I learned in English class that you really shouldn’t start a sentence with “Therefore.” At least I think I learned it there. When you get as old as I am then things tend to blur together. It might have been English class. It might have been something I read in a comic book. It might have been a dream I had. Or something my mom told me. Who knows? Does it matter? Not really. Except that I wanted to have little bit of authority behind the statement. Since I was going to take on Paul.
OK, I’m not really going to argue with Paul about grammar. Especially since he was writing in a different language. And remembering Greek grammar rules is even more of a stretch than remembering English ones. Just sayin’.
But it doesn’t feel right does it? Just jumping in with a “therefore” as Paul does so often. Whole sections, completely new ideas, thoughts seemingly out of left field just appear with a “therefore” as though the connections ought to be obvious. But they aren’t. Sometimes.
Some people just talk like that, I know. As though you were supposed to remember everything that went before. There is a story of a United Methodist pastor who was serving a church when he got called to be a District Superintendent. He served in that capacity for six year and then when it was time to receive an appointment, we was sent to the church he left six years earlier. His first sermon back in the pulpit began “As I was saying...”
“Therefore” implies a connection, a line of argument. What follows “therefore” is built on what goes before. It is a pointer to a conclusion, or at least a resolution of some sort. It is also an indicator that something important is coming. Pay attention, it says, here’s is where we were heading, this is what I mean. Here we go!
Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Therefore, since, says Paul. Because of this one thing, this one relationship, then everything else follows. So, it must be important for us to understand what came before. “Since we are justified by faith,” he says. Ah, pretty important. For Paul this is the center of everything. Justification by faith. It is what captured Luther’s attention so radically that he launch the whole Protestant Reformation. Important stuff, then.
There is a problem, though. I hesitate to bring it up, because it doesn’t really affect this passage. It is a part of what comes before. Yet, it is important because of the “therefore.” It is a part of the “since.” It is the foundation of the peace that is offered here. It is the foundation of the hope we end up with. So, I can’t help but trouble you a little bit with this debate. Forgive me.
The problem is in the phrase “pistis Christou” (at least that is the transliteration from the Greek). “Pistis” is the word for faith, and “Christou” is the genitive or possessive form of Christ. So, you are asking, where’s the problem? Well, most of the time the genitive form gets translated with an “of,” but then sometimes it is translated with an “in.” So, the problem is which is it?
Funny how a two letter word can cause such turmoil in biblical scholarship. But it does. There are opposing camps, and have been almost from the beginning of the church, that are aligned on each side of this debate. It is almost as though you can see those marching around with T-shirts emblazoned with “OF” and those with tattoos in gothic script reading “IN.”
OK, not quite. Makes an interesting picture of a bunch of scholarly types in gang attire with appropriate colors, snarling at one another in their turf wars, though. Doesn’t it? Maybe not. Sorry.
“Faith in Christ” verses “faith of Christ.” That’s the struggle. That’s the debate. Reams of paper have been used in making the case for each, and I don’t propose to present the arguments adequately. But to grossly simplify it is basically asking the question who’s faith is doing the work here? “Faith of Christ” implies that it is the faith of Jesus, the life he lived and the sacrifice he made that brings salvation. “Therefore, since Christ’s faith has saved us, we have peace with God.” And peace in this sense means a relationship. Because of what Christ has done, we now can approach God, we now can be reconciled, made right with God. It was his action, his faithful living and dying that did this. We are saved by the faith of Christ. But then, we don’t have to, in fact really can’t do anything. It is Christ’s faith, and we are simply blessed recipients of the benefits.
Unless, it is “faith in Christ.” Because that means that it is us, that we generate this faith, we are responsible for it. It is our effort, our work to have faith. We are engaged, we have to claim the gift, it is up to us. It is a choice we make. But, it could lead to the understand that we have to have the right kind of faith, or the right amount. It provides an escape clause for unanswered prayer, for suffering - “if you only had enough faith.” Which troubles us to no end. Or it should anyway.
So, which is it? Uh. Jesus provides the access, according to verse two. Access to the peace, the relationship with God that we crave. But then we are shaped as we go through suffering, we learn to endure - to hold on to faith. We create character, by taking the pieces of our lives, the good and the bad and the ugly, and work to shape them into something resembling the life of Jesus. And we live in hope because we see ourselves in process of becoming more like Christ. It is the labor of living, the working out of our own salvation with effort and energy.
But then this hope does not come from within. It is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Which means that the answer to the question of whether it is the faith of Christ or our faith in Christ must be “Yes!”
Is that cheating? Sorry. But it also seems to be true. It is an odd, no wait, it is a mysterious combination of our own efforts and the grace of God; it is our spirit and God’s Spirit intertwined in this wonderful dance called faith. The truth is we can’t know what is our effort and what comes from God, or rather we don’t usually know until afterwards.
Therefore, we live in hope, we reside in peace with God, we act in love in all things. Therefore.
Shalom,
Derek
OK, I’m not really going to argue with Paul about grammar. Especially since he was writing in a different language. And remembering Greek grammar rules is even more of a stretch than remembering English ones. Just sayin’.
But it doesn’t feel right does it? Just jumping in with a “therefore” as Paul does so often. Whole sections, completely new ideas, thoughts seemingly out of left field just appear with a “therefore” as though the connections ought to be obvious. But they aren’t. Sometimes.
Some people just talk like that, I know. As though you were supposed to remember everything that went before. There is a story of a United Methodist pastor who was serving a church when he got called to be a District Superintendent. He served in that capacity for six year and then when it was time to receive an appointment, we was sent to the church he left six years earlier. His first sermon back in the pulpit began “As I was saying...”
“Therefore” implies a connection, a line of argument. What follows “therefore” is built on what goes before. It is a pointer to a conclusion, or at least a resolution of some sort. It is also an indicator that something important is coming. Pay attention, it says, here’s is where we were heading, this is what I mean. Here we go!
Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Therefore, since, says Paul. Because of this one thing, this one relationship, then everything else follows. So, it must be important for us to understand what came before. “Since we are justified by faith,” he says. Ah, pretty important. For Paul this is the center of everything. Justification by faith. It is what captured Luther’s attention so radically that he launch the whole Protestant Reformation. Important stuff, then.
There is a problem, though. I hesitate to bring it up, because it doesn’t really affect this passage. It is a part of what comes before. Yet, it is important because of the “therefore.” It is a part of the “since.” It is the foundation of the peace that is offered here. It is the foundation of the hope we end up with. So, I can’t help but trouble you a little bit with this debate. Forgive me.
The problem is in the phrase “pistis Christou” (at least that is the transliteration from the Greek). “Pistis” is the word for faith, and “Christou” is the genitive or possessive form of Christ. So, you are asking, where’s the problem? Well, most of the time the genitive form gets translated with an “of,” but then sometimes it is translated with an “in.” So, the problem is which is it?
Funny how a two letter word can cause such turmoil in biblical scholarship. But it does. There are opposing camps, and have been almost from the beginning of the church, that are aligned on each side of this debate. It is almost as though you can see those marching around with T-shirts emblazoned with “OF” and those with tattoos in gothic script reading “IN.”
OK, not quite. Makes an interesting picture of a bunch of scholarly types in gang attire with appropriate colors, snarling at one another in their turf wars, though. Doesn’t it? Maybe not. Sorry.
“Faith in Christ” verses “faith of Christ.” That’s the struggle. That’s the debate. Reams of paper have been used in making the case for each, and I don’t propose to present the arguments adequately. But to grossly simplify it is basically asking the question who’s faith is doing the work here? “Faith of Christ” implies that it is the faith of Jesus, the life he lived and the sacrifice he made that brings salvation. “Therefore, since Christ’s faith has saved us, we have peace with God.” And peace in this sense means a relationship. Because of what Christ has done, we now can approach God, we now can be reconciled, made right with God. It was his action, his faithful living and dying that did this. We are saved by the faith of Christ. But then, we don’t have to, in fact really can’t do anything. It is Christ’s faith, and we are simply blessed recipients of the benefits.
Unless, it is “faith in Christ.” Because that means that it is us, that we generate this faith, we are responsible for it. It is our effort, our work to have faith. We are engaged, we have to claim the gift, it is up to us. It is a choice we make. But, it could lead to the understand that we have to have the right kind of faith, or the right amount. It provides an escape clause for unanswered prayer, for suffering - “if you only had enough faith.” Which troubles us to no end. Or it should anyway.
So, which is it? Uh. Jesus provides the access, according to verse two. Access to the peace, the relationship with God that we crave. But then we are shaped as we go through suffering, we learn to endure - to hold on to faith. We create character, by taking the pieces of our lives, the good and the bad and the ugly, and work to shape them into something resembling the life of Jesus. And we live in hope because we see ourselves in process of becoming more like Christ. It is the labor of living, the working out of our own salvation with effort and energy.
But then this hope does not come from within. It is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Which means that the answer to the question of whether it is the faith of Christ or our faith in Christ must be “Yes!”
Is that cheating? Sorry. But it also seems to be true. It is an odd, no wait, it is a mysterious combination of our own efforts and the grace of God; it is our spirit and God’s Spirit intertwined in this wonderful dance called faith. The truth is we can’t know what is our effort and what comes from God, or rather we don’t usually know until afterwards.
Therefore, we live in hope, we reside in peace with God, we act in love in all things. Therefore.
Shalom,
Derek
No comments:
Post a Comment