FEATURES OF PAULINE GOSPEL IN ROMANS 1:16-17

By Mathieu Ndomba Ngoma

In his writings, Paul uses 56 times the Greek word Εύαγγελιον whose counterpart in English is “Gospel” or “Good News”. This abundant use calls for a closer look. In the letter to the Romans 1:16-17, Paul defines the word Εύαγγελιον as “the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live”[1].

Three main features flow from this statement: (i) the gospel is dynamic or kerygmatic, (ii) promissory and universal, and (iii) apocalyptic or revelatory.

i. - The gospel (εύαγγελιον) is dynamic and kerygmatic

The gospel (εύαγγελιον) is the power of God (δυναμις θεου) for salvation (σωτηρία) to everyone who has faith (πίστις) (v.16). The power of God refers to the person of Jesus understood as the salvific force unleashed by God in human history. Thus, the content of the gospel is neither a theory nor a message. It is a person, Jesus, who, through his earthly life and his resurrection, constitutes the power of God leading the believing humanity to salvation. And salvation means deliverance from the wrath of God (Rm. 5:9), or full entrance into the blessing of the final age for those who have faith. Faith as obedience or acceptance of the content of the gospel (Jesus) becomes the condition for salvation. People come to faith through the kerygma, the proclamation of Jesus’ ministry, passion death and resurrection. Therefore, by the fact of being dynamic, the gospel is also kerygmatic. These two features go together in Pauline understanding of the gospel. He asks the question of how “to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?” (Rm. 10:14).  Faith comes after hearing the proclamation of Jesus. All who respond with faith, the gospel is effective to salvation.

ii. - The gospel (εύαγγελιον) is promissory and universal

In his understanding of the gospel, Paul recognizes the priority of the Jews, or Israel’s privilege. The messiah was promised to Israel, and the Jews were first to believe in him. Paul stresses this privilege from the beginning of the Roman correspondence: he is set apart for the gospel of God “which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures…” (Rm. 1:2). He comes back to this privilege in v.16: “to the Jew first”. This promissory characteristic of the gospel establishes the precedence to Judaism for the sake of the continuity of salvation history. There is no gap. It establishes also that the law has never been the means or the force for salvation. Even in Judaism, salvation was supposed to be linked to the messiah promised by God.

However the promissory dimension does not limit salvation to the Jews. The same v.16 adds “also to the Greek”. The expression the Jews and the Greeks indicates the whole humanity, the whole world. Thus, the gospel is universal “for God shows no partiality” (Rm. 2:11). The gospel is preached to all for “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him. For every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rm. 10:12-13).

iii. - The gospel (εύαγγελιον) is apocalyptic or revelatory

Paul uses the Greek word άποκαλυπτεται which comes from άποκαλυπτειν whose meaning is to reveal or to disclose. The gospel is then the revelation of the righteousness of God (δικαιοσυνη θεου). The Greek word δικαιοσυνη refers to justice. Yet when it is applied to God it goes beyond distributive or retributive justice. It takes the meaning of righteousness as the way God puts human beings in a right relationship with himself. This action of putting in the right relationship is the saving activity of God. So the gospel reveals God’s saving grace and mercy, and salvific activity in Jesus Christ whose death and resurrection has effected salvation of believers. The gospel is “good news” because it makes known or it discloses God’s salvific activity. In the life of Jesus, the saving act of God has been revealed. This righteousness is manifested through Christ to all sinners and apprehended by faith.

The revelation of God’s righteousness, says Paul, is made "through faith for faith" or "from faith to faith” (έκ πίστεως είς πίστιν). Joseph Fitzmyer understands this phrase as a process of intensification of faith. “God’s economy of salvation is shared more and more by a person as faith grows: from a beginning faith to a more perfect or culminating faith”[2]. It is through progressive faith that the content of the gospel is known by believers. The culminating faith allows to share the righteousness of God, and to share also salvation and eternal life.

Let us conclude by saying that the gospel as defined by Rm. 1:16-17 is about salvation made available to whoever accepts to become righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. What Paul is saying here is that salvation does not depend on the law, but rather on faith through which a Christian commits himself to the righteousness of God.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

·        BYRNE, Brendan, Romans (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1996).

·        FITZMYER, Joseph A., To Advance the Gospel, 2^nd edition (Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1981).

·        FITZMYER, Joseph A., Romans. A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New York: Doubleday, The Anchor Bible, 1993).

·        JOHNSON, Luke T., The Writings of the New Testament. An interpretation (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986).

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[1] Ού γαρ έπαισχύνομαι το εύαγγελιον, δυναμις γαρ θεου έστιν είς σωτηρίαν παντι τω˛ πιστεύοντι, Ίουδαιω˛ τε πρωτον και Έλληνι. δικαιοσυνη γαρ θεου έν αύτω˛ άποκαλυπτεται έκ πίστεως είς πίστιν, καθως γέγραπται, Ό δε δικαιος έκ πίστεως είς πίστεως ζησεται.

[2] FITZMYER, Joseph A., Romans. A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New York: Doubleday, The Anchor Bible, 1993), p. 263.