CHURCH HISTORY: AD 100 thru AD 300

NB: For readers who missed it, I suggest going back to review my setup to this section on church history to know about my disclaimers. For the graphics used in this post, the timelines are not to scale, and the dates represented are not intended to be exact. They are meant to be visual aids for understanding the larger conversation.

We left off with that repeated question: What happened? Many students ask me this question, not just in reference to the history of Christendom, but in reference to our Judaic roots. We come from an incredibly Jewish story, following a Jewish rabbi and his Jewish talmidim. How did we become so separated from our Jewish foundation?

There are many in scholarship who weigh in on these opinions. From a historically respectable perspective, I have found two opinions to be most plausible (based on what we know), and one of those opinions I hold personally.

The first opinion is based on an understanding of a much more defined schism between the Jewish and Gentile Church (read: Paul and James). As we discussed before, I don’t miss the undeniable tension between the Church in Jerusalem and the Church of Asia, but I also hold to the record given to us in the book of Acts and believe the Apostolic leaders were able to come to an agreement and mutual understanding (binding and loosing, if you will, as described in the records of Acts 15 and elsewhere). This option believes that this Christian movement, which began in Jewish rank and order, was much more bent on the proclamation of their subversive “gospel” and this created unwanted (especially in Asia) political tension. The Jewish Exception outlawed (in part) aggressive proselytization, and this new Jesus movement was challenging that status quo and upsetting the empire. This theory proposes the Jewish religion jettisons its Jesus following believers, who are mostly Gentile in nature. 

There are certainly pieces in history to support this theory, but I don’t think this is what we actually see happening, especially in light of recent scholarship. The late David Flusser suggested decades ago that early Christianity was predominantly a Jewish movement that didn’t see such internal tensions until much later. One of the largest criticisms of his theory was the lack of evidence for Jews and Gentiles worshipping together. In the last twenty years, as archaeological efforts have increased in modern Turkey (biblical Asia and Asia Minor), we are finding more and more evidence to suggest Flusser was correct.

So instead, I cling to the theory that the schism happened later, just after the turn of the century. When Trajan and later Hadrian were emperors, they led some of the most aggressive (although maybe not the most brutal) persecutions of the Jews. Historians have long wondered why the target of these persecutions seemed to have such a Jewish focus. The Jews weren’t the largest imperial threat to Roman power — it would seem the Christians were. Many have suggested (rightly so, in my opinion) that the Christians were in fact so Jewish that they were seen as an indistinguishable part of Judaism.

From what little pieces of history we have, and though most of Judaism originally stood behind their Gentile converts and theosabes (except in those rare “Synagogue of Satan” places), these same Gentiles seemed to turn their backs on their Jewish brothers and sisters when Rome came looking to extinguish Judaism. Choosing to fall back on their uncircumcised roots, they left their Jewish counterparts out to dry and created a schism that we never healed. Following the Hadrianic persecution and the Bar Kochba revolt, this helps explain why the writings of the early church are so anti-semitic in their teachings (just one or two generations removed from the apostles).

But this schism will have more than relational implications. Now that the Jews are gone, this Jesus-following body has lost their connection to the Text. They no longer have walking libraries of Torah and Jewish narrative to teach and lead them. The moment this anchor was pulled up, Gentiles were left to lean on the only thing they knew intimately. Unfortunately, the worldview that dominated the Hellenistic culture was Gnosticism (you may want to review our discussion on Colossians).

This conflicting worldview led to all kinds of corrupted teachings and beliefs (even if we assume the presence of New Testament writings and the Didache, the early church’s manual for passing on the Apostle’s teaching to new converts). Almost immediately, there were arguments for the rejections of different writings. A man by the name of Marcion was arguing for the rejection of the Tanakh and most of the gospels, with a full acceptance of the letters from Paul, much of the gospel of Luke, and some other letters. If that sounds familiar, it’s because much of evangelical Christianity continues to approach the New Testament in the same way. Marcion was eventually declared a heretic and his arguments rejected, but he had brought up the need for this Gentile movement to declare which teachings would be authoritative, and the movement went forward.

From this we received the Muratorian Canon, which is what our New Testament is based on. This canon had only 22 of the 27 letters in it, and the larger conversation surrounding it would later lead to the reordering of the Hebrew Scriptures for Christians (with an undeniable anti-semitic bent).

This unfortunate new world probably would have brought other issues to the table had the Gentile Christian movement not been at odds with the empire of Rome. As they continued to deal with the persecution that came and left and came and left, they were forced to bind together and cling to the essentials for the survival of their faith. It is a dark shame that we weren’t able to do this with the company and leadership provided by our Jewish brothers and sisters. We will be left to wonder what could have been. Would the “Age to Come” have arrived and Jesus’s return been realized, just as the writers of the New Testament were claiming? Maybe so.

For now, they run for their lives. They stand and they die. But it’s all about to change.

REVELATION: Smyrna and Their Crown

As we continue to learn some of these principles for reading the book of Revelation in context, I am committed not to overwhelm you with all the possible content. I have pointed you toward some sources where you can go further and deeper in your specific studies. I want to take a few more steps into this new hermeneutic and keep us learning and stretching to understand what John is trying to accomplish. There are many other details that those familiar with this understanding would add into the conversation, but I want to continue building so we can keep the greatest amount of our readers with us.

So, let me introduce you to a format I’m going to use in the letters to the seven churches (and other parts of Revelation). I want to give you some of the context of this particular geographical location in the first century and see if it impacts the way we read the letter.

Smyrna received its name from one of its largest exports — myrrh — used for many things, but predominantly in the preparation of dead bodies. Smyrna was infatuated with death. Combine this infatuation with the center of medicine and the focus on “science” (at this point in history, largely superstition mixed with some science) and you also find a large Roman cult following around the different pagan myths that contained beliefs about resurrection. More than most places in Rome, Smyrna talked at length about death and resurrection.

Smyrna was yet another port harbor in the Roman empire that made for fantastic trade. While this is true for many of the cities we study, what was unusual about Smyrna was its absolute allegiance to the emperor and Rome in a way not seen throughout the rest of the empire. After Alexander the Great conquered Sardis, Smyrna became the cultural center of Asia; in fact, in the third century BC, Smyrna formed a more formal relationship with Rome as Antiochus (from Syria) was threatening to attack. This relationship was fostered all throughout the rising of the Roman empire. What this probably means, and is supported by other details in history (and the letter to Smyrna), is that believers — especially Gentile believers — in Smyrna were persecuted more than the average believer elsewhere in Asia. Doing commerce in a place like Smyrna would have been incredibly difficult if you didn’t affirm the worship of the emperor, leading to a life of struggle and poverty.

Smyrna was also known for a Jewish contingent that did not accept the inclusion of the Gentiles. Having written to Rome to declare that these Gentile converts were not true Jews, they had thrown the Gentile converts under the Roman bus and excluded them from the “Jewish Exception” that allowed them not to have to bow the knee to Caesar as god. As we’ve looked at before, this would not have been a normal experience throughout Asia and much of Asia Minor, but appears to be the case in Smyrna.

Throughout history, ancient historians use the imagery of crowns when writing about Smyrna. One historian (Apollonius) referred to Smyrna’s city center as “the crown of porticoes.” These references lead some scholars to think Smyrna may have made use of the Greco-Roman crowns in a unique way. Being a larger and more sophisticated city (unlike some of the more “blue collar” cities we will study), Smyrna would have celebrated much wealth and enjoyed the benefits of the Roman class system. One of the ways these classes were distinguished was by the use of crowns. Everything from a Greek crown wreath, to a crown of bronze, silver, or even gold, would have been a way of setting yourself apart.

Now, with just a few items of cultural context under our belt, let’s go to the letter to Smyrna in Revelation 2 and see what we notice in the writing:

“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.”

“…who died and came to life again.” This is an obvious reference to Smyrna’s infatuation with death and resurrection, tying it back to the person of Jesus.

“I know your afflictions and your poverty — yet you are rich!” Here we see a reference to the struggling believers, persecuted by Rome and others, finding it hard to make it day-to-day in a world that doesn’t appreciate the way they worship.

“…those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” This is definitely not a blanket statement about Judaism (as it’s often interpreted), but a direct reference to the group of Jews who have rejected the Gentile converts.

“…I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” The usage of their crown imagery speaks to them about perseverance.

“…will not be hurt at all by the second death.” To a place infatuated with death and resurrection, John points out that there is a “second death” they ought to be thinking about. However, those believers who persevere to the end will find the reward they have been placing their hope in.

Again, what we end up finding is that these letters in Revelation are certainly not (at least primarily) some coded reference to the future and the “end of days,” but are very fitting messages of encouragement to their original recipients. To this end, we continue to realize that Revelation is fitting the mold for apocalyptic literature in its ability to use pictures and images to convey a message of hope to the present day.

EPHESIANS: Family Membership

The book of Ephesians is going to bring up topics that will run consistently in line with previous discussions we’ve had with Paul. The letter will open with more references to predestination, and Paul will speak in chapter three of his special revelation that he preaches in his gospel. You might remember the conversation within the book of Galatians where Paul was adamant that he did not receive his gospel from the teachings of men, but he received it directly from Jesus. Listen to his similar words to the Ephesians:

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

Paul says he has received a “mystery made known to [him] by revelation, … that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” This not only finds itself to be completely consistent with Paul’s message, but as we’ve pointed out before, continues the main thrust behind so much of the New Testament (even outside Pauline literature).

It also serves as a good transition to talk about the unique message and flavor of the letter to the Ephesians. These Gentiles have become full members of one body and fellow heirs with Israel. This will be Paul’s primary argument through the first half of Ephesians. If we pay close attention to the pronouns of Ephesians 1–3, we’ll begin to notice what Paul is saying to the Ephesian church. Look at how Paul opens his letter:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Paul starts his letter by — as usual — recognizing the origins of the story of God that lie within the Jewish people. This one narrative God has been telling began with God choosing a partner in Abraham, shaping a nation in the desert, and calling them to live at the crossroads of the earth as a kingdom of priests. As we mentioned in Romans, this is their story to tell.

This will become even more clear in the next statement:

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

Who were “the first to put [their] hope in Christ”? The Jews. But after making this observation about his Jewish brethren, Paul will shift his use of pronouns. Watch:

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

This will become the theme of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians — a theme of family membership. His message is simple, but profound, and hard for many in his day to accept. In Christ, these Gentiles now have a place to belong — not as outsiders, but as insiders. Look at what Paul will say later at the beginning of chapter two and notice his use of pronouns and their implications:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

It sounds as if Paul has taken a page right out of Romans. “Where, then, is boasting?” he had asked. He also uses the same argument about all of us having given in to the “cravings of our flesh” (sarx) and, just like in Romans, if this is true for all of us, then this gift of salvation comes as a free gift of grace and no one will find themselves able to boast.

Paul continues:

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Paul says these Gentiles used to find themselves separated from the people of God. They were excluded from citizenship in Israel and were strangers to the covenant. But Jesus has changed all that and brought them near. In Jesus, God tore down any sense of division that resided between the groups and allowed the Gentiles to enter. From this new truth, God has created a “new humanity” (which is a great translation from the Greek) that is able to put on display the reconciliation of God.

But Paul isn’t done talking about family membership:

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

What fantastic news for all of Paul’s Gentile readers in Ephesus!

Paul will spend the last half of the letter applying what this means to the believers in Ephesus. If this gospel is true — this announcement of a new King (Jesus) and a new Kingdom (the new humanity) — then there is a new way the believers in Ephesus should live. In chapters 4–6, you will see Paul draw this out by calling the people of God in Ephesus to walk in the light and love others in a way that the world will see this gospel displayed. He will talk about a practical and more literal family membership in the ways people treat their spouses, their children, their parents, and everyone else in their households (that is, master and slave relationships). All of this will take into account the brilliant context of Ephesus.

Speaking of context, one should keep in mind as they read the passages about husbands and wives that Ephesus served as the neochorus for Artemis — the Roman goddess of sexual fertility (and the reader might be familiar with the riot in Ephesus [Acts 19] and the people shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”). As we saw in Corinth, this is going to play into the way Paul tells the men and women of Ephesus to conduct themselves. He says they are to live counter to the culture. In a world where women like to disrespect their husbands and flaunt their mythology and goddess worship, Paul tells them to submit to each other. In the context of Ephesus, it makes sense that Paul would make special mention of the wives, not because it is the “wifely role” to submit to the husband, but because in Ephesus it’s more important than ever.

One of my favorite passages comes in the middle of this conversation and is built around the context of the annual Artemisian festival held in Ephesus. Every year, at the festival of Artemis, the people would parade the statue from the Artemisan temple (one of the ‘Eight Wonders of the World’) down to the harbor. Once at the harbor, the Artemisian priests would wash the statue with water and begin the slow ascent back to the temple of Artemis. This procession would inaugurate a festival of sexual frivolity and debauchery that was rivaled by few festivals in the empire.

Consider this context as you read Paul’s words from chapter 5:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

If this “family of God” in Ephesus is going to tell the world what God is like, they are going to need to love and submit to each other in a unique way. In the same way, if we wish to have anything to say to the world around us, we are going to have to find it within ourselves to pursue this “new humanity” that shows unity and love and service to those who were once far off.

It will be a battle. May Paul’s prayer be ours:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

ROMANS: Grafted (part two)

In our last discussion, Paul had turned his attention to the Gentiles and invited them to consider and not lose sight of the mystery of their inclusion. He painted the picture of a cultivated olive tree, pruned by the Gardener who also grafted in branches that didn’t belong — branches from a wild olive tree! These branches represented the Gentiles who had been included in the covenant community of God’s family. Paul had asked his Gentile readers to keep themselves from arrogance, thinking that the story was all about them and forgetting that it was they who had been scandalously included on the basis of faith.

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

Paul asks the Gentiles to keep in mind the kindness and sternness of God. The kindness of God is seen in His radical inclusion and faithful mercy shown to all people, and He wishes to hold a stern standard to His own people, a kingdom of priests, who represent Him to the world around them. Having already warned them that they too would face the same dangers of the pruning process, he now reminds them again. But this time, Paul couples it with a positive observation: If God would not hesitate to prune the grafted branches as well as the natural, it only stands to reason that this same God would love to graft the natural branches back in. Realizing that this metaphor breaks down (what kinds of branches bear fruit after being chopped off?!), Paul insists that their repentance is still a good possibility.

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written:

“The deliverer will come from Zion;    he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.And this is my covenant with them    when I take away their sins.”

Again, Paul calls this inclusion of the Gentiles a “mystery.” For the Jewish people, this idea is a scandal; it is hard to accept and even Paul says he doesn’t understand it in its fullness. But Paul reiterates: he wants to make this known so the Gentiles won’t become conceited. This struggle and stumbling on Israel’s part has taken place so they (the Gentiles) could be adopted into the family of God.

And again, in some of the older translations we have an issue that has led to much confusion and the horrible spread of “replacement theology.” Replacement Theology espouses the idea that God abandoned Israel as the chosen people of covenant and began working with the “Church” in the New Testament. It encourages the idea that God started a “new thing” and now all people are invited into that new thing.

Please note, this is clearly not what Paul is arguing. Paul did not say God planted a new tree. Paul said God pruned the original, cultivated tree, is constantly tending it and giving it life, and decided to graft into that same original tree some wild olive tree branches. Paul states this more than once so the Gentiles would understand this clearly and not become conceited or arrogant. Replacement Theology is the fulfillment of that conceited arrogance Paul warned against.

In some older translations, it read: “until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and so all Israel will be saved.” This rendering is not only inaccurate to the Greek, but it reads incorrectly in the English, giving the impression there is a ‘new Israel’ being saved through the Gentiles. As the translation we saw earlier renders appropriately, the passage should read “in this way (or in this manner) all Israel will be saved,” preserving a reading that maintains God’s original story, original plan, original people, and original promises — let alone Paul’s clear argument.

The inclusion of the Gentiles is intended to provoke God’s people to repentance, remembering their story and mission in the world. In this manner, all of God’s people will find salvation.

And if there were any doubt about the above argument, they should be put to rest after a reading of Paul’s next statement.

As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Indeed this God is out to redeem all nations. His promises, His gifts, and His call are irrevocable, and He has incredible ways of using our brokenness and mistakes to help bring redemption to others — if we will only be humble enough to remember where we come from. I find Paul’s doxology at the end of chapter eleven to be a fitting conclusion to our discussion today:

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

    How unsearchable his judgments,

    and his paths beyond tracing out!

“Who has known the mind of the Lord?

    Or who has been his counselor?”

“Who has ever given to God,

    that God should repay them?”

For from him and through him and for him are all things.

    To him be the glory forever! Amen.

ROMANS: Grafted (part one)

We left off as Paul was concluding his warning to his Jewish audience about the ways they had missed God’s mission in the past. Paul has already mentioned that this certainly does not mean the Israelites were cast off or forsaken by God; he now takes the time to say it again:

Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

Paul expresses great optimism in the people of God and their ability to learn from the path God has them on to correct their trajectory. Only this God who is in the business of redeeming broken things could take their mistakes and turn them into glory. Paul points out that God used their stumbling to bring the Gentiles into the family. If this is true, how much more could — no, not “could,” Paul says “will” — their repentance bring? When the people of God see His goodness and His plan and decide to partner with what God’s doing in the world, just imagine all the things that could be accomplished with that group of people!

NOTE: I hate the translation of “inclusion” here. The NIV84 used to translate it “fullness,” as does the KJV. The translation of “inclusion” only heightens the misconceptions of replacement theology, since the “they” in the passage is clearly the Jews. The Jews aren’t being “included” in anything; it’s their story to begin with. It is the Gentiles who are being included and that very inclusion is what drives the writing of Romans. But indeed, that’s where the passage heads next.

Paul now shifts his attention to the Gentiles and is kind enough to let all of his readers know:

I am talking to you Gentiles. In as much as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Paul says a large part of his ministry is done in the hope that his own brethren would see the story of God correctly and join him in blessing all nations. Paul isn’t just in this for the Gentiles — he’s in it for his own Jewish family, as well. He wants all people to understand the story of God and His plan to restore all of humanity. The phrase “arouse my own people to envy” in the Greek definitely carries the idea of provocation. It is Paul’s desire to prod and provoke his fellow Jews to do the right thing in the way they interact with the Gentiles in their world.

Paul also reminds his readers that God’s story is a Jewish story. If God has chosen to work through the Jewish people, then this Jewish story must be the right one and it must be enough. If this story is based on the right ideas — if the lump of dough is holy and if the root of the story is holy — then the rest of the story is going to share in that goodness.

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

Paul tells his Gentile readers to make sure they check their arrogance at the door, because a proper understanding of the story they are part of will lead them to speechless humility. Paul points out that if Israel was a cultivated olive tree (a common image in the Scriptures for Israel), then the Gentiles were a wild, uncultivated olive tree. To the ancient world of the Middle East, the contrast would be a stunning one. A cultivated olive tree is a beautiful sight to behold; with light green leaves and big beautiful olives, the cultivated olive tree is incredibly pleasing to the eye. The olive tree gone wild, on the other hand, is stunted in its growth, producing pitiful leaves and virtually no fruit. It is not very attractive to look at and useless for production.

Wild olive branch on left; cultivated on right

Yet Paul says the story of God works in such a way that when the people of God stumbled, He pruned His cultivated olive tree, chopping off some of the branches that didn’t bear any fruit and preparing it for new growth. God then took wild olive tree branches and grafted them into His cultivated tree. Now, I’m no botanist, but I did have one tell me once that such an idea would be craziness. The wild olive tree branches would have a negative effect on the purity of the cultivated olive tree once the grafting process was complete. As wild branches drew off of the nourishing sap of the main tree, the rest of the trees’ productivity would be drawn back.

And yet, Paul says this is what God does. 

God’s gospel is foolishness. God’s love is scandalous. God’s forgiveness is complete.

As this lesson gets longer and longer, I can see that we’ll need to break it into two parts. So this is a good place to stop. We have much to consider. Most of my readers will be Gentiles and Paul gives them all a lot to ponder about the story of God and how He’s been at work. God has been at work for thousands of years trying to bless all nations. Way back in the beginnings of Genesis, God selected a partner and built a nation He desired to put at the “crossroads of the earth” and help Him restore the world — a kingdom of priests who would show the world what God is like.

But God’s people (Jew and Gentile alike) have often lost the plot of the story. We forget the scandalous nature of the God we claim to serve and worship and we begin to serve self. Throughout this story, God has always corrected, sometimes gently and sometimes with great discipline. God has pruned his tree when necessary and invited His children to new levels of fruitfulness.

And somewhere along the way, the Great Gardener decided in His infinite wisdom that it was time to graft into this cultivated tree some of those wild olive branches He loves so much. He decided it was time to display the beauty of inclusion in this tree that is His people. God’s tree has become His masterpiece.

You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

ROMANS: Trusting in the Promises of God

Now that Paul has suggested righteousness comes from faith, apart from observing the miqsat ma’asay haTorah, he needs to be able to make this case from the Torah and show this is the case in the Scriptures, not just a new idea. In the same fashion as Galatians, Paul turns to the the “father of faith” and where the story began, with the story of Abraham.

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

Paul says Abraham knew this inherent truth to be true in his own walk of righteousness. Paul states that if Abraham earned his justification from his works, he would be able to boast. It is here where Paul begins using a metaphor based on labor and wage. When a person works, they get a paycheck. If Abraham was justified because of his works, then he earned the justification and he would be able to boast in his successful campaign to work for justification. Paul then says if a person simply trusts in the promises of God, that trust (faith) is “credited” to them as righteousness. The term credited can also be rendered as “reckoned” and refers to a settling of books.

Paul is working off of the same verse in Genesis 15 he used with the Galatians. Genesis told us Abraham had faith and it was reckoned to his account as righteousness. He believed he was accepted by God and was a member of God’s family by promise — that faith in the promise was just as effectual as if he had walked righteously.

Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Paul keeps pushing his point to make it relevant to those Gentiles who find themselves in the church of Rome. This belief, this faith cannot be reserved only for the circumcised, for Abraham experienced all of this before he was circumcised. This justification and the crediting of righteousness has to be available independently of circumcision. In this way, Abraham becomes the father of faith for the uncircumcised.

Paul’s point is that this faith is accessible and available to all — circumcised and uncircumcised.

It’s the same God. It’s the same promise. It’s the same faith.

They receive the same justification.

If Paul started his letter by saying all of humanity struggled with the same problem, he goes on to say all of humanity enjoys the same redemption.

Paul reiterates his point:

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

Abraham partnered with God before he was circumcised, before there was a Law, before there was a single command to follow. This means people cannot rely on the fact that they are obedient to God’s Law for their partnership and acceptance. As Paul stated in the first three chapters, nobody lives up to the standard, whether it’s God’s standard or their own. We all know we fall short and live under a cloud of wrath. Paul suggests we should trust the story instead.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

That is one of my favorite lines in Romans 4. …the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

We are invited to trust the story of a God who gives life where death reigns and calls things out of what isn’t there. As we learned in Galatians, we are not righteous, but if we trust in the love and grace of God, He says we are righteous — even when we are not.

…calls into being things that were not.

Abraham understood this. Even though it goes against that which we believe to be most true about ourselves, even though it seems incredibly counterintuitive, Abraham believed that when God said it, it must be true.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

And we too are invited into this same promise and hope. We are invited to believe God feels the same way about all of us. If we believe in this same truth and story, we find we have incredible peace and the joy of a cleansed conscience that is freed from that dark cloud of a curse we carry around.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

It’s because of God’s love and acceptance — unmerited, unearned, undeserved, but true of God nonetheless — we can celebrate in our redemption. Not only this, but the same truth continues to overflow into other areas as well. We have a new perspective in the midst of suffering; if we are loved and valued, my suffering doesn’t raise the same set of doubts it did about God’s anger and doubts about my acceptance before Him.

In fact, our sufferings have the tendency to become teaching tools. They teach us about perseverance. Our perseverance is used by God to shape character in our lives. Our character is then used by God to bring us hope.

Ultimately, the hope is that God really is who He says He is, and that we really are who God says we are: loved, valued, accepted, redeemed.

And this hope does not disappoint, because somewhere in our bones, at our deepest level, through the work of the Holy Spirit, we know God’s love to be true.

As Jonathan Martin puts it in Prototype:

I believe there was a time in your life, sometime before you succumbed to the constant busyness, noise, and distraction of our world, when you knew something of the loving presence of God. There was a time (perhaps associated with a place) when you knew—or at least suspected—that you were infinitely loved. In other words, I believe you have heard from God, and that you probably know a lot more about hearing from God than you might realize.

ROMANS: No One

Based on a proper understanding of the context of Romans, the opening chapters of the book make much more sense. Looking at this complex situation in Rome, Paul addresses a church with three dominant groups (which are somewhat different than the three groups of Galatia; again, this is why context for each letter is so important). The church in Rome is going to have new Gentile converts who are just coming out of their pagan ways. They will also have Gentiles who have been following this gospel for quite some time and have been transformed in their walk. Then there will be the Jews who once formed the core of this believing community.

Paul addresses all three groups in his opening three chapters. While I considered addressing these three chapters in depth, I decided against it, thinking it was well beyond the scope of this material. The discussion is full of hotly debated details and theories surrounding the nuances of what Paul is saying. Is he building a false argument against the worldviews he’s speaking to — almost as a satirical, faux dialogue? Is he speaking more literally and making an argument just as it reads? These questions are only some of those represented in newer scholarship surrounding the Pauline letters.

But this doesn’t change the bulk of Paul’s arguments in the first few chapters, nor his conclusions. Paul’s point is that all of humanity deals with the same brokenness. Whether the group is submitted to the Law or not, the same brokenness is present in all of us. We all try to live by a law of some kind, and no matter which law we submit to, we always fall short. This insecurity is the very condition to which the gospel attempts to speak.

First, Paul speaks to those corrupt pagans who have given themselves over to a Hellenistic worldview. It might be useful to review Hellenistic culture and the driving premises that lie behind their worldview. About them, Paul says this:

So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

That’s almost an exact description of the culture of Hellenism. Paul says they try to live by their own new ‘law’ that man is the measure of all things. This, however doesn’t work and Paul says their own laws are dysfunctional:

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

However, some of those Gentiles who have been rescued from such thinking might start to see themselves as quite spiritually evolved. Paul quickly turns his attention to those who are willing and able to see the fault in such kinds of thinking:

Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

Paul says that just because they are “better than those other people” doesn’t mean they don’t have their own problems. The fact that they see these things means they now live according to their own law.

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

If they are willing to recognize a “better way,” that way now becomes their new law. Only those who obey this new ‘law’ would be justified by it. So if the person ever transgresses their own understanding (which we all do) then we can’t claim to be in much better of a situation than the pagans. They still have this haunting insecurity, a “conscience that bears witness” to the fact that they fall short of their own self-imposed standard.

But there is a third group which might be sitting there thinking they are far above this pitiful Gentile crew — the Jewish believers. But this same line of thinking applies to them under “the Law,” as in the one given by God:

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

In the end, all of humanity finds themselves in the same predicament. They all fall short of whatever law (or Law) they are trying to live up to. If they are trying to find their justification in any system, any standard, any law, they are doomed to a conscience that testifies against them.

So our cleansed conscience, our salvation, our redemption must come from some place other than our ability to live up to a standard. It must be bigger than getting the standard right, finding the right law (or Law), or adjusting to the right moral code.