Letter to the Romans – Part II

LET’S KNOW THE BIBLE

Writing to the Romans, the apostle Paul presents his own gospel. He means that he wants to propose and explain his vision of the gospel; it is not his own personal creation but the way he understood the right way of announcing the Gospel of Christ. He presents the work of salvation and the necessary trust of the human person in the Lord who reveals himself and offers salvation.

The Letter to the Romans is a very long text, sixteen chapters long. It is the longest of all the Pauline letters with a complex structure, but we can divide it into four major parts. The first part, after the usual introduction of greetings, good wishes, and the proposition of the main theme to be treated includes the treatment of humanity under sin. We can say that it occupies the first five chapters.

From 1 to 5, the apostle focuses his attention on humanity, on all people indistinctly, on the condition of humankind, which is incapable of attaining salvation in its own strength. This is the main idea. In the second part, which occupies chapters 6, 7 and 8, Paul speaks of the Christians, of the condition of those people who have accepted the salvation of Christ. In the third part, which occupies chapters 9, 10 and 11, he speaks of the Jews as those who have not accepted the proposal of Christ. Finally, in the last part, from chapter 12 until the end, he presents the moral consequences of that acceptance of salvation.

Let us dwell on the first part. While in the Pharisaic perspective salvation consists in fulfilling the law, Paul wants to emphasize how the person is incapable of doing good in his own strength. Therefore, in the first chapters of the Letter to the Romans, the apostle makes a tragic portrait of humanity. In the first chapter, he brings out the sins of the Greek world.

Reasoning as a Jew and writing to Jews, reflects his mentality, according to which the world is divided into two groups, the Jews and everyone else, but everyone else, basically, in that ancient cultural context, was the Greeks, was the Greek world, so, the alternative is between two positions, Jews and Greeks. The picture begins to describe the corruption of the Greek world, showing a degenerate situation, humankind, in general, is not capable of reaching God and fulfilling God’s plan, as we can see because of widespread corruption. “They are filled with every form of wickedness, evil, greed, and malice; full of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and spite. They are gossips and scandalmongers and they hate God. They are insolent, haughty, boastful, ingenious in their wickedness, and rebellious toward their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless” (Rom 1:29-31).

Sometimes it happens to us that we say that once things were going well, but now everything is corrupt. A description of this kind was made by Paul two thousand years ago and what for us could be a picture of the present time is actually the picture that always applies because there is this deep corruption of humankind. The Jews, when they hear such a negative description of the pagan world, they somehow enjoy because the others are bad and Paul intelligently, after enumerating the negative behavior of others goes on to speak of the negative behavior of the Jews: “You are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment, since you, the judge, do the very same things” (Rom 2:1).

Because you are a Jew, do you think you are out of that situation? No, for in judging another, you do the same. Though you know the law, you are a sinner like others who know it not. The difference here is not knowing what you must do but being able to do it. Paul points out that the behavior of the Jews and the Greeks is basically the same, with the difference that some have a theory and others do not know it. It takes something outside of the human person to be able to attain the righteousness of God.

He began the discussion by saying, “The wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness” (Rom 1:18). What is the wrath of God? It is a difficult concept for our language; we cannot simply imagine that it means the rage of God, the anger of God as if God loses his patience. It is an apocalyptic type of language that wants to present the rupture of the relationship. God’s wrath evokes a situation of hostility. Think of the condition that occurs in your life concerning a person with whom you do not get along, you’ve broken up with for some reason; you don’t see each other anymore, you don’t know what to say, you don’t want to say anything; there is a separation. There are bad relations between you; there is no communion and communication. This is a condition Paul defines it as ‘wrath’; therefore, the wrath of God manifested is the condition of broken relationships.

Humankind, in general, does not get along with God, there is no communion, there is no encounter, and it is not possible; not even those who know the theory of the law can get along because there is something that prevents this good relationship. Paul concludes this first negative review, the destructive part of his proposal, with an anthology of biblical phrases. He does this on purpose, taking phrases from the Old Testament that make clear how none does good, “There is no one just, not one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. All have gone astray; all alike are worthless; there is not one who does good, there is not even one” (Rom 3:10-12). It is not a phrase of Paul. It is from an Old Testament psalm, and the apostle concludes: “Now we know that what the law says is addressed to those under the law” (Rom 3:19).

Therefore, if a revealed text says that there is not even one who does good, and it says so of the Jews, in the sense that even they do not do good; even they, who know the theory, do not put it into practice, “so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world stand accountable to God.” There is no alternative; in front of God, everybody, really everybody is guilty, they have to shut their mouths and shut up; there is no possibility of personal salvation; nobody can say, ‘I can save myself; I can do it in my own strength.’

After this destructive part, the apostle seems to say are we desperate wretches, have we no way out. This is where the Gospel, the Good News, is placed. “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, though testified to by the law and the prophets” (Rom 3:21) The opposite of the wrath of God is the righteousness of God.

Let us retake the previous image. To a bad relationship a good relationship is contrasted. Imagine the relationship you have with a friend with whom you feel good, whom you love, with whom you always know what to say, whose company you enjoy because you are in tune with that person. That’s a good relationship. Try to contrast concretely the relationship you have with someone you can’t stand, is a bad relationship and a good relationship with another person you love.

This good relationship of friendship is what Paul calls the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is revealed independently of the law; that is, it is not an effect of the law, it is not that by knowing the rules, I become a friend of God. That friendship, that deep and affectionate personal union, is not born of observing the rules because I can externally observe all the dictates of the rules and not be united in my heart to the Lord in true friendship. In my own strength, I cannot do it; and no one can do it in their own strength. The righteousness of God is revealed independently of the law and yet it is attested by the law and the prophets, that is, by the Old Testament. God’s revelation had spoken of this: “The righteousness of God is revealed through the faith of Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Rom. 3:22).

The faith of Christ is the axis that determines the turning point of the human situation. What do we mean by the faith of Christ? It is not the fact that Jesus believed in God, but it is his attitude of trust, but, above all, according to the Jewish mentality, for whom faith is the foundation, the faith of Christ is the foundation constituted in the person of Jesus. Jesus is the foundation; he is the rock upon which to build. He is the solid person, he has a good relationship with God.

There is only one man with a good relationship with God. The man Jesus he is the foundation stone; only through him is it possible to have that righteousness, to enter into that relationship of friendship. There is no distinction; he repeats it and repeats it again. “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). But all are justified freely through his grace; that is, they are brought into a right and good relationship with God, freely, without having to pay anything. They have not purchased righteousness, they have obtained it freely because of the grace, which is the merciful love of God.

It is called grace because it is freely given, not because it is paid for. You do not get grace if you are good. Grace is given regardless of what there is, starting from a negative situation, from a sinful situation, because all have sinned, all are deprived of glory and receive grace without deserving it, therefore freely, but grace is the good relationship with God. They are given the possibility of being God’s friends by virtue of the redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ. There is a redemption, a ransom that Christ has accomplished. “God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed” (Rom 3:25).

The terminology is complex; it refers to a liturgical situation that the people of ancient Judaism understood well but which we have difficulty in understanding. The instrument of expiation, in Greek, ‘ilasterion’ indicates the covering of the ark. It is a sacred object that was in the temple in Jerusalem, inside the holy of holies and was the object where blood was shed on Yom Kippur to ask God for the forgiveness of sins. Paul has matured a different understanding: that sacred object, inside the sanctuary of Jerusalem, was just a sign, a figure to prepare something greater and truer.

It is Jesus in person the mercy seat; that is to say, it is the person of Jesus. that makes propitious to God, that brings every person into right relationship with God. And Jesus Christ obtained this relationship in force by the gift of his blood, by the gift of his life, by his total participation in our human experience. By the sacrifice of himself, he redeemed us; he freed us from our helplessness, from our inability to commune with God.

This is the cardinal point of Pauline theology and becomes the cardinal point of Christian faith. Salvation is by grace; it is a free gift of God; no one deserves it; all can receive it. In chapter 4 Paul gives an example of the history of Israel and speaks of the patriarch Abraham, the father of the people and highlights how the biblical writings exalt the faith of Abraham. Abraham became our father by virtue of his faith. He had a son when he was old because he trusted God. Why did this good relationship between Abraham and God come about? Abraham is presented as the friend of God because he trusted God. The law did not exist yet. Abraham lived before Moses; Abraham does not observe those legal rules. He is God’s friend because he trusted him, but going further back, Paul goes to the origin, and in chapter 5 speaks of Adam, the man par excellence, is the original model of man, and it is in this very important chapter 5 where Paul deals with the subject that theologians have later schematized as the doctrine of original sin, i.e., it means that there is a universal condition of the impotence of humankind.

Paul contrasts Adam and Christ as two models of humankind, and after announcing the fulfillment in Christ, after saying that Christ is the true and authentic man because he is able of a good relationship with God, shows how instead Adam (man) did not have a good relationship with God, on the contrary, he was in a situation of definite rupture. Paul contrasts two situations and formulates what later becomes the dogma of original sin. I read in verse 18: “In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all”.

It is said that the disobedience of one alone has ruined all, and now it is added that the obedience of one alone justifies all. The universal condition of humankind is impotence; it cannot enter into a relationship with God, cannot be a friend of God. It is only the work of Jesus Christ that fills this impotence giving away the capacity for a good relationship of friendship and righteousness, as Paul says. “By the disobedience of one (Adam) all have been made sinners” (Rom 5:12).

All have sinned, all are made sinners; ‘sinners’ does not mean guilty of anything but incapable, deficient; what we call original sin more than a stain is a hole, is a tear, it’s a breach; I can’t fix it. By virtue of that disobedience, I remain disobedient, but here is the opposite: “By through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all” (Rom 5:19). As all bear the sin of Adam, all will bear the righteousness of Christ. They have this opportunity. Paul means that if a person is in a good relationship with God, it is not by his own merits, but by the grace of Christ.

Even if he does not know Christ, a person who is in a right relationship with God is in a good relationship with God thanks to Jesus Christ. It is not necessary to know Adam to be incapable of doing good; it is a situation that we feel is ingrained in us, and yet grace is ingrained in us also and it acts beyond theoretical knowledge. So, the role of the person is in the acceptance of this grace. Paul stresses how we are at peace with God, justified by faith, and the Spirit of God has been poured out in our hearts, and this happened when we were still sinners. God shows his love for us because when we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly, not for the good, not even one of them was good. And because they were all sinners, Christ died for them. And this event of grace turned the situation around. Humankind is no longer under the sign of Adam, is under the sign of Christ.

This is the good news, salvation is possible; the impotent man can now be a friend of God. This is the gospel of Paul; this is the heart of the Letter to the Romans.