Theology for the Masses

In my previous post I defined the gospel in terms of how the Gospels and Acts looked at the gospel. That is to say, they viewed the gospel as God fulfilling his promises made to Israel to establish a new creation by his Spirit, ruled by his Servant-King from the house of David, ending Israel’s exile, and drawing the Gentiles out of their pagan darkness into the light of this new Israel in this new creation. God fulfilled these promises by raising up Jesus of Nazareth, who came and took dominion over the present evil age and creation, offered up his life as an atoning sacrifice for his people’s transgression, and was resurrected as the firstfruit of the new Spirit-wrought creation and the king over that new creation.

Now how does the Apostle Paul fit into this picture? When one reads his letters one does not see a lot of talk about a kingdom. He rarely speaks about Jesus earthly life and ministry, his teachings and healings that demonstrated him to be the Spirit-indwelt Servant-King from the stump of Jesse. Paul speaks minimally about the kingdom, though it is not absent from his theology. He talks about the gospel in terms of Jesus’ person, death and resurrection and their meaning. He is combating a certain form of Judaism that requires Gentiles to convert to Judaism to be accepted into the people of God. So how does his battle’s over the meaning of justification and the gospel fit into the picture seen in the gospels?

The Person of Jesus
In Romans 1:2-4 (NET) Paul defines the gospel this way, “This gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his Son who was a descendant of David with reference to the flesh, who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Here Paul defines Jesus’ incarnation as the birth of the Son of David. He came and did what the coming Son of David was to do according to the prophets. He came and called Israel out of exile. He called the Gentiles out of their darkness and into his light. He healed and exorcised demons and liberated captives. Jesus came and died the death the Davidic Son was to die. The Spirit then raised him to life by resurrection. In this resurrection he became the powerful Son of God. He is now king over those who live by the Spirit and in the Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit. He is king over the new age and creation created by the recreating ministry of the Spirit of Yahweh. He is the first of the new age of the Spirit.

And therefore in Romans 1:16-17 (NET) we read Paul to say, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, ‘The righteous by faith will live.’” Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel and it is the power of God to save because Jesus Messiah has been raised and appointed as the Powerful Son of God. Jesus is the gospel and he reveals God’s righteousness. He makes a person righteous and his justification, declaration to be in the right, effects life for the sinner who trusts the Messiah.

In the person of Jesus life is available to those who believe. For Paul, Jesus being the powerful Son of God rescues us from the evil age that we now live in and delivers us into the eternal age of righteousness to come. As the ruling and eternal Son of God and Messiah Jesus can grant the righteous status that transforms the sinner from one who is actively participating in Satan’s rebellion into one who is actively participating in the Spirit’s recreating work under the ruling Messiah.

The Death and Resurrection of Jesus
Paul defines the gospel also in this way, “Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand…that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4 NET). Here Paul locates the good news in the work of the Messiah, his death and resurrection. As I have argued earlier, Paul sees Jesus as the Righteous Servant-King of Isaiah 53. The servant-king surrendered to injustice and bore the sins of his people, offering his life as the offering to atone for their transgression. Yahweh vindicates the servant with resurrection. The Righteous One then justifies his people, returning them to covenant blessing and proper standing before Yahweh in himself.

Paul understands that Messiah represents his people before Yahweh, as Adam represents his people (1 Cor. 15:20-22; cf. Romans 5:12-21). This representative union means that whatever is true of the representative is true of the the represented. So what is true of Messiah and Adam is true of those whom they represent. As Jesus is the Righteous One and is life, those whom he represent are also righteous and have life. His justification and vindication is true of those who belong to him by their union-through-faith. As his vindication resulted in his resurrection so our being vindicated results in our own resurrection.

And Messiah’s death also represents God’s wrath being poured out upon this present creation and evil age. In the death of the Messiah, sinners can come freely and surrender to that wrath with the hope that they will be resurrected. In Messiah God carries out his sentence of guilty, maintaining the justice of himself and his Law which pronounces the sentence of guilty. But in Messiah the sinner can be vindicated and raised righteous before that same God and accepted into the age to come. The believer’s faith that unites him/her to Messiah represents the eschatological verdict which transforms being announced in present. Thus in Messiah God is both just and the justifier of the one who has the faith of Jesus Messiah.

For Paul and the whole of the Bible, justification is more than merely being granted a status. It is the effecting justice on behalf of someone. For the king to justify the poor, orphans, and widows he does not merely say that they are in the right and do nothing for them. He punishes those who oppress them. The king delivers them from the hand of the oppressor as well as declares them to be in the right. Thus in Paul the believer’s justification includes not only the declaration that a person has a right standing before God, he or she is found to be faithful to the covenant in Messiah, but God will also indwell the person with his own Spirit to liberate that person from sin and Satan as well as resurrect him or her on the last day when death has been executed. God acts on behalf of the sinner who trusts in him for deliverance from their enemies, including God himself.

Hebrews and Gentiles as One People of God by the Spirit in the New Age
Thus in the person and work of Messiah the Spirit that God pours out upon this age to recreate it gathers to Messiah his people. The Spirit recreates them, starting with the inner self, and brings them into the age to come and into their great reward of resurrection into the new heavens and and new earth, the Kingdom of the Son. The indwelling Spirit serves the believer’s down-payment while at the same time begins the form the coming age in the believer in the present.

And the Spirit does not draw in only Israel in terms of ethnic Jews, physical descendants of Abraham. The Spirit draws in Gentiles as well. For the Messiah was to rule over a world where Israel’s exile is over, thus the Spirit draws in Israel, but also over Gentiles. Messiahs’ death and resurrection completes the work of the Law in the evil age, condemning it, and ushers in the new age of the Spirit. Thus the Law no longer divides Israel from the Gentiles for it has been brought to its appointed end, Messiah. Thus as part of his recreating work, the people of God–Israel–is recreated to be comprised of both Hebrews and Gentiles as one people. Now the Gentiles can enjoy the blessings that Yahweh will pour out upon his people in the age to come.

And so my definition of the Gospel doesn’t really change in light of Paul. The meaning of who Messiah is and what Messiah did are made clear. But for Paul the gospel is still God fulfilling his promises to Israel to recreate the world by the Spirit and raise up his Priestly Servant-King from the stump of Jesse to rule over it. In this new world Israel’s exile is over and the Gentiles are drawn into the blessings that Israel will enjoy being restored to covenant blessing. For Paul, the time of the Law is over and the time for grace and faith is upon us. Through union with Messiah, the sinner can surrender to God’s wrath against his/her sinful rebellion with the hope that he/she will experience resurrection into the new age with all the blessings that come with it. Their present faith that unites them to Messiah announces God’s eschatological verdict both against them and for them.