Paul discussed at length the power of
sin and the power of God’s salvation as brought about by Jesus Christ in his
letter to the Romans. He maintains that sin came into the world through Adam,
and so death, the consequence of sin, spread to all human beings because of the
first man (Rom 5:12-14). While Paul did not mention “original sin” in the letter,
it was in reflection of these few verses that Augustine in the 4th
century CE developed the theology of original sin. Augustine maintained that by
his sin Adam fell from his original supernatural status, through human
propagation which involved concupiscence, the lack of grace was passed on to
every human being descended from Adam (Brown 580).
This brings us to the creation story in
Genesis. Since Adam has sinned against God, he would have to face death, “…
until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and
to dust you shall return” (Gen 4:19). Adam is a representative figure of the
human race. Because of him, death entered into the world and all the human race
would have to face death, the consequence of sin. Paul then made a comparison
between Adam and Jesus. He wrote, “just as sin exercised dominion in death, so
grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 5:21). Why is it? Because Jesus is the
source of God’s grace. The story of Genesis would have to be re-read in this
light. The “original sin” and death that have been brought about by Adam have
lost their power because “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more”
(Rom 6:20).
But how can one enter into God’s grace?
Paul gave an answer in his letter. Christians should be baptized into the
“death” of Jesus Christ. He said, “Therefore we have been buried with him by
baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4).
Essentially, Christians would have to die in their own self so that their body
of sin might be crucified with Christ and destroyed. In this way, the “works of
the flesh”, including “fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry,
sorcery, impurity, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions,
factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these” (Gal 5:19:21)
would all be abandoned. On the other hand, through baptism, Christians would
receive a new life from Christ and live with him. Paul also assured Christians
that Jesus, being raised from the dead, will never die again. As such,
Christians must consider themselves dead to sin and alive forever to God in
Christ Jesus (Rom 6:9-11). Rom 6:3-11 is a must-read in the Liturgy of the
Easter Vigil every year. Catechumens are baptized once and for all into the
death of Jesus so that they can be resurrected with him into a new life. And
importantly, all of us are in the realm of God’s grace, which is His free gift
to eternal life.
Yet Paul brought out another issue in
his Letter to the Romans. “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I
do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do
what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within
me” (Rom 7:18-20). While Christians have been saved from “original sin” and the
power of death, we are not totally immune from sin and evil, and indeed far
from being the ideal according to Paul’s own reflection on the free will of
man, which is very real. Although Jesus has delivered us from death and sin and
brought us new life, how should we live this new life? Is the Mosaic Law an
answer to Christians? Paul responded in the negative. While Paul considered the
law and commandment holy and good, it can only make one conscious of sins. He
said, “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin
revived and I died, and the very commandment that promised life proved to be
death to me” (Rom 7:9-10). So how can one still in the flesh be submissive to God’s
eternal law? Paul’s answer is that we need to live by the Spirit. He wrote to
the Romans, “If you live according to the flesh, you are going to die; but if
by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom
8:13). The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-controlled (Gal 6:22).
What will be consequence for a Christian
to live in the Spirit? It is the greatest gift from God: we become the children
of God, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Rom
8:14). In the Old Testament, the Israelites were the people of God. With the
salvation power brought about by Jesus in the New Testament, we can be led by
the Spirit to call God “Abba, Father!” (Rom 8:15). The adopted “sonship”
enables Christians to become children of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with
Christ, so that we may suffer with him and also be glorified with him (Rom
8:17). This is why we say one of the major effects of baptism is that the newly
baptized will become the sons and daughters of God. And from this time onwards,
they can legitimately and gracefully call “Our Father in heaven” when saying
the Lord’s Prayer.
Finally, Paul reminded us that the risen
Jesus has completely conquered sin and death and is at the right hand of the
father. Thus the power of sin and death can no longer separate Christians from
the love of Christ. Paul said, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword?” (Rom 8:35) And the answer he gave us is:
“No, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able
to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:37-39).
When we look back
to Paul’s reference to Adam, who is the source of sin and death, the primary
message he has given us is not in the sin of Adam but in the superabundant
grace of Christ. Paul contends Christ’s act of righteousness, his complete
faithfulness and obedience in God to the extent of dying on the cross for our
salvation, indeed led to justification and life for all. In this way, God has
brought us away from the power of sin and death. And in fact the meaning is even
more persuasive: God’s grace delivered to mankind through Jesus Christ has
turned “universal sinfulness” to “universal salvation” whereby we become the
children of God and co-heirs of His Kingdom! (Brown 581)
Bibliography
Brown, Raymond Edward. An
Introduction to the New Testament. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2007. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment