Paul's Letter to the Romans

A Commentary by Philip McPherson Rudisill

with Special Emphasis on Chapter 5

The immediate following is more of a sketch for a commentary, and the actual, developing commentary is given later (albeit still in an unfinished mode).

Note: This essay is rather old and has been superseded by an essay entitled a
Summary of Romans.

Setting the Stage for Chapter 5

Paul has established in Romans 1 and 2 that neither the Jew nor the Gentile can be pleasing to God. These represent those who have a law and abide by it, at least verbally and honor God with their lips, ; and those who relish the unbridled get-them-before-they-get-you world. Instead we find the Righteous Gentile (Romans 2), who is righteous due to his nature and is thereby pleasing to God. But this is God's plan for all people (Romans 3)*, the best example being Abraham (Romans 4). In this trusting way justification is obtained and through that salvation will arise.

[* God has not been inactive or complacent (as the Greeks might think), but rather has planned to introduce his righteousness at the right time which (we may suppose) was the point when the Jewish and gentile cultures had come so close that the depravity of each might be seen, the one in libertinism and the other in legalism; and also so that the two persons of simple and profound faith needed for the execution of the solution might come forth, namely Mary and Joseph, the parents of Jesus.]

Now Paul is set to enter into his reasoning of Chapter 5.

Chapter 5

5:1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

5:2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

5:3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

5:4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

5:5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

So the old cliche that suffering indicates an "un-rightness" between the man and God is gone, for now suffering is merely a means of strengthening us in our continuing march toward the perfection of the righteousness of God. And so our boasting is not only that we shall be with God, but moreover that we are being actually prepared for that "residency" now through our very suffering.

5:6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

5:7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person -though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.

5:8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

5:9 Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.

Here the justification will mean that we are trusting God now, as Abraham did, to produce his miracle of salvation in us, where salvation denotes really sanctification, i.e., right thinking and right dealing and right standing, and which will be accomplished either in life or in death, depending on the time allotted to us and the purposes of God.

5:10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.

The logic will be compelling: Jesus died for us while we were sinners; and indeed in order to save us (although it happened to be Barabbas who was most in need at the moment; but that is merely incidental, for it could have been Judas or me or you or whoever needed help at the time and spot). Therefore, if Jesus did this for us while we were imperfect, we have every reason to think that we will be made acceptable to God via a change in our nature, i.e., salvation. The key is the realization that Jesus died for all sinners.

5:11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

So we are not merely thankful and cow in the corner as animals might before a powerful giver and taker of life and benefit, we approach God boldly through Christ.

5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned -

5:13 sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law.

5:14 Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

These three verses are a parenthetical reminder of Paul's great thesis, namely that the problem with the man is man's nature and this is something which cannot be remedied by any law. The fact that mans died before the law means that there is a fatal, moral defect to the nature of man (and this will be the bent to sin, i.e., to using others as means for selfish ends, and indeed using even the law for this purpose).

5:15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.

There should be no problem in accepting the fact that the act of a single man, Jesus, would have such far reaching consequences, i.e., that many are saved and made right, for it was through the sin of the one man, Adam (according to the very tales of the Jews themselves), that more than one person died. So there is a proportion here which the scriptures already teach.

5:16 And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.

Adam and Eve committed one sin, and condemnation followed for many; but in Jesus, we have the opposite, for even though there were sins galore, the gift produces righteousness and right dealing (through the means of justification). I look upon justification as a sort of Sabbath in the life of a person such that God is able to work while we are quiet and inactive. In justification we can stop our anxious ploys to get God's favor, i.e., utilizing the law, making sacrifices, getting lawyers to figure out ways around obstacles (including legal provisions); and instead accept our salvation as a gift and thereby allow God to work while we are quiet, or while we are learning to cooperate with him and his grace.

5:17 If, because of the one man's trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Again we see the contrast between Adam's sin and Jesus' love. Adam sins (after perfection) and all persons become sinners;* but in Jesus we are made righteous after sin. For we have also an advantage in that we now realize the mistake of Adam and have been given a second chance in Jesus and so are forearmed and can be successful, for we are aware of the temptations and are equally aware now of the role of God in our lives in dealing with these temptations. In other words: there is never again the mistrust that prompted Adam and Eve to flee into the woods upon the approach of Abba.

[* We can imagine this in this way: the couple, if both had remained without sin, would have been able to spawn children at a propitious time (thinking now of the diversity of sperm and how some sperm would come forth at one time and other at another), and then also to raise them under the counsel of God, with all that that might suggest.]

5:18 Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.

Here is one of the great universalist claims of Paul. All mans die in Adam and Eve (due presumably to the fact that they were unable able to grasp the meaning of God's love [in the absence of the example of Christ's love for Barabbas, i.e., for all] and therefore ran of natural necessity into the woods to hide from Abba.

5:19 For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

So Jesus remains faithful even when facing death and temptation (Gethsemane), and thereby is able to show the love of God (which was not apparent to Adam because he had no Christ to show that love, for there was no need for a Christ to show that, for no one had yet sinned such that the love of God could be demonstrated adequately, for which purpose Barabbas was needed. Thus in a paradoxical way, there must first be the sin in order for the extent of God's love to be manifested to finite creatures like mans.*

[* This is reminiscent of chapter 3, versus 5 through 8, where a rationalization of sin is sought by some and summarily rejected by Paul.]

5:20 But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

Paul's great insight into Jesus' teaching: man is the problem, and man's moral defect (like Abraham's half lie to save his own skin?! an almost breakdown in his faith) is made even worse by the law, for the law, even though designed to make possible a real community (where the gentiles even might have been expected to be so impressed--with the Jubilee and all--that they, too, would have converted into Jews), results in the greatest example of man depravity, i.e., the Jew, who utilizes lawyers to make himself officially and formally holy (through sacrifices and judicious interpretation) while remaining just like the gentile in his sin, i.e., the Jew talks against sin while still engaging in sin just as much as the gentile (see Romans 2). Jesus' great anger against the Jew was its hypocrisy: according to the Jew the Jew is sacred;; "well and good!" Jesus cries, "but if any Jew is holy then every Jew is holy". The fact that the Jew was permitted, as he wished, to cheat the gentile outside of the land of Israel, i.e., if he felt necessitated for the well being of his family, then that was one thing; but it was clear that the Jew was sacred and was not to be utilized anywhere, in Israel or in foreign lands; but the Jew was set on cheating the Jew as much as anyone else, and so displayed the extreme depravity of the man in every respect.

5:21 so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And so the solution is the new life in Christ which comes through the justification as a free gift for those who are willing to believe it and to accept it.

It is here that I seek to merge the Franciscan notion of the diverse capacities of humans (and indeed of all creatures) to recognize God. The icon for this notion (for me) is Barabbas, the man who bordered on the brute (in my opinion). For whereas Judas had enough decency and moral sense to realize the horror of his actions and could at least seek to remedy his fallen moral state (albeit in a deplorable and pitiful way, i.e., suicide*), Barabbas is so sunken in his moral capacity as to be more closely akin to the animal than to man. But God works in all persons to promote His salvation, and each of us is prompted to approach more closely to him in whatever way we can and from whatever state we are in and according to our capacity and our understanding and our physiological make up. There is a great unity here connecting prevenient, saving and sanctifying grace, where it is one great action on the part of God to elevate us toward and to the statue and mind of Christ, and blessed are those who are able to achieve to a state of conscious cooperation with God through saving grace while on earth in time and space. For when the story is continued in heaven, we shall be able to relate to it in the way of a memory as opposed merely to enjoying a good tale, for we will have entered into eternal life during life and not have to merely hear about it later. And it is to this state that all persons are being drawn through the diverse manifestations of the grace of God.**

[* It might be argued, incidentally, that Judas was actually and manifestly Jewish in his two greatest acts. He could justify his condemnation of his friend and teacher, Jesus, by virtue of the fact that Jesus was declared an abomination before God by the High Priest, and wherefore it was necessary for the safety and wellbeing of the Jewish nation to expel (kill) him. And then later he could also justify his suicide as an act of lawful destruction of another, now true, blemish in the body of Israel, namely himself, who betrayed an innocent man for money.]

[** This conception is thoroughly Wesleyan, although certainly precursored by the thinking of Francis of Assisi; and is very far removed from the predestination thinking of the Calvinist and the free will of the Baptist (although it may very well make a mean between these latter two). According to the former everything devolves into a divine charades due to a preprogramming such that some people are directed toward heaven (and have enough exposure to realize their good fortunate and to thank their "lucky stars" [= God]) while others are destined to hell and good riddance. With the latter (the Baptist) there is never any transformation connected with salvation but rather an enlightened prudence such that any given sin is avoided (if at all), for example, merely because it is more trouble than it is worth. With the Wesleyan/Franciscan conception, all persons are being drawn to the full statue of Christ, although the actual progress made is dependent upon their make up and the conditions of their existence. And the result that is called salvation, which is achieved to by the elect, so-called, while on earth is a transformation of the heart and mind whereby the prudence of the Baptist is cast to the wind and goodness is sought regardless of the cost and convenience.]

We can see the work of God in all areas of life and in bringing people closer to God. The Wesleyan differentiates this and speaks of prevenient grace, whereby we are gradually brought toward an "active non-resistance" to his work (which state is called justification), but then also by means of saving grace (through wanting to be changed) to the active and eager cooperation with God as expressed in our commitment to his Kingdom, and then finally through sanctifying grace whereby we are brought into the state of perfect righteousness, and which is achieved either in this life or in the life to come.*

[* It is in this that the Calvinists so greatly err, for they think of the primary mark of God as the commitment to Christ. But while this is an important step, it is merely one manifestation of the activity of God in producing and completing his creation.** And thus the Calvinist as well as the Baptist thinks there is failure in the absence of the commitment to righteousness, failure on the part of God who seeks the salvation of all (according to the Calvinist conception)****, and failure on the part of man (according to the Baptist), while the Wesleyan, who is progress-minded, sees the glory of God in the movement of the individual and the society toward greater righteousness. And while the Wesleyan is not able to fathom how the diverse degrees of the recognition of God are melded together in the after life, this can be due to the limitation of the human imagination and not at all any reason to think of any hell except in a comparative sense of these diverse degrees, much as on earth the state of the animal is more hellish to the eye of the man, although perhaps not so according to the eye of the animal. And there is reason to think of further progression in the next life, although there may be the absence of the salvation, i.e., the conscious cooperation with the establishment of righteousness, and thus more on the order of the Righteous Gentile, i.e., the one who is naturally attune to righteousness but who, unlike Abraham, is oblivious to the effort on the part of God to bring this about.***]

[** as Paul himself suggests in Romans 8:18-25.]

[*** And so therefore can never recognize and appreciate and marvel at what God has done for him. Again, much like an animal who can be benefited, by is unable to grasp that fact or to realize its good fortune.]

[**** I.e., the failure of the individual to ask for salvation would be considered a failure on the part of God if God truly wanted the salvation of the individual; and so the problem is avoided by having God not wish that individual's salvation. This "weakness" on the part of God is a complaint on the part of the Calvinist against the Wesleyan conception. And thus the complaint is based on a misconception of the universal work of God in a progressive vein, where there is a direction and a progression and thus a success-in-the-making in the creation, but which is not apparent until we can see face to face and no longer "through a glass darkly". See the footnote above.**]

The great insight that Paul finds (and expresses in Romans in general) has to do with the difference between us and Adam, i.e., Adam, without even the possibility of the demonstration of God's love in Christ (for there was no sinner like Barabbas by means of whom this demonstration might be made for finite mans [who require an extreme case for conviction]), has no way of appreciating the extent of God's love and flees from his presence and thereby does sin take over the world. But we, having the love of God demonstrated in the life of Christ, are able to avoid such flight again from the presence of God and are able thereby instead to cry out to him, "Abba Father," as children, for his help, in the ever-sure, thoroughly confident, expectation that he will help us; "for why else did Christ die for us while we were sinners?" And thusly does Paul construct his magnificent edifice of the universal love of God for all people, wherewith then God's love for the Jew, while undiminished in any way, now is derivative, for God loves the Jews, not because they are Jews, but because they are mans.

Continuing now with the Remainder of Romans

From here Paul leads us into Romans 6 to show that even though we no longer have any law to confine us in any way, we nevertheless do not return to sin*, for the whole point of Jesus is to enable us to become like the Righteous Gentile of Romans 2, albeit with the marvelous extra touch of the faith of Abraham (Romans 4) whereby we are able to be conscious of God's work in our lives (whereof the Righteous Gentile was entirely oblivious and went by an innate nature, planted by God, to be sure, but without knowledge [on the part of the individual] of the source). And that is the whole point.

[* The New Birth is the mean in the otherwise ancient and logical dichotomy between sin and legalism, as Paul has taken such pains to point out. So no the rejection of law no longer means (automatically) the acceptance of sin, for in the New Birth we become attuned to self determined behavior, but always only for the sake of the community, the Kingdom of God.]

And so we see in Romans 7 that the law is meaningful only while we are children and need it. And in fact the law is actually dysfunctional, given the depravity of the man to use things, as a frightened animal perhaps, for his own benefit and advantage (and for which reason the Jew is unwilling to give up the deal for the gift, for the Jew does not really believe that God is good and loving, but rather is a pagan sort of God, but, unlike the Greek model, is bound to keep his word, and since Moses and Abraham and the fathers got him by the foot, so to speak, and got a contract/deal with him, it would be foolish to give it up for this so-called free gift being spouted by these "delirious" Christians).

The fact (in Romans 7) is that I simply cannot do good and I cannot conform to the law. But this is not a matter of fear any more (Romans 8) for through Christ, and my faith in him, God will work a miracle, and even in my distress I can call Abba-Daddy and know that I am one with him. Sufferings are a mark of his acceptance of me, for it is impossible for me to be separated from God as long as I don't wish to be.*

[* This is a difficult part of Romans 8 to understand. There are two ways to deny Christ. One is under the extreme suffering and pain which exceeds our capacity. But we are not to fear in this case, for God will not let us go, for he has determined at the beginning of time that we are to be with him. Then there is the conscious, premeditated denial à la Demas, where we are drawn back to the pleasure of lording it over other mans in the dog-eat-dog world of competition and exploitation. There we are free to go (and Romans 6 addresses this). So the so-called predestination passages are to assure the people that they need not fear that they shall lose their salvation due to their physical and emotional weakness, for "he has considered the lowly estate of his handmaiden".]

From here Paul takes us into Romans 9 where we turn the Jew's logic against himself: "you say that you were treated special and that God loved you in a special way. Well, God is still sovereign and if he wishes to give to the Gentiles as a gift what you are trying to earn through the deal, you certainly cannot argue with that, for you maintain you were benefited in the same way. And what is good for the goose is good for the gander."

But then we learn (Romans 11) that the great mystery is that all shall be saved, only the Jews (presumably) will come in as the laughing stock, i.e., the Johnny-come-latelys who would not give up the deal, as limited as it was, in order to that the gift of eternal life, a free gift to all who would simply receive it as Abraham did, without trying to justify their own worthiness to receive it, but just take it.

The apex of Romans is given in 12 through 14 where we find that the new birth means that we are led by the love of God and the love of neighbor, and we obey the rulers of this earth only derivatively, i.e., as a matter of conscience in the belief that they gives us information we need to love better, e.g., that the traffic laws in a given locality tell us about safe driving, and then we engage in behavior that conforms to that, but not because the governor tells us, but because we function according to the law of love, and the governor has merely served to tells what experience would teach us, e.g., that it is better to drive slower in this location, for here children are at play.

The supreme point is Romans 14, which is the constitution of the New Manwo., and beyond which it is impossible to go, for here we come closest to God.

Postscript

The only addition I can think of to Romans is merely the emphasis that comes through Paul's letter to the Galatians, where we see clearly that if we conform to the law because it is law, then we are Jews, technically speaking, and must conform to the entire law. Thus if I refrain from murder merely because it is forbidden in the scriptures, then I am a Jew and must be circumcised and avoid pork also. And if a homosexual, for example, should refrain from entering into a committed relationship with a another homosexual because he felt that it was forbidden by scripture, then that man is a Jew and must go promptly to the Rabbi and have the official, ritualized circumcision.

The power and breath of Paul's conception is staggering and almost uncanny,* and may, in recent times, have only been fully grasped by John Wesley, for it is easy to read the book incorrectly if Paul's need to express the unconditional love of God is not taken into account.***

[* It is no wonder that Hitler feared Paul, and tried to articulate for the Germans alone** what Paul had conceived of for all persons.]

[** These seems to be a common error for most people, e.g., looking at kith and kin as uniquely special and more important than others, the outsiders. The Jews were not immune to this, and may even have been the first (recorded) persons to engage in a sort of genocide, as is indicated in the intention to rid the land of all non-Jews and which was carried out with great ferociousness against the cities of Jericho and Aid.]

[*** It is a common means of expression for the purpose of conveying conviction to speak in terms of superlatives, e.g., my parents make the best apple pie in the world. When this is kept in mind, then the excessive statements of Paul (grammatically speaking) are found to be quite apropos and to the point, for how difficult it is to convince people that the great God of all creation cares about any one person! Hence we come upon language which, when this consideration is absent, leads naturally to predestinationism and the horrors of the Calvinist error, and when taken even more obtusely, open the door to cult thinking such as that of Mormonism.]

 

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

To The Table Of Contents on Romans