Are we saved not by faith or belief, but by Jesus’ faithfulness?

by Carl Gregg

Epistle Reading: Romans 4:13-25

 For Sunday, March 4, 2012: Year B — Lent 2

Many Christians have begun to have ears to hear the rightful Jewish protests that “law” is a problematic translation of “Torah.” “Teaching” or “Instruction” are preferable options. In our context, the word “law” imports all the negative baggage associated with the bulky U.S. Law Code.

Do You Hear “Torah” or “Law?”

Landmark books such as E.P. Sanders’ Paul and Palestinian Judaism (1977) emphasize that many Jews view the Torah not as a burden, but as God’s gracious gift of a covenant and way of life. Sanders was a leader in studying what Jews in and around the first-century said about themselves compared to the increasingly anti-Semitic Christian rhetoric about Jews. The “New Perspective on Paul” seeks to understand Paul in his authentic Jewish context instead of through the lens of Christian theologians such as Augustine (354-430) and Luther (1483-1546).

The Jewish Annotated New Testament argues that the word “law,” such as in verse 13 (Greek: nomos, without a definite article), often refers not to the “Torah,” but to Roman law (see the burgeoning field of Empire-critical interpretation) or Jewish “conventions” such as circumcision.

Do You Hear “Faith” or “Faithfulness?”

This commentary also invites us to hear the word “faith” (Greek: pistis) as more about faithfulness than “faith,” especially as opposed to faith heard with the connotation of “belief.” (Remember complications such as Romans 2:13, “doers of the law will be justified,” which challenge simplistic portrayals of justification by faith alone.) Thus, in verses 20-21, “Paul is defining a continuum of decisions and concomitant actions based on trust in God’s promises…. Paul may be alluding to Abraham’s willingness to be circumcised as an act of faithfulness toward being able to father this promised child.” Like the Christians in Rome to whom Paul was writing, we are called to similar faithfulness. [Read more...]