Sunday, December 07, 2014

New Perspective and Works

... One feature of Wright’s interpretation that seems particularly helpful is his recognition of the role that works play for Paul in the ongoing life of someone in Christ. Key texts in this regard are Romans 2:6-10, 12-16 and 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, both of which seem to indicate that God will take into account the deeds of a believer in the judgment. [1] If I read Wright correctly, he believes that those who are truly justified by faith in the present will live, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the sort of life that will result in justification by works in the future. That is to say, "the verdict already announced is indeed a true anticipation of the verdict yet to be announced." [2]

Of course, Paul is less than explicit about any certain connection of this sort between justification by faith in the present and a future justification that takes deeds into account. [3] The best we can do is suppose that Paul would generally, although not certainly, expect the two to correspond. Nevertheless, it is also difficult to deny Wright's conclusion about the role works play for Paul in the final judgment. Romans 2:6 indicates that God will repay each person, both Jew and Gentile, for what they have done. While interpreters have often considered these verses as a sort of hypothetical, 2 Corinthians 5:10 presents the same idea in a context that has no hint of the hypothetical. Paul tells believers in Christ that they will give an account for what they have done while in their bodies.

It is hard for Pauline scholarship to kick against these conditional pricks. Nevertheless, Paul considers even his own place in the resurrection to be contingent on his faithfulness (e.g., Phil. 3:10-11; cf. 1 Cor. 9:24-27). We are not suggesting that Paul really felt insecure about his final salvation any more than most Jews felt insecure about their membership in the people of God. We are simply suggesting that Paul expected those in Christ to produce a life of righteousness, a life of striving for "glory, honor, and immortality" (Rom. 2:7). God would evaluate those in Christ in relation to their works. It would matter, just as it mattered in general to Jews that they act in faithful response to God's covenant with them.

Paul does not clarify the details of great interest from the perspective of later theology. At least on a surface level, his language speaks in synergistic terms. He did not know the future in order to guard himself against accusations of Pelagianism. He did not produce a passage where he explained how justification by faith and judgment that includes consideration of works might fit together. So the disciplined exegete will leave it at that and not try to fit his thought together more than his writings themselves seem to warrant...

[1] Key places where Wright discusses these passages include, “The Law in Romans 2” (1996), now in Pauline Perspectives, 134-51; Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision (London: SPCK, 2009), 158-68; and Paul and the Faithfulness of God, 1086-90.

[2] Justification, 198.

[3] I am assuming here that, at least at some points, Paul's justification language is forensic in the sense that word has normally had in Pauline scholarship, contra J. L. Martyn, Galatians (New Haven, CT: Yale University, 2004) and D. A. Campbell, The Deliverance of God.

5 comments:

Susan Moore said...

Another moment of honesty: I don’t see what the conflict is regarding justification by faith (as evidenced by) works. Even in secular psychology it is taught that people act on what they value. That is to say, we can assume to know what a person cherishes based on the choices that person makes. For instance, if a man cherishes his family, he will act on that value and do his best to care for them in whatever way he can. If a person cherishes being drunk, they will consume alcohol.

Since the time of Adam’s silence, Noah’s ark building, and Abraham lifting a knife to plunge it into his only son’s heart (Gen. 22:1-18, 15-18), God has judged us based on the congruency of our actions to our words/thoughts. God’s words and works are 100% congruent with each other; what He says is what He does. It seems He expects the same from each and all of us.

In the time of Moses the commandment was given to love God above all else and with everything one’s got (Deut. 6:5). And even way back in Leviticus the Israelites were told to love their fellow Israelites (19:18).

If a person cherishes God above all else, and other’s as oneself, even one’s enemies (And by rights the only enemies a Christian has it seems, in God’s eyes, are the God-haters. Everyone else would just simply be someone who disagrees with the Christian.), then one’s life will reflect that as well. That person will not hide one’s transcendent light under a bushel, but illuminate the world around so that others may clearly see the way, too. The more brightly we shine for the world, the more we are rewarded in heaven. Therefore, let us put our efforts into heavenly gains, not earthly ones –we are here but such a short time!!

Ken Schenck said...

I obviously don't find it concerning either, but it is for some.

Susan Moore said...

I know you don't! Just venting. It's good to talk out these things.

Keith Drury said...

I am wondering how Calvinists who hold the NP deal with this...

Ken Schenck said...

Wright seeds to see a one to one correspondence. If you're justified by faith, then the Spirit will produce works for final vindication.