ST. PAUL'S LETTER TO THE ROMANS
LESSON 5
CHAPTER 3: FAITH AND THE JUDGMENT OF GOD
Beloved Heavenly Father,
Through the miracle of our baptism You have, through water
and the power of God the Holy Spirit, circumcised our hearts of stone and
placed within us a heart that beats in union with the heart of our most beloved
Savior, Jesus. It is through this supernatural transformation that You have
empowered us to share the love of Christ with others and to live out our
Christian faith in obedience to Your laws and statues so that at every Eucharistic
celebration when we go forth to receive Your Son, Body, Blood, Soul, and
Divinity, we at the same time go forward to offer our lives as a loving sacrifice from one who is called to be Your child. Send us Your
Holy Spirit, Lord, to guide us in our study of St. Paul's letter to the Church
in Rome. St. Paul, Apostle and friend, pray for us. We pray in the name of God
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ + +
"For I shall take
you from among the nations and gather you back from all the countries, and
bring you home to your own country. I shall pour clean water over you and you
will be cleansed; I shall cleanse you of all your filth and of all your foul
idols. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall
remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh
instead. I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and respect
and practice my judgments."
Ezekiel 36:24-27
Question: Up to this point in his letter how would
you articulate Paul's main points after his address and greeting?
See point #1 in
Romans 1:18-19; point #2 in
2:6-11; point #3 in
2:12-16; and point #4 in
2:17-29.
Answer:
In chapter two of his letter to the Church in Rome St. Paul redefined what it means to be a true Jew'one who is called by God's name into a holy covenant which binds God to the believer or believers as one covenant family. Paul defines the real Jew in a dual statement in 2:28-29'first in the negative in verse 28: "Being a Jew is not only having the outward appearance of a Jew, and circumcision is not only a visible physical operation" and then in the positive in verse 29: The real Jew is the one who is inwardly a Jew, and real circumcision is in the heart, a thing not of the letter but of the spirit. He may not be praised by any human being, but he will be praised by God." Just prior to establishing the new definition of the true Jew Paul had reminded his hearers of the promises God made to Israel concerning the New Covenant in Isaiah 52 and in Ezekiel 36 when He would "sprinkle" [Isaiah 52:15 Septuagint translation] and "pour clean water" over [Ezekiel 36:35] His people to purify them and give them the spirit who would circumcise their hearts of stone and replace their hearts of stone with new hearts promise of the Sacrament of Baptism.
In the Old Covenant God's Law had been written on the cold stone of tablets of the 10 Commandments but now in the New Covenant He will write His Law on the fertile ground of circumcised hearts transformed by the Holy Spirit. In reminding the Roman Christians of this promise Paul is asserting the value in God's eyes of the inner and hidden obedience of faith over the external forms of obedience to God in the Old Covenant'using circumcision as his example. Paul is reminding his listeners of the new definition of holiness that God promised in the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31, in Ezekiel 36 and other passages which are fulfilled in them. In Paul's second letter to the Church in Corinth written sometime just prior to this letter Paul had expressed a similar teaching in that animated by the Holy Spirit Christians are living witnesses in 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, " You yourselves are our letter, written in our hearts, that everyone can read and understand; and it is plain that you are a letter from Christ, entrusted to our care, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tablets but on the tablets of human hearts" reference probably not only to the stone tablets of the 10 Commandments but to the hearts of stone in Ezekiel 36:26 and pointing out the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old. Paul will revisit this theme of the new Jewish/Christian identity in Romans 7:6. It is the inward transformation that will enable the Covenant people to follow God's statues and ordnances with faithful obedience - an obedience the Old Covenant people were too handicapped to fulfill because their hearts had not receive the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit as New Covenant believes receive Him in the Sacrament of Baptism.
In chapter 3 Paul continues his dialogue with his Jewish audience by openly debating an imaginary Jewish questioner. In 3:1-8 Paul addresses objections to his previous points that a Jew might raise concerning the nature of God's righteousness and God's faithfulness to His Old Covenant people. As he continues in this imaginary debate Paul will ask a series of anticipated questions followed by a series of responses. Notice how each question and response leads to the next objection.
Please read Romans 3:1-8: God's Faithfulness to Israel Endures
"1 Is there
any benefit, then, in being a Jew? Is there any advantage in being
circumcised? 2 A great deal, in
every way. First of all, it was to the Jews that the message of God was
entrusted. 3 What if some of them
were unfaithful? Do you think their lack of faith could cancel God's
faithfulness? 4 Out of the
question! God will always be true even if no human being can be relied on. As
scripture says: 'That you may show your saving justice when you pass
sentence and your victory may appear when you give judgment.' 5 But if our injustice serves to bring God's
saving justice into view, can we say that God is unjust when'to use human
terms'he brings his retribution down on us? 6 Out of the question! It would mean that God could not be the
judge of the world. 7 You might as
well say that if my untruthfulness makes God demonstrate his truthfulness, to
his greater glory, then I should not be judged to be a sinner at all. 8In this case, the slanderous report some people
are spreading would be true, that we teach that one should do evil that good
may come of it. In fact such people are justly condemned."
Question: What three hypothetical objections does
Paul's imaginary Jewish opponent raise in Romans 3:3-7?
Answer:
Objection #1: "What advantage is there to being a Jew?
Objection #2: "What if some of them were
unfaithful? Do you suppose their lack of faith would cancel God's
faithfulness?"
Objection #3 "But if our injustice serves to bring
God's saving justice into view can we say that God is unjust when'to use human
terms'he brings his retribution down on us?"
Question: What 3 part comparison is Paul making in
his hypothetical debate?
Answer: In this argument he is comparing
faithfulness, truthfulness/ justice, and holiness/righteousness with
faithlessness, falsehood, and sinfulness.
| Faithfulness vs. faithlessness | Romans 3:1-4 |
| Truthfulness/justice vs. falsehood | Romans 3:5-6 |
| Holiness/righteousness vs. sinfulness | Romans 3:7-8 and continuing to verse 20 |
Question: In 3:1-2 what double question does Paul ask?
Answer: (1) What advantage is there to being Jewish
and (2) what value is there to the sacrament of circumcision?
Paul is asking what advantage is there in the "ethnic" sense
in addition to the spiritual sense he just defined in his new definition of a
Jew in Romans 2:29.
Question: How does Paul answer his own question?
What does he mean by "messages" or "oracles"?
Answer: The Israelites/Jews alone were entrusted with
the "messages" or "oracles" of God'the men and woman through which Yahweh spoke
to His Covenant people with the promise of a future redeemer and the promise of
God's gift of salvation, beginning with father Abraham and continuing through
Moses and the age of the Prophets [see the list of the Old Testament prophets
in the Charts section]. These "messages" to which Israel, as God's Covenant
people have been entrusted are probably not only the revelations made to the
prophets but also the rules of conduct under the Law delivered to them through
Moses. The possession of these divinely inspired messages was clearly an to
the Jew [see Deuteronomy 4:7-8; Psalm 147:19-20; 103:7].
Question: As those to whom God's message of salvation
was entrusted what was Israel's duty and obligation? Was there also a threat
included as punishment for ignoring this privilege? See Amos 3:2
Answer: Israel alone was given revelation by God to
share God's revelation her Gentile nations and yes there were curses as well as
blessings: "You alone have I known of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will chastise you for all your iniquities." Amos 3:2
Question: Did Old Covenant Israel fulfill her destiny
to spread the world-wide blessing promised to Abraham and to bring her Gentile
neighbors into covenant with the One True God? Hint: see Romans 2:24: Isaiah
52:5; Ezekiel 16:15-39; 36:20-22.
Answer: Old Covenant Israel as a nation presented a
bad example of holiness and allowed herself to be seduced into idolatry and
away from God by her Gentile nations [Ezekiel chapter 16]. The Jews of the Old
Covenant had the advantage in that they were the first to receive the promise
of salvation but they were no better off in this knowledge if they do not obey
God'through disobedience they were as much under the power of sin as the
Gentiles. However, it was through Old Covenant Israel that God would fulfill
His promise of a Redeemer and it would be the faithful remnant of Israel, who through
the gift of faith believed in the Messiah Jesus, and would be established as
the New Covenant Israel on the Feast of Pentecost in the Upper Room circa 30AD.
The Jews of the New Covenant became the nucleus of the universal Church who
would fulfill those covenant promises made to Abraham circa 2,000 earlier. It
was the filling and indwelling of the Holy Spirit that allowed the New Covenant Church to fulfill this mission - a power not available to Old Covenant Israel.
In Romans 3:3-4 Paul raises the second objection which
concerns God's faithfulness.
Question: What is the second objection?
Answer: The objection is if Israel is the only people chosen to receive the revelation of God, then does Israel's infidelity annul God's promises?
The Old Covenant nation of Israel [and later Judah] as a whole did not abide by the Law and did not convert the Gentile nations. did not convert the Gentile nations. Instead she allowed herself to be seduced by the sins of her neighbors. Nevertheless Paul assures the Jews that their lack of faith cannot cancel God's faithfulness. In Romans 3:4 Paul says that "God will always be true.." and Jesus identified Himself "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life" in John 14:6. The Catechism affirms God as the source of all truth in CCC# 2465: "The Old Testament attests that God is the source of all truth. His Word is truth, His Law is truth, His 'frightfulness endures to all generations.' Since God is 'true,' the members of his people are called to live in the truth."
Paul continues in 3:4 "that God will always be true even if no human being can be relied on. As scripture says: 'That you may show your saving justice when you pass sentence and your victory may appear when you give judgment." In his reply to this objection Paul refers to Psalm 116:11-14, repeating a phrase of the psalmist in verse 11, "no human being can be relied on."
and then with the phrase, "As Scripture says," Paul quotes Psalm 51:4(New Jerusalem, however verse numbers can be different in other translation, i.e. it is 51:6 in the New American translation)
Psalm 51 is from King David's great Psalm of repentance, but Paul is quoting from the Greek Septuagent. The Septuagint was the Greek translation of what we call the Old Testament that was in use during Jesus' ministry and which became the official Old Testament translation of the universal Church. When the Old Testament is quoted in the New Testament, even in the Gospels, it is usually from the Greek Septuagint.
4 Against you, you alone, I have sinned, I have done what you see
to be wrong.." and Paul quotes this part of verse 4, "that you may show
your saving justice when you pass sentence, and your victory may appear when
you give judgment, 5 remember, I
was born guilty, a sinner from the moment of conception. 6 But you delight in sincerity of heart, and in
secret you teach me wisdom. 7
Purify me with hyssop till I am clean, wash me till I am whiter than snow." Psalm
51:1-7, New Jerusalem (51:3-10 NAB, 50:3-10 Septuigent)
But the Septuagint translation of this is passage is more
literally translated"...that you may be justified in your word", which
assures that God will be found righteous when condemning human sin but in
confronting human disobedience and sin God will remain faithful to the saving
"words" He spoke and entrusted to Israel as His Covenant people, for God is
wholly faithful and true and by pardoning He demonstrates His power over evil
and His victory over sin.
Question: Did you notice the phrase "a sinner from
the moment of conception" in Psalm 51:5 (51:7 NAB, 50:7 Septuigent)? To what sin does this verse
refer?
Answer: This passage identifies original sin
[see CCC # 388-389].
Question: Did you notice the reference to "hyssop" in
Psalm 51:7(NAB 51:9)? Hyssop was used in the Old Covenant purification rites and it was
used in the ratification of the Sinai Covenant in Exodus 24 [Hebrews 9:19
]. When
were we "purified with hyssop and washed whiter than snow" = our sins
forgiven? Hyssop was used to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the Altar,
representing Yahweh, and on the people in the ratification of the Sinai
Covenant; see Hebrews 9:18-19, and also used for ritual purification in Leviticus
14:4; and Numbers 19:18. See John 19:28-37; what is the link between the
hyssop used in the ratification at Sinai and in John 19?
Answer: The hyssop was used to sprinkle blood on the
Altar, representing Yahweh and on the book, the word of God, and on the people
forming one covenant family united in the blood. At Jesus' crucifixion the
hyssop is used to give Jesus His last drink of wine'essentially the last cup of
the Passover meal which ratified the covenant for another year but this time
the hyssop and the wine are a sign for the sacrifice of the lamb whose blood
will spurt out from His side covering everyone and uniting everyone in the
blood of the New Covenant when His side is pierced by the Roman soldier. It is
in this use of the hyssop that we became purified and washed whiter than snow
when we enter into Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection in our Baptism, the
Sacrament which cleanses us from all sin, including original sin, and justifies
us in the site of God [ this is our "initial justification" which is merited
for us by the Passion of Christ; see CCC# 1992].
The promise of God's faithfulness to which Paul refers in
quoting from these Psalm passages is a promise repeated consistently throughout
the Old Testament.
Question: What promise did Yahweh make to David
concerning the Covenant people in Psalms 89:1-52? What passages especially
speak of God's promise of faithfulness to Israel despite their lack of
faithfulness?
Answer: Psalm 89:30-35. "Should his descendants
desert my law, and not keep to my rulings, should they violate my statues, and
not observe my commandments, then I shall punish their offences with the rod,
their guilt with the whip, but I shall never withdraw from him my faithful
love, I shall not belie my constancy, I shall not violate my covenant, I shall
not withdraw the word once spoken. I have sworn my holiness, once and for all,
never will I break faith with David."
Question: Is this promise of faithfulness also
extended to us? Read 2 Timothy 2:11-13; what doesn't this promise of
faithfulness mean concerning sin and disobedience?
Answer: "If we have died with him, then we shall
live with him. If we persevere, then we shall reign with him. If we disown
him, then he will disown us. If we are faithless, he is faithful still, for he
cannot disown his own self." Yes, God is always faithful but faithfulness
in love does not mean the dismissal of righteous judgment for sins.
Question: What is the third objection Paul raises in
Romans 3:5-6?
Answer: Is God just? Paul argues that human
sinfulness only serves to highlight God's truthfulness and justness. And
continuing in this context of the justness of God Paul asks if our injustice or
unrighteousness serves to demonstrate God's righteousness and justice [see
Psalm 1:4] then is His punishment unjust since He in a sense gains from our
failure - and Paul adds the disclaimer "in human terms"?
Question: How does Paul answer?
Answer: He answers that God must be able to justly
inflict His wrath or He could not be the One judge of the world.
Question: What significant grammatical change do you
notice in verse 7?
Answer: Paul changes to the first person singular
when he proposes the argument that it is unjust for God to judge a sinner whose
very sin enhances God's glory. To this absurd assumption Paul answers that
sinfulness and the furtherance of God's glory cannot be argued from this
morally perilous position. No matter how one may try to justify it, it is
simply immoral to do evil with the declared intent of doing good. Paul regards
this ridiculous position, which evidently some have raised by twisting Paul's
words and accusing him of saying that evil had to be committed for good in
order for God's truth and justice to be made manifest. Paul emphatically
rejects this assumption as a scandal only worthy of condemnation and not worth wasting
his time.
The moral teaching of the Church requires that the Christian is upright in all matters even if by that upright action someone is hurt'the end never justifies the means; an action can only be considered fully good if all of its elements are good. In Pope Pius XII's address of April 18, 1952, the holy Father said, "God desires us always to have, above all, an upright intention, but that is not enough. He also requires that the action be a good action. [...]. It is not permissible to do evil in order to achieve a good end."
Please read Romans 3:9-20: The universal sinfulness of
man
"9 Well: are
we any better off? Not at all: we have already indicted Jews and Greeks as
being all alike under the dominion of sin. 10
As Scripture says: 'Not one of them is upright, not a single one, 11 not a single one is wise, not a single one
seeks God. 12 All have turned
away, all alike turned sour, not one of them does right, not a single one.
13 Their throats are
wide-open graves, their tongues seductive. Viper's venom behind their lips; 14 their speech is full of cursing and
bitterness. 15 Their feet quick to
shed innocent blood, 16 wherever
they go there is havoc and ruin. 17 They
do no know the way of peace, 18 there
is no fear of God before their eyes.' 19 Now
we are well aware that whatever the Law says is said for those who are subject
to the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world brought
under the judgment of God. 20 So
then, no human being can be found upright [justified] at the tribunal of God by
keeping the Law; all that the Law does is to tell us what is sinful."
In verse 9 Paul announces that both Jews and Gentiles are sinners; this is the first mention of the noun "sin" in Paul's letter. He personifies the word "sin" as a master who dominates a slave held in bondage. In this passage it would be a shocking scandal for Jewish Christians to be told that they were considered to be in the same position as Gentile sinners - a universal solidarity composed of unworthy sinners alienated from fellowship with a righteous God! Then in Romans 3 verses 10-18 Paul quotes a series of 7 verses; 5 from the Psalms and one verse each from Isaiah and Proverbs; all from the Septuagint translation:
| Psalm 14:1-3 | "Not one of them is upright, not a single one, not a single one is wise, not a single one seeks God. All have turned away, all alike turned sour, not one of them does right, not a single one." |
| Psalm 5:9 | "Their throats are wide-open graves, their tongues seductive." |
| Psalm 140:4[3] | "Viper's venom behind their lips;" |
| Psalm 10:7 | "Their speech is full of cursing and bitterness." |
| Proverbs 1:16 | "Their feet quick to shed innocent blood," |
| Isaiah 59:7-8 | "wherever they go there is havoc and ruin." |
| Psalm 36:1 | "there is no fear of God before their eyes." |
These Old Testament passages and Paul's statements that
teach from them are a review of what Paul has been saying about the spiritual
condition which refers not only to the Jews but to the worldwide infection of
sin upon mankind. He sums up his assessment of the sinful condition of mankind
with a quotation from Psalms 36:1.
Question: How is Psalm 36:1 a summation or a result
of this accumulation of sin and apostasy?
Answer: If man truly feared the righteous wrath of
God how could he dare to behave so unrighteous?
Question: In Romans 3:10 Paul's quote from the
Psalms, "There is no righteous person, not even one" and in Romans 3:23 in
his statement, "No distinction is made: all have sinned and lack God's
glory.." Paul writes that "all," everyone, has committed personal sin. Does that
include the Virgin Mary? see CCC# 404-405 for the difference between the state
of original sin and the act of personal sin,
Answer: This is a general "all". There are
exceptions: Jesus, for example was without sin; therefore, He did not commit
personal sin. Babies who die in childbirth or
very young children, and the severely mentally retarded are not guilty of having
committed personal sins. The angel Gabriel
called Mary a perfect past participle, replacing Mary's name by addressing her
as kekaritomene, "has been graced". Not "will be full of grace", but "has
always been in a state of grace"! To be in a state of grace is to be without
sin. The verbal adjective "graced" is not just describing a simple past
action. The perfect tense is used to indicate that an action has been
completed in the past resulting in a present state of being. Baptism is what first
perfected us in grace but Mary was forgiven original sin in advance, making her
moment of conception immaculate'without sin. CCC# 411 states, "...Mary
benefited first of all and uniquely from Christ's victory over sin: she was
preserved for all stain of original sin and by a special grace of God committed
no sin of any kind during her whole earthly life." And CCC# 491 states: "Through
the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, 'full of grace'
through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the
dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses..." [also see CCC# 487-511].
Note: St Jerome translated Gabriel's address to Mary in the Greek, kekaritomene
into Latin as gratia plena, "full of grace" in order to convey that
sense of Mary being completed or perfected by grace which is what the perfect
tense in Greek indicated. To be "full" or "filled" was as full of grace as one
could be'nothing was lacking in Mary's grace.
In Romans 3:20 Paul sums up the argument he began in Romans 1:16-18 by returning to his theme of justification and God's righteousness or "saving justice" and man's lack of righteousness by making an allusion to Psalm 143:2, "no living being will be justified before you." compared to Paul's verse 20: "So then, no human being can be found upright [justified]" and linking this inability to be found righteous through the deeds of the imperfect Old Covenant Law independent of the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:21-31 provides a clear statement of St. Paul's teaching on the Gospel of salvation introduced in chapters 1-3: the principle of justification by faith in Christ Jesus. Our merciful God has provided the means of saving humanity from its endless spiraling downfall into sin. Divine righteousness, or divine "saving justice" [ 3:21] has judged mankind guilty but has by God's grace declared the guilty innocent and not only declared but made the declaration a reality' not as a result of following the old Law of Moses, nor through any merit of man [ 3:21-23] but through forgiveness of their sins [ 3:24] through the virtue of the redemption of man won from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ which is applied to all who in faith believe in Him [ 3:24-25]. God the Father's saving justice and righteousness has been manifested in the Incarnation of the Son, whose work of salvation inaugurates a New Age in the history of salvation.
Please read Romans 3:21-26: The revelation of God's
righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ
"21 God's
saving justice was witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, but now it has
been revealed altogether apart from law: 22
God's saving justice given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who
believe. No distinction is made: 23
all have sinned and lack God's glory, 24 and
all are justified by the free gift of his grace through being set free in
Christ Jesus. 25 God appointed him
as a sacrifice for reconciliation, through faith, by the shedding of his blood,
and so showed his justness; first for the past, when sins went unpunished
because he held his hand; 26 and
now again for the present age, to show how he is just and justifies everyone
who has faith in Jesus."
Paul's "but now" in verse 21 marks a transition in Salvation History which moves beyond the Law and the promises of the Prophets into the Messianic Age of the New Covenant in which the former period of divine wrath [ 1:18ff] gives way to the period of divine grace in which believers are justified through the saving power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
From Romans 3:1 to 31 the verb or noun which we translate as righteous/ righteousness or as justify/justification/justice; in Greek = dikaios/dikaiosune is used by Paul 12 times [ 3:4, 5, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26 (3 times), 28, 30].
Question: In Romans 3:21 Paul writes that God's
righteousness or "saving justice" was previously revealed in the Old Covenant
Law and by the Prophets but in this new age how has His saving justice or
righteousness been revealed? See verse 22.
Answer: God's righteousness have been revealed through
faith in Jesus.
Question: How do we receive faith? See CCC# 153 -
155
Answer: Faith is a gift of God's grace in cooperation
with a human act. It is a supernatural virtue infused by God to the one who
accepts the gift. In exercising faith the "human intellect and will
cooperate with divine grace."
Question: Even though all have sinned how has God
justified mankind? See 3:24
Answer: By His grace through the saving work of
Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross and the shedding of His blood. Paul uses the Greek
word charis to indicate a gift given freely and unearned. This is the
sense in which this Greek word is most often used in the New Testament and
especially in Paul's letters where the word charis is employed to
describe the way in which God offers the gift of salvation through Jesus the
Son:
| Jesus' Incarnation was an act of grace | John 1:14, 17; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Titus 2:11 |
| Jesus self-sacrificial death was an act of grace, a gift of the Father | Romans 8:32; 1 Corinthians 2:12; Ephesians 1:6ff; Hebrews 2:9 |
| Through grace we are justified, receive salvation, and the right to eternal life without the works of the O.C. Law | Romans 3:24; 4:4ff; Ephesians 2:5,8; Titus 3:7; Acts 15:11 |
| Jesus' Second Advent will be an act of grace'it will be an act of grace when we receive everlasting glory | 2 Thessalonians 1:12; 1 Peter 1:13 |
It is also possible to receive grace "in vain" [ 2 Corinthians 6:1], to "fall from grace" [ Galatians 5:4]; to forfeit grace and insult the Spirit of grace [ Hebrews 12:15; 10:29]. Above all grace must be carefully guarded, it must used wisely, and it is necessary for grace to increase'we must continually grow in grace to be strengthen on our faith journey in order to strengthen us and help us obtain our goal [ Romans 5:2; Hebrews 12:28; 1 Peter 4:10; 5:12; Acts 13:43; 14:26; 2 Peter 3:18; 2 Timothy 2:1; Hebrews 13:9].
Romans 3:25 in the New American translation reads, "whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins." To "set forth" means God destined Christ to become the sacrifice that would free man from his sins by paying the price that a sinful humanity deserved to pay'death'He died in our place. A synonym for "expiation" is "atonement". The Catholic Dictionary defines "expiation" as "Atonement for some wrongdoing. It implies an attempt to undo the wrong that one has done, by suffering a penalty, by performing some penance, or by making reparation or redress. (Etym. Latin ex-, full = piare, to propitiate: expiare, to atone for fully) page 139. God's requirement for justice was meant by Jesus' atonement or expiation for our sins. This passage says that it was "by the shedding of his blood" that we were justified, "He has wiped out the record of our debt to the Law, which stood against us, he has destroyed it by nailing it to the cross; and he has stripped the sovereignties and the ruling forces, and paraded them behind him in his triumphal procession." Philippians 2:14-15.
Question: Why was the shedding of Jesus' blood
necessary for our justification? See Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:10-12; Hebrews
9:7 & 22; Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20; 24:25-27; John
6:51-58; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; 11:24-32; 15:3; 1 Peter 1:20.
Answer: It was the plan God had set in motion from before
the fall of our first parents:
On the Old Covenant feast day known as Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement, a sacrifice was made for the sake of the sins of the people as a whole. The blood of the sacrificed lamb was sprinkled on the "mercy seat" of God, the top of the Ark of the Covenant. The blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, has performed what the ancient ritual, and all ancient sin sacrifices, could only symbolize'purification from sin' Jeremiah 31:31, 34b, "Look the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall make a new covenant with the House of Israel..[...]. ...they will all know me, from the least to the greatest, Yahweh declares, since I shall forgive their guilt and never more call their sin to mind." This is the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ that is the inheritance of the New Israel, the Universal Church.
Question: Romans 3:25-26 says that Jesus came to save
those who died in the past as well as the present and that those of the past's
"sins went unpunished". What does Paul mean? What was the condition of
judgment in the past? Was it temporal or eternal? Why? See CCC # 633; 536;
1026; 1 Peter 3:18-22
Answer: Before the coming of the Savior the blessings
were temporal and so were the punishments. No one was condemned before having
the opportunity to hear the Gospel message of salvation'even those who had
already died. Jesus preached to the souls waiting in Sheol/Hades [the grave] and
led them out of Sheol/Hades into heaven'the gates of which were opened at His
Baptism and which continue to remain open in this season of the great harvest
of souls which began with Jesus' generation. Note: the Greek word "Hades"
means the abode of the dead and does not refer to the fiery pit reserved for
Satan and his fallen angels.
Please read Romans 3:27-31: The power of faith
"27 So what
comes of our boasts? There is no room for them. On what principle'that only
actions count? No; that faith is what counts, 28 since, as we see it, a person is justified by faith and not by
doing what the Law tells him to do. 29 Do
you think God is the God only of the Jews, and not of Gentiles too? Most
certainly of Gentiles too, 30 since
there is only one God; he will justify the circumcised by their faith, and he
will justify the uncircumcised through their faith. 31 Are we saying that the Law has been made
pointless by faith? Out of the question; we are placing the Law on its true
footing."
Question: In Romans 3:26 Paul writes, "he is just
and justifies everyone who has faith in Jesus Christ", and in this passage of
Romans 3:27-31 Paul repeats that we are justified by faith and not by works.
Is this a contradiction to Romans 2:6-7 and 13 which connects justification and
eternal life to good deeds?
Answer: Not at all. First of all Paul is not referring
to the works of God in acts of love an charity through the lives of redeemed
believers, he is instead referring to works of the Old Covenant in obedience to
the Law of Moses which was made to bring the people of God to a holy and righteous
state but that righteousness failed if faith didn't transform the law written
on stone to the law lived out in faith through transformed and circumcised
hearts.
It is important not focus so exclusively on one particular passage that you are kept from a properly developed understanding of the consistent teaching of sacred Scripture as a whole. For example, the Old Testament book of Leviticus would be unsolvable without the New Testament book of Hebrews and the Old Testament book of the prophet Isaiah would be limited in its revelation without the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Heresies usually begin from an exaggerated interpretation of one passage of Scripture without looking at Scripture as a whole. Focusing on faith and rejecting the passages on works Martin Luther in the 16th century erroneously translated Romans 3:28 as "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith alone without the deeds of the law", and interpreted this passage to negate anything of redeeming value in the works of man. The phrase "faith alone" only appears in one place in Scripture and that is in the letter of St. James to the universal Church in which he writes in James 2:24, "See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone" [New American translation]. Luther would have eliminated this letter from the New Testament entirely had he dared but in the end he gurglingly kept it in the canon of the New Testament but called it "an epistle of straw"'this from a man who insisted that sacred Scripture was the sole authority for the revelation of God.
Martin Luther viewed Romans chapter 2 and its statements of judgment according to works as God's plan for humanity that couldn't be fulfilled, a failed Plan A because everything man touched was sinful'man was incapable of works of righteousness. Luther instead insisted that Romans chapter 3 as a means for justification was God's Plan B that was completed by "faith alone". According to the teaching of the Catholic Church then and now this teaching is in error.
The only way to avoid error in interpretation is to keep within the circle of sacred Scripture as a whole, reading and studying within the Living Tradition of the Church and to not interpret some passages at the expense of others'every passage of Holy Spirit inspired Scripture is of equal weight and without error! If the interpretation of one passage is at odds with another then the interpretation is in error. Both Scripture and our sacred oral Tradition interpreted through the universal Magisterium continually confirms or corrects our understanding of the revealed Word of God. It is also important to be aware that there may be more than one dimension to a given point of doctrine expressed in Scripture. For example, Jesus Christ is both man and God. He is both High Priest [ Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:11-28] and unblemished victim [ Ephesians 1:7; John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:19] and He is also 'the Lion of Judah' and 'the Lamb of God' [see Revelation 5:5-6]. He is also both the 'Lamb of God' [ John 1:29, 35], the good Shepherd of God's flock which is the Church [ John 10:11-16], and He is also the Bridegroom of the Bride who is that same Church [ John 3:29; Matthew 9:15; Revelation 19:7; 21:2]! All of these titles are different dimensions of Jesus' divine authority and Lordship as the Savior of mankind and the Son of God.
In Romans 3:27-31 Paul is emphasizing that the interior law is built on faith and faith is the gift of God that leads to justification. This is the faith that Paul is speaking of as the first step in a process - a process that continues in a life-long journey of salvation. It is faith that first justifies us in our initial justification through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ when God declares us to be righteous children reborn into the family of God through our Baptism. As we journey through this life to eternity it is from faith that the works of God, working through lives of faith must flow to continue the process of justification. We Catholics see faith and works as inseparable'two sides of the same coin. For a good explanation on the relationship between faith and works read St. James teaching on faith and works in James chapter 2. In 2:24-26 St. James sums up his teaching by writing, "See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." New American translation. [James is referring to the story of Rahab the woman of Jericho in Joshua 2:1-21; 6:22-2].
Paul beautifully expressed the gift of God's grace and the faith that leads to salvation in his letters to the churches of Galatia and Ephesus when he wrote,
This is the love that is the work of God the Holy Spirit working through the circumcised hearts of believers who become a conduit of God's love expressed in acts of mercy and kindness to His suffering children in the world who are most in need of His love.
Questions for group discussion:
Question: Did Mary need a Savior; after all Mary
herself said in Luke 1:47 "My soul rejoices in God my Savior"'isn't she
admitting to needing a Savior?
Answer: The Catholic Church agrees that Mary did
indeed need a Savior; however, Mary was saved from sin in a unique manner. She
was given the grace to be saved completely from sin so that she never committed
even the smallest transgression. Mary was saved from sin by receiving the
grace to be preserved from sin'Christ's saving grace was applied to her before
she was conceived. Mary was forgiven original sin in advance, making her
moment of conception immaculate'without sin and in this same way, she was
"saved" by her son and Savior from the moment she was created. See CCC# 411;
487-511; 721-26.
Question: We established that it was God's plan that
Jesus' blood should purify us from all sin. Is receiving Christ, Body, Blood,
Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist necessary for our salvation? See John
6:53-58; 1 Corinthians 11:24-32; CCC # 1088; 1211; 1324-27; 1370-77; 1393-5;
1413; 1524; see Catechism index for more passages.
Answer: YES.
Question: Is the Eucharist a true sacrifice? Are we
re-sacrificing Christ at every Mass?
Answer: Yes, it is the same sacrifice represented on
every Catholic altar at every Mass that took place 2,000 years ago. NO, we are
not sacrificing the Savior again at every Mass. His one sacrifice was complete
and sufficient but His sacrifice is on-going because sin and redemption are
on-going. Read John 5:5-6 and Hebrews 10:11-18. As our Prophet, King, and
High Priest He has taken His place in heaven at the right hand [place of honor]
of God the Father. He could not continue to serve as High Priest if He did not
have a continuing sacrifice to offer, He would only have been the victim. For
more information see the document "Is the Eucharist a True Sacrifice?" in the
Documents files.
Question: In Romans 3:21-24 Paul writes: "21 God's saving justice was witnessed by the Law
and the Prophets, but now it has been revealed altogether apart from law: 22 God's saving justice given through faith in
Jesus Christ to all who believe. No distinction is made: 23 all have sinned and lack God's glory, 24 and all are justified by the free gift of his
grace through being set free in Christ Jesus." In Ephesians he also
writes: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not
your own doing, it is the gift of God. [ Ephesians 2:8]. And also in
Galatians Paul writes: "For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God,
through faith" [ Galatians 3:26]. Therefore, is faith all you need and is
baptism only a symbol that is not necessary for salvation?
Answer: Although Martin Luther believed in the
efficacy of Baptism, many Protestant denominations today take sola fide,
"faith alone" in the literalist interpretation and teach that one has only to
believe in Jesus and confess that He is Lord to receive the gift of salvation.
But the passages above quoted from Paul's letters are only a precondition for divine
son/daughtership in the family of God'faith as opposed to the Old Covenant Law
of Moses in which those who had faith remained children in the family of Adam
[see CCC# 1265]. In the next part of the Galatians passage Paul explains the
instrumental means of the application of salvation when he writes, "For as
many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.." We hear the
Gospel message and in faith, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we accept the
message but this acceptance is the beginning and foundation of our new birth in
repentance and Baptism; it is not the birth itself'what our Protestant brothers
and sisters would call being "born again." We should answer when asked if
Catholics are "born again", yes, we are indeed "born again" through the
regenerating power of water and the Spirit in our Baptism into the life of
Christ as Jesus clearly taught in John 3:5-6, "In all truth I tell you, no
one can enter the kingdom of God without being born through water and the
Spirit; what is born of human nature is human, what is born of the Spirit is
spirit." And the Church clearly teaches that the Sacrament of Baptism is
necessary for our salvation [see CCC# 846; 1257]. Jesus teaching on the
necessity of Baptism for salvation is also repeated by the New Testament
writers:
From Paul's writings interpreted within our sacred Tradition and Scripture as a whole, we can say that faith in Jesus Christ is the first necessary step in being "born again", but without the water of baptism it is incomplete and does not bestow the New Testament rebirth into the family of God that is required for salvation. Faith is used by Paul in all his writings as a synecdoche, a word that summarizes a process'in this case the entire salvation process. All Scripture references that unite faith and baptism are perfectly reasonable and reflect the process in God's comprehensive plan for man's journey of faith into eternal salvation. See CCC# 405; 846; 977-78; 1212-15; 1250-53; 1257; 1265; 1263; 1266; 1272; 1446; 1997.
| 3:4 | 2465 | 3:21-22 | 2543 |
| 3:20 | 708 | 3:22 | 1987 |
| 3:21-26 | 2543 | 3:23 | 399*; 705; 2809 |
| 3:25 | 433; 1460* |
Resources used in the lesson:
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Sixteen Documents of Vatican II, Pauline Books
and Media, Boston 1999.
The Salvation Controversy
Romans, Joseph Fitzmyer
Romans, Brendan Byrne
Navarre Commentary'Romans
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture'Romans
Strong's Concordance
Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack on "Romanism"
by "Bible Christians"
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2008 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.