Pericope Study-- The Conversion of St. Paul

PERICOPE STUDY
CENTER FOR THEOLOGY, LRC
Second Sunday in Lent
February 20, 2005

ROMANS 4:1-5;13-17

What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? 2)For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3)For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 4)Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. 5)But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.

[So also David speaks of the blessedness of those to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.” Is this blessedness, then, pronounced only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” How then was it reckoned to him? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith, while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and who also have righteousness reckoned to them, and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but also follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised.]

13/For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14)If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15)For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. 16)For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17)as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)-in the presence of the God in whom he believed, he gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

The logic in this passage is fascinating but boring at first blush. IF Abraham was justified by works, THEN he has something to boast about. IF Abraham was justified by works, THEN he does not have something to boast before God. Abraham was justified by faith. IF Abraham was justified by faith, THEN he was NOT justified by works. IF Abraham was NOT justified by works, THEN he does NOT have something to boast about. Abraham seems to have been justified by circumcision, which is a work. “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness” Abraham had faith (“believed the Lord”) before he was circumcised. THEREFORE faith was NOT the result of circumcision. IF faith was NOT the result of circumcision, THEN circumcision may be the seal of faith. EITHER the law gives righteousness OR the promise gives righteousness. IF the law gives righteousness, THEN one is justified by works. IF the promise gives righteousness, THEN one is justified by faith (in God’s promise). IF one is justified by faith (in God’s promise), THEN God gives righteousness. God gives righteousness (as it is written). THEREFORE we are justified by faith (in God’s promise).

Back of Paul’s logic is part of a lifetime of experience. The first part of his life was filled with the belief that to be justified he needed to obey God’s law. It was this that led him to approve of the stoning of Stephen and to dedicate himself to a campaign of stamping out this new sect and new interpretation of the God of Abraham. Back of it lay also the common human conviction that pleasing God is a matter of doing things that will meet the approval of God. The path of the law just makes sense.

It still does today. Even to those who deny there is any God the idea of law and right makes sense. No wonder that it is the basis of any faith that people devise. It is no surprise that quarrels among Christians will arise more often over legal questions than the identity of the Savior.

But God had jammed the gears of Paul’s logic on his way to Damascus and called his attention to the fact that the Messiah had died for the sins of Paul and other sinners. It was not something for him to figure out but something to believe.

Perhaps in the course of his pondering on this Paul had remembered his family’s history with God and realized that the same thing had happened with Abraham, his forefather. He had not been received by God when he started to obey but when God had given him a promise. There too, Abraham did not have to do something first but trust God and what he was doing, trust His promise.

Paul has also come to the conviction that what God did for Abraham he did for Paul. And what God has done for Paul he has also done for gentiles. Paul is writing to say that and, if necessary, he will use logic to try and make clear the significance of what God has done in Christ. God has loved these people, just as he loved Abraham, just as he loved Paul.

Do you know anyone he loves? Preaching is showing them that, using even logic, if necessary. And it will be necessary, because logical people notice things like the difference between what you say and what you are. How will you explain that?

WEM

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