Romans Forensic-Retributive Justification Of Paul's Teachings

Dating to the writing of the book of Romans there has been a basic misunderstanding as to what Paul meant by justification by faith. The Jewish culture had been educated in the law and yet the Gentile culture was being instructed that the law was death. The Jewish community was confused and aghast that God would justify sinners. Nonetheless that is exactly what Paul said God would do and he would do it based on the simple faith of the believer.

     Paul began his argument of Romans by proving that the Gentiles are sinners before God. Although God has revealed His truth to them, they have suppressed it, resulting in the darkness of their inner man and rebellion against God to the point of worshipping animals (1:18-23). As a result God gave them over to do the desires of their heart (1:24, 26): idolatry (1:25) and homosexuality (1:26-27). Seeing that they had no desire to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do every sort of evil (1:28-31).

With righteousness we are made okay with God and proclaim our faith through Abraham that Jesus was resurrected by God.

DeVries argues, “It is not making ourselves righteous. It is not sanctification. It is not simply belonging to the Christian church because you profess Christ as Lord. Justification has to do with God as Judge. It is the declaration that you are free from guilt and condemnation in the sight of God. It is an anticipation of future judgment.” In his article “Justification: A Doctrine in Crisis,” Carl Henry asserts, “Justification is God’s declaration and implementation of his eternal will giving

Though Jesus was sinless and undeserving of death, he offered himself as a sacrifice in atonement for all sin (Invitation to World Religions, pg.418). Paul was always emphatic in maintaining that salvation cannot be earned by “works”, whether humans’ effort to obey the commandments in the Torah or excellent work in general. Instead, he taught that the salvation made possible by Christ’s sacrifice is a gift, the ultimate expression of God’s love and grace. Salvation is given to those who respond to God’s grace in faith, the conviction that God has acted through Jesus Christ to amend for human sin. Although Paul was very clear in teaching that salvation depends on God’s grace and the individual’s turning to God in faith, he did not dismiss the importance of works (Invitation to World Religions, pg.419). For Paul, faith does more than bringing salvation; it unites the believers with Christ in a “newness of life”. He believed that the spirit lives in believers and brings them into union with God. As a divine presence within, the spirit encourages the growth of spiritual virtues, the greatest which is love and makes all Christians one in the church often called “the body of Christ”.

• Titus 3:5- Teaches that hter is no possible way to obtain salvation by our good thoughts or good deeds, “ Not by workds of righeiusness which we have done bu according to His mercy He saved us throught the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 1-4 is the first section of Paul’s letter. This section has two major structural units. The first unit defined the human problem of sin. The second unit of the first section defined the solution to the human problem of sin. Paul’s outline of this solution is the first section’s single most compelling issue. Romans 3:22-24, “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” The solution to our human problem, righteousness credited to us as a result of faith in Christ’s sacrifice, is available to all of us only because of God’s compassionate grace.

3. Justification by faith- Forgiveness and removal of sin by God can be achieved only through faith alone a. Emphasized by Martin Luther during the Reformation. Weakened the power of the Church by saying that it was not needed for salvation. Also

As was discussed during our first post for the week, Capon (2002) stated, “You judge yourself by taking your stand on the law’s demands rather than on my righteousness which is yours for the believing” (p.368). The Gospel demonstrates that God has provided everything for our salvation including the death of His son. The only thing we need to do is to believe. Kinnaman, S. & Lane, L. (2010) stated, “While other religions teach that something must be done to earn God’s favor and salvation, Christianity teaches that Jesus has already secured our salvation. God reaches out to people in Christ, rather than people reaching out to God” (p.37). It is critical to comprehend that to stand on the law means to try to justify oneself before God on account of our own actions. The truth is, that we cannot follow God’s law to perfection, and can never accomplish what it demands.

Paul’s letter to the Romans is of his greatest theological works, passed down for thousands of years and still as relevant today as it was in Paul’s time. How exactly is it relevant the modern Christian may ask? What with its harsh language that includes statements such as “the wages of sin is death” (6:23) and “the wrath of God” (1:18), one may say that current times have changed. Some may say that the issues Paul addresses are acceptable in today’s society. What exactly is the Christian to think? The purpose of this short essay is to examine how the Book of Romans relates to the Christian in the twenty-first century and how it helps to shape his worldview.

Paul is urging people to recognize that “Rome’s power is not in ordered according to God’s purposes” (Carter, 87). He is also urges people to worship the true God. Paul saying, “Since today I have to give an account of my teaching, listen, proconsul. The living God, the God of chastisement, the God who is self-sufficient but who desires the salvation of humans, sent me to wrest them from corruption, impurity, every desire and death, so that they might no longer sin; it is because God sent his own Son that I proclaim and I teach that men have in him their hope, in him who alone had pity on the world gone astray, so that men no longer fall under the blow of judgment, but who receive faith and fear of God, knowledge of sanctity and love of truth. If then I teach that which has been revealed to me by God, in what way am I wrong, proconsul?”(17). According to Carter (86) “Paul’s gospel and communities present a significant theological challenge to Rome’s claim. Fundamental to his gospel is that there is one God

Falling into this importance is Romans 3:21-26. This is the basis of God’s righteousness in the Death of Jesus (Schreiner p.25). Refering to the different versions of this text, there is not much of a variation. Several words and phrases are changed but the same meaning is kept.

The epistle to the Romans contains one of the most often quoted verses in Scripture. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1) Justification caused this freedom, this blessing. According to Stott, "The first blessing of salvation is expressed in the words 'no condemnation', which are equivalent to 'justification'" 13(217). In fact,

Deliverance from sin’s power and hell comes through a transformation of one’s heart, which happens only through a believer’s repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. The outcome of this true transformation is sanctification. This paper will address Paul’s message, about sanctification, in Romans, including but not limited to chapters 8, 6, 7, and 12.

In Romans 5, v. 9 believers have been justified by the blood of Jesus and are saved through Jesus from God’s wrath. According to Xavier Leon-Dufour, “when believers are justified, our attachments to ourselves and our own glory is removed” (John 7:18 NRSV). Prior to Adam’s fall, humankind depended on God and were friends with God (Gen. 2). Although God created humankind in His own image and shared all His creations with us, Adam disobeyed God and broke the friendship. As a result, all humankind became enemies of God (Gen. 3). However, through the blood of Jesus, believers have been declared righteous and our justification has been completed. We are no longer God’s enemy and we are guaranteed salvation from God’s wrath. John Stott stated that, “Believers