Romans and the New Perspective

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It has long been assumed that the chief emphasis in Romans is on justification by faith.

This was challenged in 1963 by Stendahl, who argued that pre-occupation with justification by faith was due to the church’s morbid conscience, based on the moral struggles of Augustine and Luther, which the church has read back into Paul.  Justification, according to Stendahl,

‘is not the pervasive, organising doctrinal principle or insight of Paul,’ but ‘was hammered out by Paul for the very specific and limited purpose of defending the rights of Gentile converts to be full and genuine heirs to the promises of God to Israel.’ …

What is ‘covenantal nomism’?

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In the light of various posts on the ‘New Perspective on Paul’, I thought I’d better clarify what E.P. Sanders meant by this term.

It will be recalled that Sanders could find little evidence that the Judaism of the 1st century AD (and therefore the Judaism confronted by the Apostle Paul) was beset by merit theology – the idea that salvation can be ‘earned’ by one’s ‘good works’.  Instead, says Sanders, it was characterised by ‘covenantal nomism’:-

Covenantal nomism is the view that one’s place in God’s plan is established on the basis of the covenant and that the covenant requires as the proper response of man his obedience to its commandments, while providing means of atonement for transgression….
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‘God is love, and…’

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Steve Chalke’s (and Alan Mann’s) book, The Lost Message of Jesus, is, I suppose, yesterday’s papers telling yesterday’s news.  Published in 2003, it generated more heat than light, and polarised well-meaning people into opposing groups of fans and critics.

It’s all a bit late to be offering a review of the book.  But I suspect that its central point (that ‘God is love’ is all that we really need to know about God, and everything else must be forced through this one filter), is not going to go away.…

Lk 8:22-25 – Jesus can keep you secure – sermon notes

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Fear comes in so many shapes and sizes that it has a vocabulary all of its own:-

Hydrophobia – fear of water
Arachnophobia – fear of spiders
Acrophobia – fear of heights
Xenophobia – fear of strangers
Taxophobia – fear of being buried alive
Triskaidekaphobia – fear of the number 13
Arachibutyrophobia – fear of Peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth
Brontothalassophobia – fear of storms at sea

What kinds of things put you into a cold sweat?…

Isa 10 – Passionate about justice – sermon notes

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Should Christians devote themselves only to evangelism and personal morality, or should they concern themselves also with issues of social justice?

Consider the following scenarios:-

An elderly lady lives on her own just down the road from you. She has difficulty getting out. Do you (a) tell her that God loves her; (b) offer her a lift to the shops once a week, or (c) lobby for improved public transport so that she and people like her can get out and about themselves?…

Of angels and men

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How do angels differ from human beings?

1. Angels are not subject to redemption. Holy angels do not need to be redeemed, fallen angels cannot be redeemed.

2. Angels are not heirs of God. Jesus so identified himself with fallen men at the incarnation, Heb 2:9, that they become joint heirs with him through redemption, Rom 8:17.

3. Angels cannot testify to salvation. They do share in the joy of salvation, Lk 15:10, but they cannot personally testify to it, and more than a man who has never married can fully appreciate that relationship.…

Titus 2 – An ordinary Christian life – sermon notes

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When Shawn Tayler married Theresa Warr, the wedding took place in a stately home, and no doubt the whole thing was a splendid and memorable occasion: guests, music, rings, wedding cake, speeches. But what is it that Shawn had most set his heart on? To be able to walk down the aisle. What most bridegrooms would take for granted was for him a much-prized goal. Why? Because just a few weeks earlier an horrific motor cycle accident left him with a back broken in three places.…

Justification according to Tom Wright

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I summarise and comment on Tom Wright’s new book, Justification:  God’s plan and Paul’s Vision, which is itself a response to John Piper’s book, The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright.

Preface

In his preface, Wright begins by setting out some of the main ‘pressure points’ in the debate over justification:-

1.  The nature and scope of salvation.  Wright here repeats his complaint that Christians have for a long time tended to think of ‘salvation’ as meaning ‘going to heaven when I die’. …

Tom Wright’s new book on justification

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It didn’t take Bishop Tom Wright very long to get another book out.  But then, if you have a brain the size of a small planet and the ability to write faster than most of us can read, you can produce a book while the other person is still sharpening his pencil.

This one – Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision (SPCK) flopped through my letterbox yesterday and first impressons are that it’s going to be an interesting and entertaining read. …

Doug Moo on Justification

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I was interested to come across this audio download of Doug Moo speaking on ‘Fresh Thoughts on Justification in Paul and James’.

It will be of interest to anyone exploring recent debates relating to the ‘New Perspective on Paul’ and justification.

Moo’s main point is that we should be willing to apply the familiar ‘already/not yet’ to the doctrine of justification as well as to other facets of redemption.  In other words, we should not be so single-minded about Paul’s emphasis on salvation by faith alone as to miss his (and James’) stress on the necessity of works.…