Introducing the New Testament by Thompson Marianne Meye

Author:Thompson, Marianne Meye [Thompson, Marianne Meye]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Introductions, &#x2014, Bible. N.T.&#xA0, &#xA0
ISBN: 9781467409629
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Published: 2001-08-10T00:00:00+00:00

Letter opening (1:1–7)

Letter body (1:11–15:13)

The availability of God’s mercy for Jew and Gentile alike (1:11–11:36)

The past (1:11–4:22)

The present (4:23–8:39)

The future (9:1–11:36)

Implications of this mercy for the Christian community of Jews and Gentiles (12:1–15:13)

Letter closing (15:14–16:27)

Paul’s travel plans (15:14–33)

Commendation of Phoebe, greetings, and final exhortation (16:1–23)

Concluding doxology (16:25–27)

Paul begins his discussion by announcing that apart from Christ, all of humanity has rebelled against God by turning away from him as the creator of the universe and turning instead to some created entity to which ultimate allegiance is given. Because there was enough evidence in creation itself to warn people away from this act of setting something other than God at the center of their lives (1:19–20), such rebellion against God is culpable (1:21) and brings wrath (1:18, 24–31). Paul understands this substitution of creature for creator as idolatry (1:22–23, 25). It brings in its train the breakdown of human society, including a perversion that extends from the normal relationship between the sexes (1:24–27) to the normal social relationships among individuals (1:28–32). The punishment for such perversion of creation, such idolatry, is the continuation of such perversion; God’s punishment is to “give them over” to such activity (1:24, 26, 28). The punishment of sin is to allow sin to continue. People cannot excuse themselves from such activity by condemning others for what they themselves also do (2:1); God judges on the basis of reality, not appearances (2:6, 11). Neither a natural sense of morality in human beings (2:14–15) nor the possession by the Jews of God’s covenantal law (2:17–24) can excuse such conduct, since God looks not at outward appearance but at inward reality (2:25–29). That does not mean God has abandoned his covenant with his chosen people, the Jews, even though they have abandoned God through their rejection of Christ (3:1–8), but it does mean that the covenant will not protect them from God’s judgment of their rebellious conduct. As a result, Paul concludes, all human beings, Jews and Gentiles, stand in rebellion against God and hence under the power of sin; being a member of the chosen people does not mean such sin will be overlooked (3:9–20).

This is not the final fate of human beings, however, because in Christ, God acted in a decisive way to remain faithful to his sinful creation, but in a way different from the establishment of his covenant with the Jews as his chosen people. To be sure, that covenant, with its law and prophets, pointed to this decisive act of God’s faithfulness to his rebellious creation, but members of that covenant are now also included in this new way to be right with God, namely, through trust in what God has done in Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ, a sacrifice that established the new covenant, must lead to trust in God who in that way put aside human sin (3:21–25). This shows that God, in remaining faithful to his creation (“righteous”), allows his creatures to become faithful to him (“righteous”) by trusting in what he has done in Christ (3:26).

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