Paul and the Power of Grace by John M. G. Barclay

Author:John M. G. Barclay [Barclay, John M. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Published: 2020-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE ABRAHAMIC FAMILY TRAIT (ROMANS 4)

As in Galatians, the figure of Abraham forms the bedrock of God’s purposes in history, since he stands at the origin of the covenant story of Israel (Genesis 12–26). As we have seen (in Gal 3:8–9), one reason why Paul is drawn to Abraham’s story is that it contains the original promise of blessing to all the nations. This promise is the scriptural foundation for Paul’s mission to the gentiles, and a significant part of Romans 4 is taken up with clarifying that Abraham is, indeed, the father of both Jews and gentiles (4:9–17). But that is not all. Paul here returns to Gen 15:6 (“He trusted God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness” [my translation]), which forms the base text for the whole of Romans 4. Paul knows the context of this verse: what Abraham trusted was a promise that God would do the impossible, that Abraham and Sarah would have an heir. What interests Paul is how Abraham became the father of this Jew-and-gentile family. The answer is: by trust (faith). This is not some special spiritual achievement but absolute dependence on the God who gives where there is no human achievement or capacity. Thus, while some scholars have stressed that Abraham stands at the origin of the Abrahamic family, and others have taken him to be the paradigmatic believer, Paul sees him in both roles. Or better, Abraham has a programmatic role: his story not only starts the history of the Abrahamic family but sets its tone. He indicates that to belong to this family is to trust in the incongruous gift and power of God.16

The opening verses of Romans 4 zero in on Gen 15:6 and its connection between trust and righteousness. Paul picks out an absence in the text of Genesis: although there is talk of “reward” (Gen 15:1), nothing is said about what Abraham had done to deserve it. There are no works here rewarded with “pay,” only a promise, received in trust. This, for Paul, is the foundational character of the Abrahamic story: it concerns not pay/reward but gift, and gift not to the worthy but to the “ungodly” (4:4–5). Once again, Paul perfects charis (gift/grace) as an incongruous gift, so startling that God is here described as one who “justifies the ungodly” (4:5).17 God does not reward the righteous Abraham: Abraham had no recorded worth. Similarly, David functions as the spokesman of those who are blessed only because their sins are forgiven (4:7–8).

This incongruity between divine action and human status is the Abrahamic family trait; it is the rationale for God’s calling of gentiles, as well as Jews, into this family. God’s unconditioned blessing is clear in the reckoning of Abraham’s righteousness (in Genesis 15) before he was circumcised (in Genesis 17). That shows, Paul insists, that circumcision is not a mark of differential worth, setting one ethnic group above another (4:9–12). Rather, it is a “seal” of something more basic (the righteousness reckoned by God), which is shared by both gentiles and Jews who trust in God (4:11).

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