Context Conversations

More Leviticus Materials

2010-03-30T16:34:00.000-07:00

From my perspective ("me" being Ryan) the discussions on Leviticus have been stretching yet quite interesting for most everyone involved. Is that fair? I hope so. Hopefully no one is bored to tears. Nobody has said so yet. Digging into the historical / literary context is often challenging, but the pay-off is high. I feel that way for sure about Leviticus. I have never studied so much for any other Context series. I am enjoying every minute of it.

Here are some valuable resources:

1) The document I passed out this week about clean / unclean (purity systems)

2) A great article about blood and its symbolism:
http://www.kchanson.com/ARTICLES/blood.html

I hope it is helpful!!

Leviticus Materials

2010-03-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

We have embarked on a fascinating study adventure through the book of Leviticus. Yes, I just put fascinating and Leviticus in the same sentence! We believe that the community of wisdom that was responsible for putting Leviticus in both the Jewish Canon of scripture and the Christian Canon knew what they were doing. It isn't a mistake! In fact understanding Leviticus is essential to making sense out of many New Testament passages that are built on the theology and concepts of Leviticus.

Anyway, here is the link to our meeting schedule: CONTEXT

Here is the link to the first week's study materials: LEVITICUS 1-7 (Sacrifices)

Romans 8:1-11

2009-12-16T13:56:00.000-08:00

I recommend viewing the word Doc I created for this posting since there is a table involved:

Romans 8.1-11

Feel free to post questions / comments here on this blog though...

Outline Introduction

2009-11-27T22:45:00.000-08:00

By way of clarification, I posted my outline / clarified version of Romans 1-5 in separate posts. It was drawn up on a word document and looks more readable. If you prefer to have the whole word doc sent to you, I would be happy to do so. Email me: EucharistSF@gmail.com

Ouline / Clarification of Romans 5

2009-11-27T22:44:00.000-08:00

Romans 5:1-11 – Paul briefly rephrases what he has been building up to and then expands this into implications about our confidence

In light of all that he just said, Paul clarifies to the church in Rome that whoever has trusted in God has already had the good declaration of God pronounced in their favor…

meaning that now we (believers) are in a state of peace with God

achieved through Jesus the true Kingly representative of Israel and the master of the world

through whom we have obtained access to the undeserved generosity in which we now stand

since we have nothing of our own to celebrate, we celebrate in the hope of sharing again with God the vice-regency of earth, the stewardship of creation
We also celebrate our suffering because

Suffering produces endurance

Endurance produces character

Character produces hope

This hope is not going to let us down… we trust this is so because God has poured His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which we have received.

Here is how it happened…

While we were still weak (with nothing to offer for ourselves), and at just the right pregnant moment in history, the representative (and king) of Israel died for the ungodly (Israel & the whole world)

It is rare that someone would die for a worthy / righteous person

Perhaps for a really good and “worthy” person someone might sacrifice one’s self

But God shows Himself to be far beyond any reasonable expectation… demonstrating extraordinary generosity and love for us because He sent the faithful representative (and king) of Israel and all humanity to die for us while we were in active rebellion against God and deeply caught in sin

Since God engaged in this ridiculous act of love, we can be confident that we will be rescued from God’s final judgment since we have been declared in the present to be right / vindicated by Jesus life / death
If while we were enemies of God we were brought back into relationship with God through the death of His Son, we can be can be fully confident that we will be rescued from judgment by His resurrection life – the ultimate vindication of Jesus which includes all of us who trust Him.
Even more than this confident assurance, we can celebrate our relationship to God through Jesus our Master and representative – the one through whom we received this incredible gift of reconciliation

Romans 5:12-21 – Paul lays out the two representative archetypes of humanity: Adam and Jesus

We know how this sin, hostility to God entered onto the stage of the good world God created…

It came through the archetype of humanity: Adam

Once Adam sinned, its power was loose in the world resulting in spiritual death

Which spread universally because everyone who came after Adam chose to follow in his footsteps. He set the table and poured us the cup of poison, but we drank it

Sin was in the world before the Torah made it vividly evident, but it wasn’t handled the same way by God – being charged to the account of someone who knew better all the time

Still, because sin results in spiritual death, death exercised authority and domination from Adam to Moses in spite of the fact that these people’s sin wasn’t like Adam’s sin – Adam disregarded a very clear command of God given to him, these people didn’t have that level of clarity.

Adam was the archetype of humanity in the same sort of way that Jesus would be

Representative Archetypes: Adam versus Jesus

Action: Adam’s Sin (trespass) vs. Undeserved Grace

Result: Many died vs. Grace of God (many receive free gift)

Verdict: Judgment (condemnation) vs. justification (vindication)

Consequence: Death Exercises Dominion Through Adam vs. Righteousness Exercises Dominion In Humanity Through Jesus

Summary: One man’s trespass (rebellion against a specific command of God) led (eventually) to condemnation for all… in the same way, one man’s act of faithful righteousness leads to (the possibility) of vindication and life for all. Through one man’s disobedience “the many” were made sinners… through another man’s obedience, “the many” will be made right.

Paul: notice, the Torah is not a part of the ultimate solution… in fact, it came into the picture with the result that intentional, “fully aware” sin actually increased exponentially.

But here is the great news regarding this issue: Where sin increased exponentially (Israel), grace erupted exponentially all the more

The bottom line: Just as sin exercised domination and authority through death as its chief weapon, so grace exercises domination and authority through the verdict of vindication (and the resulting right-being) – which leads to life everlasting through Jesus our representative and king.

Outline / Clarification of Romans 4:1-25

2009-11-27T22:42:00.000-08:00

Romans 4:1-25 – Paul continues his argument about the primacy of trust as the mark of God’s people by talking about Abraham – the father of the covenant people.

If we look at Abraham, what will we find? Are we in his family due to flesh?

What makes Abraham special to God? Was it something he did to put God under obligation?

No, Abraham simply trusted God… he didn’t have a list of things to point at that made him worthy to be declared right

If someone is employed, this person doesn’t get paid because the boss is giving out gifts but because he is contractually obligated

But in this case, we are talking about people who have nothing to offer God to put God into a place of contractual obligation.
Humanity comes to God with empty hands… but in trust that God will render a judgment in favor of those who are ungodly in spite of this

David talked about this undeserved blessing that comes from God. He says,

“Blessed are the people who find their sin forgiven and taken care of… blessed is the person who God will not hold accountable for his/her sin.”

So, is this blessing only for people who are ethnically / culturally Jewish, having been circumcised? Or is it also for the non-Jew?

The scriptures say that Abraham was declared right / “acquitted” by trusting God. Was it before or after he was circumcised?

Aha! He only received circumcision AFTER he was already declared right as a seal of that status which he had already received while he was not circumcised

The purpose of this was to make him the father of all who trust God without being circumcised AND the father of those who are circumcised & trust like Abraham did before he was circumcised

Why does this all matter? Because Abraham’s family was promised the whole world as an inheritance… but that wasn’t gonna happen if this distinction between Jew and non-Jew was the dividing line of who is in the family and who isn’t. That is why the defining feature of the family is trust in God not the Torah observance demonstrated especially by circumcision

If it is only people who adhere to the Torah, then trust is meaningless and the promise is worthless

The Torah actually highlights and increases God’s wrath… which makes it so the promise can’t come about. (When the Torah is out of the picture, a person can’t talk about violation’s of it as a category of sinfulness)

Thus, the promise is dependent on trust so that it can be fulfilled as an undeserved gift (good because no one deserves it) to any and all who share the faithfulness of Abraham (regardless of Torah observance or its identifying marks demonstrating such).

Abraham is the father of anyone who trusts in God… that’s why the scriptures record God as calling him “the father of many nations”

God can do anything… give life to the dead (Jesus resurrection) and call into existence things that don’t exist (Creation, Abraham’s descendents)

Abraham didn’t have any physical evidence that God’s promise of a family of descendents would come true. He just had his confident hope that God would fulfill His word
In fact Abraham had evidence to contradict God’s word – he was 100 year old and his body was as good as dead… not to mention that he and Sarah had tried for years to have children unsuccessfully

But he chose to trust… and he grew strong in that trust and he gave glory to God through his unwavering trust that God would do what He had promised
God rewarded his trust by declaring him right and vindicating him

The attribution of right-standing given to Abraham based on his trust in God is exactly what God is doing with us who believe

We will be have this good declaration credited to our account at judgment if we trust in God who raised Jesus our master from the dead… the same Jesus who was handed over to death because of our screw-ups and who is raised from the dead in order to give us confidence of right-standing / vindication before God.

Outline / Clarification of Romans 3:21-31

2009-11-27T22:41:00.000-08:00

Romans 3:21-31 – Paul unveils the solution to this universal problem of sin / unfaithfulness in a densely packed couple of sentences using a variety of images to convey the immense importance of these ideas…

Now, in this stage of salvation history, the righteousness / justice of God (specifically, God’s faithfulness to His covenant promise to fix the world through Abraham’s family) has been revealed from outside the system of Torah. Yet this covenant faithfulness is not unconnected to the Torah – in fact it is anticipated and described by the Torah and the prophets

This uprightness / covenant faithfulness of God is seen through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah (the one true deserving heir of the covenant; the true Jew; the representative of Israel)

This uprightness / faithfulness is good news for any / all who trust (those who with no “physical” sign to lean on but who are instead depending & trusting that God will make good on His word – making them heirs to the covenant blessings)

There is no distinction (no barriers, no discrimination)

because it is not contingent on any physical markers such as circumcision or the distinctively Jewish lifestyle marks)
because nobody can stand in judgment and expect to be vindicated – all have sinned and disgraced God by bringing His name disrepute rather than glory (Jew / non-Jew alike)

The ones who trust are declared to be in the right / justified here and now (in anticipation of the final judgment)

This comes not as part of the covenantal obligation nor because of moral performance (neither of which have anything to say for themselves), but due to God’s generous and undeserved gift…

…which is received on account of and through the slavery payment (redemption) made for those who participate in / belong to the Messiah (representative head of the covenant community) Jesus…

…who is the place of mercy (mercy seat – Lev. 16), removal of sin, removal of what causes wrath that God provided

…by Jesus’ blood (life)

Which is effective / available for anyone who trusts God for this gift

God put forward Jesus as the place of mercy / forgiveness / removal of sin in order to demonstrate His justice / faithfulness to the covenant…

…because in His patience / leniency He had not dealt with the sins that were committed previously (since the entrance of sin into humanity). He had merely passed them over in anticipation of dealing with them in this climactic act

all of this was to prove in the present, here and now the fact that He is both

just (a trustworthy, honest judge – having rightly condemned and dealt with sin)

and…

justifier (the one who declares His people vindicated)

He justifies the person who trusts in Jesus (or who has the faithful obedience of Jesus)

Based on all of this, is there any place for celebrating / taking pride in Jewishness (claiming to be God’s “insiders”)?

No, it doesn’t belong… it is disallowed

According to which Torah?

Are you talking about the Torah we have been talking about all along? – The one which if kept clearly marks out “insiders” with God based on particular Torah actions like circumcision, Sabbath, purity laws?
No, we are talking about the “Torah of trust” that we just referenced

As we have already said, a person is declared right / vindicated by trusting God apart from Torah actions meant to show who is “in” and who is “out”

After all, is God the God of the ethnically Jewish people only? Isn’t God the God of non-Jews too? – Yes, of non-Jews too!

Since God is singular (one), He has a singular people – a group that is declared such on the ground of trusting Him regardless of whether you are coming from a Jewish or non-Jewish background!

Does this mean that since the Torah is not used as a way of determining who is “in” and who is “out” that we should just chuck it?

Absolutely not! Rather, in a round about way we are upholding the Torah and establishing its vital place in God’s plan (see 3:20 – “through the Torah comes the knowledge of sin”)

Outline / Clarification of Romans 2:1-3:20

2009-11-27T22:38:00.000-08:00

Romans 2:1-16 – Paul turns toward an audience that is condemning of others (probably condemning those just mentioned) and yet guilty themselves (this is most likely a Jewish oriented crowd)…

There is no excuse for anyone (Gentiles have knowledge through nature and the Jews have the Torah)

In passing judgment (making a moral condemnation) a person is implicitly establishing the universal claim of morality – thus indicting his or herself (Paul’s sub-point). More importantly, very often the same people condemning others are doing such things themselves (hypocrisy).

Don’t suppose that just because you are “aware” of morality and skilled at judging that you will not be called to account

Don’t take God’s patience with you to mean that God won’t hold you accountable (since you haven’t seen lightning bolts yet). Instead, God’s patience and kindness toward you ought to lead you to repentance.
In reality your hard-heartedness is piling up a heap of judgment waiting for you on judgment day!

God will judge all of humanity according to each person’s actions (works / deeds)

To the people who patiently persist in doing good – seeking the noble life of glory and honor (a mere reflection of God’s glory and honor) that God intended for humanity with a view toward living eternally (not just for the moment or passing pleasure). To these people God will give Eternal Life
To those who are self-seeking, who disregard truth and embrace wickedness, these people will receive the full measure of God’s wrath

It won’t be pretty for those who do evil

Because the Jew knows more, he will be judged harsher
But the non-Jew will also have judgment according to what she knows

For those who do good there will be glory, honor and peace

Rewards according to opportunity and knowledge (Jew first, non-Jew second)

God is not unjust (there are no favorites for God, and God takes knowledge of His will into consideration)

People who sin without the special awareness that comes from being under the tutelage of Torah will still die from sin (because sin is toxic)
People who sin while under the tutelage of the Torah will be condemned by that very tutor (and are thus under the same condemnation as those who don’t have Torah)

Just possessing or hearing the Torah does not give you a special “favored nation ” / “vindicated” / “right” status with God

You have to DO what the Torah says to be considered “right” in God’s sight. It is only those who actually DO what the Torah says who will be declared vindicated and just (in the right – justified) on the judgment day.

When non-Jews who do not possess the Torah DO instinctively what the Torah requires (righteous requirements), they demonstrate a sense of conscience that shows they have the essence of the Torah within them on their hearts… which means they will experience a sense of accountability (their own soul on the witness stand - at various times affirming, sometimes condemning). All of this will happen on the day of judgment when God will judge all of humanity (including all their secrets) THROUGH Jesus.

Romans 2:17-29 – Paul brings the straight-talk to people who want to hide behind the covenant signs and symbols as a way of side-stepping their accountability before God… in doing so he redefines who the real covenant heirs are (the true Jews)

So you think you’re a Jew… huh?

You rest in the fact that you possess the Torah
You celebrate your rich history of God’s special relationship to the family of Abraham
You know God’s will and what is the best way to live because of the teaching of Torah
You are confident that you can lead those poor, blind Gentiles… in fact you see yourself as a light shining in the darkness – the lighthouse on a dark seashore
You are the world’s teacher… the corrector of the foolish – because you have the teaching of Torah – the embodiment of all worthwhile knowledge and truth

Then why don’t you actually teach yourself a thing or two?

You are a people railing against stealing, yet there are thieves among you
You are a people who take marriage serious – forbidding adultery, yet your people are thick with adulterers
You wouldn’t possibly bow down to those ridiculous pagan idols, but you are just fine with stealing from the temples of idols? (Huh? Are you a slave to greed?)

You celebrate the possession of the Torah… but you dishonor the one who gave it to you because you don’t actually pay any attention to really living by its teaching. You have broken the covenant agreement (Torah)! In fact, there is a text about you… “God’s name is laughed at, mocked among the nations because of your tremendous hypocrisy.” There is nothing to be proud about being “marked out” as being YHWH’s (disobedient) people right now… You need the covenant curse taken away! You need a new covenant.
You think that the covenant marker of circumcision is going to be something you can rely on? Here’s the truth: Circumcision is only of value if you actually obey the Torah’s teaching. If you don’t, your circumcision has made you like the non-Jew (marked out for God’s wrath / curse… Remember the deal? If you as a people obey…blessing! If you as a people disobey… curses!)
If someone who is not Jewish by ethnicity / nationality (uncircumcised) does the essence, the ethical requirements of the Torah, can’t you see that God will treat them as under “blessing?”

Actually there is a major reversal at work here:

The non-Jew who obeys Torah will stand in judgment of you the “Jewish” possessor of the Torah who doesn’t obey.

A person isn’t a Jew because of some snipped skin on the penis… it isn’t about outward signs. It is about an inward reality of the heart – where the spirit of Torah is being done rather than just talked about or referred to in some written document. It is the person who has the essence of Torah written on the inside that gets the approval of God and is the heir to the covenant blessings.

Romans 3:1-8 – Paul, after giving some stiff words to his ethnically / culturally Jewish audience members addresses their concern about the possible advantages of being “elected”

What advantage is there to being ethnically / culturally Jewish?

Much in every way

First (with no following 2^nd, 3^rd, etc – but picked up in chapter 9), you were given the very oracles, the written documents of God (Torah)

But is any of this any good since some have been unfaithful to actually doing Torah? Will God be unfaithful to His end of the covenant bargain because of the people’s unfaithfulness to covenant?

Absolutely not! Even if every other mouth on the planet spews lies, God’s does not! He is faithful.

You’ve read that text, “You know that God is truthful and honest (righteous / just) in His words because He is judging things as they really are – condemning my wrong action” (Psalm 51 is David asking God for mercy because he (David) has been unfaithful and is affirming that God’s judgment over him is correct and honest)

If our unfaithfulness / injustice (wrong behavior), which is rightly condemned by God, actually confirms that God is truly just (because of His right judgment), can we actually say that God can really punish us since we are making Him look especially just – for judging His own people?

Paul says, “This is ridiculous – it’s a dumb human argument”

How could God actually judge the world within this crazy logic?

If my dishonesty makes God look really honest and really good, shouldn’t he high-five me instead of condemn me? As some people mistakenly say that Paul says, “Let’s go sin so that God looks good”

Paul: What the heck? This is insanity. People who say this have a depraved, twisted mind. They deserve condemnation!

Romans 3:9-20 – Paul again returns to his theme of universal culpability. All, both Jew and non-Jew are rightfully under the condemnation of God… there is no wiggle room – especially not for those who want to hide behind the possession of the Torah.

So, is the ethnic / cultural Jew any better off? Nope.

All (Jew and non-Jew) are under the power of sin

To reinforce the fact that no person under the tutelage of Torah will find vindication in such, Paul assembles a litany of scriptural quotations (which should be understood as alluding to whole passages) which drive home his thesis that the Torah stands with a finger of judgment pointing at those under its tutelage… the bearers of the covenant marks are under God’s covenant curse / wrath.

Whatever Torah teaches is addressed to those who are under its teaching

Thus, the whole world is under curse / wrath and are thus accountable to God

Non-Jews (the point Paul already made - see Romans 1:18-32)
Jews, due to Torah’s condemnation of the covenant community for disobedience, violence, and vile behavior

Nobody will be declared “right” in God’s sight by evidence of Torah observance – specifically, having the distinctive markers of the covenant people: the “works” of Torah (Circumcision, Sabbath, Purity laws)

For through the Torah human awareness (knowledge) of sin is increased

Outline / Clarification of Romans 1

2009-11-27T22:36:00.000-08:00

Chapter 1:1-7 – Paul introduces himself and lays out many of the important themes which he will develop in the rest of the letter…

Paul is an apostle of (one who is sent by) Jesus the Messiah (King, representative head of Israel)
Paul’s life is set aside for the “good news” (gospel) of God

The good news was expected – since the scriptures anticipated it
The good news is about God’s “son” (a title applied to Israel previously in the OT and more recently to Jesus)

Jesus is a descendant of David (rightful heir to the throne / representative of Israel)
Jesus is declared / recognized as God’s Son (vindicated as the true Messiah) through the resurrection (the sign of national restoration and future hope)

Through Jesus “we” received grace and apostleship (commissioning to be sent)

We receive these in order to bring about “the obedience of faith” of the nations which comes from belonging to Jesus the Messiah.

Chapter 1:8-15 – Paul gives thanksgiving, sets up his reason for writing and clarifies some more contextual background…

Paul’s thanksgiving is “through” Jesus the Messiah because of his audiences’ faith (trust in God)
He wants to come to Rome to continue his work among the Gentiles (non-Jews / nations)
Paul also wants to share some spiritual gift with the church in Rome

He is obligated to proclaim the good news to all people: wise and foolish

Chapter 1:16-17 – Paul launches into a dense thesis of his ideas which he goes on to develop

He is bursting with excitement (not ashamed) about the good news

The good news is about the power of God for salvation (rescue – from what? See below)

Who can be saved? Anyone who trusts (note: the defining mark of those being saved = faith / trust)

The Jew first (it is their story, their covenant, they have the knowledge to walk into this salvation with relative ease)
Then the non-Jew (non-Jews are late to the game – getting in on Israel’s story)

In the good news, the Covenant Faithfulness (righteousness) of God is (finally) revealed

It is revealed through the faithfulness (of Jesus) for those who trust (trust God through Jesus)

The same kind of trust that Habakkuk described – trusting God in spite of no visible indicators. – It is those people who are declared “in the right” (righteous)

Chapter 1:18-32 – Paul describes the context within which the saving power of God’s covenant faithfulness comes. He appears to be re-telling the story of humanity in the background (Adam)…

The wrath of God (God’s wrath = ever-present willful stance / action against anything that would destroy his creation – pointing ultimately to a day of universal accountability. FYI: God’s wrath is an expression of His covenant faithfulness / love – standing against injustice and evil) is revealed against…

All ungodliness (people who don’t reflect God), wickedness (evil, destructiveness), those who suppress the truth
People are accountable because they have opportunity to know about God

Through nature people can deduce that whatever created it is not contained within it

God’s eternal power (bigger than the visible world)
God’s divine nature (superior to the always dying / changing visible realm)

Humans have no excuse

They knew about God but did not honor Him or give Him thanks

Due to rejecting God, people’s thinking (minds) got all screwed up

Thinking they were wise, they became foolish

Example: They exchanged the glory of God for idols (they didn’t worship the true God but instead demeaned their worship to mere representations of creatures within God’s own creation)

God allowed them to do this which then meant that their desires (hearts) became impure

The screwed up thinking and impure desires led to a degradation of their bodies

God allowed them to degrade their bodies and to live in their destructive desires

Example: the pattern God intended for human sexuality gets warped and exhanged

Homosexual sexuality

Part of the result of God “giving people over to their sin” is that they are left with natural consequences of such behavior

People who don’t acknowledge God and His intended order for the universe end up with a very screwed up mind and God allows them freedom to practice what they desire

People have become utterly corrupt

“filled with every kind of wickedness” (Paul goes on to describe at length)

The bottom line is that people who live this way know better (no excuse); they know they are rightfully under the condemnation of God… but they could care less and find ways to applaud each other for it

Thoughts on Romans 1:18-3:20

2009-10-13T01:41:00.000-07:00

Romans 1:18-3:20 is a section of Paul’s thinking that can be incredibly challenging to wrap your mind around (at least I have found myself feeling challenged). However, once his conversation is framed properly, the substance of what he is trying to say begins to pop-out in vivid detail and the brilliance of his thought becomes visible. It is essential not only that we see the proper frame for Paul’s thinking but that we are seeing properly the question or problem behind Paul’s answer or solution. Otherwise we will distort what he is saying or misunderstand his logic.

To understand Paul’s thought we have to keep in mind that he is writing as person who is drawing his worldview from his Jewish background. He does not see himself as starting a new religion from scratch but rather as someone elucidating a vital twist in his existing one (Judaism). He sees Jesus as the climax of a story in which he (Paul) is a participant… a story that goes back to creation – one that is framed and understood through the covenant (relational contract) God made with Abraham (Genesis 12, 15) and that continued through history in God’s relationship with Israel (Abraham’s descendants). If you lose sight of the significance of the story of Judaism (Abraham, God’s promise to Abraham, the covenant and Israel’s history with God via the covenant, etc.) Paul will make very little sense.

So here are some really important highly simplified things to keep in mind:

Assumed in Jewish thought... God knows that humanity is screwed without His mercy. Humanity, when thinking clearly, also realizes this. Specifically, A) if there is a God who created us, we are accountable to that God. B) All of us have done things to destroy God’s creation and have gone against God’s intentions and thus violated our role / relationship with God. C) Sucks to be us. We rightly deserve God’s judgment (wrath)… unless God does something remarkable and something we don’t deserve. God does just that!

Thus God creates a family, a unique people group, that He will work through to fix the problems of this world. This group is intended to be a community that will be “a light to the nations,” a community that God uses to demonstrate His goodness, holiness and blessing to the rest of the earthly communities. This is what God set out to do with Abraham. Central to this idea – made clear through Moses – is the idea that this unique family will be a community of God’s forgiveness. God’s forgiveness along with ultimate vindication were promised to those who remained faithful to the covenant – which included the idea of participating in the sacrificial system. (I wish I had more time to write about some of the important ideas within this system – which is central to Judaism and to Paul’s thinking.)

Keep in mind that the covenant was a “communal agreement.” The person’s choice was involved on two levels: 1) to belong or not belong to the covenant – it was possible to walk away… and many did. 2) To be a part of communally obeying the instructions God gave to the covenant community. The expectations of this covenant are laid out in Deuteronomy 28-30 (especially important to Paul’s thought it seems to me). The thrust of this passage is simply, “if you obey (communally), you will be communally blessed. If you disobey (communally), you will be communally under the curse – the wrath – of God, both now and at the “day of the Lord.” So obey!!!

An essential part of declaring that you were part of the “covenant community” were several tangible signs: 1) Circumcision – very tangible for men! 2) Possession of the Torah (having within your community the very covenant / contract paperwork – described as the “oracles of God” by Paul). 3) Unique Torah commands (which clearly marked out Jews as different from the surrounding people groups) specifically in mind are Sabbath keeping, festival observance, purity laws / kosher. These were all meant to indicate that you were serious about obedience.

The story of Israel is a story of blessing and curse (wrath)… perhaps it’s more honest (though sad) to say it was mostly a story of curse (wrath). Disobedience carried the day - Idolatry was a major problem, economic exploitation & injustice, hypocrisy – taking the name of YHWH but then embarrassing YHWH’s name among that nations, etc. So, instead of Israel (Abraham’s family) being a community under God’s blessing as God had intended, it was a community under God’s judgment / discipline / wrath / curse (See Deuteronomy 28-30 and read the whole Old Testament to be reminded!).

But there was hope. Part of the Deuteronomy 30 passage is focused on how God would restore the covenant community after they screwed up… God would remove the curse and return blessing – and in doing so somehow bring blessing to the whole world. The prophets pick up this theme and develop it more: Jeremiah 31, Isaiah 40-55, Ezekiel 36, etc. They referred to it as “The New Covenant.” The idea was a hopeful one. God would establish a king who rule over His righteous remnant (those who were truly in the covenant community) and these people would keep Torah – it would be written on their hearts, their hearts would be circumcised (apparently more important that physical circumcision).

Everybody knew this story in Israel. I suppose it was sometimes far from their mind, but the pattern was well established and people hoped for the day of the “New Covenant.” Within Jewish thought at the time of Jesus / Paul it must have seemed clear to most Jews that the way things were looked a whole lot more like “curse” than “blessing.” Although the exile - God’s punishment / wrath had been poured out on Israel 600 years earlier and then God had shown mercy by re-establishing their residency in Israel 70 years later, things weren’t put back together again. Clearly not… they were under foreign occupation.

So part of the historical setting in which Paul found himself was a Judaism that was fractured into “sects” that all were talking about a different way to restore the covenant community… and how to be sure that a person knew they were “in” the righteous remnant, that they “belonged” to the true covenant community – the community that God would enact forgiveness for, the people who would be vindicated at that judgment as being truly God’s people. The Pharisees were especially interested in purity and the boundary markers of Judaism: Circumcision, Sabbath, Purity / Kosher laws – all of which depended on the possession of Torah within the community. (Keep in mind that Paul had been trained as a Pharisee.)

Generally speaking, Jews could breakdown all of humanity into two categories:

Category 1) The True Jews: people who were sincerely part of the covenant community… the community that God would forgive and vindicate at the judgment. These are people who have their misdeeds forgiven and who have observed Torah and are thus judged as “righteous.” They are the people that God would set up as rulers / judges of the rest of the nations… the people who God would work through as His instrument for worldwide order, justice, restoration. In short, these are the people of blessing.

Category 2) The nations (Gentiles): people who were not Jewish who were generally considered to be lawless and under the judgment / wrath of God (rightly so for their idolatry, poor ethical behavior, etc.). These are the people of wrath / curse.

Now with all of this background, let’s go back to Romans 1:18-32… Paul’s Jewish (and Gentile-Christian) readers would easily identify with Paul’s critique of “the nations” (Gentiles). He was not saying anything controversial. These were people in “category 2” – marked out for the wrath / judgment of God by their flagrant sinfulness.

In Romans 2:1-29, Paul begins to enter into some more controversial waters with his Jewish readers. First he exposes the fact that people (whoever they are – Jew / Gentile) who make moral distinctions and speak condemningly of wrong behavior are, in a roundabout way, establishing the fact that there is a moral order to the universe to which they are subject (whether or not they know Torah or not). Thus, they are guilty of breaking this moral order. They shouldn’t think they will escape God’s judgment… after all, Paul quickly affirms, God will judge people on their life’s work – their deeds - (adjusted for what they know they are responsible for – Jew / Gentile). Just because God hasn’t brought the thunder and lightening in this moment doesn’t mean you are getting off scott free! God’s patience is supposed to lead you to repentance not cockiness.

Paul begins to lay the pieces down for a third category of people that I don’t think a typically Jewish audience would have had in mind as an option on the “judgment table.” – Paul introduces the mysterious “category 3.” He indicates that there are going to be people who don’t explicitly know or possess the Torah, who aren’t marked out as being a part of the “covenant community” (no circumcision, Sabbath, purity / dietary laws) who actually do what the Torah requires (the ethical substance of the Torah – “requirements” of the Torah) and who are forgiven, vindicated and celebrated at the judgment day. Who are these mysterious people? They aren’t “category 1” folks and they don’t sound like “category 2”… hmmm….

Now we have begun to get to the question that Paul is trying to answer. He is saying two things in Romans 2:17-29, 3:9-20:

1) What Jews were depending on – that they were in “category 1” and that the people in “category 1” would have good news at the judgment day - is in deep trouble on all counts. To be in this “covenant community” of ethnically / culturally defined Judaism is not good news according to Paul’s argument… it is bad news. The supposed covenant community (ethnic / cultural Judaism) is under curse and wrath because they have not kept up their end of the bargain. – They “broke” the covenant! They are as bad off as the Gentiles – but worse! – Remember, God is going to judge people on what they know!! They knew better, they were warned… they had the Torah, the prophets, the writings… they were supposed to be the teachers of the Gentiles… they were supposed to be the light to a dark world. Instead, they are bringing shadow not light. They are embarrassing God’s name among the nations. Paul says in a moment of piercing critique – the “sign” of being in the covenant community (circumcision) only has value if you actually do what you say you intend to do (being circumcised was a way of saying, “I am committing to obey Torah”). If you take the sign but don’t do what it stands for you only prove yourself to be a liar and are just like a pagan Gentile (thus “category 2” – marked out for wrath / judgment!). Because, as a community, the Jews had not done the “requirements” of Torah (historically speaking), they were considered under wrath and thus in the same position as the Gentiles (“category 2”). Romans 3:9 is most clear in summing up this idea: “all, both Jews and Greeks are under the power of sin.” Furthermore, the string of scriptures Paul lists in 3:10-18 are a further argument from the “Torah” (Jewish scriptures) itself that no Jew has a leg to stand on in the judgment. Everybody better just shut up when it comes to defending themselves on judgment day – especially the “Jew.” “Covenant community” marks don’t have any value – they only establish that you are part of a community under wrath (since the community hasn’t been faithful). That means bad news…

2) Paul’s second and perhaps more startling point (which is not fully clarified yet in Romans 1:28-3:20) was that God definitely would forgive, vindicate and glorify a covenant community… but it wouldn’t be the people in “category 1” (or “category 2”). It would be this mysterious “category 3” community – the people who, whether circumcised or not, actually do the “requirements” of Torah (the very thing that people who were physically circumcised said they would do but didn’t). This group Paul refers to as “the true Jews” (see Romans 2:25-29). These people are the true children of Abraham. Being a “true Jew” (part of the true covenant community – heir to the “new covenant” promise) according to Paul is about “inward” realities not externalities like cutting off some extra skin on the male genital. But who are these people?????

Now we can see clearly Paul’s issue: He wants to determine the answer to the question, “How do we know the distinguishing mark(s) of the people group / community who will be forgiven and vindicated at God’s judgment?” In other words, “who is the true heir of the covenantal promise of ‘covenant renewal’ talked about in Deuteronomy 30, Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36, etc?” Is it the person / community who merely “rests in” the confidence that comes from the mere possession of Torah (the covenant paperwork)? Is it the person / community who has their foreskin snipped? Is it the ethnically / culturally Jewish person? Or is the covenant community distinguished in some other way? Paul’s answer will be given over the course of the following chapter and a half… although part of his answer which is already clear is that it will be a people group who carry out the “requirements” of Torah – God’s intentions for humanity. (Romans 2:13-14, 26-29)

Paul wants to say all of this while doing something really important… he does not want to discard the incredibly important history God has with the ethnically / culturally Jewish people. In Romans 3:1-8 Paul begins to clarify the value of being Jewish… a flow of thought that he drops after verse 8 until he picks it up again in Romans 9. He also wants to make sure and say that God has not abandoned the covenant bargain even though Israel has completely screwed up her end of the bargain.

I hope this makes sense to you. For me, the light-bulb comes on when I see what it is that Paul is trying to say in 1:18-3:20:

1) God will judge all people

2) God will judge based on a person’s life work (Judgment by deeds)

3) Godless Gentiles clearly deserve judgment

4) Being ethnically Jewish is not a guarantee of being in this particular community. In fact it is actually a liability since the Jewish community appears to be under covenant “curse” / wrath

5) Thus all of humanity is under the power of sin and deserving of God’s wrath. Jews and Gentiles are both in deep trouble

6) There is a third category being hinted at by Paul… this is the hope. Who are these people? Whoever they are, God will forgive and vindicate them (it will be a community that is faithful in obedience – carrying out the “requirements of Torah”- Remember Romans 1:5 “The obedience of faith”!!!)

This brings us to Romans 3:21 where Paul spills the beans and gives us the answer!

Introducing Paul's Letter to the Church in Rome

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Romans is often referred to as the best and brightest example of Paul's thinking and one of the most important scriptural books in the Christian Scriptures. It is also one of the most often misunderstood or misconstrued books in the scriptures, which people have attempted to use as the chief source of "proof texts" for whatever their theological agenda is.

Our goal at Context is to try to understand Romans as it actually is... not what we want it to say or what we think it should say... just what it actually says. Those of us who grew up around church must work extra hard to make sure that we don't just allow ourselves to go on auto-pilot assuming we know what he is saying before hand. I'm sure that if we do the hard work of study and serious analysis that we will be pleasantly surprised by what we find!

None of the resources that I post here are "authoritative" - they merely help us enter more fully into the conversation about what Paul is saying in Romans. The MOST important thing you can do is to read and re-read and re-read again the book of Romans so that you are completely immersed in Paul's thought. The second most important thing you can do is immerse yourself in the books of Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Psalms, and other OT books. You will find Paul's thinking getting clearer by doing this.

That being said, here are some links:

This is a general introduction with some framing comments about the book:

http://bible.org/seriespage/introduction-book-romans

Here is an article by NT Wright about Romans:

http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Paul_Caesar_Romans.htm

Here is a page with a bunch of articles by NT Wright:

http://www.ntwrightpage.com/

Happy Studying!!

Feel free to post your reactions, questions, comments about Romans...

Resources For Studying Micah

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The conversation on Sunday night will be exponentially more rewarding if everyone does some prep work.

1) Read Micah through 3 x's (It should only take 15 minutes each time)

2) Check out some historical / literary context resources

Here are a couple of links that might be helpful for you:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Micah

bible.org/seriespage/micah

Happy Studying! See you Sunday...