ST.

PAUL:
CHURCH,
CROSS, AND
GLORY

Austin Krause

Pauline Literature | 23 April 2018

 Paul’s theology is some of the most complex and sophisticated in all of Church history.

His thought and presentation weaves together many different ideas from the gospel. He

developed his theology through his understanding of Israel’s scriptures and the person of Christ.

In order to understand Paul, he must be read in conformity with all of his letters. Every epistle

can shed light on an aspect of his theology, and it helps one to understand his general corpus.

One of his most striking statements, which can perhaps sum up his presentation of the gospel, is

to the Romans stating that believers can be “fellow heirs of Christ, provided we suffer with him

in order that we may also be glorified with him” (8:17). This is a very deep statement, one that

has been explored since its writing. There are three main aspects that are important to

understand in Paul’s statement: Paul’s ecclesiology, his understanding of the cross, and his

understanding of grace and glorification. This essay will explore these three aspects, although

not exhaustively, and draw them together in order to see how Paul is able to make such a strong

statement.

Paul’s Ecclesiology

Paul, as a devout Jew, does not see salvation as an individual achievement. This idea,

known as individualism, is something that has developed in the modern era. It is not enough for

each person to act individually to be saved, but the Church is unified and has a collective

salvation. This is crucial to understand Paul’s theology and how he can say that believers are

“fellow heirs” (Rom 8:17). This has meaning that goes deep beneath the surface. This needs to

be understood within Paul’s corpus of writing, and this idea will be developed within this

section.

The Twelve Tribes of Israel are the focal point of the Bible. This is the nation that God

has chosen as His only son (cf. Ex 4:22). They are the ones that are supposed to spread God and
His Law to other nations, but they fail to do this repeatedly. Instead of willingly going out to the

other nations, they are taken away as captives due to their sin. The tribes were a united nation

after David was anointed their King and made a covenant with God that would start an

everlasting kingdom (cf. 2 Sam 7:1-17). The ten Northern Tribes are taken into exile, due to

their reluctance to worship the Lord as their only God. The Assyrians take them and displace

them among the nations (cf. 2 Kgs 15:29; 1 Chr. 5:26; 2 Kgs 17:3-6). Israel is now completely

unified and displaced. Ten tribes have been lost, and it seems that there is no hope for them to

return. God promises to bring them back and have a unified Israel again. This is how the

Hebrew people see salvation coming to fruition. The Jewish people are awaiting the time when

all twelve tribes are reunited and God re-establishes His Kingdom.

This is how Paul sees salvation taking place as well, although it is through Christ that this

will take place. Paul understands that salvation is not an individual event, but it is a collective

event. This is why he constantly talks about the Body of Christ as one. He sees that a collective

ecclesiology is the path to salvation. One becomes part of the Church by being baptized in

Christ. This is what allows someone to be part of the Body of Christ. Paul claims that some

were out of the inheritance of God, but the believers have been baptized into this inheritance (cf.

1 Cor. 6:9-11). Paul’s use of the word inheritance implies sonship. A son is one who inherits a

father’s possessions. Paul has already claimed that Jesus is God’s Son (cf. Acts 9:20), but he has

brought this even further by stating that baptism has made Christians sons as well. They truly

have an inheritance from the Father through Jesus. Baptism truly washes away the old man and

allows one to put on the new man, Christ (cf. Eph 4:22-24). This gives one an eternal

inheritance through the grace of God, but it is not an individual event. Paul goes further, while

bringing in his Jewish heritage, and calls for a collective view of salvation.
 An epistle Paul deeply develops his idea of ecclesiology is in his letter to the Ephesians.

This is one area where Paul shows what it looks like to be incorporated into this inheritance that

God promises His people through Jesus. Paul describes a unity throughout this letter,

interweaving many different analogies and images. He is describing how the Gentiles are

included in the salvation of God through the gift of grace through faith (cf. Eph 2:8). This leads

him to talk about the household, the oikonomia, of God. Paul fleshes this out as he tells the

Gentile Christians:

“So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the

saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles

and prophet, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is

joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into

it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph 2:19-22).

This is a deep and complex passage, but it starts to explain how Paul sees the Church. He is

speaking to Gentile Christians, who were not part of the original covenant with God. Paul is

now saying that they are part of this family, of this household. The use of the term household is

an interesting one. It evokes familial imagery, as well as master/servant work. They are within

the work of God; they are under Him. St. Thomas remarks, “Since the community of the faithful

is termed a city in relation to its subjects, and a home relative to its ruler, the assembly to which

you are called is the city of the saints and the house of God.”1 This is what the Gentiles are

being invited into. They are now part of the Kingdom of God, but Paul does not stop there. He

mixes in different analogies and images to get his point across.

1
Aquinas, Thomas. “Commentary On the Epistle to the Ephesians.” Edited by Joseph Kennedy.
Translated by Matthew Lamb, Thomas Aquinas: Ephesians: English, Dominican House of
Studies dhsprior.org/Thomas/English/SSEph.htm.
 This household is built upon the apostles and the prophets, with Christ being the

cornerstone (cf. Eph 2:20). This is evoking Temple imagery. The cornerstone is a very Semitic

way of talking about building something, due to it generally being the foundation stone in

Semitic architecture.2 The cornerstone is also seen as a symbol of the messianic king of Israel.3

Paul is telling the Gentiles that they are part of this building. The Temple is the dwelling place

of God, where only certain people have access to Him. Now, the Church, the community of

believers, is God’s dwelling, the New Temple that the prophets had been talking about.4 Paul

says that this Temple is joined together and will grow (cf. Eph 2:21). This is the dwelling place

of God that the Gentiles are all called into as well as the Jews. This separation no longer exists,

and the Church is whole.

The Temple is central to Jewish belief and worship, and a new Temple is a common

theme in eschatological prophecies. It is where the people meet God, but now God dwells within

His people. He is not limited to a specific place, but He has unified all His people through His

indwelling. Gentiles have become “participants of the building.”5 They have become an home

of God, due to the indwelling of the Spirit (cf. Eph 2:22). The Spirit unifies the community of

believers into a single Temple. Being in this Temple means one will inherit the inheritance of

Christ. It is not an individual event but a corporate one. In the Temple, all of Israel is reunited

and salvation can ensue. The Gentiles have been included in this unification, as the Israelites

were spread to all the nations.

2
Note on Ephesians 2:20 in Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, eds. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible:
New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010.
3
Ibid
4
Grindheim, Sigurd. “What the OT Prophets Did Not Know: The Mystery of the Church in Eph
3,2-13.” Biblica, vol. 84, no. 4, 2003, pp. 531–553. JSTOR, JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/42614475.
5
Aquinas on Ephesians
 This is not the only time Paul talks about this unity with these analogies. The grace of

God is for the “building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). The body of Christ is seen to be a

Temple in this statement, it is something that needs to be built up. This happens when the

community of believers is added to and grows into “mature manhood” (Eph. 4:13). It is a living

Temple that believers are called to participate in, and the Gentiles are included in this as well.

Paul calls for one faith in Christ that is united in one body and one Spirit (cf. Eph. 4:3-6).

Paul’s focus on being “fellow heirs” (Rom. 8:17) is apparent in all of his epistles. He

calls for a corporate, not an individual, salvation. It is a building up together in the body of

Christ that leads to salvation. Israel is truly unified through Christ, who is the new and

everlasting King of Israel. The passages focused on are reasons Paul is able to say that believers

are “fellow heirs” (Rom. 8:17).

Paul and the Cross

Paul has a deep love for the cross of Christ, and he calls believers to “suffer with him”

(Rom 8:17). Believers are called to participate in the sufferings of Christ, and this is central to

his theology. Christ reveals His glory on the cross, and Paul knows that it is through this

suffering that salvation takes place. This is not a new idea in the letter to the Romans, but it is

present in many of his other epistles. His focus on suffering is something that he also

experiences. Part of Paul’s theology is to be unified to and grow into Christ. If a believer is to

become Christ, then he must also bear His sufferings. Paul explains this in many different ways,

but one very explicit teaching on the cross is in Galatians 2:20.

In Galatians 2:20 Paul states, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who

live, but Christ who lives in me.” This must be looked at in the whole work of the epistle, in

which Paul is telling the church in Galatia that they do not need to be circumcised. This is
because justification does not happen by this work of the Law. He preaches that “a man is not

justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” (Gal 2:16). Paul is saying that is

through faith in or faithfulness6 to Jesus that a believer is saved and justified. It is a gift of grace

that this happens. Paul has died to the law so that he might live to God (cf. Gal 2:19). This is

what allows him to say that he has been crucified with Christ. Christ’s crucifixion leads to new

life.

When one is crucified with Christ, he is saved and justified. There is a link between

justification and participation in Christ’s death. In fact, they are one reality. A believer must be

crucified with Christ, that is die with Him, in order to be re-created. This happens in Baptism, as

it is a death and resurrection. Christ lives within the believer then. They are no longer under the

slavery of sin, because they have died to the old man, but they are now under Christ, the new

man. Paul goes on to say, “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who

loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). Through Christ’s death on the cross, which the

believer participates in, the believer lives by the faithfulness of the Son of God. Paul has

participated in the suffering of Christ, which leads to his justification. Christ dying is His gift to

the world, both collectively and individually. The Law will not justify, only faith in Christ will

through participation in His death and resurrection. One dies to sin with Christ on the cross, and

he will rise to new life as Christ lives in him.7 This is one reason Paul is able to claim that it is

necessary to suffer with Christ, due to justification and Christ’s death being one reality.

Paul is also very present to the sufferings that he has already endured. He does not take

these as signs that God is against him, but he understands that he is participating in Christ’s
6
The Greek word that is used here is pistis, which can mean faith or faithfulness, as discussed in
class. This shows that it is not just a statement of belief but actually living what Christ teaches.
7
cf. Aquinas, Thomas. “Commentary On the Epistle to the Galatians.” Edited by Joseph
Kennedy. Translated by Fabian Larcher, Thomas Aquinas: Galatians: English, Dominican
House of Studies dhsprior.org/Thomas/English/SSGalatians.htm.
salvific work through his own sufferings. Paul boasts in his sufferings, because this is what

conforms him to Christ. In 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, he describes his many trials. He has

received 39 lashes from the Jews on five occasions (11:24); he has been beaten with rods and

been stoned, shipwrecked, and adrift at sea (11:25). He has seen many different trials, yet he

boasts in them. He knows that in his weakness the power of Christs rests upon him (cf. 2 Cor

12:9). These persecutions unite Paul to Christ, and he is not going to give up his work due to

them. These are what makes him a true apostle, one who has suffered with Christ. He does not

boast in his heritage or his nation but in his sufferings. This is the way of salvation. It is to

suffer with Christ, and it is not about where you are from. Paul’s message is clear: you must

suffer with Christ in order to receive his grace of salvation. This is how Paul can say that

believers are “fellow heirs, provided we suffer with him” (Rom 8:17).

Grace and Glory

These first two sections describe how Paul is able to say that believers are “fellow heirs

provided we suffer with him,” (Rom 8:17) but he does not stop there. He still needs to describe

what the inheritance is. Believers go through the sufferings in order to be glorified with him (cf.

Rom 8:17). This glorification is a gift of Christ. The believer is to become like Christ, not just

in His death but also in His resurrection. This is a freedom that the believer is given in Christ.

Paul knows that his sufferings are for a greater purpose, the glory of God.

Paul in his second letter to the church at Corinth starts to describe the glory of God that

each believer has received. This glory is to grow into the person of Christ. Paul has already seen

that they are suffering. He knows that there is a purpose for this, “as we share abundantly in

Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (2 Cor 1:5). It is

through suffering that they are able to share in the comfort of Christ. Their faith must not be
shaken, and they must not lose hope. Paul points to a seal that they have been given, which leads

to the Spirit of the Lord in their hearts (cf. 2 Cor 1:22). This seal is given at Baptism and

Confirmation, something the believers already have. They have been given new life, having died

to the old man. It is from this point that a Christian is to grow into the glory of God. “And we

all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from

one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).

This is Paul speaking to the reason for the suffering and telling them what they receive as a gift.

Believers get to behold the glory of the Lord with an unveiled face. This calls to mind Moses

seeing the glory of God. He reflected the glory of the Lord in his face (cf. Ex 34:29). He was

changed due to seeing God. He was starting to reflect or take on the image of God, and this is

the calling of the Christian. He is to take on the image of Christ, who is the image of God (cf. 2

Cor 4:4) and behold his face. “In other words, the believers see in themselves (i.e. ‘as in a

mirror’) ‘the glory of the Lord’ as they are transformed into ‘the same image,’ that is, into the

image of the risen Christ.”8 This is the inheritance that believers will receive. They are given

the gift of glory, one that transforms them into the person of Christ. It is through participation in

Christ’s suffering that they receive this glory.

This transformation of glory leads to a transformation of knowledge which is threefold,

according to Aquinas. The first transformation in the person “is from clarity of natural

knowledge to the clarity of the knowledge of faith.”9 This is a recognition of who God is and it

leads to our justification. The believer now knows Christ in faith and not just through natural

8
Duff, Paul B. “Transformed ‘From Glory to Glory’: Paul's Appeal to the Experience of His
Readers in 2 Corinthians 3:18.” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 127, no. 4, 2008, pp. 759–
780. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25610154.
9
Aquinas, Thomas. “Commentary On the Second Epistle to the Corinthians.” Edited by Joseph
Kennedy. Translated by Fabian Larcher, Thomas Aquinas: 2 Corinthians: English, Dominican
House of Studies dhsprior.org/Thomas/English/SS2Cor.htm.
knowledge of God. The second transformation of knowledge “is from clarity of the knowledge

of the Old Testament to the clarity of the knowledge of the grace of the New Testament.”10 This

shows the the growing knowledge of God and His covenant. The believer has been given a gift

to understand the works of God through the lens of Christ. The third is from these things to the

“clarity of eternal vision.”11 This is the beatitude of God, which His grace brings the believer to

see. This is the ultimate glory that Paul is talking about. This is the transformation that the

Christian will have, the eternal vision of God through Christ. This happens through the

indwelling of the Spirit given at Baptism. This is the glory Paul talks about that believers are the

fellow heirs of Christ through suffering.

Conclusion

This essay has demonstrated how Paul is able to say that believers are “fellow heirs of

Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom

8:17). His idea ecclesiology, especially in the epistle to the Ephesians, allows him to say that

believers are fellow heirs. This stems from his Jewish understanding of corporate, not

individual, salvation. It is the up-building of the body of Christ that brings all people together in

order to re-unite Israel for salvation. The Gentiles have now been included in this covenant

through Christ. To be an heir, means to be a son. A believer becomes an heir through Baptism

in Christ. Once one has become an heir, he must suffer with Christ. This is where Christ had

His glory, and it is a mark of a true disciple. Suffering and weakness allows one to conform

closer to Christ and die to the old man. Paul understands this more than anyone, having suffered

much in his journeys to spread the gospel. This suffering leads to the glory of God. It is a true

transformation that takes place and allows one to see God face to face. This happens through

10
Ibid
11
Ibid
Christ and our knowledge of God grows as one grows into Christ. One must go through the

suffering of Christ in order to receive His glory. Paul draws upon all of his theology and

presentation of the gospel in order to sum it up in the beautiful statement that believers are to be

“fellow heirs of Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with

him” (Rom 8:17).

Bibliography

Aquinas, Thomas. “Commentary On the Epistle to the Ephesians.” Edited by Joseph Kennedy.

Translated by Matthew Lamb, Thomas Aquinas: Ephesians: English, Dominican House

of Studies dhsprior.org/Thomas/English/SSEph.htm.
Aquinas, Thomas. “Commentary On the Epistle to the Galatians.” Edited by Joseph Kennedy.

Translated by Fabian Larcher, Thomas Aquinas: Galatians: English, Dominican House of

Studies dhsprior.org/Thomas/English/SSGalatians.htm.

Aquinas, Thomas. “Commentary On the Second Epistle to the Corinthians.” Edited by Joseph

Kennedy. Translated by Fabian Larcher, Thomas Aquinas: 2 Corinthians: English,

Dominican House of Studies dhsprior.org/Thomas/English/SS2Cor.htm.

Duff, Paul B. “Transformed ‘From Glory to Glory’: Paul's Appeal to the Experience of His

Readers in 2 Corinthians 3:18.” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 127, no. 4, 2008, pp.

759–780. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25610154.

Grindheim, Sigurd. “What the OT Prophets Did Not Know: The Mystery of the Church in Eph

3,2-13.” Biblica, vol. 84, no. 4, 2003, pp. 531–553. JSTOR, JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/42614475.

Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, eds. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco:

Ignatius Press, 2010.