God's Renewed Humanity

"I shall try to show then that Paul's vision of the renewal of humanity in Christ is not simply a one-dimensional ethic.  It is not simply a matter of 'getting saved' and then 'learning how to be have.'  It is a multi-textured vision, woven together to meet various specific needs, and promoted with all the energy that, Paul declared, his God had inspired him with."

What what does Paul's vision of the renewal of humanity in Christ involve?  That is the central question of chapter 8 in What St. Paul Really Said by N.T. Wright.  According to Wright, this involved several things:

1) Worship -  Worship of the one true God is at the center of the renewal of humanity.  This means setting aside all parody, imitation, and counterfeit 'gods' - anything by which humans look upon the power of God and instead of worshiping God worship the elements of the world.  We may expect Paul's critique of pagan idolatry along these lines (c.f. Romans 1:20-23) but the surprising twist that Wright points out is how Paul critiqued unbelieving Judaism along the same lines (which is Paul's focus in Romans 2).  Worshiping counterfeit gods leads to counterfeit humanity.  Therefore, Paul's vision of the renewed humanity means worshiping the true God, reflecting the true God, and thus becoming more truly and genuinely human in the process.

2) Resurrection - The age of the resurrection has begun with the death and resurrection of Jesus.  We are no longer living in the 'last days' awaiting God's defeat of evil.  Instead, we are living in the beginning of a new age in which Jesus and his way of the cross has already defeated the power of evil, sin, and death.

3) Holiness - As we await the day when God brings into completion the victory already won in Christ, those who have turned to worship the one true God are to lived transformed lives of holiness (c.f. Romans 12:1ff).  Growing in Christlikness in Paul's vision is not an optional add on, and yet at the same time Wright acknowledges that Paul was a realist.  Growth in holiness and progress in Christlike does not mean perfection.  So rather than a life of perfection, Paul's vision for the renewed humanity is a process in which worshiping the one true God and sharing in the sufferings of Christ leads to genuine humanness.  Of course, sharing in the sufferings of Christ means that holiness does not come cheap.

4) Love - The counterfeit gods of paganism and unbelieving Judaism lead to fracturing, not only in the lives of individuals but also between tribes, peoples, and groups.  Paul's vision of a new humanity therefore involves a new creation of a community shaped by love; agape love.  This is the love the overcomes social division and demonstrates Christ's victory over the principalities and powers.  This kind of love is a lifestyle, not an emotion.  It is a lifestyle that transcends social boundaries and forms a new community united in the worship of God.

5) Mission - Resurrection-informed worship resulting in lives of holiness and communities of love then lead into the mission of the church which is to proclaim, announce, and embody God's kingdom in the world.  This means following Jesus, the crucified and risen King, in daily life and announcing the gospel of King Jesus to every creature under heaven.

Paul's vision of the new humanity involves a life based on worship, defined by resurrection. committed to holiness, shaped by love, and dedicated to mission.  Thus, the new humanity made possible by Christ finds its fulfillment in a new vocation.  It's not only about being blessed, it's about being a blessing to others; which is the fulfillment of the call of Abraham from the start (Gen 12:1-3).

Justification and the Church

“In terms of the place of justification within Paul’s thought, I have already indicated that it cannot be put right at the center, since that place is already taken by the person of Jesus himself…”

As Wright has been saying all along throughout the book What Saint Paul Really Said, what Paul meant when he said “gospel” or “righteousness” doesn’t always correspond to what we mean when we use these words in the contemporary church.  It’s not that our usage is wrong or completely off course, just that there are subtle, yet important differences. 

The particular insight I want to bring out is Wright’s argument that justification language is eschatological.  Wright argues that “Justification in the first century was not about how someone might establish a relationship with God.  It was about God’s eschatological definition… of who was, in fact, a member of his people…. It was not so much about getting in or about staying in, as about how you could tell who was in.” 

In contemporary usage, justification may be used to talk about how a person comes into a relationship with God through Jesus.  Wright however, argues that Paul never uses the word justification to talk about how a person comes into a relationship with God.  Rather, Wright argues, that Paul instead outlines a process by which one comes into a covenantal relationship with God that involves such things as the Good News that Jesus is King is first proclaimed, then the spirit of God works on an individual’s heart, then the person comes to believe, join a church through baptism, and share in the church’s way of life.

Wright is reversing the order of how we think about justification.  It’s not so much about how one starts a relationship with Jesus.  It is rather how we tell who is already a part of the people of God.  It’s about how we can tell in the present who will be vindicated by God on the last days.  And the mark of how we tell who are a part of the people of God in the present, and who will be vindicated by God in the future, is faith.  We are justified by faith.  The way we can tell who is a member in God’s family is if they believe the good news that Jesus, the crucified and risen messiah, is King.  The way we can determine who will be vindicated by God in the last day is by their faith. 

For Saul the Pharisee, the badge, the mark, the identifier that determined if someone was a part of the people of God was circumcision.   Paul the Convert maintains that there is a special “mark” by which the people of God are identified; it’s just that he now substitutes circumcision with faith.  The people of God are no longer marked by common ancestry, but by common faith, i.e. true children of Abraham. 

I find myself following Wright along this path, and also wanting to add one more thing.  Yes, faith in messiah Jesus, the crucified and risen king, is a part of what demarcates a person as a member of God’s family.  But I also think that Paul’s understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit is part and parcel to this as well. 

In Genesis 17:10-11 circumcision is given to Abraham as a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendants.  Thus, because of this sign, because of this seal, there was a very real and obvious way that one could tell who was a part of the covenant that God made with Abraham. 

Paul builds on this in Romans 5:11 where he refers to Abraham’s circumcision as “seal of the righteousness that he had by faith.”  Abraham had faith, and God gave him the sign of circumcision as a seal (a marker, an identifier) of one who has faith.     

Elsewhere in Paul’s writings Paul applies the same word “seal” to the Holy Spirit. 

Eph:1:13 – “In him also when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.” 

Eph 4:30 – “And do not grieve the Holy Spirt of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.” 

2 Cor 1:21-22 – “It is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.” 

So yes, we are justified by faith, and therefore faith in Christ is the "seal" by which we can know in the present who will be vindicated by God in the future.  But I find the connection with the Holy Spirit as a “seal” also helpful.  It’s another piece of the puzzle.  Is one’s life marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?  Might those also be marks, identifiers, “seals” that identify in the present the children of God?

This seems to me to provide a biblical and theological guidepost for the church in 21^st century America; a context where no community, save those that are extremely isolated or policed, is homogenous.  Justification by faith alone, and an appreciation for the fruits of the Spirit in the life of believers, provide a platform for unity within the church; a unity for which Jesus prayed in John 17:20-23. 

As Wright says, Justification has more to do with ecclesiology than soteriology.