Romans Chpater 5 cont'd
Sin entered into the world through Adam's fall and death was the consequence. Moreover, death spread to all mankind for they all became sinners themselves- through both natural birth and by personal choice. (Sin was in the world before God gave the law to Moses, but sin remains nebulous if there is no clearly revealed standard.)
But even though sin itself was not clearly defined from the time between Adam and Moses, its consequence, death, still had dominion over mankind- even over people who did not commit the same transgression that Adam did. He was given a role in influencing humanity that can only be compared with Jesus Christ himself.
Comments:
As Paul continues his version of the meta-narrative of "God's Story", he compares and contrasts Jesus with Adam. This is fitting given Paul's awareness that, through the events surrounding his first coming, Jesus has inaugurated the New Creation...the New Genesis...that the earth has been longing to witness. Adam and Jesus...the "first Adam" and the "last Adam" (Jesus "terminated" Adam's fallen race in his death on the cross)...the "first man" and the "second man" (Jesus "raised" humanity in his resurrection and ascension.) cf. 1 Cor 15. Adam and Jesus are the heads of the only real two "races" in the earth...despite all our international variety and color! It's also not insignificant that Jesus, as the eternal Word, was instrumental in the First Genesis...giving strong reassurance for whatever might potentially go wrong with innocent, but untested, humanity.
It is also important to note that sin is pictured in Scripture as an "alien" invasion of God's good original creation that has tragically affected both the earth and the heavens...the visible and the invisible realms. This understanding undermines the common gnostic notion that the "material" realm is evil and the "spiritual" realm is holy. (A personal confession: I really hate gnosticism and its effects on unsuspecting believers who are continually beat up by its modern forms in the church world.) The downside of the Fall is obvious as we simply rehearse human history, read our daily world news and take an honest look at our own personal historic struggles, temptations and failures. And then, of course, there is death...a harsh reality we tend to face squarely only during funerals. As much as people may argue about whether sin is a real issue in human life...there is always death to bring us back to the reality that something terrible has happened to all creation. The only word I can think of for the popular denial of sin in our culture is...well..."ridiculous".
The up side of this tragedy is that there really is something more original than sin in this world! It is the goodness of God's original design that has been horribly marred, but still powerfully on display and a conduit of great provision and joy for human life, despite our first parents' garden rebellion. Furthermore...God hasn't given up on his original design. The New Creation, rather than completely destroying the original, assimilates and incorporates the remnants of it's goodness and renews it's sacred purposes. The ultimate form of God's intentions for the universe is not to enshrine an eternal ethereal realm of disembodied spirits and endless church services but, I deeply believe, one of physical substance, unimaginable Trinity-worship, purpose, noble work, meaningful peer relations, ongoing development, exploration and discovery...a new heavens and a new earth...without any broken-ness to interrupt God's...or our...total satisfaction.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 21
Romans Chapter 5 cont'd
And so, not only do we have joy because of our glorious future and because our present sufferings have meaning, but we also simply enjoy God. Our Lord Jesus Christ has made this personal fellowship with God possible through his sacrificial death for the forgiveness of our sins.
Comments:
Paul concludes this first section of Romans 5 about the sources of joy for living in this age by coming to the bottom line of joy. Our greatest blessing is having a "real-time" interactive friendship with the most amazing Being in the universe...the Maker of Heaven and Earth. We celebrate our absolute pardon for all our failures and sins and the free gift of righteousness that is also ours because of Jesus. We marvel at the expectation of a future that is beyond our wildest imaginations in terms of it's beauty and satisfaction. But...beyond these joys...here and now, the Holy Spirit has equipped us with the capacities of both soul and body (software and hardware!) to walk with God as His friends and to experience the transcendent and undergirding joy of knowing His genuine companionship...even though our feet still get dirty while treading this fallen world.
May we draw near to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit by faith today and open the windows of our beings to God-joy.
And so, not only do we have joy because of our glorious future and because our present sufferings have meaning, but we also simply enjoy God. Our Lord Jesus Christ has made this personal fellowship with God possible through his sacrificial death for the forgiveness of our sins.
Comments:
Paul concludes this first section of Romans 5 about the sources of joy for living in this age by coming to the bottom line of joy. Our greatest blessing is having a "real-time" interactive friendship with the most amazing Being in the universe...the Maker of Heaven and Earth. We celebrate our absolute pardon for all our failures and sins and the free gift of righteousness that is also ours because of Jesus. We marvel at the expectation of a future that is beyond our wildest imaginations in terms of it's beauty and satisfaction. But...beyond these joys...here and now, the Holy Spirit has equipped us with the capacities of both soul and body (software and hardware!) to walk with God as His friends and to experience the transcendent and undergirding joy of knowing His genuine companionship...even though our feet still get dirty while treading this fallen world.
May we draw near to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit by faith today and open the windows of our beings to God-joy.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 20
Romans Chapter 5 cont'd
Now if in the past, Jesus shed his blood so that we could have peace with God in the present, surely we won't suffer God's wrath in the future. And if he died for us when we were God's enemies, now that he is alive again and we are his friends who share this resurrection life, surely he will bring us to perfection. The most difficult and unimaginable thing has already taken place!
Comments:
Here is the way that the NIV translates verse 10: For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
We typically think of being "saved" by the death of Jesus (which is obviously a big part of the deal), but here Paul distinguishes being "reconciled" to the Father and being "saved". The former is by means of the death of the Son and the latter is through the life (i.e. the resurrection) of the Son. And...we also have this "much more" language that Paul repeats several times in this chapter. What could be classified as "much more" than being reconciled to God through the death of Christ on the cross for us?!
It is that our salvation doesn't end with the new birth, but rather is inaugurated by the new birth. Now there is a whole journey in Christ that begins in this world and will carry on into the ages to come--a journey of LIFE in Christ. His death is very vital and important for us to always keep in view and proclaim repeatedly, but not enough is typically said and celebrated regarding the Life...his death is a doorway; his Life is a destination that is associated with this very meaningful journey. Salvation is Life and Life is to dominate our consciousness and inform our relationships and our pathway for all worship and service.
May the Holy Spirit make us aware today of the "much more" that God is doing in our lives this day to further conform us to the image of Jesus and to involve us in his plans and purposes for the people and work he puts in front of us.
Now if in the past, Jesus shed his blood so that we could have peace with God in the present, surely we won't suffer God's wrath in the future. And if he died for us when we were God's enemies, now that he is alive again and we are his friends who share this resurrection life, surely he will bring us to perfection. The most difficult and unimaginable thing has already taken place!
Comments:
Here is the way that the NIV translates verse 10: For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
We typically think of being "saved" by the death of Jesus (which is obviously a big part of the deal), but here Paul distinguishes being "reconciled" to the Father and being "saved". The former is by means of the death of the Son and the latter is through the life (i.e. the resurrection) of the Son. And...we also have this "much more" language that Paul repeats several times in this chapter. What could be classified as "much more" than being reconciled to God through the death of Christ on the cross for us?!
It is that our salvation doesn't end with the new birth, but rather is inaugurated by the new birth. Now there is a whole journey in Christ that begins in this world and will carry on into the ages to come--a journey of LIFE in Christ. His death is very vital and important for us to always keep in view and proclaim repeatedly, but not enough is typically said and celebrated regarding the Life...his death is a doorway; his Life is a destination that is associated with this very meaningful journey. Salvation is Life and Life is to dominate our consciousness and inform our relationships and our pathway for all worship and service.
May the Holy Spirit make us aware today of the "much more" that God is doing in our lives this day to further conform us to the image of Jesus and to involve us in his plans and purposes for the people and work he puts in front of us.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 19
Romans Chapter 5 cont'd
Consider this strong love of God. The human race was spiritually dead- lost in sin and alienated from God. Now someone might sacrifice his life for a good friend, but for an evil enemy? Unheard of! Yet God's love is of a higher nature than mere human love. As much as he hates sin, because of his love, God found a way to separate sinners from their sin. In this love, he pursued us and at just the right time he became one of us. Then, in our place, he received in himself his own just punishment for mankind's sins- the death penalty.
Comments:
God's "Big God-Story" is deeply woven into these few verses of Roman 5:6-8. The eternal love conspiracy of the Divine Trinity has been put into force to thoroughly resolve the problem of evil in this world through the Person and Work of Jesus the Christ. God wants us and he wants to be wanted by us...but our sinful nature has kept our hearts in bondage and we have been caught in a frustrating loop that is driven by the "hyphenated sins" of our sitting on the thrones of our hearts: self-centeredness, self-justification, self-reliance, self-promotion, self-absorption...ad infinitum.
But here, Jesus has come onto the scene of human history to personally take on and dispel the heat of the sins, and the guilt and shame, of all humanity in his great substitutionary sacrifice on the cross. Those who simply believe (agree) in their hearts that he would do this for them, are personally transformed and translated, by the power of the Holy Spirit, into God's "new genesis" now mysteriously present and growing in this world. This new creation has been destined to gain momentum and progressively eclipse the power of this fallen old age, thus bringing a comprehensive renewal and the ultimate fulfillment of God's original design for creation when Christ returns. Isn't it astounding that a problem so difficult, heavy, agonizing, pervasive, costly and complicated ends up being resolved so simply and freely through the obedience of One Man and the exercise of childlike faith in him?
May God grant us childlike hearts of trust that vulnerably receive such great love.
Consider this strong love of God. The human race was spiritually dead- lost in sin and alienated from God. Now someone might sacrifice his life for a good friend, but for an evil enemy? Unheard of! Yet God's love is of a higher nature than mere human love. As much as he hates sin, because of his love, God found a way to separate sinners from their sin. In this love, he pursued us and at just the right time he became one of us. Then, in our place, he received in himself his own just punishment for mankind's sins- the death penalty.
Comments:
God's "Big God-Story" is deeply woven into these few verses of Roman 5:6-8. The eternal love conspiracy of the Divine Trinity has been put into force to thoroughly resolve the problem of evil in this world through the Person and Work of Jesus the Christ. God wants us and he wants to be wanted by us...but our sinful nature has kept our hearts in bondage and we have been caught in a frustrating loop that is driven by the "hyphenated sins" of our sitting on the thrones of our hearts: self-centeredness, self-justification, self-reliance, self-promotion, self-absorption...ad infinitum.
But here, Jesus has come onto the scene of human history to personally take on and dispel the heat of the sins, and the guilt and shame, of all humanity in his great substitutionary sacrifice on the cross. Those who simply believe (agree) in their hearts that he would do this for them, are personally transformed and translated, by the power of the Holy Spirit, into God's "new genesis" now mysteriously present and growing in this world. This new creation has been destined to gain momentum and progressively eclipse the power of this fallen old age, thus bringing a comprehensive renewal and the ultimate fulfillment of God's original design for creation when Christ returns. Isn't it astounding that a problem so difficult, heavy, agonizing, pervasive, costly and complicated ends up being resolved so simply and freely through the obedience of One Man and the exercise of childlike faith in him?
May God grant us childlike hearts of trust that vulnerably receive such great love.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 18
Romans Chapter 5 cont'd
Yet, not only do we have joy because of our bright future but, paradoxically, we also discover joy in the middle of the pressures and difficulties of this life. This is because we are confident that there is divine purpose in these things. Consider the positive character qualities that can grow out of our trials. Patience can only be formed in us by the temporary denial of what we would prefer and true spiritual maturity cannot exist without one of its main elements- patience. Being personally transformed through this maturation process imparts the assurance that we really are going to one day be fully like Christ. Furthermore, we know that our hope of perfection is not a fantasy, because of the reality of our encountering God's love for us, in us and through us. All this is made possible by the vital personal relationship we already freely enjoy with the Holy Spirit who fills our hearts with God's love. So it is a glorious cycle: genuine personal growth here and now inspires confidence in our future perfection, which, in turn, inspires further spiritual growth in the present.
Comments:
Joy is a "bottom line" issue of the kingdom of God in our lives. In this first part of Romans 5, Paul is revealing the psychologically sound "life-view" that underpins and informs our experience of joy in Christ. As believers, our future bliss is obvious (and worthy of regular pondering!), but this expectation is a "living hope" (as Peter calls it) that has the intrinsic power to translate downpayments of this future joy into our present experience...despite any of our challenging circumstances in this still imperfect environment. There are two primary elements that converge to impart to us such joy.
First, trials, which are inevitable, are actually useful to our deepest longing and our ultimate goal...to become like Christ. And...we (and others) have witnessed the genuine (and also inevitable) growth in Christlikeness that we have experienced by patiently enduring adversity without giving up on loving God and others. (Resistance, though painful...builds muscles!) Second, in the midst of our trials and sufferings, God is with us "in the now" through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Mysteriously, He makes a way for hope and joy to sufficiently seep into our hearts and minds, so that we are blessed, stabilized, comforted and surrounded (often consciously) with the Divine in the face of the messes and tragedies of this life. The pains are real, but so is the comfort and the joy. This dynamic in our lives, truly, is a powerful and compelling witness to the reality of the resurrection of Christ in the eyes of a watching world.
May we find grace to face the trials of the day with the joy of Jesus Christ pumping in our souls.
Yet, not only do we have joy because of our bright future but, paradoxically, we also discover joy in the middle of the pressures and difficulties of this life. This is because we are confident that there is divine purpose in these things. Consider the positive character qualities that can grow out of our trials. Patience can only be formed in us by the temporary denial of what we would prefer and true spiritual maturity cannot exist without one of its main elements- patience. Being personally transformed through this maturation process imparts the assurance that we really are going to one day be fully like Christ. Furthermore, we know that our hope of perfection is not a fantasy, because of the reality of our encountering God's love for us, in us and through us. All this is made possible by the vital personal relationship we already freely enjoy with the Holy Spirit who fills our hearts with God's love. So it is a glorious cycle: genuine personal growth here and now inspires confidence in our future perfection, which, in turn, inspires further spiritual growth in the present.
Comments:
Joy is a "bottom line" issue of the kingdom of God in our lives. In this first part of Romans 5, Paul is revealing the psychologically sound "life-view" that underpins and informs our experience of joy in Christ. As believers, our future bliss is obvious (and worthy of regular pondering!), but this expectation is a "living hope" (as Peter calls it) that has the intrinsic power to translate downpayments of this future joy into our present experience...despite any of our challenging circumstances in this still imperfect environment. There are two primary elements that converge to impart to us such joy.
First, trials, which are inevitable, are actually useful to our deepest longing and our ultimate goal...to become like Christ. And...we (and others) have witnessed the genuine (and also inevitable) growth in Christlikeness that we have experienced by patiently enduring adversity without giving up on loving God and others. (Resistance, though painful...builds muscles!) Second, in the midst of our trials and sufferings, God is with us "in the now" through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Mysteriously, He makes a way for hope and joy to sufficiently seep into our hearts and minds, so that we are blessed, stabilized, comforted and surrounded (often consciously) with the Divine in the face of the messes and tragedies of this life. The pains are real, but so is the comfort and the joy. This dynamic in our lives, truly, is a powerful and compelling witness to the reality of the resurrection of Christ in the eyes of a watching world.
May we find grace to face the trials of the day with the joy of Jesus Christ pumping in our souls.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 17
Chapter 5
By believing in and putting our personal trust in Jesus, in who he is and in what he has done for us, we have been justified- forgiven and declared righteous by God. And because of this, we are no longer at war, but at peace with him. Not only do we have direct access to God, but we are also confident that we now live in a state of being characterized by the availability of God's free and freeing grace- unmerited favor and desire and power to live for him. Even beyond all this, we have a joyfully motivating, present and earnest expectation concerning our glorious destiny- being personally perfected and living in a perfect place in the presence of God.
Comments:
Salvation is a big word, that is, it covers a lot of territory. Because we are in Christ, our past, present and future have all been absolutely revolutionized. In this little paragraph at the beginning of Romans 5 the whole landscape of our life is in view. All of the failures and sins of our past...along with the tormenting guilt and shame associated with them...have been washed away in the vast sea of God's deliberate forgetfulness. In the present, we have new desires...healthy and holy passions... encoded and embedded into our deepest heart...along with the power to live them out. (Not perfectly, mind you, but substantially and truly.) We now enjoy a new "state of being" that is centered in the realism of Christ living within us...whatever the circumstances about us might be. His peace is ours and a genuine interactive friendship with the Father, Son and Spirit in real time is our gracious inheritance and the key to living well in this fallen world. Regarding our future...we have to use our renewed imaginations to even begin to conceive of the beauty, joy and complete and amazing satisfaction...spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, vocationally and relationally...we will eternally know and delight in. (I've written more on this theme in a past blog called "Heaven Is" on 11/22/06. www.michael-radius.blogspot.com)
May the peace of Christ be yours in every way this day.
By believing in and putting our personal trust in Jesus, in who he is and in what he has done for us, we have been justified- forgiven and declared righteous by God. And because of this, we are no longer at war, but at peace with him. Not only do we have direct access to God, but we are also confident that we now live in a state of being characterized by the availability of God's free and freeing grace- unmerited favor and desire and power to live for him. Even beyond all this, we have a joyfully motivating, present and earnest expectation concerning our glorious destiny- being personally perfected and living in a perfect place in the presence of God.
Comments:
Salvation is a big word, that is, it covers a lot of territory. Because we are in Christ, our past, present and future have all been absolutely revolutionized. In this little paragraph at the beginning of Romans 5 the whole landscape of our life is in view. All of the failures and sins of our past...along with the tormenting guilt and shame associated with them...have been washed away in the vast sea of God's deliberate forgetfulness. In the present, we have new desires...healthy and holy passions... encoded and embedded into our deepest heart...along with the power to live them out. (Not perfectly, mind you, but substantially and truly.) We now enjoy a new "state of being" that is centered in the realism of Christ living within us...whatever the circumstances about us might be. His peace is ours and a genuine interactive friendship with the Father, Son and Spirit in real time is our gracious inheritance and the key to living well in this fallen world. Regarding our future...we have to use our renewed imaginations to even begin to conceive of the beauty, joy and complete and amazing satisfaction...spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, vocationally and relationally...we will eternally know and delight in. (I've written more on this theme in a past blog called "Heaven Is" on 11/22/06. www.michael-radius.blogspot.com)
May the peace of Christ be yours in every way this day.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 16
Romans Chapter 4 cont'd
He (Abraham) believed God who raises the dead and has the prophetic power to call the things yet future, as good as done. Against all odds, he continued to hope and believe that God would give him a son and make him a father of many nations. Even after he turned one-hundred and both he Sarah were beyond the age of conceiving children, he grew strong in faith without surrendering to unbelief and kept praising God, fully convinced that God would do what he said he would. Again, it was his faith that was counted to him as righteousness.
Now this was not just true for Abraham; that his righteousness was by faith. It applies to us, who will also receive God's righteousness if we believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was sacrificed for our trespasses and raised again so that we might be made right with God.
Comments:
Jesus said that there is great power available when two people agree in prayer before God. But there is even greater power available when we agree with God Himself (and...most importantly about who Jesus is and what he has done for us in his death and resurrection). And this...I believe...is the essence of what exercising faith is about. There is a passive side to it because, when it comes to miracles, only God's power can accomplish such things and we humbly wait for Him to act and move...even upon us. But there is also an active side to faith as well.
Dallas Willard has said that faith is present when “my whole being is set to act as if something was so.” This is how Abraham lived before God...not perfectly, even in his case...but substantially over the course of his life. Abraham not only received God's gift of righteousness at the beginning of his friendship with God, but he also walked in God's righteousness by embracing an ongoing posture of agreeing with God and acting accordingly with the strength that God provided him. It's not a bad goal to consider adopting...to seek to agree with God with my whole being...as best as I can discern His heart and mind...yet without becoming arrogant about any way in which I come to understand His truth.
Father, may I act today as if Jesus died to wipe away my guilt and shame and rose from the dead to give me the free gift of Your very own righteousness. May I be conscious that Christ lives in me as I live out the life and circumstances You have arranged for each moment of the day and evening that lies before me.
He (Abraham) believed God who raises the dead and has the prophetic power to call the things yet future, as good as done. Against all odds, he continued to hope and believe that God would give him a son and make him a father of many nations. Even after he turned one-hundred and both he Sarah were beyond the age of conceiving children, he grew strong in faith without surrendering to unbelief and kept praising God, fully convinced that God would do what he said he would. Again, it was his faith that was counted to him as righteousness.
Now this was not just true for Abraham; that his righteousness was by faith. It applies to us, who will also receive God's righteousness if we believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was sacrificed for our trespasses and raised again so that we might be made right with God.
Comments:
Jesus said that there is great power available when two people agree in prayer before God. But there is even greater power available when we agree with God Himself (and...most importantly about who Jesus is and what he has done for us in his death and resurrection). And this...I believe...is the essence of what exercising faith is about. There is a passive side to it because, when it comes to miracles, only God's power can accomplish such things and we humbly wait for Him to act and move...even upon us. But there is also an active side to faith as well.
Dallas Willard has said that faith is present when “my whole being is set to act as if something was so.” This is how Abraham lived before God...not perfectly, even in his case...but substantially over the course of his life. Abraham not only received God's gift of righteousness at the beginning of his friendship with God, but he also walked in God's righteousness by embracing an ongoing posture of agreeing with God and acting accordingly with the strength that God provided him. It's not a bad goal to consider adopting...to seek to agree with God with my whole being...as best as I can discern His heart and mind...yet without becoming arrogant about any way in which I come to understand His truth.
Father, may I act today as if Jesus died to wipe away my guilt and shame and rose from the dead to give me the free gift of Your very own righteousness. May I be conscious that Christ lives in me as I live out the life and circumstances You have arranged for each moment of the day and evening that lies before me.
Monday, November 3, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 15
Romans Chapter 4 cont'd
But trying to live up to the Mosaic code actually produces greater offense and guilt in people, for where there is no clear standard, there is no clear violation. Therefore salvation must be by grace through faith so that the promise might be divinely secured for all, Jews or Gentiles, who express the same kind of trust in God which our father of faith, Abraham, did. As it says in scripture, "I have made you a father of many nations.
Comments:
In this little section of chapter 4, Paul continues to press the point that God's salvation methodology has never been based on people trying their best to improve themselves morally. He posits a notion that he will elaborate on in Romans 7...that the main purpose of God giving the Law to the children of Israel through Moses was never to make them (or us, or anyone) intrinsically righteous, but to diagnose and highlight the sin and broken-ness that ruled in their fallen human natures, so that...they would ultimately completely trust in God and His promised Messiah rather than in the, always limited and imperfect, degree of their obedience to the Law. Added to this "radical reframing" of understanding God's historical purposes and His dealings with and future plans for Israel, Paul also again reinforces that it was always God's intention to include the gentile nations in His covenant-based salvation through His original promise to father Abraham.
Both of these fundamental notions were a deep challenge to the prevailing interpretations of Jewish history and theology in the first century. These ideas, based in the Jewish scriptures, were ironically very difficult and painful for first century Jews to accept. They struck a terrible blow to both the prideful nationalism and self-righteousness that tend to gradually creep into any culture that has a genuine history of experience with the Living God. (There are the very same religious traps that exist in our day within "Christendom" and "Christian nations".) The gospel of Jesus always strikes a death blow to human pride in all its various forms, but...not to humiliate us as human beings...but, rather, to open the door to an amazing grace that comes from God as a free gift to the humble.
But trying to live up to the Mosaic code actually produces greater offense and guilt in people, for where there is no clear standard, there is no clear violation. Therefore salvation must be by grace through faith so that the promise might be divinely secured for all, Jews or Gentiles, who express the same kind of trust in God which our father of faith, Abraham, did. As it says in scripture, "I have made you a father of many nations.
Comments:
In this little section of chapter 4, Paul continues to press the point that God's salvation methodology has never been based on people trying their best to improve themselves morally. He posits a notion that he will elaborate on in Romans 7...that the main purpose of God giving the Law to the children of Israel through Moses was never to make them (or us, or anyone) intrinsically righteous, but to diagnose and highlight the sin and broken-ness that ruled in their fallen human natures, so that...they would ultimately completely trust in God and His promised Messiah rather than in the, always limited and imperfect, degree of their obedience to the Law. Added to this "radical reframing" of understanding God's historical purposes and His dealings with and future plans for Israel, Paul also again reinforces that it was always God's intention to include the gentile nations in His covenant-based salvation through His original promise to father Abraham.
Both of these fundamental notions were a deep challenge to the prevailing interpretations of Jewish history and theology in the first century. These ideas, based in the Jewish scriptures, were ironically very difficult and painful for first century Jews to accept. They struck a terrible blow to both the prideful nationalism and self-righteousness that tend to gradually creep into any culture that has a genuine history of experience with the Living God. (There are the very same religious traps that exist in our day within "Christendom" and "Christian nations".) The gospel of Jesus always strikes a death blow to human pride in all its various forms, but...not to humiliate us as human beings...but, rather, to open the door to an amazing grace that comes from God as a free gift to the humble.
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