If Abraham\u2019s faith was a concrete, real-life faith that God could and would enliven his and Sarah\u2019s bodies so they could have children, so NT faith is a concrete, real-life faith that God raised Jesus from the dead. Now Paul moves from the abstract to how it applies. He turns to the \u201cwe\u201d and to \u201cus\u201d at Romans 4:23-25. How concrete is your faith? It\u2019s easier to talk about in the abstract, because once we make it real it gets real and our trust is activated. Do you see a Christian faith that is a resurrection-power justification? Does it create a new community or simply resolve an individual\u2019s guilt before God? If Abraham\u2019s faith was a concrete, real-life faith that God could and would enliven his and Sarah\u2019s bodies so they could have children, so NT faith is a concrete, real-life faith that God raised Jesus from the dead. Now Paul moves from the abstract to how it applies. He turns to the \u201cwe\u201d and to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1752],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-romans"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nWright argues that Paul\u2019s covenantal reading of the Bible drives him to see not only \u201cAbraham\u201d but also \u201cus\u201d in the justifying faith of Abraham which has now been fulfilled in Jesus Christ \u2014 in his death and resurrection.
\nWhich means this: Christian faith is resurrection-shaped faith.
\nWhich means this: Christian faith is not just cross-shaped but both cross- and resurrection-shaped.
\nWhich means, for Wright, that Christian faith is God-directed not primarily Jesus-directed.
\nThe gospel, the one taught by Paul, is a gospel that cannot stop with the cross but must include the resurrection. Any gospel that stops with the cross ends with a crucifix; a gospel that moves into the resurrection is an empty cross.
\nJesus died, as Wright puts it, and \u201che was so identified \u2018with us\u2019 that he suffered the fate we deserved\u201d (503). He was raised in order to justify us; that is, God raised Jesus and demonstrated that he was \u201cin the right\u201d and that all those \u201cin him\u201d are the ones \u201cin the right.\u201d
\nA justification that draws its power not only from the cross but also from the resurrection is a justification that enables you and me in the nitty-gritty of life to transcend the norm<\/em>. Tying justification to resurrection means it is more than just substitutionary death but also new creation \u2014 which means 2 Cor 5:17 is a justification idea. This, friends, is a big idea and one we need to think about more often.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"