It is my intention in this paper to build upon the framework that I laid in my previous two papers: Paul and the Human Condition as reflected in Romans 1:18-32 and 2:1-16 and Paul’s Understanding of the Role of Law as Reflected in Romans 2:12-16, 17-24, and 25-29. Paul’s understanding of the gospel and salvation is very closely related to both his understanding of the Law and of the human condition.
Paul’s letter to the Romans was written in the mid-to-late 50s and is addressed to a Gentile dominated church.[1] In the mid-to-late 50s, Rome was by far the Mediterranean world’s dominant power and Nero was the Roman Emperor (54-68 AD, Proconsul since 51AD). Immediately prior to this time, in 49 AD, Nero’s predecessor, Claudius had banished the Jews from Rome. The remaining Christians then would be non-Jews. When Nero officially ascended the throne in 54, many of the Jewish Christians returned. Things had changed[2] and this was the historical context of Paul’s letter.
Paul’s letter to the Romans is clearly an important work. N.T. Wright claims that “Romans is neither a systematic theology nor a summary of Paul’s lifework, but it is by common consent his masterpiece.”[3] Pertaining to the theme of Romans, I have to acknowledge that, as Douglas Moo warns, “we must be careful not to impose on Romans a single theme when Paul may never have thought in those terms…a theme that fits 1:16-11:36 may not fit the whole.”[4]
I would argue, however, that if these verses do not convey the theme of the entire letter, they certainly do reflect Paul’s understanding of salvation. It is significant that immediately prior to the sections of Romans that I examined in my earlier papers (1:18-32; 2:1-16,12-16, 17-24, 25-29) -where Paul introduces his understanding of the Law and the human condition to his readers- he is recorded as stating, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God (dikaiosynē theou) is revealed through faith for faith (ek pisteos eis pistin); as it is written, ‘the one who is righteous (dikaios) will live by [or ‘out of’] faith (ek pisteōs)’ (1:16-17).” I would argue, then, that Paul’s understanding of the human condition and the Law, as expressed in Romans, should be interpreted in light of this gospel of salvation. Drawing on my previous work and citing other pertinent sections of Paul’s letter to the Romans, I will focus on the gospel and salvation according to Paul in his letter to the Romans, as reflected in Chapter 1:16-17.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel…Verse 16 records Paul’s declaration that he is not ashamed of the gospel. It is likely that there is a connection here with Jesus’ claims that if one is ashamed of him, then the “Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory (Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; cf. also Pss 31:1-3; 71:1-2; 143:1).” The word ‘gospel’ is a rendering of the Greek word euangelion, which means ‘good news’ or ‘good message’ (cf. Isa 40:9, 52:7). “The gospel is not merely the initial proclamation of Christ which wins converts, but is the whole Christian message and claim in terms of the rest of the letter.”[5] For Paul, “the gospel was the sovereign message, from none other than God, concerning Jesus the Messiah, God’s unique Son…[It is] news that Jesus had become the spearhead of God’s ‘age to come;’ news that, within this new age, the principalities and powers…and sin and death themselves had been defeated and were now summoned to allegiance.”[6] Paul here is making a clear reference to his earlier statements in the prologue to his letter to the Romans. He states in the salutation, 1:1-7 (which is one very long sentence in the NRSV translation):
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In this opening statement, Paul clearly links this gospel of God (v.1) with the good news of Jesus (v.3) who is descended from David (the anticipated human lineage of the Messiah or ‘Son of Man’) and declared to be the Son of God.[7] Paul declares that he was specifically set apart for this gospel (v.1) which was promised beforehand (v.2) and is now revealed. It is in this gospel that the power for salvation is declared as a result of the resurrection (1:4, 16; cf. 1Cor 15:1-5, 17-22).
Verse 16 also relates to Paul’s statements in the thanksgiving section of the prologue (vv. 8-15), where Paul argues that through mentioning this gospel of God’s Son, he is actually doing a service for God with his spirit (v. 9) and, as such, he is indeed eager to render this service by proclaiming this gospel (v. 15; cf. 15:16).
In Romans 2:14-16, Paul refers to this gospel of which he is not ashamed as being written on people’s hearts in a probable reference to the new covenant of Jeremiah 31:31-34.[8] There it is recorded that the Law will be ‘written on the hearts of the Israelites.’ Paul alludes to the good news of Genesis 12:3: the promise to Abraham that he will be a blessing, which is now fulfilled, for all nations of the earth (cf. 2:15; 4:13, 16-17; 9:7-8; 10:12-13; Gal 3:6-9). This gospel proclaims the good news that on the day of judgement, the conscience of both the Jew and the Gentile will bear witness and their own thoughts will either accuse or excuse them before the Lord (2:15). There are a number of other direct references to this euangelion throughout the letter to the Romans (cf. 11:28). Most of them specifically relate to Paul’s duty and ambition to proclaim this gospel (15:16,19,20) “that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedient faith (16:15).” This indeed is good news of which he is not ashamed.
…it is the power of God for Salvation…The term translated ‘salvation’ has a range of meaning from ‘bodily health, preservation, and safety (cf. e.g., Mark 5:23,28,34; 6:56; 10:52; Acts 27:34), to – as is frequently the case in the Psalms and Isaiah - deliverance from peril and restoration to wholeness. God’s righteousness here is linked with the provided salvation. (cf. e.g., Pss 35:27-28; 72:1-4; 85:9-13; 96:13; 98:2-3, 9; Isa 9:7; 11:1-2; 45:8, 22-25; 51:5-6; 53:10b-11; 61:1-2, 11; Jer 23:5-6; Mal 4:2). “In other Psalm texts, it is surely striking that the psalmist prays for the Lord to deliver him in his righteousness (Ps 31:1; 143:1, 11; 71:1-2, 15; cf. 79:9). In these instances, deliverance from the enemy is the godly person’s salvation.”[9] In Paul’s understanding this salvation is “primarily eschatological, a hope for the future, deliverance from final destruction, the end product for God’s good purpose for humanity (see particularly 5:9-10; 13:11; 1 Cor 13:15; 5:5; Phil 2:12; 1 Thess 5:8-9).”[10]
Good news is the power (dynamis) of God for this salvation (see also 11:23). It is contrasted with the Law and its powerlessness to save (8:3) and the weakness of our state as sinners when Christ died for us (5:6-8). God’s power (cf. 9:19-22) has been understood and seen through the things He has made from the time of creation itself (1:19-20). It is by power that God has kept His promises to Abraham (4:13-22; Gen 12:3), defeated Pharaoh (9:17; Exod 5-14), and it is through the power of His Spirit that He enabled Paul to proclaim the gospel (15:19-20) and us to abound in hope (15:13).
It is this same power that Christ has and that was used to raise Christ from the dead (1:4). This is significant, for it is the act of the resurrection that showed Paul that Jesus is indeed the Messiah and the Son of God. False Messiahs were not unheard of at this time in history and a strong indication of the falsity of their claim would be their death – especially on a tree (cf. Gal 3:13) at the hands of Israel’s occupier.
The phrase ‘in power’ in Verse 4 then is important for, as Dunn argues, it indicates “Christ’s divine son-ship (v.3) had been ‘upgraded’ or ‘enhanced’ by the resurrection, so that he shared more fully in the power of God[11]…able to act on and through people in the way Paul implies elsewhere (e.g., 8:10; 1 Cor 15:45; Gal 2:20; Col 2:6-7)…The full extent of God’s purpose could only be realized through Jesus as Messiah (of Israel) risen from the dead to become the Son of God in power (for all).”[12]
Dynamis “seems to refer to both the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead (cf. 1 Cor 6:14; 15:24, 43; 2 Cor 13:4; Eph 1:19-10; Phil 3:10) and thereby declared his identity as Messiah, and to the powerful nature of his son-ship, through which he confronts all the powers of the world, up to and including death itself, with the news of a different and more effective type of power altogether. Paul, of course sees this same power at work now, by the Spirit, through the proclamation of the gospel and in the lives of those who are ‘in the Messiah’ (see, e.g., 1:16; 11:23; 15:13; 1 Cor 1:24; 2:4-5).”[13] This salvation then is by the power of God’s gospel and this is indeed good news.
…to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek…Everyone -whether Jew or Gentile- stands equally before God. “Contrary to popular Jewish belief, the sins of the Jews will not be treated by God significantly different from those of the Gentiles.”[14] The Jews will be judged just as the Gentiles will be judged: “All who have sinned apart from the law will perish apart from the law (cf. 1:20-21), and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law (2:12, cf. 2:1),” for even the Gentiles who do not have the law are able to do what the law requires for it is written on their hearts (1:14) but, as Paul argues elsewhere in Romans, neither is truly able to do the Law (Torah) perfectly (cf. 2:3; 14-15, 17-26, 3:29-31).
The equality of the Gentile to the Jew before God, as expressed by Paul in Romans in no way negates the primacy of the Jews (cf. 11:7, 11). It was only “through their stumbling [that] salvation has come to the Gentiles…Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! (11:12-13).” In chapters nine through eleven of Romans, Paul goes into great detail about Israel’s election (9:4-18), rejection (10:1-4, 21; 11:15, 28), and future acceptance of the gospel of salvation (11:1-11, 23-36). Now “even those of Israel if they do not persist in unbelief [or rejection of the gospel], will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again (11:23).” Salvation then comes ‘to everyone who has faith, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.’
…For in it the righteousness of God… Paul is arguing in Romans that through the gospel, the righteousness of God (dikaiosynē theou) is revealed (cf. 1:17; 3:5, 21, 22, 25, 26 10:3). Righteousness is not from the Law (3:21) and we are not inherently righteous (10:3; cf. Isa 46:12; Deut 9:6). This righteousness is sometimes called a ‘faith righteousness’ separate from works[15] (1:17; 3:21, 22; 10:4, 6). It relates to the reason why the gospel contains the power that it does. It is not referring to the Divine faithfulness to ethnic Israel, it instead refers to the fact that, in Jesus the Messiah, the covenant purpose of God for Israel was finally fulfilled; Israel was elected to bear the creator’s saving purposes for the whole world.[16] The concept is not merely individualistic; it has a corporate and even a global side.
Any righteousness that we do display comes directly from God (3:22, 24; 10:3; cf. 5:19; Psalm 72:11; Isa 46:13; Isa 61:10; Joel 2:23) for it is God who is righteous[17] (3:5; cf. Psalm 35:24; 48:10; 50:6; 51:14; 65:5; 71:19; Isa 5:16). And as such, we cannot obtain righteousness by either merit or the Law (3:21) so we should submit ourselves to God in order to be instruments of His righteousness (6:13). We do not need to be slaves to sin (6:16-18) which leads to death. But rather we are free to present our “members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification (6:19).” We have been freed from sin and enslaved to God. The gift that we receive is eternal life. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (6:22-23).”
…is revealed through faith for faith…The salvific righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel itself. It is revealed ‘through faith for faith’, or ‘out of faith into faith’ (ek pisteos eis pistin). These words in 1:17 have been understood to mean the growth in faith ‘from the faithfulness of God to the faithfulness of believers,’[18] ‘out of the faith of Jesus and into the faith of believers’[19] or even ‘from the faithfulness of God to the faith of believers.’[20] Just as righteousness is from God so is faith or faithfulness (4:20, 12:3; Eph 2:8; James 2:5; 2 Pet 1:1; cf. Heb 12:2). It is God’s faithfulness that makes possible our faith or faithfulness. Paul states, as recorded in 3:3-4, ‘‘What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true…’’ This is important to bear in mind as one reads further into 3: 21-26:
But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ or all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.
It is significant that ‘faith in Jesus’ in this passage can also be interpreted as the faithfulness of Jesus. This, I submit, makes sense from the perspective of 1:17 and 3:3-4. Prior to the above passage (3:21-26), Paul had just finished making his case that our faithlessness can in no way nullify the faithfulness of God (3:4-5); therefore it follows that, as it is the righteousness of God rather than the righteousness of the works of humankind; so, also it is the faith or faithfulness of Christ (cf. Heb 3:6, 12:2) – as Paul himself makes clear earlier in the chapter (3:4-5) – rather than that of ourselves that provides salvation. Redemption is in Jesus (v.24) whom God offered as a sacrifice of atonement (v.25). It is by his grace as a gift (v.24), rather than anything to be obtained by our works of faith; it is from the faithfulness of God to the faith and subsequent faithfulness of believers: the power of the salvific righteousness of God is experienced in the gospel, ‘through faith for faith.’
…as it is written, ‘the one who is righteous will live by faith’
It is then the one who is righteous who will live by faith. And this faith is both, as Dunn declares, “the initial act of receiving the gospel and the continuing process toward salvation.”[21] Faith is a result of righteousness (3:22; 4:5, 9,11,13; 9:30; 10:6) and righteousness is from God (3:22, 24; 10:3, 17; cf. 5:19; Psalm 72:11; Isa 46:13; Isa 61:10; Joel 2:23) for it is God who is righteous (3:5; cf. Psalm 35:24; 48:10; 50:6; 51:14; 65:5; 71:19; Isa 5:16) and it is His righteousness that enables us to be righteous, just as it is Christ’s faithfulness that enables us to live by faith.
ConclusionRead in the context of the entire letter of Romans, Paul’s concept of the gospel and salvation is reflected succinctly in Romans 1:16-17. Paul is not ashamed of the good message of Jesus and God. This good news has the power of God for the salvation of everyone with faith. Salvation was provided through - and first to - the Jew. It was extended to the Gentile: all may be saved. God’s righteousness – not ours – is revealed in this good news through faith for faith. And as a result of the gospel power of the resurrection, God’s righteousness, and faithfulness, we can experience righteousness, come to and continue in faith. God, through His righteousness and faithfulness, has already provided for the salvation of everyone and this is indeed good news.
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[1] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), xiv.
[2] N.T. Wright, “Romans and the Theology of Paul,” Pauline Theology, Volume III, ed. David M. Hay & E. Elizabeth Johnson, (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995): 38-39.
[3] N.T. Wright, The Letter to the Romans (NIB 10: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 395.
[4] Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT 6: Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), 24.
[5] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8, p. 47.
[6] N.T. Wright, The Letter to the Romans, p. 427.
[7] Ibid., 416: Others have been referred to as ‘sons of God’ in the scriptures: angels (Gen 6:2; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Dan3:25), Israel (Exod 4:22; Jer 31:9; Hos 11:1; 13:13: Mal 1:6), the seed as David (1 Sam 7:14; 1 Cor 7:13; Pss 2:7; 89:26-27) and “Paul, in fact, lived in a moment of transition in the history of this phrase and helped it on its way to subsequent development.”
[8] Cf. for a different opinion, Everett H. Harrison, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Romans/Exposition of Romans/III. The Need for Salvation: The Plight of Mankind (1:18-3:20)/B. Principles of Judgment (2:1-16), Book Version: 4.0.2: “This ought not to be confused with the promise of the law written in the heart as depicted in Jeremiah 31:33, because if that were the case, as Nygren observes, Gentiles "would indeed have the law, and that in a more intimate way than the Jew had it" (in loc.).”
[9] Don Garlington, “A ‘New Perspective’ Reading of Central Texts in Romans 1-4,” Prepared for Evangelical Theological Society: 15 August 2006. Cited 20 02 2007. Online: http://www.thepaulpage.com/Rom1-4.pdf.12.
[10] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8, p. 39.
[11] See Mark 13:32 where Jesus claims his own knowledge as less than his Father’s prior to his death and resurrection. Also see Mark 6:5, where it is claimed that under the circumstances, “he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.” This should not be explained away entirely either by the other two gospel accounts.
[12] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8, p. 14.
[13] N.T. Wright, The Letter to the Romans, pp. 418-419.
[14] Douglas J. Moo, p. 126., cf. also N.T. Wright, The Letter to the Romans, p. 440, where he acknowledges that God’s national impartiality was not totally unconsidered in Jewish tradition.
[15] John Reumann, “Righteousness (NT),” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Volume 6. ed. David Noel Freedman, 1st ed. (New York, New York: Doubleday, 1992), 764-765.
[16] N.T. Wright, “Romans and the Theology of Paul,” p. 65.
[17] John Reumann, p. 765: ‘One can view the ‘righteousness of God’ (8 of the 9 or 10 occurrences of dikaiosynē theou in Paul occur in Romans), especially the four examples in 3:21-26, as the basis for the entire letter, or at least 1:16-5:21.’
[18] Ibid., 765
[19] Roy Jeal
[20] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8, p. 48, claims that Paul’s ambiguity as to whether faith or faithfulness is an intentional feature of Paul’s letter.
[21] Ibid., 49.
