Justification And Judgment In Paul

Richard Beck has begun a new series on Paul’s theology, after reading (among other things) Gabriele Boccaccini’s book Paul’s Three Paths to Salvation (currently available for only $5 for Kindle!). Here is a taste from Beck’s first post:

Paul thought judgment was imminent. So this time of “holding fast” wasn’t going to be very long. It was a doable proposition. Hang in there, be faithful, the time is short. But as generations have passed, the lag time between justification and judgment has grown. Most of us are “justified by faith” early in life, and we expect to die before the Second Coming. That’s a very long time to “hold fast.” Our moral witness ebbs and flows across the lifespan. And as it does, it brings to our attention those New Testament warnings about falling away. It also raises questions about how effortful this moral journey is. You have to work very hard at it, day in and day out, decade after decade. Which raises the question: Isn’t all this work morphing into a works-based righteousness? Especially when we compare ourselves to believers who are putting in precisely zero work and effort? How, exactly, is justification and sanctification supposed to work? Can those “justified by faith” behave any way they please, for their entire lives, with no consequences? If so, what’s the point of putting in any work at all in following Jesus if none of it matters? Is not faith dead without works? And yet, if we do work hard, and think that work matters before God and will be rewarded by God, are we are not expecting to be judged by our acts of righteousness instead of grace?

We enter here the tempest of questions that have swirled around these issues since Martin Luther. But again, these are our issues, not Paul’s. Paul never had to deal with the theological, moral, and pastoral implications of a delayed parousia.

Click through to Beck’s blog Experimental Theology to read the rest. In his second post in the series he turns to the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist! I am not sure he comes up with an actual distinction between the two (which doesn’t surprise me). He writes, “Jesus retains John’s vision of a coming judgement…Jesus also teaches, as with John, that this judgment will be focused upon works…It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that Jesus preached that we will be judged by our deeds on Judgment Day. Both Jesus and John agree on this point…Jesus and John were on the same Second Temple eschatological page.” Read the rest of that post on his blog.

New in Hervormde Teologiese Studies 77/2 (2021): Andries G. van Aarde, “What could Paul have meant by ‘against nature’ (παρὰ φύσιν) as written in Romans 1:26? Striving for the well-being and health of all people.” B. J. Oropeza has a new article out in Religions (also open access, just like the previous one I mentioned) about reader competency and Paul’s use of scripture in Romans.

Dr. Yung Suk Kim explains why “Pistis Christou is a bone of contention”and also offers a new translation of 1 Corinthians 12:27.

Dr. Patrick McMurray on his new book Sacrifice, Brotherhood, and the Body: Abraham and the Nations in Romans

Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz argues that Paul was “a First Century Feminist.” Do you agree? Why or why not?

Paul and Pneuma, Justin and Judaism: Introduction

Paul and the Gentile Problem

Rillera’s Myth Busting Busting: Romans 8:3 (2 of 7)

Rillera’s Myth Busting Busting: Galatians 3:13-14 (3 of 7)