Paul vs. Nascent “Christianity”
We’ve seen that the “Christianity” that arose during the second century was very different in some ways from the Judaism that Jesus and his early followers taught. This new perspective seems to have arisen first in Rome, and Paul’s epistle to the Romans pushes back strongly against it. Paul had not been to Rome at this point, but he had heard about issues and attitudes that were affecting the group of Jesus-followers there. His epistle seems to be aimed primarily at Gentiles, to correct their attitudes toward Jews and Judaism.
In this epistle, Paul uses a phrase, “may genoito”, that means “absolutely not!”. It is the strongest possible negative. In this epistle it is used ten times, far more than in any of his other writings. And most or all these occurrences seem to be used to push back on this nascent Christianity. We will look at each of them here.
1,2: The first two usages are found early in chapter 3, in verses 4 and 6. “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: ‘So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.’ But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, ‘If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?’ Why not say– as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say– ‘Let us do evil that good may result’? Their condemnation is deserved.” (Romans 3:1-8)
This new group of Christians was opposing and distancing themselves from Jews, while Paul was pointing out that Jews were God’s chosen people and possessed God’s revelation in their scriptures. The first use of “may genoito”, in verse 4, seems to be referencing the idea that Jews must become Christians in order to gain God’s favor. Paul strongly denies that.
2: The second use of the phrase in verse 6 seems to address the idea that once we are forgiven, it doesn’t matter what we do. God will not judge sin and disobedience. This is totally wrong.
3: The next occurrence is in 3:31. “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” This is a verse that seems to be ignored by most Christians. Yet it clearly expresses Paul’s position regarding the law of Moses. Faith in Jesus does not cancel God’s commands in the law, despite what Christian tradition came later to teach.
4: The next occurrence is in 6:2. “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (6:1-2) It seems to address a similar issue to an earlier one, the idea that once we are forgiven, it doesn’t matter what we do. This is totally wrong, but seems to have been gaining traction in the Roman group.
5: The next use of this phrase is in 6:15. “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” It addresses a similar idea, that since believers are no longer under the penalty of law (you sin, you die), that it’s okay to sin, ignoring God’s commands. This idea has been embraced by virtually all of Christianity in the years since, and Paul denies it strongly.
6: The next use of the phrase is in 7:7. “What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law.” Some of the 2nd-century church fathers taught that it was wrong to do some of the things that God commanded, like observing the 7th-day Sabbath. Here Paul denies that idea in no uncertain terms. Keeping the law is not sin; it is obeying God.
7: The next use of the phrase is in 7:13. “Did that which is good, then become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.” In this chapter Paul repeatedly uses positive words to describe the law: “holy” (v. 12), “spiritual” (v. 14), and “good” (v. 16). He closes the chapter by saying, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.” (v. 22) and “So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law” (v. 25). But in verse 13 he points out that the purpose of the law is to define sin. Defining sin does not produce death. But recognizing sin, we should try hard to avoid it.
8: The next use is in 9:14. “What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.'” (9:14-15) God will save whom he wants to save. We can not necessarily identify who those will end up being. Many think that only Christians will be saved. But Paul states in 11:26 that all Israel will be saved.
9: The next use is in 11:1 where Paul addresses those who think that God has rejected Israel in favor of the “church”. Paul denies that strongly by saying, “I ask, then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.” There are many places in the scripture, especially the end of Jeremiah 31 and 33, where God promises he will never reject Israel. But this nascent Christianity thought that Jesus-followers had replaced Israel as God’s people. Paul had to set them straight on that error.
10: This is reinforced by the tenth use of the phrase in 11:11. “Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!” Israel stumbled by not recognizing Jesus as Messiah. But they didn’t stumble so as to fall, which is what the original Greek actually says. The following metaphor of an olive tree describes some Jews as branches that were “broken”, but not “broken off”, despite some errant translations. Jews are always God’s people. Gentile believers in Jesus have been grafted in among them and share the nourishing sap from the olive root.
It’s worth noticing that the New Covenant, as described in Jeremiah 31, is made with Israel. Gentiles are only included because of their partnership with Israel. And one of the results of this New Covenant is that God’s law will be placed in all minds and written on all hearts. (Jeremiah 31:33) God’s law will be the standard of behavior in the Messianic kingdom, and should certainly be the standard of behavior for his followers today.