Where is Boasting? Early Jewish Soteriology and Paul's Response in Romans 1-5

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Mar 2004 by Grindheim, Sigurd

Stripped of Jewish synergism, Gathercole's Paul still betrays considerable common ground with second Temple judaism: grace (election/faith) fully accomplishes initial salvation, and works are determinative for vindication in the end (p. 135). Gathercole tentatively concludes that "Paul is operating with two somewhat distinctive perspectives on justification: the first occupying initial justification . . . and the second referring to God's final vindication of the one who has done good" (p. 265). The evidence for the second justification is drawn primarily from Romans 2.

I find this part of Gathercole's conclusion problematic for several reasons. The rhetorical function of Romans 2 is to serve as an indictment of the Jews, not to explain how one is justified. If the concession that the doer of the law is justified were Paul's own view of justification (not merely an argument that the law does not justify even on its own terms, as long as it is not kept), one would expect that it would be reflected in the part of Romans where Paul lays out his teaching on justification. Yet, as Gathercole points out, Paul insists that David, after his initial justification, was still justified by faith, to the exclusion of works. Moreover, if Paul held such a dual view of justification, I am at a loss to explain Galatians, where the issue is not initial justification, but how the believer can continue to be in a state of being right with God.

Gathercole interacts with Kent Yinger and glosses him as a proponent of the new perspective, while he understands himself as a critic of the same. The main differences between the two have to do with their interpretation of the synergistic nature of ju daism and of the expression "works of the law." Nevertheless, their basic understanding of the continuity between Paul and judaism is the same: as in judaism, Paul simultaneously believes in salvation by grace and judgment according to deeds. This may be symptomatic of the value of Gathercole's book: it blurs the distinctions between the camps and moves the discussion forward.

Sigurd Grindheim

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL