Romans: A House Church Manifesto?
by Herbert Drake
II. The One Family of God
A. The Theological Groundwork
The historical situation presented in Part I allows one to make some
preliminary conclusions regarding the approach that Paul needed to take
in the main theological section that spans Rom. 1:17 through Rom. 8:11.
That section owes its length and complexity to the fact that Paul is
addressing two different audiences. He wants to make both of them
uncomfortable with their current understanding, to give them a fresh
theological foundation, and to manage this with a degree of balance that
prevents either group from becoming defensive and therefore unable to
appropriate the content of the main message, which has been identified
as being located in Chapters 9-11.
The section identified as the "theology of the family of God" (D
in Figure 1) and comprised of Rom. 1:17-8:11 is best understood by
breaking it into smaller units. The first of these, however, needs to be
considered not so much along the lines of what Paul actually said,
but rather with regard to what the two groups that he was addressing may
have heard. The distinction is made for purely literary
purposes, and it is suggested that Paul knew the presuppositions of the
two groups sufficient well as to actually take the problem of "hearing"
into account. The material from Rom. 1:17-3:20, gives an example of how
Paul works with this bifurcated audience.
a. As Perceived by Gentile Christians
The Christian with a Jewish background would hear Rom. 1:17-32 as
obviously applying to Gentiles; even Jews with only a minimal
understanding of Torah would recognize the vices outlined in this
section as an "abomination" vis-à-vis the Hebrew Scriptures; whatever
vices they may have had on their conscience, it is likely they would
have avoided these. In beginning this way, Paul is earning the sympathy
of his Jewish listeners--but this changes abruptly in Rom. 2:1-24, where
he asserts that those who claim Jewish ancestry cannot say they are
innocent of stealing, robbing temples, and committing adultery. His
indictment against the Jews in his audience is expressed in Rom.
2:25-29: the Jews have misunderstood the Torah and circumcision as being
signs of special, divine favor. Real Torah and circumcision is inward,
not outward--it is lived out in life. Nevertheless, there is a way that
Jews may take appropriate pride of the role God gave them in salvation
history (Rom. 3:1-8).
b. As Perceived by Jewish Christians
The Gentiles will hear the same passages differently. The passage
Rom. 1:17-32 brings up images that they will quickly recognize as common
in the culture around them many perhaps having been involved in
such practices prior to their becoming Christians. Even though
some of these vices may have not been perceived as bizarre or unlawful
in first century Rome, Paul makes it clear that the behaviors are
signs of open rebellion against God. When Paul changes course in Rom.
2:1, the Gentiles will begin to relax.
c. Bringing Together the Strands
The text from Rom. 3:9-20 brings the Gentile and Jewish strands
together--both are guilty; no one is righteous. Even though the Jews may
be the only ones who recognize the Old Testament sources of the
scriptures that Paul recites here, the metaphors are plain and powerful.
Paul closes with a statement, which he will develop further, that the
purpose of the Law is to make us aware of sin. While the one family of
God has not yet been formally introduced, Paul has established that both
Jews and Gentiles begin their lives positioned in the same
place--outside of that family.
d. The Balance of the Discourse
As the discourse continues, Paul continues to narrow the differences
between his Gentile and Jewish listeners. He works through the fact the
both groups have only one path to justification--through Christ (Rom.
3:21-4:25). Both groups receive the same Holy Spirit, freely given to
all those who have been justified. That gift will guide them through the
passage of suffering, perseverance, character, and hope (Rom. 5:3-5).
Finally, after bringing the two groups into one stream, he deals with
the work of Christ (Rom. 5:6-6:23) and the work of the Law (Rom.
7:1-8:11). Every aspect of Jewish privilege is stripped away, the Torah
law of Rom. 7:1 gradually shifting to the "law of the Spirit" (Rom.
8:2). Jews and Gentiles stand together as ones who have "no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1).
The function of the balance of Chapter 8, designated E
in Figure 1 and comprising Rom. 8:12-39, is clear from the chiastic
schema. The stress is on the idea of obligation (Rom.
8:12). All that has been developed to this point is wrapped up in the
"Therefore" that begins this section --because both the Jews and
the Gentiles have been the recipients of justification and the gift of
the Holy Spirit, they have an obligation. The implication
is that this obligation demands obedience. Rom. 8:18 then
turns to a crescendo of praise that grows to embrace even the creation
(Rom. 8:20-21) as the object of the great eschatological redemption that
will come. By implication, the intensity of the obligation and requisite
obedience grows as well. Therefore its purpose is literary rather than
doctrinal--it is designed as a bridge between the fully developed idea
of the single stream of redemption for all believers and the main
message, which is dependent on that stream. One might even expect that
the reader of the letter will have been coached to "preach" it for all
it is worth, right through the dramatic Rom. 8:38-39.
Chapters 9-11 apply this conclusion to the specific problem in Rome:
the disunity between the Jewish and Gentile Christians that prompted the
letter in the first place. It is here that Paul brings the "one family"
motif to a conclusion: "Everyone who calls on the name of
the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:13), and, because of disobedience,
"... God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may
be merciful to all (Rom. 11:32).
The passage begins in stark contrast to the lavish praises that end
Chapter 8. Paul weeps for the hardening of the Jews. In this emotional
section, the Apostle builds a groundwork for the olive tree allegory at
the center of the message. That olive tree is an eternal one, planned
from the beginning. This idea of eternity was planted in the previous
section, Rom. 8:29-30, and develops further with the rhetorical question
of whether God's word had failed (Rom. 9:6). It is mentioned again in
Rom. 9:23, "... whom he prepared in advance for glory."
Gradually, Paul sets the foundation for the idea that the hardening of
the non-Christian Jews was not a contingent failure, but a part of a
wonderful plan that had been in place since before the foundation of the
world. It was the spiritual descendants of Abraham and Isaac that are of
concern--an idea that will show up in the analogy as some branches are
retained (e.g., Jacob), some removed (e.g., Esau, Rom. 9:13), and others
that, in God's own time, have been grafted in (the Gentiles). The
process has been under God's control since the beginning, as God
revealed to Moses (Rom. 9:15) and Hosea (Rom. 9:25), and is completely
based on the merciful nature of God and never on the desires or efforts
of men and women (Rom. 9:16). God's mercy is such that he will graft
anyone into the tree who "calls upon the name of the Lord" (Rom. 10:13),
but only when they believe inwardly in the work of Christ (Rom. 10:9).
In a partial recapitulation of Gal. 3:28, Paul asserts plainly that
there is absolutely no difference between Jew and Gentile in the eyes of
God (Rom. 10:12). This is the essence of the "mystery" of Rom.
11:25--just as God had offered Gentiles an avenue of redemption by
bringing about a time of temporary hardening of the Jews so that the
Gentiles might come into the one family of God, there would be a later
time in which the hardening would be over and there would be a great
harvest among the Jews (Rom. 11:26). Paul does not say how this
will come about in so many words; he only asserts the promise (through
Isaiah) that it will take place through a "deliverer" (Rom. 11:26-27).
If anything may be learned from the doctrinal development of the book to
this point, that deliverer will certainly be Christ through the witness
of right behaving churches such as those the Apostle would like to see
laboring in Rome. And what is a "right behaving church"? It is to that
subject that we now turn. Just as Romans is a book written to correct a
particular error in behavior, even more importantly it is a call to a
right ecclesiology. Were these churches to behave rightly, God
would have their help, rather than hindrance, in bringing about his
agenda.
