I love the letters of Apostle Paul to the saints at Rome and
Corinth, written indeed to all that are called to be saints wherever they may
be found. Paul,
formerly a zealous persecutor of the Christian faith, and brilliant teacher of
the law and
later called by God to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 117),
makes an interesting proposition on the subject of grace.
He addresses his
letters to the saints (Jews and Greeks) in such manner that gives us a profound
revelation on the subject of grace, justification, sanctification,
righteousness and so on, more than any other author of the books of the Bible.
Rightly so because that is what God called him to preach! Hence the Pauline
teachings remain an indispensable tool in our quest to understanding the gospel
of grace.
The Church at the time of his writings were made up of
Greeks who were at the centre of world civilization and therefore found it
difficult to accept that Salvation according to the gospel of Paul could come
from a man who died on a cross. The Greeks were more sophisticated; they sought
for wisdom (1 Corinthians 122) and incurred the wrath of God upon
themselves by their abuse of nature. Paul said they “profess to be wise yet
become fools” (Romans 118-32).
The Jews on the other hand, were more
of the religious creed who believed that Salvation was a product of the works
of the laws of Moses, and took pride in their knowledge of God to the scorn of
the gentile world. They boasted in their works by the law and attempted to make
themselves judges over the Greeks, but Paul said they were just as inexcusable
from the judgement of God because they did not keep the law (Romans 2). Paul’s
doctrine of grace rather sought to unite both Jews and Greeks in the fact that
the cross of Jesus and faith in His finished work of redemption was indeed the
only way to salvation and total wellbeing.
