When I read Romans, it seems that I can discern five (and perhaps even six) distinct characters that Paul presents in that mighty letter to the church of Rome, namely:

1. the riotous Gentile,

2. the hypocritical Jew,

3. the righteous Gentile,

4. the righteous Jew (Abraham), and

5. the Christian (whereof there may be a division into)

a. the strong-in-faith, and

b. the weak-in-faith.

The riotous Gentile not only does evil, but he boasts about it and applauds it and thereby creates an environment conduce to a societal decline into evil. The hypocritical Jew is thoroughly rational in his actions and is convinced that good and evil are specified by God in lists (from Moses and others sent from God) and thus equates morality with legality. Consequently this hypocrite does the same evil as does the riotous gentile, but does not broadcast it, but rather condemns it as wrong. He makes the necessary sacrifices for forgiveness and thereby is morally (in the corrupted sense of the word) correct. I.e., he is an atoning Jew, and thus is conducive to societal maintenance.

The righteous Gentile is the one who simply does the right thing naturally, without having first to be told what it is (from the Jewish list) or to do it. His conscience is his guide.

The righteous Jew, epitomized by Abraham, trusts God to bring His promises to fruition, and seeks always to comply honestly and forthrightly with God's command without feigning and sham and hypocrisy.

The Christian is the amalgamation of these last two: the righteous Gentile and Abraham, the righteous Jew; and indeed in this wise: the Christian understands Christ's message in this way, namely that

1. God is all loving and wants all people (and therefore [and only therefore] also each given individual) connected with Him in His Kingdom, and that

2. what is needful for this connection is a sincere desire and determination for compliance with the Golden Rule, and that

3. the natural fact of glad and cheerful compliance will be given gratis to those who trust Him, i.e., a new nature even as Abraham was given a new flesh, and finally that

4. the earnest desire for such nature counts with God as the fact of that nature, i.e., instantaneously, and which is called justification by faith.

The Christian can in turn be conceived of in two ways, either as strong- or as weak-in-faith. The weak-in-faith are uncertain as to the adequacy of the Golden Rule in pleasing God and so, in search of a supplement, rummage about in the scripture and the tradition for more specific injunctions and admonitions, e.g., don't drink blood, don't murder, obey the governor, no homosexual behavior, treat children and slaves humanely, don't wear long hair, have only one wife, don't talk in church, cover long hair with veils, etc., etc. The strong-in-faith dispense with all that and instead seek to implement the Golden Rule in all areas of their lives, the most notable of which perhaps is their conduct vis-à-vis the weak-in-faith, and namely: in their lives in general they (the strong-in-faith) are concerned with the Golden Rule and seek to conform their conduct to that, and nothing else; except: in the presence of the weak-in-faith they avoid all conduct which the latter consider to be sinful.* **

[* The terms "strong" and "weak" have no significance, as used here, with regard to the strength of the relationship between God and the individual. Each is totally loved and totally saved (from a sinful flesh). The terms refer merely to the respective conception of pleasing God, the strong depending entirely upon a clear conscience in compliance with the Golden Rule, and the weak thinking that more specific admonitions must be complied with in order to attain to such pleasing, and depending upon a clear conscience in the seeking out of such admonitions and then in seeking earnestly to comply with them.****]

[** The clearest exposition of this unique attitude*** is given perhaps in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, the 10th chapter, verses 27 through 30, and speaking in this instance of food which has been offered to idols, to wit: "If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, 'This has been offered in sacrifice, ' then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience - I mean the other's conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgment of someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give thanks?"]

[*** All people can engage in behavior which must be kept secret for prudent purposes, e.g., to avoid punishment at the hand of the governor, or one's boss or master, but the Christian here engages in a behavior which is not punishable as such, for he derives it from the Golden Rule in conscience, but which is troubling to a fellow Christian and so which is hidden from him solely for that purpose. I don't know of its like in any literature or customs except among the Christians.]

[**** The conscience in both cases is the guide of the connection with God, either with regard to seeking to utilize the Golden Rule, or else with regard to seeking to discern the "specific will of God" and then, secondly, with complying with that which was conscientiously uncovered and made plain.]

The Christian Mind-Set Now Paul wants to present the mind-set of the Christian. The Christian is no longer concerned with the questions that haunt the rest of the world, Jew included, namely what did I do right (or wrong) to cause this good (or evil) to come upon me. That is dispensed with entirely and forever. The Christian lives under an entirely different conception, namely: I am one with Christ (who is one with God) and, like him, cannot be alienated from God (without my permission) and therefore put myself forward to him as his lamb for slaughter. I.e., good and evil are not longer looked at except as they strengthen the hope* of the Christian.

[* I really need and intend to examine the relationship of hope and faith a bit more. Generally I think of faith leading to a transformation of heart in love and that in turn leading to a greater hope. I think Paul may be using the terms in that sense, and not considering hope and faith as identical. But here I am not yet so sure.]

Spirit versus Body Perhaps the greatest break with traditional thinking in Paul's conception is the power ascribed to the spoken word. The spoken word is needful for the physical conception of the Jews, where the body is all that is real and the spirit is merely a figure of speech. But now for the Christians it is spirit that counts, and a real spirit that leads to control of the body, but which is not subject to the horror of existence. This is very clear in Chapter 8 where we see that the slaves, for example, as the weakest members of the Christian community are set free in the spirit by not having to worry about what their masters might make them do or say (by pain of torture, for example, to themselves or to their loved ones, e.g., their spouses, parents, brothers and sisters, or children), for the spirit is able to discern the heart directly and without need of words, and so words (of pain and even illusion in sickness or torture) cannot cause a rupture amongst the spirits, i.e., that of the Christian and that of God.*

[* This is sometimes referred to as "Eternal Security" and means that nothing** can separate me from Christ, not even spoken words which do not reflect the heart, but merely fear.]

[** Precise speech, in an academic sense, requires the addition of the phrase "other than my own, conscious volition", for the freedom of the Christian is not less than that of Adam and Eve and is such that his own departure from the Kingdom is ever possible for him, but only if he truly wants it, and not under the pressures of some forced admission or action.]*

Destiny of the Jews A remaining problem is the fate of the Jews. Neither Paul nor God is willing to give them up to the hell of self-righteousness and morality=legality. Here Paul discovers the mystery: the Jews produced salvation for the world, but in a way that they themselves did not think possible, namely via the Christian which is via Christ who is via the Jews. The Jews are stuck in their fear and arrogance with the deal, and therefore are unwilling to accept the gift. But it was only through their arrogance in sticking with the deal that meant that the Gentile could enter into the Kingdom (for otherwise the Gentile would first have had to become a Jew). Finally the Jews too will see their folly and give up the pitiful deal* in order to take the incredible gift of all gifts, i.e., Christ and righteousness through faith, i.e., God-produced sanctification.

[* from the more modern perspective.]

The Atonement Concerning the atonement, a detail needful for a complete theory, Paul suggests (somewhat vaguely) that the problem regarding salvation and rescue from the nature of sin and death is the honest, sincere conviction of sinful mans that God wants to give them the gift of life. For this simply does not make sense to the Western or to the Eastern mind, except that God have the mentality of Don Quixote. This conviction is accomplished by Jesus in two ways: in the first place he lives the live of principle (the Golden Rule) and not the law;* and thus shows us what is pleasing to God** and which we discover is to love all persons without limit. And then secondly the resurrection of the body leads to conviction of the promised transformation that comes to those who trust God (as Abraham did) and who live long enough, e.g., the transformation of Zacchaeus is much more apparent than that of the thief on the cross, more apparent in terms of actual fruit.***

[* John mentions this specifically in the 5th chapter of his own gospel.]

[** and most importantly of which is his vicarious death for all as iconized and realized in his substitutionary death for Barabbas, as the least worthy of his charge (in Jesus' role as King of the Jews).]

[*** This thinking is expressed in Romans 5 where we see that only God could be conceived of as willing to die for a no-count like Barabbas, for any man who did that would be thought of as a crazy loon, much like Don Quixote. And the logic is compelling, for since God's work is instantaneous, it does not even matter how sinful a person is, and so whether they are directly sinful through riotous living as the Gentiles or indirectly sin through the hypocritical and legalistic living of the Jew, and so regardless of how sinful, the death of Jesus exemplifies the grace that is available, for it just means that the subsequent transformation is all the more remarkable, vis. St. Barabbas (according to Greek tradition) and St. Paul himself.****]

[**** In the moral thinking of Paul there is no longer any concern for the old, Karmic-style quid-pro-quo, where sins must be counterbalanced in some way by a punishment, but rather where there is new creation, as it were, and we are dealing with new persons who share with the old sinful persons merely the temporal chain of a shared consciousness and experience, i.e., I, as the new person, while I inhabit the body and the memories of the old, am as different from that old person, morally, as I am from any other individual. Hence the entire question of the relationship of behavior to suffering is broken for the Christian (as indicated earlier able) and the Christian even looks upon suffering as the opportunity both for growth and for God's purposes to be manifested to the eyes of ourselves and of others.]

Pleasing God What pleases God is Christ, be that in Jesus or in the follower. This nature is such that good and right is done for the sake of good alone and not with regard to any reward which might be forthcoming. But more: it is not compliance per se, for the yammering Pharisee exemplified that entirely (thinking that good and right were any one of the diverse commandments listed in the scripture); rather it is the glad conformity with the commandments of God (which, for the strong-in-faith, is the Golden Rule alone, and, for the weak-in-faith, it is the perceived list of rules and regulations). This the requirement is not so much conformity with law as rather the cheerful and glad compliance with the law (be that understood as the Law of Love or the List of Laws by the strong- and the weak-in-faith, respectively).*

[* It may be instructive to consider the two mind-sets here. The weak-in-faith is indifferent to the actions to be undertaken, and focuses entirely on the gladness that these actions will bring to the heart of God, much as a parent might undertake some action which, perhaps, is even undesired, but does so any way for the sake of the child, and indeed with the joy that comes from knowing of the happiness of the child. The strong-in-faith relishes the action itself, namely that it is right and good as estimated via the Golden Rule. Therefore the strong are so transformed that they take joy in the implementation of the Golden Rule without any direct regard to how this affects God.]

Overall Synthesis of Paul's Thinking God works most directly with the Jewish nation for the purpose of bringing Christ forth in the world. Christ is God's gift to the world, evidence of His love and grace. The time is ripe* and Christ appears. The point of the Jewish faith is now complete and the Jews are now to be relegated to Museum status until all the Gentiles have been converted.**

[* Probably Paul's thinking is of this sort: the greatest empire in the history of the world (the Roman) proves merely that people will sink into depravity without a moral basis to their society; and the Jews prove that the depravity of men is so great that even a moral law is circumvented through legalism, and thus the law itself is corrupted through the sinful nature of man. And so then generally: from a social standpoint, neither lawlessness or lawfulness can save the world of the horrors of self-interest and selfishness; for while the sinful Gentiles are anathema to God, even so the lawful society, considered as an externally imposed system, is equally unacceptable. The upshot is either the abandonment of men by God, or else the radical transformation, but which cannot take place without the willingness of the humans themselves, for they are morally free and can choose between right and wrong and hence cannot be forced into goodness, but only into legalism.]

[** The primary complaint of the Jews was that God was going to give the gentiles, and also all who would believe, the gift of Christ in the transformation of the heart, and thus the superiority complex of the Jews would no longer have any basis, i.e., while God loves the Jews no less, He now shows that He loves them because they are men and not because they are Jews. It was the realization of this that finally turned the adoring (albeit fickle) masses away from Jesus at the end, for they had expected him, as the disciples even after the resurrection continue to expect, to institute the Kingdom of God through the State of Israel, and were offended to learn that his whole purpose was to ultimately negate the raison d'être of that State.]

Now, having established (through recorded history) the inability of man to accomplish anything worthwhile (morally and spiritual speaking) on his own, Christ appears and announces the "final solution" which is the transformation of the human spirit from selfishness and prudence to community and morality. From this point on all law is abolished and the community of Christ (the Kingdom of God) is established by means of the Pentecostal reception of the Holy Spirit by those who were witness to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, Lord of the Living and of the Dead. No longer is the motivation self interest or reward-seeking conformity to an externally proclaimed and codified system of laws, be that of Moses or of the secular government, but rather the constitution of the free, namely the Golden Rule. The grace that produced the transformation of Pentecost also results in a lively desire to proclaim the liberation from the laws of sin and death on the part of all mans. By the fact of Jesus' death for the meanest of humans (Barabbas) the heart of God in Christ is demonstrated to a sin-infested world, and a new hope arises; which is the manifestation of the will of God. Hereby is proven that God calls all men into his Kingdom. Now there is a reconciliation of man and God, for through the exhibition 1. of this love, prompted by Christ's death for Barabbas (= for all men), and 2. of this power, prompted by Christ's resurrection from the dead, all men are justified (in their own rationality*) to trust God to work this requisite and now available transformation in their own hearts. Now the world enters the era of Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit sets about to bring about the transformation of the world.

[* that they are not truly foolish, even though they may continue to seem so in the eyes of the world.]

 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the Beginning, Is now and ever shall be: World without End. Amen, Amen.

To contact the author, please e-mail: pmr**kantwesley.com (note: the ** must be replaced by @)

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