nd the re fore a
Ga 3: 11.2 1f ; Rm 3:20: cf. Heb 7: 19. Paul 's a rg ument , ' body of flesh ', Co I 2: l t; cr. 1:22 , a 'bod y o f sin ' ,
to whi ch po lemi c lends a tone of parado x, is tha i thi s Rm 6:6, an d a ' bod y of de at h' , 7:24, is not however
co mman dmen t, was ab le to exe rc ise a ll its sinf ul po wer. ap pa ren t fa ilur e o f t he Law is due to the nature o f th e doom ed to peris h, as G reek ph iloso phy wo uld have it, c5
o
LJ,w it self and to the pa n it was mean t to p lay in th e but , in acco rd a nce with th e bi blical tradit ion ,
history of sa lva tion . Th e Law gives inf o rmation -i t Ez k37: 10 +: 2 M 7:9 7, destin ed to live, R m8: 13;

~r
T he inwa rd st ruggle" do cs not aive sp iritua l st rength . N o law, whe the r 2 Co 4: 10, th rou gh resurrection , Rm 8: 1 t +. T he
6:12-14 Mo saic or o ther wise, not even the p rimordi al co m m and p r incip le of thi s renew al is the Sp irit, 5:5 + . whi ch
Jh 14:4 T T he Law , of co u rse, as we a ll know , is sp iritua l ; but I a m u nsp irit ual : I ha ve 14
give n to All am . cf. vv. 9-11 , ca n prevent sin, in fact takes the p lace of th e psyc he, 1 Co 15:44 +, and trans- <Il
Ps 5 1:5 ~ III
W s 9:1 5 bee n so ld as a slave to sin. -I ca nno t un de rstan d my o wn beh a viour. I fa il to ca rry 15 la w ma kes it wor se: I. beca use th ou gh law is not the form s th e bod y of the C h ris tia n into the likeness of the :1
:i :l 5: 17 so urc e of sin it becomes t he ins tr ument of s in by ri sen bod y o f Ch ris t. P h 3:2 1. U n til t his u ltimat e f-
o ut the thi ngs I wa nt to do, and I find myself doin g the very thi ngs 1 ha te . •When
rr 1 P 4: 2 II,
aro using conc unis cencc, Rm 7:7f ; 2. because by deliveran ce tak es nl acc, R m 8:23, th e bod}' of th e
I a ct aga ins t my ow n will , tha t mean s [ ha ve a self that ac k no wledges th a t t he in formin g the m ind it increases th e fault . which becomes C h ristia n, pr o vis ionall y deli ver ed from th e 'flesh ' by
a co nscio us ' tr ansgressio n ' , 4: 15 ; 5:13; 3. becau se th e us un ion with C h rist's death , 6:6; 8:3(, is even now
Law is goo d, -und so the thing beh a ving in t ha t way is not my self but sin living 17
on ly remed y la w ca n offer is p u nish me nt, 4: 15, cu rse , the ho rne o f the HoI}' Sp irit, t Co 6:19 , who prod uces
in me . -T hc fact is, I know of nothin g good living in mo-e-living . th a t is, in my IX Ga 3: 10. conde mna tio n . 2 Co 3:9, death, 2 Co 3:6 ; in it a new life o f right eousness and holiness,
hen ce it ca n he ca lled 'the la w o f sin and d ea th', Rm 8:2 ; Rm 6: 13, 19: 12:1 : I Co 7:34, wh ich is me rltortous .
7:5 un spi ritual sel f- fo r tho ugh the will to do what is good is in me , the perfor ma nce
rr (,a 2 : ~O
is not, -with thc result tha t inste ad of doin g th e good things I wa nt to do , I ca rry
out th c sinfu l things I do no t wa nt. •Wh cn I ac t again st my will, then , it is not
I"
20
cf. I C o 15:56 : Rm 7: 13. Ne ve r the less God willed th is 2 Co 5: 10, a nd gives glo ry to Go d. 1 Co 6:2 0 : Ph 1:20 .
de fec tive sys te m, tho u gh as a tem po rar y peri od of n . T he "l I tH , hum an rea so n o r m ind, is a Greek
sc hoo ling. Ga 3:24, to rrrake pe op le conscio us of th eir idea very d iffere nt from the pne u m d or s upern a tural
s in, Rm 3: IYf ; 5:20 ; CIa 3: 19, and to tea ch t hem In loo k Sp irit, 5:5 j , and eve n fro m th e spir it in th e bibl ica l
my true self doing it, bu t sin which lives in me ' for ius nflcuuon sot clv to the gra ce o f God , Ga 3:22 : se nse of m a n' s hig her sel f, 1:9 + , It is the princinle of
R m I I :32. Since t his s ta te of th ings is o nly fo r a tim e und ervran din u. 1 Co 14: 14, 15, 19 ; P h 4:7; 2 T h 2:2;

[I 2 Co 4 : 16
Ep 3: 16
Jm 1:1 4- / 5 :
In fact , this see ms to be th e rule'; th at ever y sin gle tim e I wa nt to do good
it is so mething cv il that comes to hand . -I u my inmost self" I de arl y lo ve God 's
21
22
it has to xive way befo re the fulfilment of th e promi se cf. Lk 24:45 ; Rv 13:18; 17:9, and of mor al Judge me n t,
ma de. be for e th e La w, to Abraham and his descenda nts, Rm 14:5 : 1 Co 1: 10 . Us ua lly it is reli a b le, R m 7:23, 25.
Ga 3:6·22; Rm..J . C hris t has put a n end to th e Law . bu t is a t tim es pe rvert ed, 1:2H; En 4: 17 : I Tm 6:5:
4: 1 La w,' but ·1 can sec t ha t my bod y follows a differ ent law that ba tt les a ga inst 2.\
En 2: 15 : d. Rm I(lA. sar isfvina its dema nd s by dyin g 2 T m 3:H; T t 1: 15 , by the ' fles h' , Co l 2: 18 ; d. Rm 7:5 - ~ .
the la w wh ich my reas on dict ate s. T his is what makes me a prisoner of that law a sfn nc rs death . Cia 3:13: R m H:3: CoI2: 14; but at the and ha s to be ren ewed , R m 12:2. with in m an' s o wn

rr H:23
ws 1:4 -+
of sin which lives ins ide my bod y.
W hat a wre tc hed ma n I a m! W ho will rescue me from this bod y doomed to
death ? :« •T ha nks be to God throu gh Jes us C h rist our Lord !
24
25
sa me timc he ' fullils ". d. M t 5:17; 3: 15. al l t ha t is of sp ir it by th e Sp iri t of G od . Ep 4:23f ; cr. Co l 3:10.
nosi uvc value in the Law. R m 3:3 1; 9:3 1; 10:4. lie u. T h is se nte nce, which wou ld co me more na tur ally
cma nctnat cs the so ns fr om the gua rd ians hip o f th e before v, 24, see ms to ha ve been added -perhaps by
tu tor. Cia 3:25f. W ith h im th ey are dead to the Law , Pa u l him sel f.
'"
5:2 1: 6:23 Cia 2:19: Rill 7 :..J·6; d . Co l 2:20, from whic h he ha s 8 a. Va l'. 'me', 'us ' '"
In short, it is I who with my reaso n" serve th e Law of God, a nd no less I who 'r edeemed ' th em. Cia 3:13, in o rde r (0 m ake the m so ns b. Pau l co nt ras ts th e order of s in and death with
by adorn ion . Ga 4:5. T h ro ugh t he promised Sp irit he t he new order of t he Sp irit. The word 'spir it' he re
serve in my un sp iritua l se lf th e law of sin ." ai ves to man kind rh us renew ed, ED 2:15 +, the inwa rd m ea ns ei ther the H o ly Spi rit in person (as it does mo re
st rcna th to do a ll the good th ings p res cribed by the clea rly in v. 9) o r t he spir it o f man made new by h is
La w, Rm R:4f. Th is ord er of grace , su pe rseding t hat p rese nce. cf. 5:5 + : 1:9 -l- ,
o f t hc o ld La w, ma y st ill be ca lled a la w, b u t it is ' the c, The Mosaic Law , im po sed fro m without , could
n, THE CHRISTIAN 'S SP IRIT UAL LIF E law of fa ith ' , Rm 3:27, 't he law of Chr ist', G a 6:2, no t be an inward p r incip le of salva tion . 7:7 +. C hri st
't he law o f th e Spirit' , R m 8:1. a nd love is it s essentia l a lone , wh o by his de a th de stro yed o ur un spir itual

r T he life of the spirit

p recep t , Ga 5: 14; R rn 13:8f : cf. J m 2:8. natu re (IiI. ' flesh') in his o wn person , cou ld destroy sin
r. Pau l spea ks in th e person of ma nkind be fore th e who se doma in t he ' fles h' was . Ma n fo rme rly carnal
l aw wa s give n, cf. 5: 13. is now, th rou gh union with C hrist, sp iritua l.
Ws 1:4 +
7:7 +
8 The reason , th erefo re, why th ose who a rc in C h rist Jes us arc not co ndemned,
is that th e law of th e sp irit of life in C hrist Jes us has set yo u" free from t hc
law of sin a nd death ." -God ha s do ne what the Law, becau se of o ur un sp iri tu a l
I g . Sin personi fied, cf. 5: 12, he re tak es the place of
the ser pen t of Gn 3: I a nd the devil of Ws 2:24.
h. Pau l now speaks in the person of manki nd still
d , Li t, ' in th e like ne ss o f s inful fles h, and in tha t
ftesh .
e. I ,e. the Law' s de mand fo r exact punishment
Ac 1 3 : 3 H - 3 ~ : under [he empire of sin and no t ye t jus t ified , where as of si n .

r 15:10-11
6:W t ·
G a 3:13
2 Co 5:2 1
natu re, wa s un a ble to do .' God dealt wit h sin by send ing his own Son in a body
as phys ical as an y sinful bod y, a nd in th a t bod y" God co nde m ned sin . • He did
in ch . H. he speaks in the name of th e justified Ch r istian
wi th the gift of the Sp iri t who , nevertheless, is con sciou s
of an inwa rd str uaxle wh ile on ea rt h, Ga 5: 17f.
f. Because of sin, 5:12 ·-1-, th e body is doo med to
nhysicu l dea th a nd is t hc Ins trument of sp iri tua l death
Heb 2: 14-18 th is in order th a t the Law's j ust demands: might be sat isfied in us, who beh a ve i , Pa u l is no t deny ing m an' s pe rso nal respo nsibilit y a lso : hu t the Spir it is life, a pow er of res urre c tion; see
3:3 1 t· .- fo r th e ev il he docs. a ny mo re th an for t he good in Iollowina no te ,
9:30 - not as our unspir itual nat ure but as the sp irit dictates .
31 +: 10:4 G a 2:20. 1:. 1 he resu rrect io n of t he C h ris t ia n is ln umat elv

G a 5: 16-23 The un spiritu al ar c int ere sted on ly in what is u nspi ritu al, bu t the spiritua l
0 :2/
G a 6:8 are int erested in spiritua l things.• It is death to limit o nese lf to what is un spi ritu a l ;
lifc a nd peace can o nly come with conce rn for t he spiritual. •T hat is because to
lim it o neself to what is u ns pir itual is to be at e nmity with God : suc h a lim ita tio n
I in 2: 15- 16
never co u ld a nd never docs su bmit to God's law . • Pcople whu a rc interested
7:5-6
o nly in un spi rit ua l things ca n ncver bc plea sing to God , • Yo ur inte res ts, how ever,
i . Li t. ' la w' , in the sense of regu lar exper ience. depende n t o n tha t o f C h ris t , I T b 4: 14 ; 1 Co 6: 14;
k . T h is ' inmost self' is ma n 's ra tional nat ure as 15:20f : 2 Co 4 : 14: 13:4; Rmfl :5 ; I::D2:0: Co l J : I ~:
6 o p pos ed to t he 'oute r self', 2 Co 4: 16a , w hich is m an ' s 2: 12f ; 2 T m 2:11. It is b}' t he sa me powe r a nd the sa me
peri shable bod y. Thi s dis tin ct ion whic h has its orts!n ~ift of t he Sp ir it. cr. R m 1:4 1- , l ha t th e Fat her will
in (j red; tho ugh t is IlIlt th e s ame as th a t be tw ee n the raise t hem to life in t heir turn , T his operatio n is alr("'ady
'old ' and the ' new' self , Col 3:9-10 + , wh ich derives being prcDared : a new lift' is makinll: the C h rist ians
H flOm Je wis h esc ha lOlo gr. There are tex ts. howe ver, in lll so ns (v . 14) in the li kc ness o f the So n himself,
whe re Paul spea ks o f t he ' inmo s t self ' in the Ch rist ian 8:29 1- , and t hey a re' bci nR incorpora ted int o the r isen
se nse of the ' I\ CV,,' Self', 2 Co 4:16b : Ep 3:l6. C hris t by fai th , 1 :l b ~ . and bapti sm , 6:4 t ,
 8:1 2 ROMANS 280 281 ROMANS 9:5
So then , my brothers, there is no necessity for us to obey ou r un spiritu al 12
g~ n selves or to live unspiritual lives. -If you do live in that way, you ar e doomed to 13 C. THE PLACE OF ISRAEL"
N O::
'0
-()

Ep4:22-24 die ; but if by the Spirit you put an end to the misdeed s of the body yo u will live.
The privileges of Israel
Ga 4:4-7 Children of God
~
2 Co 11:29
What I want to say now is no pretence; I say it in union with Christ-it is
G a 5:18
I n 1: 12;
15: 15
Everyo ne moved" by the Spirit is a so n of G od . -T he spirit yo u received :~
is not th e spirit of sla ves br inging fear into your lives again; it is the spirit of 2
9 the truth-my conscience in union with the Holy Spirit ass ures me of it too .
What I want to say is this: my sorrow is so great, my mental anguis h so endless, 2 Co 12:7 +
:I:
5: 5 +
1 In 4: 18
so ns, and it makes us cry out, 'Abba, Father!'; -T he Spir it himself and our spiri t 16 3 I would willingly be con demned /> and be cut off from C hrist if it cou ld help my Ex 32:32 Q.
Ga 1:9 W
Ga 3: 16.
bear unit ed witness) that we are children of G od . -And if we are childre n we 17 4 brothers of Israel,' my own flesh and blood . •They were adopted as sons, they £,.2:)2
1 T h 2:8
2 6~2 9
1.k 22: 28- 30 ;
are heirs as well: heirs of God and cohe irs with C hrist, shari ng his sufferings were given the glory and the covenants; the Law and the ritual were drawn lip 3:)-2
24: 26 so as to share his glory.
Ph 3:10- 11 for them, and the promises were made to them. -They are descended from th e
I P4: 13 1:3 ..J
R v 2 1:7 patriarchs and from their flesh and blood came C hrist who is a bove all, God for I Co 15:28 i:
Glory as our destiny 2 Co 5:16 a.
ever blessed !" Amen. 1 P4: 11
5:2 -5 I think that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glo ry, 18
2 e o4: l 7
(.'a/3:3-4 h. 'led ' see ms inade quate: t he Holy Sp irit is much the right h and of God (R m 8:34; cf. Heb 7:25 : I In 2: I) .
I In 3:2
as yet unrev ealed, which is waitin g for us.•T he whole creation is eagerly 19
m o re t ha n o ne who in wa rd ly ad mo nishes. he is th e T he Fat he r's respon se is th er ef o re most ge ne rous
(;11 3:17: waiting for God to reveal his son s." - It was not for any fault on the part of 20 principle of a life tr uly di vine . cf. G a 2:20. (E p 3: 10). He nce C hr ist ians a rc ca lled ' t hose wh o ..J
6:20 I-
I, T he pr ayer of C h rist in Ge tbsema ne . M k 14:36. in vo ke th e na me of Jes us C h rist ' (1 Co 1:2 ; cf. o
Ho4:3 + creatio n that it was made unable to attain its purpose, it was made so by God ;' o
I. O r (V u lg.) ' T he Sp ir it be ar s wit nes s to our R m 10:9-13 ; 2 Tm2:22 ; Jm 2:7 ; Ac9: 14.2 1; 22: 16) .
:! tt 3: 12· 13 but creation still retains th e ho pe -of being freed, like us, from its slavery to 21 spi ri t' , On the .ant ruce to be adop ted whe n praying , cf.
k. Li t. 'wa ili ng for the reve la tio n of th e sons of 1 Co 11:14- 16; I Tm 2:8.
R v 21 :1 decadence, to enjo y the sam e freedom and glory as the ch ildren of G od. • Fro m 22
God' . T he m at eri al wor ld, cre a ted for m an , s ha res his p , Var. (V u lg.) ' We k now that fo r those who lo ve V>
the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in d est iny , It was cu rsed fo r man ' s si n. G n 3: 17, and is God eve ry thi ng co n spires for goo d, fo r a ll t hose tha t , UI
' X
2 Co 5:2-5 therefor e now de fo rm ed : impot en t a nd d ecad en t . he has ca lle d . . . '
one great act of giving birth ; -and not only creatio n, but all of us who possess 23
vv. 19-22. Bu t like ma n 's body, desti n ed to be glorifi ed . q , C hr ist. th e ima ae o f God in th e primor dial
I-
P h 3:20 th e first-fruits of th e Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for'" our bodies it too is to be redeemed. vv. 2 1,23 : it wil l s ha re th e crea t io n , C o l 1:15 + , cf. Heb 1:3, h as no w com e, b y
3:24 +; glorious liberty of th e ch ild re n of Go d, v, 2 1. Fo r the a new crea tio n , 2 Co 5: 17 +. to res tore to fall en m an
5-2 '" . to be set free. • For we must be conte nt to hope that we shall be saved --c-our 24
G ree k p hilo sopher ma tt er wa s ev il and th e SPirit mu s t the sp le ndo u r o f th at im age w hic h has bee n da rkened
7:24 '+'
2 Co 5: 7 sa lvatio n is not in sight, we should not have to be ho pin g for it if it were-·but, 25 be d elive re d from it; C h rist ia ni ty regards m a tt er as b y s in, G n 1:26 + ; 3:22-24 + : R m 5: 12 + . H e do es
Itself e ns lave d and to be se t free. In ot her texts a lso t his b y for m ing m an in the st ill more sp lend id im a ge
Heb 11:1 as I say, we must hope to be saved since we are not saved yet-it is somet hin g sa lvation is ex te nded to cr eat ures (esp eci ally a nge ls) of a son o f God (R m 8:29) : thus, so u nd m o ral Judge-

rr 5:5 + ; 8:15
Ga4:6
Jm4:3.5
we must wait for with patience.
The Spirit too comes to help us in ou r weak ness. For when we cannot choose
words in orde r to pray prop erly, the Sp irit himself expr esses our plea in a way
26
o ther than ma n . cr. Co l 1;20; Ep I; 10 ; 2 P 3: 13 ;
Rv 2 1: 1-5 .
J. Lit. ' C reat io n was s ub jec ted to futility : thi s wa s
no t it s own fault bu r t he work o f h im who so s ubicc red
men t is res to red to th e ' new man ', Co I 3: 10 + , and
a lso h is claim to glo r y whic h he had sacr ificed by s in .
R m 3:23 +. Th is Rlory wh ich C hris t as t he Im age of
God po ss esse s by r ight , 2 Co 4:4, is progressi vely
Jr 11:20 i- i f -Le. o f God who p un ished man's s in in this way, co m m u n ica ted to t he C hr ist ia n, 2 Co 3: 18, u nt il h is
that co uld never be put into word s, -a nd G od who kno ws everyt hing in our 27

rr
or of ma n w hose s in was responsib le. bod y is itse lf c lot hed in th e image of the 'h eaven ly'
hearts knows perfec tly well wha t he mean s, and th at the pleas of the sa ints m . A dd . 'ad op t ive sons hip (and)' w hic h would ma n, I Co 15:49.
her e ha ve an esc ha to logical se nse, but see v. 15. r , E ver vrh lng ha s bee n d irec ted by God to the
expres sed by t he Sp irit are accord ing to the mind of God. 0 n . Lit. ' It is th rough ho pe t hat we are saved'. T he glo r y of his e lec t: it was for this th ey we re ca lled 10 t he
sa lvat io n is esc ha to loaic al . cf. 5: I- I I. faith a nd ju st ified b y bantis m : wit h th is. it can be sa id
En 1:4-1 4
God has called us to share his glory O. Pa ul insi st s o n th e ne cessity o f co ns ta n t p raye r by an tici pa tio n , th ey a re alr ead y clothed .
(Rm 12: 12 ; E p 6: 18 ; P h 4: 6; C n I4: 2; I T h5 : 17: S . T he 'powe rs ' ' hc ts tn s' and 'depth s' are pr o bab ly
G n 50:20 We know that by turnin g every thing to th eir goo d God co-ope ra tes with all
rl Jm 1: 12
Ac 13:48 f· those who love him, with a ll th ose th at he has ca lled according to his pur pose. "
28 1 T m 2:8 ; 5:5: cf. I Co 7:5 ) ta ught by Jesus him self
(M t 6:5 + ; 14:23 -l-) a nd practised b y the ea r ly C hr ist-
th e m ys teriou s cos mic forc es whic h to th e m ind o f
ant iq uity were in genera l host ile to m an kind . C f.
'01
IJJ
ians (A c 2:42 + ). Pa u l is alway s p ra yin g for th e Ep 1;21; 3: 18.
Jrl :S
1 Co 15:49 T hey are t he o nes he chose specially long ago and intended to become true

(
29 fait h fu l (E p 1:16 ; P h 1:4; Co l 1:3 .9: 1 T h 1:2; 3:10 :
Ph 3:2 1 2 T h 1:1 1: P hm 4) a nd as ks them 10 do th e same fo r
cu i.rs ima ges of his So n,'! so th at his So n might be the eldest of man y brothers . -He 30
h im (R m 15:30 : 2 C o 1:11 : Ep6: 19 : Ph 1:19 ; Co l 4:3:
ca lled th ose he intended for t his; th ose he called he ju stified, an d with those he I T h 5:25 : 2 T h 3: 1; P hm 22; He b 13: 181. and fo r
justified he sha red his glory. r each other (2 Co 9: 14; En 6: 18 : o n pr ayer fo r si nners
a nd th e sic k, cr. 1 I n 5: 16: Jm 5: 13- (6). T hese pr a yers
mu st ask fo r grow t h in holi ness bu t also for Ihe re moval
I Co 13: 1 + A hymn to God's love o f all ex ternal (I T h 2:18 and 3:10 : R m (:10) and
9 a , Pa u l's t he me of lu stifica tlon by fa it h led him to
speak of th e ri gh teou sness o f Ab ra ha m. ch. 4. Simi-
larly her e th e th em e o f sa lva tio n lo vin gly bes towed b y
God throu gh t he Sp iri t ma kes it necessar y fo r h im to
speak abou t Is rael' s ca se. ch . 9- 11, a people whic h
re mai ns un belie vin g rh ou gh it ha s re ceived the p romi se
o f sa lva tio n . T he s ubjec t o f the se chap te rs, therefore ,

r 5:6- 11
Gn 22: 12. 16
In 3: 16
2 Co5: 14-2 1
C
'
Afte r saying this, wha t can we add? With God o n our side who can be agai nst
lI S -Si nce God did not spare his own Son , but gave him up to bene fit us all,
we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse any thing he can give.
31
32
in ternal (2 C ;1 12:8-9) o bstacles to it: we h ave to p ray ,
to o , fo r the o rderly conduct of t he country's bu siness
(I Tm 2 :1-2). Pa ul lays special stress o n pr ayer s of
tha n ksgivi ng (Ep 5:4 ; Ph 4:6 ; Co l 2;7; 4;2; I Th 5; 18 ;
1 T m 2: 1) for every gift of God (Ep 5:20 : Col 3: 17)
is no t the problem o f ind ividua l pre des t ina tion to
glorY, o r ev en to fa ith , bu t o f Is rae l's pa rt tn t he
deve lopm en t of sa lva tio n history. the o nly problem
raised by the sta te me nts in the O .T .
b . Lit. ana thema, a thing acc ursed , u nder a ban ,
I I n 4: 10
l.\' 50 :8
Co uld anyone acc use t hose that God has chosen? When God acq uits, -could U and pa rticul arl y for the food God gives us (Rm 14:6:
1 Co 10:3 1; I Tm 4:3-5); he beg ins all his ow n lett er s
cf. Jos 6: 17 + a nd Lv 27:28 + .
C, Act ua l desce nda nts o f Jacob (ca lled 'Israel',

r A c 2:?J
1- lc b 7: 25
anyone co ndem n? Could Ch rist Jes us? No ! He not o nly died for us-he rose
fro m the dea d, an d th ere at God's right hand he stands and pleads for us.
No t hing t herefo re ca n come between us a nd the love of C hrist, even if we are
tro ub led o r wor ried, or bein g persecu ted, or lackin g food or clothes, or being
Ps 44: 11 threatened or eve n attacked .• As scr ipture pro mised: For your sake we are being
1 T h 3:4
2 Tm 3: 12 massacred daily, and reck oned as sheep for the slaughter. •T hese are the trials
I n 16:33 th rough which we trium ph, by the power of him who loved us.
For I am certa in of thi s: neither death no r life, no angel, no prince, nothing
that exists, nothing sti ll to com e, not any power, . 0 1' height o r depth , s nor any
created t hing, ca n ever co me between us a nd the love of God made visible in
Christ Jesus our Lord .
35
wit h a pr ayer of th an ks (R m 1:8, etc .) and he wa nts
t he sp i!'it of gra tit ude 10 pe r vad e a ll th e C hr tsttans'
dea lings with eac h o ther (l Co 14:17 ; 2 Co 1:11 : 4 :15 ;
9:11· 12). In liturgic al gat her in gs p r ayers o f t ha nks-
Riving an d pra ise mu st pre do mina te (l Co 11· 14) and
t he se sen timen ts mu s t insp ire th e hymns th a t th e
36
C h ris ti ans com p ose for t hese occasions (Ep 5:19:
37 Co l 3:16) . It is the H ol y Sp irit who inspi res the p rayer
of t he C hr istia n, and P aul p re fers to emphasise th is
ra ther th an re peat the trad iti o na l W isdom themes,
38 name ly the necessar y conditions for prayer a nd it s
etllcaclc usness (cr. J m 1:5-8; 4 :2-3: 5:16- 18 ; I In 3:22 :
39 5: 14- 16) w h ich Pa u l guar ant ees by the presence o f the
Sp irit of C hris t wi th in th e C h ristia n . enabling him to
pray as a so n to his father ( Rm 8: 15,26-27 ; Ga 4:6 ;
cr. 6:18; J ude 20), while C h ri st h imself in tercedes at
G n 32:29) . A ll t he othe r priv ileges derive fro m thi s:
adont lve sonship . Ex 4:22 : cr. D t 7:6 +; th e glor y of
God, Ex 24: 16+, who d wells wit h his peop le.
E x 25:S -j-: D t 4:7 +: cf. In 1:14 + : the co vena n t with
Abraham . G n 15:1 + ; 15:17 + ; 17: 1 + , with J aco b-
Is rael , G n 32:29. wil h Moses, Ex 24:7 -8: the wo rs h ip
of the o ne tru e G o d; the Law which embodies h is
will : t he m ess ian ic pr o mises. 2 S 7:1 -i-, and p hys ica l
rel at ion shi p with C hr ist .
d. Bot h th e co ntext a nd th e in tern al dev e lop me nt
of th e se n te nce impl y that t.his doxology is add ressed
to C hrist. Pa u l rare ly Rives Jesus the ttrle 'God' , thou gh
cf T t 2: 13, o r add resses a doxology to h im , cr.
H eb 13:2 1. bUl thi s is because he us ua lly keeps t his
titl e for t he Fa ther, cf . Rm 15:6, etc ., and considers
the d ivine persons not so much w.th au abstract
 9:6 ROMAN S 282 283 ROM AN S IO: 1 3

3:3+ God has kept his prom ise misguided. II - F ai ling to recognise the righteou sness that com es fro m God , th ey M t 5:20
Ph 3:9 N Q:
try to promote their own idea of it, instead of submitt ing to th e righteousness of ' 0
I s~n5:: f Does thi s mean that G od has fai led to keep his promi se'? Of co urs e no t. 6 -0
4 God." - But no w the Law has come to a n end wit h C hrist, an d everyo ne who has 8:4 ; 9:30 .
,Mt~~ Not a ll those who descend from Isra el a re Israe l; - not all the descenda nts of 3 1+
II GII2/: /2 A braha m a re his true children . Remembe r: II is thro ug h Isaa c th at y our name will faith may be ju st ified . M 1 5; 17
A c 24:14
2 Co 3:14 ..J
be car ried Oil, -which mean s th at it is no t physica l descent th at decides who are The testimony of Moses Ga 3:24
(;
3: 2 /; 4
I n 8:3 1-44 the child ren of God; it is only the ch ildr en of the pr omi se who will count as the Lv 18:5
When Moses refer s to being justifi ed by the Law, he writes: those who k eep G a 3;12 +
II G n 18: 10 tru e descendan ts. -T he ac tua l word s in which th e promise was ma de we re: I sha ll
the Law will draw life FO III it . - But the righteousness that com es fro m fai th says J:
visit yo u at such a nd such a time , and S arah will ha ve a SOli . • Even mor e to the 10
thi s:'>Do not tell yo u rself you ha ve to br ing C hrist down -as in the text: Wh o D' 9:4 ; 30: Q.
w
12f
poin t is what was said to Rebe cca when she was pregnant by our an cesto r Isaac , will go lip to heaven '! - o r that you have to brin g C hrist back from the dead- as
but befor e her twin chi ldren were born and before e ither had done good or ev il. 1I
8 in the text: Who will g o down 10 th e underworld ?' -O n the pos itive side it says: Ps 107:26

\r 11:5-6
G n 25:23
In o rder to stress tha t G od's c ho ice is free, -sincc it depe nd s on the o ne who
call s, not o n human meri t, Rebecca was told: the elder shall serve the younger,
12
Th e word, that is the faith we proclaim, is I'ery Ileal' to you, it is all yo III' lips and
I P 3:19 +
D/ 30 :14
S1 5 1:26
Ac 2: J6+
..J
i ll your heart. -If your lips co nfess that Je sus is Lo rd and if yo u believe in your J:
I C o 12:3
MII:2-3 or as scr ipture says elsewhere : I showed Illy 100'e for Jacob and Illy ha tred f or Esau, 13 Q.
10 heart that G od raised him from the dead: then you will be saved. - By believing 1;4
God is not unjust from the heart you ar e mad e righteous ; by confessing with you r lips yo u are
[r 3: 5
D t 32:4 Doe s it follow that G od is unju st'? Of course no t. -Ta kc what God sa id to J ~
II saved. -When scriptu re says: those who belie ve ill him will IWI'e 110 cause for shame, Is 28:16
..J
12 it makes no distinction between Jew and G reek: a ll belo ng to the sa me Lord wh o 1: 16 ; 32 -33 : 0
Ex 33:19 Mo ses: I IWI'e lIIercy Oil whom I will, and I sho w pity to whom I please, - Iu other 16 9:33 0
Ps 147:10f 13 is rich enough, ho wever man y as k his hel p, -for e l'elT olle who cal ls all the nam e J13: 5
wor ds, the o nly th ing tha t counts is not what human beings want or try to do , Ae 2:21 +
Ex 9 :16 of the Lo rd will be save d.
but the mer cy or G od. - Fo r in scr ipture he says to Pharaoh: II wasfor this l rai scd 17
YO/l up: 10 usc YO/l as a IlIeOIlS of showing Illy {10 1I'er and 10 1II0ke I II)' name k 11011'11 anprcciat ton of their na tur e as with a conc re te a pp rec- th e way 10 co nversio n); he ' disp lays his power' by
iati on of their fun ctions in th e process of salva tio n. bru sh ing suc h obstacles as ide. Y, 17, as t he prese n t
-w
' J:'"
thro ughout th e world. -I n ot her words, when God wa nts to show merc y he doe s, IX Moreo ver. he has always in mi nd t he his tor ical Ch ris t an ta gonism of the Jews toward s t he gospel: b ut above
f-

and when he wa nts to ha rden so rneonc's hear t he does so . in his concrete re a lity as G od m ade m an . cr. Ph 2:5 j : all he carries o ut his merciful p la n for the p agans,
3:7 Co l 1: 15 l- . For t h is reason he present s C h ris t 'I S d . l l t l 1-( 2, to whom th e go s pe l is preached once the
Ws 12: 12 You will ask me, ' In that ca se, how can God ever blame anyone, since no on e 1') s ubo rdin a ted (0 t he Fat her, I C o 3:23 : 11:3. not o nly Jew s hav e reject ed it. cf. Ac 13:5 j •
I\1l20 :1 5 can oppose his will'?'! - Bu t what right ha ve yo u, a hu man being, to cro ss-exam ine 20 in th e wor k o f c rea tio n. I C o ~:6 . bu t also in t ha t of h . Lit. ' in order to (reveal )": var. 'a nd (reve aled) '.
Is 29:16 cscliu tolouica l renewal. ( Co 15:27f: cr. Rrn 16:27. et c. L In th e G ree k , vv. 22-24 a re a lon g con ditional
G od'? The pot has 110 right 10 say 10 the potter: Wh)' did YO/l 1II0k e me this shap e '! Nev ert heless, the title ' Lo rd ' , Kvrios. rec eived by C h ris t cl a use withou t a n an odosfs. Supp ly ' h ow, if thi s
IS 2(}:16 ! Sure ly a potter can do wha t he likes with the clay? It is surely 1'0 1' him to decid e 21 at hi s re surrectio n. Ph 2:9-11 : cr. En 1 :2()~2 2 : lfeh 1: 3(. sun nosi uo n is co rrec t. co uld we spea k of injustice i n
Jr I X:6
W s / 5 :7 is th e t itle give n b )' t he LX X to Ya hweh in th e o:r., ( io Ll'? ' In t he lon g run , every t hing is dir ected to the
Is 45:9; 64:7 whet her he will use a part icu lar lump or clay to ma ke a specia l pot or a n o rd ina ry Rm 10:lJ.l3 : I C( ) 2:16. For Paul Jesu s is esse nt ially sa lvat ion o f bot h pa ea ns an d Jews. cf. 11:32.
on e? "t he So n of (i od ' , R m 1:3--1-,9 : 5: 10: H:29 : I Co 1:9 : I. Lit. '( na me ly) to us who m he h as ca lled not o nly
15:2H; 2 C o 1:19 : G a 1:16 : 2:20: 4:4,6 : E p-l-:I3: from th e Jews bu t from th e pagan s' .
O r else imagine s that a ltho ugh God is read y to show h is a nger an d disp lay 22 1 T h 1: 10 : cf I{ch-l-: 14, etc.. h is 'ow n So n', Rm H:3,32, k . The s to ry of an Is rael welcomed ba ck b y God
2:4 ; 3:25-26 his power, yet he patie ntl y puts up with the people who make him a ngry, 'the Sou of his lo ve'. Co l 1: 13, wh o belongs to the despi te it s unfa it hfulness thus beco mes the anter vc e
P r 16:4-
Ws 12:20-2 1 sp he re of th e di vine b) ' righ t, t he s p here fro m wh ich (If th e inv itat io n to th e naaa ns. who had no cla im, to
however much they deser ve to be destroyed. - He put s u p with them for th e sake 23 he ca me, I Co 15:47, bein g se nt by Clod . Rm X:3: the mcssiant c feas t.
o f th ose oth er people, to whom he wa nts to be me rciful, to whom he wa nts to G u 4:4. The title 'S on of God ' beca m e his in a new wa y I. T he texts cited here proclaim bot h t he in fidelity
8:29 with th e resu rrect ion , Rm 1A l- : cf . Heb 1:5 : 5:5. but of lsru el and the re turn or a 're m n an t ', cr. Is 4:3 -t ,
Ep 2: 1-7 reveal" the richne ss of his glory , people he had prepa red for this glor y lon g ag o. it wa s not then tha t he received it sin ce he n rc-existed in which th e prom ises arc safeguarded. T hey a re t hus
'Well, we are th ose peop le ; whethe r we were Jews or paga ns we a re the one s he 24 not o n ly as prefigured in t he 0.1'., I C o 10:4, bu t a nrenarut ton for ch. 11.
on t ol oulcall y. P h 2:6: cf. 2 Co H:9. H e is th e W isdo m . Ill. O ne val'. ( V u IJU m akes t he Quo ta tio n follow
has ca lled.' I Co I:24.30 , an d t he Im a ge , 2 en 4:4, by wh ich a nd t he LX X text , wh ich Pa ul a bbreviates .
III
U,
in \vhich a ll t hin gs were created. Co l 1: 15- 17 : cf 11. Lit. 'Then what s ha H we say? ' T his co nc lus io n

All has been foreto ld in the Old Testament
Ho 2:25 T hat is exactly what God say s in Hosea: I shall say 10 a people that I\'lIS 1101
1 P 2:10
110 2:/
mine, 'Yilll are III)'peop le' , and 10 a nu tion 1111'1'1'1' 101'ed, ' 1 10 1'1' YOI/' . -Lnstcud of
heing totd. : YOI/ are I/O peo ple ofmine", th cv will now he eolied the SOliS oft he living
Is 10:'22-23
flo 2: 1 God ." - Refer ring to Israel Isaia h had thi s to say :' Tho ugh Isr ael shoultl have as
// :5 many des cen dants as there ar e grains of sand Oil th e seashore , only a remnan t will
be saved, -for with out hesitat ion or delay the Lo rd will exccut« hi s sentence 01/ IIIl'
Is 1:9 eart li.» - As Isa iah for eto ld: Had the Lor d of has Is 1I0t lc]! /IS sonic descendant s we
sho uld I/OII' be lik e S OdOIll, we should he lik e Gomorrah .
8:4 ; 10:4. F ro m this it follows " that the paga ns who were not lookin g for righteousness
20; 11:7
found it all the sa me, a righ teou sness th at com es of fa ith, -w hilc Israel , lookin g
for a righteo usne ss derived fro m law failed to d o what that law req uired. " - W hy
d id t hey fail') Beca use the y relied on good deeds instead of trusti ng in fai th. In
Is H:14 ot her word s, they stumbled over the stumbling-stone - men tioned in scripture:
Is 2H:16
I P 2:6-8
See how I 10)' iI/ Z ioll a slol/e 10 slll lllble Ol'er, a rock 10 Irip lIIen up - ol/Iy tho se
10:/1 II'ho belie ve i ll hilll Ii'ill hav e I/O cal/se for slwlI/ e .
Israel fails to see that it is God who makes us holy
Broth ers, I have the ve ry wa rmest love for the Jew s, and I pray to G od for
l Ic b 1:3 : I Co 8:6, an d ha ve been re-crea ted . Rm H:29: introd uces the a rg ume n t of Ihe fo llo wing cha p ter
cf. Co I3 : l0 ; 1:IS·20, beca use into hi s own person is where th e ca use of Isr ae l's infid eli ty is exam ined no t
25 aat hcr cd the fu lnes s of the go d head and o f t he u niver se, no w as in G od bu t as in Israel itself.
Co l 2:9 +. In hi m God has de vised th e whole pla n of 0 , O n ly t he C h ris tian ca n d o t his. 3:3 1: 8:4 : 10:4;
26
sa lva tio n, Ep 1:3f. and he, no less tha n t he Fat her , cf. 7:7 + : Ac 13:39 ' t ha t Ja w': var . (V u tg.) ' that la w
is its accompli shme nt (cf, Rm 11:36 : I Co H:6 and o f right eou sness' .
C o l 1:16,20>. The Father ra ises to life a nd iud ges, so
27
do es the So n raise to life (cf', Rm 1:4 ,.: 8: I I + a nd
Ph 3:21) a nd judge rcr. Rm 2: 16 and I Co 4:5; Rm 14:10 10 a , Li ke that o f Pa ul before his co nve rs io n , Ac 22:3 :
a nd 2 Co 5: 10). In s han , he is o ne o f the th ree person s G a 1:14 ; Ph 3:6 ; ef. I T m 1;13 .
2~ enumera ted in th e tri ni tari a n formu lae . 2 Co 13:13 + . b. Ri ahteou sn ess is no t somethin g to be won : it is
29 e. Lik e the D .T. write rs Paul att r ib ute s to G od a fav o ur man re ceives throu gh faith in Christ ,
as their ultimate cause (stre ssin g th e phrase of Ex: I ef. 1:16 + : 7;7 +.
r a ised yo u up ) t he goo d an d bad action s of me n , c. T he ar gume n t is odd a t first readi ng , bec au se
30 cr. 1:24f. [he passage of D t is cer tainly a e u log y o f th e ri gh teo us-
f. If ma n' s perversity thu s bec o mes part of G od's ness of th e Law, But Pa ul see s in thi s text. which sums
31
de s fun . how can man be accu sed of not do ing the will up th e whol e Law in the pre cep t of love and the
32 o f (loLl'! Paul rep lies, as befo re in a sim ilar cas e (3 :7 : 'c irc u mc ision o f the heart' , D t 30:6, 16,20, a p resenti-
6: 1,15), hy disa llowin g t he obj ection . G o d bei ng t he ment o f th e new la w. T he ' word of fa it h' , u tte red and
absolu te master of what he has made, the que sti on of m ade cnccnvc by the Spi rit of C hris t. 8:2,14, is de ep er
33 injus tice ca nnot aris e. C f. Mt 20:15. in th e hea rt ami swee ter in th e m o u th th an th e 'word
g. Lit. ' Bu t if', an obscure ph ra se here. to be of th e L aw ' co uld be.
illlerp reted by t he co ntext. Paul is exp la ining ho w t he d , Li t. ' t he de Pth s' - of th e se a in Dt 30: 13, of
hafiJenin ~ o f Pharaoh' s heart th en , and the unbelief Sh eol in Pa u l' s applied sense . In co nnectio n wi th th is
o f Israel no w, are not act s o f in jus tice if regarded a s text , th e Tan~ u m had a lreaJy spoke n o f the descent of
ele me nts in (he plan of Go d . GoJ could destroy the Mo ses from S ina i and th e asce nt of Jonah from the
Jewis h peop le, as he co uld ha ve de s tro yed Pharao h, dep th s o f (he sea .
but he pati entl y to lera tes ,hc m: t h us (wh ile allowi ng e, Professi on of fa i, h, s uc h as is m ade a t baPt ism,

10 them to be saved. -I can swear to their fervo ur for God, but their zea l is
I
tim c 10 re pen t, 2:4) he 's ho ws his an J.!er· (b y permitlin~ is t he o utward expression of th e in wa rd co m mi tm ent
sin s to multipl y, ef. ch, 1-3. though cYen th is paves of the ' hea rt' ,
 10 : 14 RO MA N S 28 4 285 ROMANS 11 :3 5
Israel has no excus e ZI Rather th a n mak ing you proud, that should make yo u afrai d, -God d id not J r 49: 12
L k 23:3 1 N O::
He b 11:6 But they will not as k his help un less they believe in him, " a nd the y will not spare the nat ural bra nches, and he is not likely to spare you." -D o not for get
14 22 -' 0u
Ac 8:31 t hat God can be severe as well as kind : he is severe to those who fell, and he is
believe in him unless they have heard of him , and they will not hear of him unless
j,I they get a preacher, -a nd th ey will never ha ve a preacher unless one is sent, but 15 kind to you, but only fo r as long as he ch ooses to be, otherwise yo u will find
Is 52:7 as scr ipture says: The foots teps of those who bring g ood news is a welcome sound." 23 yourself cut off too, -and th e Jews, if they give up t heir unb elief, gra fted back in
1:5 +
Is 53:1 Not everyo ne, of cou rse, liste ns to t he G ood N ews. As Isaiah says: Lord, how ma ny 16 24 your place, G od is perfe ct ly a ble to graft them back again ; •afte r ail, if you were ~
II believed what we proclaimed? -So faith comes from what is preached, and what is 17 cut from yo ur nat ur al wild oli ve to be grafted un na turally on to a cultiva ted olive,
pr eached com es from the word of Christ. " it will be muc h easier for them , the natural branches, to be gra fted back on the J:
0-
Mt24: 14 j-
Let me put the quest ion: is it possible tha t t hey d id not hea r? Indeed th ey 18 tree they ca me from , W

Ps 19:4 did ; in t he wor ds of the psalm, their voice ' has g one out throug h all the earth, and
Ir 11: 1,12
D t 32:2 1
their me ssage to the ends of the world. • A second question: is it possible th at Israel
did not understa nd? Moses a nswered t his long ago: I will mak e y ou jealous of
19
25
The conversion of the Jews
Th ere is a hidden reaso n for all this, bro thers, of which I do not wa nt you 16:25 +
..J
peop le who are not even a na tion,' I will make y ou ang ry with an irrelig ious peo ple.i to be ignora nt, in case you think you know mo re than you do , One sect ion of i:
0-
Is 65 :1 Isaia h said mo re clearl y: I have been f ound by those who did not seek m e, and ha ve 20 Israel has become blin d, but th is will last only until the whole pagan world ha s 11:1 1 +
9:30 re vealed myself to those who did not consult me ; - and referr ing to Israel he goes 21 26 entered,' -and t hen after th is the rest of Israel will be saved as well, As scripture
Is 65:2 on: Each day I stretch ed out my hand to a disobedient and rebellio us pe ople ," says :'" The liberator will com e from Zion, he will banish godlessness fro m Ja cob . Is 59:2 0-21
..J
And this is the covenant I will mak e with them when I take their sins away . Is 27:9 o
27 o
The remn ant of Israel
Ps ~~ l~
2 C o // : 21 +
11
Let me pu t a fur ther question the n:" is it possible t hat God has reje cted his
people'? Of cou rse no t. I, a n Israe lite, descended from Abra ha m thro ug h
28

29
T he Jews a re enemies of God only with regard to the G ood New s, and
enemies only fo r your sake; but as the chosen people, they are still loved by Go d,
loved for the sake of th eir ancestors. -G od never takes back his gifts or revokes
9:6
r~rn§ VI

th e tribe of Benja min, -cou ld never agree th at G od had rejected his people, the his choice. Is 54 :10 1~
people he chose specially long ago, Do you remember what scri ptur e says of 30 Ju st as you chan ged fro m being disobedient to God, and now enjoy mercy
I K 19:10 ,14 Elija h- ho w he co mp la ined to G od a bout Israe l' s behaviour? • Lor d , they hav e 31 because of their disobed ience, -so those who a re disobedient now- a nd only 11:1 1
k illed yo ur prophets and broke n down y oar alta rs , I , and I only , remain, and the y 32 because of the mercy sh own to you- will also enjoy llIercy eventually . -G od has Ez k 18:23
Ga3 :22
I K 19:18 want to kill me , • W hat d id God say to that? I hav e kept fo r myself seven imprisoned all men in their own disobed ience only to show mercy to all mankind. 3:9; 5: 20 ,~

thousand me n who have not bent the k nee to Baa l, -T oday the sa me thing
IJ.-i'L'j has hap pened : there is a remna nt, chosen by grace, • By gra ce, you no tice, nothing
the refo re to do with good deed s, o r grace would not be grace at all!
9:30 -3 1
.2 Co 3: 15
W hat follows? It was not Israe l as a whole that fou nd what it was seeking,
but o nly the chos en few, The rest were no t allowed to see the tr uth ; -as scr ipture
l?'z§?i& says: God has gi ven them a slugg ish spirit, uns eeing eye s and inatten tive ears, and
M~ ;~:J:jJf they are still like that today , -And Da vid says: M ay their own table" pro ve a trap
f or them, a snare and a pitfall- let that be their punishment ; «may their ey es be
st ruck incurably blin d, their back s bend for e ver,
The J ews to be restored in the fut ure
II :25 ,30 Let me put a nother qu estio n th en : ha ve the Jews fallen for ever, o r have t hey
M t 2 1:43
A c 13:5 . ju st st u m b led?" Obvio usly they ha ve not fallen fo r ever : their fall, tho ugh, has
10 : 19
MlH : l lr:
sa ved the pag a ns" in a way the Jews ma y now well emu late , •T hink of the extent
2 1:43 to which the wo rld, t he paga n world , has benefited from th eir fa ll and defection -
t hen t hink how much mo re it will benefit from the co nvers ion of them all. • Let
me tell yo u paga ns" thi s: I ha ve bee n sent to th e paga ns as t heir a pos tle, a nd I a m
pro ud of being sent, • but t he purpose of it is to make my own people env ious
of yo u, a nd in this way save so me of them , -Since their rejectio n mea nt the
reco nciliat io n of t he wor ld, do you kn ow what their ad mission will mean? Nothi ng
less tha n a resurrecti on from the dea d! '
T he J ews a re still the ehosen people
A who le ba tch of bread is mad e ho ly if th e first handful of d ough is made
15: 27 holy ;" a ll th e bra nches a rc ho ly if the root is holy. •N o do ubt some of t he br anches
F p 2:1 1-22 ha ve bee n cut off', a nd, like shoo ts of wild o live, yo u" have been grafted a mo ng'
t he rest to sha re with th em- the rich sa p provided by t he o live tre e itself, • but still,
5:2 ;3 :27 even if yo u think yo urself super ior to the other branc hes, remem ber that yo u do
I en 1: 31
no t su pp o rt t he root ; it is the roo t tha t sup por ts yo u, -Yo u will sa y, 'T hose
bra nche s were c ut o il' o n purpos e to let me be gra fted in !' T rue, -t hey were cut off,
but th rou gh t heir unbelief ; if yo u st ill hold firm , it is o nly thanks to you r faith.
A hymn to God's mercy and wisdom
33 H ow rich are the depths of God- how deep his wisdom a nd kno wledge-- J dt 8: 14
Jb 11:6
7 and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods ! Ps 139:6•
17-18
~t Who could ever know the m ind of the Lord? Who could e ver be his counsellor ? • Who Is 40:13
1 C o 2:!1
r. T he a rg ument , su pported by sc ript ur e, is clea r: u ltim ate ly o f th e Jew s thems elves: for t hei r own good
10 if Is rael as a pe o p le ref us es to inv o ke the nam e of t he G o d wilt mak e t he m ' jea lous ' , 10: 19, of the pagans.
Lor d. i t is because s he h as bee n blin d to th e lig h t (ha t c , Le. t he conve rts to Ch r is tia nity from pag a nis m.
wa s o ffere d. Th us even as a post le of th e gen tiles Pa u l is wor k in g
g . Li t. 'H o w bea u tifu l the feet o f th os e who fo r th e sal vation of his ow n people (li t. his 'flesh').
b r ing go od news! '
h . V ar. ' w o r d of G od ' .
f. Th is sen tence has been va rio us ly inter p re ted .
T he meaning seems to be t ha t if a comp aris on m ay be
'u" '
11 t. Of thos e who p reac h t he go spel. d ra wn be twee n the conv er sio n o f the pa ga ns a nd 't he
j . T his a llusi o n 10 Is rael' s jeal ou sy pr ep ar es th e reco ncil iati on of the wo rld ' (th e firs t s tag e in the
way for 11: 11,14 . redem pti ve p la n), the conversion of Isra el will be such
12 k . In t he Hcbr . bot h text s (vv. 20 and 2 1) re fer to a favo u r fr om G od th a t it co u ld be compared onl y
th e j ewi sh peo p le. b ut in t he firs t o f th ese th e pr ophe t wit h t he final resu rr ecti o n (t he seco nd s tage). If this is
speak s of Is rae l 'not in vo kin g the nam e of Yah weh' tr ue, P a u l is thi nk ing of t he gene ra l resur recti o n a t the
13 and th er ef or e no be t ter t ha n t he pa ga ns. P au l' s annli- e nd of time; b ut he d oes no t sa y th at thi s is to ta ke
ca lio n o f v. 20 to t he paga ns t ettmel is t he mor e eas ily p lac e im medi at el y a fter Israel's co nvers ion. O n the
m ad e in t ha t the G ree k vers ion uses e thnos Cna rio n') o t h er hand some tr anslate 'life fr om th ose who were
'4 in Is 65: I , an d n ot laos (l .c . Isr ae l, t he 'peop le' of G od ) dea d ' .
as in Is 65:2. g . Even the unbeliev in g Isra elites still be lon g to
15 I 1 a . T his p hra se, us ed in 10: 18,19 to in tr od uce a t he C ho se n Peo p le and to some de gre e s ha re its sac red
denu nciat ion o f Isra el, now prefa ces an a nno unceme nt ch a rac ter , jus t as th e firs t ha ndful of d ou gh (lit. 'th e
of it s sal va t ion (so a lso in v. II) . Israe l, Thou gh do ug h offered as firs t-frui ts') m akes the who le offer in g
un believin g. 10:21. is sti ll a c hosen peop le, 11:2. T he sacred N b 15:19-2 1.
' re mnant ' , Is 4:3 -1- . its tem po ra ry re prese nt ative . is the h. T he pa gan who is now a C hrist ia n.
pled ge o f fut ure rest or ati o n . i. O r ' in place o f' .
b . T h is psalm q uo ta tion de sc ribes the p un ishment I , Add. ' the roo t and'.
l fi of tho se who , because the y t he msel ves wer e sa ted.
17 wo uld n o t understa nd the just m an ' s s uffer ings or h is k . Lit. 'per ha p s he w ill not spare you '; va r. 'he will
th irst. T her e may be a reference (as in the T ar -gu m) to n ot snare yo u'.
sac rifi cial mea ls ; if so. the prophec y is fulfilled 10 the I. Pa ul is still spea kin g of peo p les, no t o f indi-
IX le tt er : the Jew s ar c inca p a b le of acknowledgi ng a vid u a ls: th e Jews en ma sse , a nd th e pa gan wor ld as a
su fferin g Messia h n rc clsefv beca use th cy a re so a ttac hed wh o le.
to {hei r for ma l wo rsh ip . m . The O.'T. nr on hes led that as a re su lt of the
19 c . Lit. 'have the y s t umb led so as to fa ll (wit hou t Mes sia h' s co m ing Israel wo u ld be cleansed of a ll he r
hope o f ristn u)?' s ins . Pa u l teach es (ca lling it , Iu.. a ' m ystery' , v. 25) that
20 d. Th e p resen t u nbeli ef of the Jews is on ly a false thi s prop hecy , part iall y fu lfilled al read y in the co n-
step wh ich G od has pe rm itt ed wi th a view to the ver sio n of the pa ga ns, imp lies th e conversio n of the
conv e rsi on of the pagans, 9:22 ; 11:12, 19,25, 30. and Jewish peo ple al so ,
 1 1:3 6 ROMANS 286 2 87 ROMANS 14 :6
/~}r~ could e ver g ive him any thing or lend him anything ? · All t ha t ex ists comes from hi m ; )6 govern me nt officia ls a rc God' s office rs. They serve 'G od by co llect ing ta xes . N lr
COM~t: ~ a ll is by hun a nd fo r him. To him be glory for ever ! Ame n. 7 Pa y every government o fficia l what he has a righ t to ask - whet her it be d irec t M t 22 ;2 ID '0
-U
ta x 0 1' ind irect, fear or ho no ur.
E X H O RT AT I O N Love an d law Mt22:34 -4 0
In 13 :34

S piritua l worshi p
Avo id gell ing into debt, except the debt of mu tu al love. If you love yo u r fellow Co1 3: 14 s
..J

Ex 20: 13-1 7
9 men you ha ve carried out your obl igat ion s.' ·A II t he co m ma nd me nts: Y OIl shall [H 5:1 7-21
I T h 4: 1
Th ink of G od' s mer cy, my bro the rs, a nd wors hip him , I beg yo u, in a wa y
I :~

~: 1 4 - 1 ~.
,
12 t ha t is worthy o f thinking be ings," by o fferi ng yo ur living bod ies as a ho ly
sacr ifice, trul y pleasin g to God . • Do not model y o u rsel ves on th e beh a viou r 2
1/01 com mit adultery; you shall 1/0 1 kill, you shall 1/0 1 .1'1('01," you shall 1/01 COl'(' I ,
a nd so on, ar c summed up in t his single co m mand : Yo II 11111.1'1 101 '(' your neighbour: Lv 19: I H
(ia 5: 14
I (" 0 11:4· 7
:x:
0-
W

" ('1. " 7 10 as yo urself.. • Love is th e on e t hing that ca nnot hurt yo ur neighb ou r; t hat is wh y
ED ~: 2 3 o f the world arou nd yo u, but let your behav iour cha nge , modelled by yo ur new it is th e a nswe r to everyone of t he co m mand me nt s.!
mind . T h is is the o nly wa y to d iscover t he will of God a nd kn o w wha t is good, ..J
wha t it is t ha t G od wa nts, wha t is t he pe rfect thin g to d o. Children of the light 1 T h 5:4 -S ;:
0-
I Co 7:26.
1\ Besides, you k now 'the time' has co me:" yo u mu st wa ke up now : our sa lva tio n 2Y-J I
Humility and charit y En5: H-lh
12 is e ven nearer than it was wh en we were co nve rte d . •T he night is a lmost ov e r, it Col 4 :5
In the light of the grace I ha ve recei ved I want to urge eac h o ne am o ng yo u J will be da yligh t soon -let us give u p' a ll th e th ings we nrcf c r to do unde r co ver I In 2:X
Ph ~: J
I n H: 12 + ..J
not to e xagge ra te his rea l im po rt a nce. Eac h of yo u m ust j udge him self so be rly by En 6 :1 1 ~- 0
13 of t he da rk; let us arm ourse lves a nd a p pear in t he light. • Let us live dece ntl y U
1 C \l 12:\):
13:2 the sta nda rd of the fa it h ' G od ha s given him. -Just as eac h of o ur bo dies ha s 4 as peop le do in th e daytime: no d runken o rg ies, no pro misc uity o r licen tiou sness, 1.2lJ t
se vera l parts a nd ea c h part has a separate fu nc tion , -so all or us, in uni on wit h 14 a nd no wrangling or jealousy. • Let you r a rmo ur be th e Lo rd Je su s Ch r ist ; forget (i a 3:27
I Co I :! :l ~ ·
E p 4 :24
C hr ist, form o ne bod y, a nd as pa rt s or it we belo ng to eac h ot her .' -O ur girts" a bo ut sa tisfying yo ur bodi es with all their c ra vin gs. <Fl
'w
A~ 11: 27 ··
1 C o 12:l:l- d iffer acc ord ing to t he g race give n us, II' yo u r girt is prop hecy , t hen usc it as yo ur ' :1:
f-
10.2$-30 fait h sugge sts; · if admi nistra tion . then use it for a dmin istration ; if tea c hin g, 7 Cha rity towards the scrupulous I CO H; 10:
Ep 4:7 - 11 14- J 3
1 P 4: 10 then usc it for teachi ng. • Let t he pr eac hers de liver ser mon s, t he a lm sgiv er s give x 6 : 15 .
If a pe rson' s fa ith is not stro ng e no ugh," welco me him all th e same withou t
'n [:5":· free ly, the officials be d iligent, and those who do wo r ks of me rcy do the m
chee rfu lly.
14 sta rt ing an a rgument. • People range from th ose who believe they ma y cat
a ny sort o f meat to those whose fa it h is so wea k the y dar e not ca t an ythin g
I T h 5: 14

I Co 1.2:4
I P 1:2 2 Do not let yo ur lo ve be a pret en ce, but since rely pr efer good to ev il. • Lov e '10 exce pt veget a bles . • Mea t-ea ters m ust no t de spi se t he sc ru pulo us . O n th e o t her C ol 2:16 -2 1
In / 3:3 4
Ph 2:3 eac h other as much as bro the rs should, and ha ve a profound respect fo r each ha nd , the scru pulo us m ust not co nde m n those who fee l free to ca t a ny t hing t hey
l C o JJ : J3 · o t he r:' • Wo rk fo r t he Lord ,' wit h unti ring effo rt a nd wit h great earnestn ess of II \-tt 7: I
c hoose, since G od ha s welco med them . · It is no t for yo u to co nde m n so meo ne Jm ..1-;I2
M k 1:14 ' 6:4 s pir it. - If you ha ve ho pe, t his will ma ke yo u che er fu l. Do not give up if tr ials 12
Col 4:2 else' s ser va nt: whet he r he sta nds or fall s it is his o wn mas te r's bu si ness; he will
A c 9: 1J 1
co me; a nd keep on pray ing . · 11' a ny o f the sa ints are in need you mu st share with 1.\ sta nd, yo u may be sure, because t he Lo rd has po we r to mak e him sta nd . - If
the m; and yo u sho uld make hospital ity yo ur spe cia l ca re . one man keep s certain days as hol ier t han others, and a no t her cons iders a ll da ys C oi 2:1 6

M t S:38-4 8 ~ Charity to everyone , including enemies! 6 to be equa lly hol y, each m ust be left free to ho ld his own o pi nion . •T he o ne wh o
ob ser ves spec ial days do cs so in hon our of th e Lo rd . T he o ne who ca ts meat al so
1 C o 12:2/l
Bless th ose w ho per secut e yo u: ne ver curse th em , bless th em . • Rejo ice wit h Ii do cs so in honou r of the Lor d, since he gives t hank s to Go d ; but th en the man
Si 7:) 4 t hose wh o rejo ice a nd be sa d wit h th ose in so rrow , ·Trea t eve ryo ne wit h eq ua l 1(,
who a bsta ins doc s that too in honou r of t he Lo rd, a nd so he also gives God thank s.
Pr 3:7 kind ness ; never be co ndescend ing but mak e rea l frien ds wit h t he poor. Do no t '"
w
1 Th 5: 15 allow yo urself to beco me self-sa tisfied .• Neve r re pay ev il with ev il but let eve ryo ne 17
Pr 20 :22 12 a. O r ' in a snir h ua l way. as o p pose d to th e ritua l f. Li t. ' th a t i s w hy l ove is t he law in all its ful nes s'
Pr 3 :4 LX X see th at yo u arc int er ested o nly in th e highe st idea ls. • Do all yo u ca n to live a t IX sac riticcs of Jews or p aeans. d . H o 6:6. C f. R m 1;1) . n. The th o u ahr is a fu •. damc nt a t o ne ill Pa ul's
2 Co X:2 \ b. ' F aith ' is used he re 10 mean the srnr uual Io!ift s mo ra l reu c hi nn . T he -umc' t kut r os t is appare nt l y t he
J Co 6:1S-7 pea ce wit h e ver yo ne.• Ne ver tr y to ge t reve nge ; lea ve th a t, my friends, to Go d' s 19
Li ' / 9: 18 bestowed by (' o J o n the m em hc rs o f th e C hri su an cschamlosnca l e ra . culled in t he Bib le the 'la tt er da ys".
a nge r. " As sc ript ure says : Vengea nce is lIIille- ! will f'ay them back , the Lord c o m m u n ity to ens u re its li fe and g rowt h . intr od u ced h~' C h rist's dctuh a nd resu rre ct ion an d
Ot 32:.15 c . T he sen ten ce em ph asises not so m u ch t he idc nti- co ex te ns ive wit h the age o f t hc C h u rc h on earth. th e
P r 25 :2 1- pro m ises. • But th er e is mo re: If yo ur ellelllY is hu ng ry, yo u should giv e him food, 20 ncauon o f C hr is t ians wit h C hris t . I Co 12:27 as th ei r age of sa lv a tio n, 2 C o 6:2 .. 1\ is o r-nos ed 10 th c e ra
22 , m a t pr eceded it by a d itfere ncc nor so mu c h of ti me
and if he is thi rsty, let him drink : Thus yo u heal' red-hoi coals Oil his head . • Resist 21 de pe ndence o n one a n o the r.
d . Or 'out do ea c h othe r in mu tua l es tee m'. as ( I f na tu re. lhe Chri s uan . hencefor war d a 'ct uld of
evil and co nq ue r it with good . e . Li t . ' Serv e th e Lo rd' ; var , ' Be read}' whe n the d ay' . e lllan ..:ipa teJ fro m th e wick ed world, ( ; a 1:4,
oppor-t u nity arises ' (lit. 'S erve th e tim e"). and f r o m th e em rn re o f dar k ncv s. belong s to th e
S ubmission to civil authority" f. T he pe rspec tiv e no w , pa rtic u lar ly fro m v. 17 kinadorn of r Iod uud of h IS So n. C ll ! I: 1J: he is already
o nwa rds. e rnb ruccs all m ank ind. a c hi zc u of hea ven . Ph .~ : 2 0 . T h is e n tirely l1e\\ s ta t us
1 T m 2:1- 2
Yo u m ust all obey t he gove rn ing a ut horit ies , Since a ll gove rn ment comes to an ger ' : nresu ma blv th e dom inat es th e who le mota! o un oo k . d . 6 :.\1".

13
Tt3: 1
1 P 2: \J -I S
Pr 8:15 from God, t he civil a u tho rities were ap po inte d by G od , -a nd so a nyo ne who
J r 27: 6
res ists a ut hor ity is re be lling agai nst God 's dec isio n, a nd such a n ac t is bo un d
to be pu nish ed . ·G ood beh a viou r is not af ra id of mag istrates; on ly c r im ina ls
have a nyt hi ng to fea r. If yo u want to live wit ho ut bein g a fraid of a uthor ity , yo u
m tlst live ho nestly an d a ut ho r ity may even hon our yo u.• T he stat e is t he re to 4
serv e God for yo ur ben efit. If yo u brea k th e la w, ho wever, yo u ma y we ll ha ve
fea r: t he bea ri ng of th e sword has its significa nce. The a ut horities arc the re to
serve God : th ey ca r ry o ut God ' s re ven ge by pun ish ing wro ngdoers. • Yo u m ust
obey, t herefo re, no t o nly because yo u a re afraid of being punis hed , " but al so
fo r co nscie nce ' sa ke. •Th is is also the reaso n why yo u mu st pa y ta xes, since al l (,
/0: , Li t. 'g ive pla ce .
ange r o f Clod waui n x to punish s in. h . Lit , 'le t u s d ivest ourselves of": var . ' !cl us ",'aS I
13 a , Pa u l here e n u nci a te s the nrin ctnle t hu t a ll aw a y ,
au thoruv . sup nos i nu it la wf u l and fo r the ":001 11101\ 14 a . Chris t ians n o t su ttic ic mtv tn s trucre d in the In ith
a o o d . der ives f rom (iod . He nce t h e C h ris t ia n re lig io n. and th er efor e w ithou t t hc ttr m vonvicnons Iha l would
li ke u s morality , 12:1. ent e rs imo clv u Hfc a lso. 13:1· 7. gin: th em a s ure l.:(lIl S': lCIlI.: C, \ V . ~ . 5 .~~ . Ihcsc c o n sid crc d
Paul docs not ":IlIHradlc t lhis cvcn afler th e first themse lves bound to ll hs cr \le I.:crt a in d ays. v. S. an d t\)
Dcr se..:ution s . a hs tilin fro m meat (l r frlml wine , \"\". :!.:! I. fi n ha ps as
h . LiL 'n IH \ml y nn a CCIlu n l o f an !!:cr' . a p Cfln an ent (lOlil"Wt ltlll . \ . 2 1. Slh;h a SCl'll i,d l pr; .Kl il·CS
we r e fa m ilial III the ('lagan wllrld (t he P 'Jl h H~ <Jf l' a n s )
an J t hc Je w is h (the Esscn es. J \l h n I hc Ha l>list) . Pa ul
c . l. 1t. ' fulfilled Ihe l aw ' ~aDP arcll(l }· la l\ i n S!cne ra l, la ys d ll\\n th c ...am e gc nc ra l lU lL- a s in the Sim ilar ,:asc
no t onl y t he :-..tosaic La w . of I C O X; I n : 1 4 · ~ .' : e a,,;h m llst a,,;t ' fll r t he l. o ~ t1 · ;\s his
d . AdJ . (\'u l!-: .) 'you sh all n ,lt be ar fa lse wi t Tles.... "'Illl scic'n \,'e le lls him . v v. 5·6 . pro ..klcd I i 1'0 no t a
c . In L v th e ~ n e i K h hll u r · wa ~ a fc llo \\ I.:ou n tr }'ln a n . a v yh tfu l ....o ns .... ic IKe . v. ~ J: !lUI ilho ve ;111. Ch ;HlIY m ust
here i t is a ny member \If lhe hum ..~ ;~ f ?ll1i ly .... h ic h is ,!,wenl t he \,·\ . lhl u ....t of t h,lSC ' sIr ong' 1I ~ th c fai th ,
made one in C h r isi. G a 3:2~; M t 25 :4U. ,·v. i. 15. 19-2 1 a nd 15: 1· 1.\.
 14:7 ROMA NS 288 28 9 ROMANS 15:3 1
6:10-11 The life and death of eac h of us has its influence on others; -if we live, we live
N O::
for th e Lord; and if we d ie, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong E P I L O GU E ' 0
-U
Ac 10:42 to the Lord. -This explains why Christ both died and came to life, it was so that
2 C0 5: 15
he mi ght be Lord both of the dead and of the living .• This is also why you should !O Paul's ministry
never pa ss j udgement on a brother or treat him with contempt, as some of you 14 It is not beca use I ha ve any doubts a bou t you , my bro th ers; on the contra ry -'
2:6+
2 Co 5: 10
have done. We shall all have to sta nd before the judgement seat of God ;" -as 11
I a m quite cert ain th a t you are full of goo d intentions, perfectly well instru cted ~
Is 45 :2 3
Ph 2: 10-11
scriptur e says: By my life - it is the Lo rd who speaks-s-every knee shall bend before 15 and ab le to advise eac h other. -The reason why I have written to you ," an d put
Ga6:5 me, and every tongue shall pra ise God. -It is to God, th erefore, that each of us 12
some th ings rather st ro ngly, is to refresh yo ur memories, since G od ha s given me J:
ll.
mu st give an account of himse lf. 16 th is special posit ion.• H e has appointed me as a pr iest of Jesus Christ, and I am W
Far from passing ju dgement on ea ch other, therefore, you sho uld make up 13
to ca rry ou t my pries tly du ty ' by bring ing the Good Ne ws from G od to the pa gan s, 1:9-10
your mind never to be the caus e of your bro ther tri pping or failing . •Now I am 14
and so make the m acceptable as a n offering, made hol y by the Holy Spi rit.
M t i5:1-20p
Ac 10:15
pe rfectly well aware, of course, a nd I spea k for the Lord Jesu s, that no food is 17 I think I have so me reason to be proud of what I, in union with Christ Jesus, 5:2+
G .2:7 -'
I T m 4 :4 unclea n in itself; howe ver, if so meo ne th inks that a particular food is un clean, 18 have been able to do for G od .• What I am presuming to speak of, of cou rse, is i:
ll.
I Co 8:10 then it is unclean for him . -A nd inde ed if you r att itude to food is up sett ing your 15
only what Christ himself ha s done to win the alleg iance of th e pa gan s, using 1:5+
I Co 13:1 + br oth er," then you are hardly being guide d by charit y. You are certainly no t free Ac 1:8 +
19 what I have said an d done · by the power of signs an d wonders, by th e pow er of 2 Co 12:12 +
to eat wh at you like if tha t mea ns the dow nfall of someone for whom Christ died. the Ho ly Spirit. T hus, all the way along, from Je ru salem to IIlyricu m,t I hav e
I Co 8:8 In short, you must not comp romise your pr ivilege," • because the kingdom :9 20 preached Christ's Good News to the utmost of my capacity. ·1 have always, Co l 1:25
-'
0
U
of God do es not mean eating o r dri nk ing this or that, it means righteou sness and however, mad e it an unbroken rule never to preac h where Ch rist' s name has 2 Co 10:
15- 16
G.5 :2 2
1 T h 1:6
pea ce a nd joy brought by t he Holy Spirit. -If you serve Christ in this way you 18
alread y been hea rd . T he reaso n for that was that I had no wish to build on other 1 Co 3:10r
12: 17-18 will please God a nd be respec ted by men. -S o let us ado pt any custom that leads 19
men's found ations; -on the con tra ry, my chief co ncern has been to fulfil the
to peace and our mutual improvement ; -do not wreck God's wor k! ove r a 20
21
Is 52:1 5
.w'"
:J:
text: Those who have ne ver been told about him will see him, and those who have f-
Tt 1:15 questio n of food. Of course all foo d is clea n, but it becomes evil if by eati ng it
I Co 8:13;
10:24
you make som ebody else fall away .« -I n such cases t he best course is to abstai n 21
never heard about him will understan d.
"
I T m 4 :4 from meat and wine and anyt hing else that woul d mak e your brother tri p or Paul's plans
, :It
,\ fall o r weaken in any way. 22
Th at is the reas on why I have been kep t from visiting you so long, v -though 1:lOf . j:.
23 Ac 19:2 1-22
Ho ld on to your own belief ," as between you rsel f a nd Godv-cand cons ide r 22 for many years I have bee n longing to pay you a visit. Now, ho wever, hav ing
th e man fort unate who ca n ma ke his decision without go ing against his co nscien ce. 24 no mo re work to do here," • I ho pe to see yo u on my way to Spain and , after
I Co ~: 7
But a nybody who eat s in a stat e of doubt is conde mned, beca use he is not in good 23 enjo ying a little of yo ur compa ny, to co mplete th e rest of the journey with your
faith ;' and every act do ne in bad fait h is a sin. 25 goo d wishes. • F irst , how ever, I mu st ta ke a pre sent of mon ey to the sa ints in Ac 19:21
I Co 9:22 We who are str ong have a d uty to put up with the qualms of the weak
15 I 26 Jer usa lem, -since Macedonia a nd Achai a have decided to send a genero us 12: 13
G a 6:2 1 Co 16: 1+
1 C o 10-3] ; . without thin king of ourselves. -Each of us sh ould th ink of his neighbou rs and
13:5 27 contribution to t he poor a mo ng the saints at Je ru salem. ·A generous contrib utio n
14: 19
I C o 8: 1
help t hem to become stronger Ch ristians. -C hrist did not th ink of himself: the words as it sh oul d be, sinc e it is reall y rep aying a debt: the pa gans who sha re the spirit ual 11:17f
I Co 9: 11
Ps 69:9 of scripture- the insults of those who insult y ou fall on me- apply to him. -A nd 4 possessions of these poor people have a duty to help them with tem po ra l posses- G. 6:6
I Co 10 :6+ indeed ever ything that was written lo ng ago in the scriptures was mean t to teac h
2 T m 3:1 6 28 sions. -S o when I have do ne this and officially ha nd ed over' what has been raised,
1 M 12 :9
2 M 15:9
us something about hop e from th e exa mp les scr iptu re gives of ho w people who 29 I shall set out for Spain and visit you on the way . · 1 know that whe n I reach you II I
d id no t give up were helped by G od . -And may he who helps us when we refuse I sh all a rriv e with rich blessings from Christ. ~
to give up , help you all to be tolera nt with each other, " following the example 30 Bu t I beg you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Chr ist an d the love of the Spiri t, 2 Co 1: 11
ED 6: 19
Ph 2:2f of C hrist Jes us, -so tha t united in mind and vo ice you may give glor y to the God 6 31 to help me th rough my dangers by praying to God for me.' -Pray that I may Col 4:3.1 2
I Th 5:25
a nd Fa ther of ou r Lord Jes us Christ.
b. W ho a lone kno ws the se c ret s of the he ar t, to the evan gellsatlon of Israel. cf Mt 15:24. C hrist
cf. 2: 16 ; I C o 4: 3f. ga ve evide nc e o f G o d ' s loyalty to h is promise. the
An a ppeal for unity c . 'A nd indeed ' ; va r. ' B u t ' or 'No w'. co nverted pa gan s being livin g evi d ence rat her of G od 's
d . By h is taking bad exa mp le, o r by be ing scandal- mercy, L e t t hese in their t urn be me rci fu l to th ei r
It can on ly be to Go d's glory, th en, for you to tre a t each oth er in the sam e ised a t an action hi s conscie nce docs no t a pp rove. brothers in the fait h . cf. 12:1.
M t 15:24
Ac 3:25-26
friend ly way as Christ t rea ted you. -T he reason Ch rist becam e the servant of e. P ro ba b ly the pr ivil e ge of C hri stian lib er ty of c . T h is bless in g resumes the cent ra l the m es o f the
wh ich t he ' s trong' make u se bu t which m a y be brought d oct ri n a l sectio n of t he epi stle.
I C o 8:7 circu mcised Jews was not only so that God cou ld faithfu lly ca rry out t he pro mises into d isrep ute . cf. 3:8+.
Ex 34:6
Ac 15:14 - 15
made to the pa triarchs, -it was also to get the pagans to give glo ry to God for 9 f . E ithe r the ' wea k' man h imself or the Chris tian
community , cf . 1 Co 3:9. d. P a ul on ce aga in justifies him self fo r writing to
Ps H :50 his mer cy, " as scripture says in o ne place: For this 1 shall praise )'011 among the g. Lit. ' by ea t ing it with a ca use of stumbling' a ch ur ch he did not f ou nd . cr. 1:5- 6 . 13.
D13 2:43
LXX
patrons and sing to )'our name . - And in anot her place: Rejoice, pagans, with his 10 cf . v. 13 ; th at is , acco rdi ng to t he context (v. 2 1 de als e . The apostola te, even more th an the ordinary
w it h the d uties of th e 'strong' ), wh ile giving ' sca nda l' . C hr is tia n life, 12:1; cr. Ph 2: 12. is a li turgical functio n,
Ps1l 7:1 people, -an d in a th ird place: Le t all the pag ans praise the Lord, let all the peoples 11
Ot hers interpre t while foll owin g bad example, cr. v, 14. cf . 1:9. the apostle-or rather. through h im, C hr is t.
Is 11: 10: 11:1 sing his pra ises . -I saia h to o has this to say: The root of Jesse will appear. rising 12 h. Var . ' Have you a beli ef '? H o ld o n to it: v, I 8- m a kes an offe ri ng o f men t o G od.
Rv 5:5
Ill' to rule the pagans , and in him the pagans will put their hope . i. Bec a use it is tru e a nd see n as such by God ;but r. The two e xtr emes o f Pa ul's missionary journeys
ch arity has a high e r c laim. a t t he t ime of writing; whether he h ad actually en tere d
May t he G od of ho pe br ing you such joy a nd peace in you r faith th at the 13 i . 'good fa ith' , lit . ' fa ith' , but he re in the sen se of lIly ric um is di sputed .
powe r of the Holy Spir it will remove a ll bounds to hope .r right conscience, cf. 14: 1 +. Other tr ansla tio ns ' since g . Var . 'so many times' .
he do es not ac t fro m co n vic tion ' , o r, 's ince his ac ti on b . N ot that a ll the pagans there h av e been con-
is not promp ted by a conviction of faith'. verted, but that Pa ul' s tas k is to lay foundations: h e
15 a. I.e. to be th oughtful fo r each ot her. O thers leav es h is dis ciples to b u ild on them, cf. 1 Co 3:6.10 ;
interpr et 'to live in go od under stand in g of eac h ot he r' , c or t.r. etc.
'to live in ag reement wi th eac h other'. i. Lit. ' seal ed".
b . Christ welco med the p a gans, a n d thus gave i.cr, 2 Co 1:11 ; ED6 :19 ; Col 4:3; I Th 5:25 ;
glory to G od . Bu t by confi ni ng his work while on ea rt h 2 Th 3:1; Heb 13:18.
 15:3 2 ROMANS 290 291 R O M AN S 16:27
Ac 20:3.23; escape the unbelievers in Judaea, and that the aid I carry to Jerusalem may be
21:lOr .
17r.2 7r NO::
accepted by the saints. •Then, if God wills, 1 shall be feeling very happy when 32 '0
-u
1 come to enjoy a perio d of rest a mong you .• May the God of peace be with you 33
all! Amen.
...J
Greetings and good wishes (3
al commend to you our sister Phoebe, b a deaconess of the church at
Ac 18:18 16 Cenchreae. •Gi ve her, in union with the Lord, a weleome worthy o f saint s, 2
and help her with anything she needs: she has looked afte r a grea t many people,
I

:x:
Q.
W
myself included.
Ac 18:2r.26 My greetings to Prisca and Aq uila, my fellow workers in Ch rist Je sus, - who
1 Co 16:19
2 Tm 4: 19 risked death to save my life:« 1 am not the only one to owe them a debt
1 Co 16:19 ...J
o f gratitude, all the churches among the pagans do as well. • My greetings also ;:
Co1 4:15 to the chu rch that meets at their house. ll.
Phm 2
1 Co 16:15 G reetings to my friend Epaenetus, the first of Asia 's gifts to C hrist;" greetings 6
to Mar y who work ed so hard for you ; -to those outstanding apostles Andro nicus 7
...J
and Junias, my co mpatriots and fellow prisoners- who became Christians befor e oo
me; - to Ampli atu s, my friend in the Lo rd ; -to Urban, my fellow worker in ~
Ch rist; to my friend Stachys ; - to Apelles who has go ne thro ugh so much for 10
Christ; to everyon e who belongs to the household o f Aristobulu s; - to my 11
VI
compatriot Hero dion ; to those in the househo ld of Narcissus who belong to the ·w
Iii I ' f-X
Lo rd; - to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work hard for the Lord; to my friend 12
Persis who has done so much for the Lo rd; - to R ufus ;' a chosen serva nt of 13
the Lord, and to his mother who has been a mother to me too .• Greet ings to 14
Asyncritus, Phle gon, Hermes, Patrobas, Herrnas, and all the brothers who a re I
;:..
with them; -to Philologus and J ulia, Nereus and his siste r, and Olym pas a nd all IS
Ac 20:37 the saints who are with them. ·Greet each other with a holy kiss. All the chu rches 16
2 Co 13:12 +
of C hrist send greetings.'
Ga 6:11
A warning and first postscr ipt
1 implore you, brothers, be on your guard aga inst an ybod y who encourages 17
6:17 tro uble or put s difficulties in the way of the doctrine you have been tau ght. Avo id
Mi 18:17
the m. h • People like that ar e no t slaves of Jesus C hrist, the y are slaves of their 18
Pb 3:19 own appetites, confusing the simple-minded with their pious a nd persua sive
1:5 + arguments. •Yo ur fidelity to Christ, anyway, is famous everywhere, a nd that 19
1:8
M t 10:16
ma kes me very happy about you. 1 only hope that you are also wise in what is '"
1lJ
I Co 14:20
Gn 3:15
good , and inn ocent of what is bad .• The God of peace will soo n crush Satan 20
beneath your feet. Th e grace of our Lo rd Jesus Christ be with you.'

Last greetings and second postsc ript

Ac 16:1+ Ti mo thy, who is workin g with me , sends his greet ings ; so do my corn pa- 21 16 a . T h is c ha p te r may not ha ve formed part of th e o m it. A so lem n pre sentati o n, d . Eo 3:20 : Jud e 24-25,
Ac 13:1 ; 17: trio ts, Luc ius, Ja so n a nd So sipa te r. ' 1, T ertius, who wrote out th is lett er, greet 22 o r igina l epi s tle. cf. Int rod uc tion to the Letters of S t Paul. of the m ain poin ts of t he le iter.
5 ; 20:4 b . P ro ba bly the bear er of the tetter. k , Fi r m ly gro u nded in doct r ine and s tro n g in
I Co 1:14
yo u in the Lord. Greetings from Ga ins, who is ente rta ining me and from the 2~ c. Presumably in Ephesus. either at the tim e of the C h ris tia n practice . C r. I: 11; 1 T h 3:2.13; 2 T h 2: 17;
who le church tha t meet s in his hou se. E ras tus, the cit y treasurer, sends his r io t described in Ac 19:23f, or du r-ing Paul's imprison- 3:3; I Co 1:8; 2 Co 1:21 ; Co l 2:7.
ment t here (c f. v. 7): sec Introduction to the Letters I. T he id ea o f a 'mystery ' o f wisdom . v. 27;
gr eetings; so does our bro ther Q ua rtus. of St Pa ul. I C o 2:7 ; Eo 3:10 : Co l 2:2 -3. IOOR hidden in God and
d. Lit. 'the first-fr uits o f A sia for C hris t' . T h is now rev ealed . v, 25 ; I Co 2:7.10; Eo 3:5.9f ; C o l 1:26,
l ude 25 Doxology! probably means the first convert in the province of is borro wed by P a ul fr om Jew ish apocalypse.
As ia . O n 2:18-1 9 + . but he e nr iches th e co nt e nt o f t he term
11:25 G lory to him who is able to give you the strength" to live accor ding to the 25 e. Pa u l had been imp risoned severa l times a lrea dy , by anplvin g it to the cl imax of the hi sto ry of sal va tion:
1 Co 2:7 cr. 2 C o 11:23. A nd ro nic u s and Junias (va r. Juliasj are the sav ine cross of C hri s t, I Co 2:8 ; the call of the
E o 1:9 ; 3:3
Col 1:26
Good News 1 pre ach, and in which 1 proclaim Jesus Christ, the revelat ion of a a p os tles in t he wide sense. Rm 1:1 -l-. paeans. v. 26 : R m 11:25: C ol 1:26-27: Ep 3:6. to thi s
I Tm 3:9 mystery' kept secret for endl ess ages, •but now so clear that it m ust be br oadcast 26 f . Possib ly the son of Simon of C vrene, Mk 15:21. salva t ion preached by Paul. v , 25 : C o l 1:23 : 4:3 :
g . Th is zr eetlna. not found 'e lse where in Paul's En 3:3-1 2: 6:19. and fina lly th e re storution of all thi ngs
1:5
Ac 15:14
to pagans everywhere to bring them to the obedience of faith . Th is is only wh at let ters. s hows his ve ne ra tion for the church in Rome. in C hr is t as their o ne head . Eo 1:9-10 . Sec a lso
scri pture has pre dicted, and it is all part of the way the eternal Go d wa nts thin gs h. The curt warning is reminiscen t of Ga 6: 12-17 . I Co4:1 : 13:2 : 14:2 ; 15:51 : E05:32 : 2 Th2:7:
It probably refe rs to iu daisi ng p reachers . cr. Ga 5:7~ 12 I T m 3:9,16 ; 2 Tm 1:9-10 : Ml 13:110 +; Rv 1:20 ;
Ga 1:5
Eo 3:21
to be. -He alone is wisdom ;> give glory therefore to him through Jesus C hrist 27
a nd par ticularly Ph 3: 18· J9. 10:7: 17:5.7.
Pb 4:20 for ever and ever . Arnen. s I, Omit "The grace .. . ' Th is formula (add. ' an') m, c r. 11:33-36; I Co 1:24; 2:7 ; Eo 3:10; Co l 2:3;
ITml :17
is pl aced by some au thorities (Vu lg .) after v. 23 or Rv7: 12.
v.27. n. cr. Ga 1:5 ; E03:21 ; Pb 4:20; 1 Tm 1:17 : 6:16;
I. Most a uthorities pl ace this doxology here . but 2 Tm4:18; Hcb 13:21; 1 P 4:11 ; 2 P3: 18; J ude 25:
tn some it appears at the end of ch. 15 or 14 : others Rv 1:6.