Saturday 17 April 2021
- Bible Book:
- Romans
] was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification. (v. 25)
Background
In this passage Paul is concluding his argument that the story of Abraham, rightly understood, supports his view that righteousness (i.e.'right standing with God') is not secured by obedience to God’s law but by faith in Jesus Christ. Of course he takes the story of Abraham at face value, as did his critics, whereas a modern reader might well question aspects of it, such as the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah in their extreme old age. But their age is critical to Paul’s argument. There is a parallel, easily missed, between verse 19 and verse 24. In both cases faith means believing that God can bring life out of death.
Verse 15 is difficult. Paul has already argued in 3:10-20 that perfect obedience to God’s law is impossible and the hope to gain his acceptance through such obedience is fruitless. Whereas in the Gentile world, the law given to Moses is not known, so there can be no disobedience to it. But this does not contradict the principle established in 3:23 that all fall short of the glory of God.
The concluding verse 25 takes us back to 3:25. Jesus suffered the consequences of sin and was raised to life so that we, through faith might be justified, that is, in good standing with God.
To Ponder:
- Paul looked back to Abraham as ‘the father of us all’. How important is that for Jewish-Christian relations today?
- In what ways have you experienced God as the one who brings life out of death?