Beyond Justification: Liberating Paul's Gospel

Paul proclaims in 90 percent of what he wrote that we have been set free, resurrected, and transformed through Christ at the behest of a loving God. This gospel proclamation can be found wherever he speaks of being in Christ. But this gospel and its account of salvation has been captured by another gospel, which also lays claim to being Pauls account of salvation. And this gospel is retributive, conditional, and ultimately damaging. Justification Theory, as we call this false account, lays claim to just under 10 percent of what Paul wrote. The presence of both these gospels within Pauls interpretation causes numerous acute problems. He is, to name just a few, fundamentally confused, frequently harsh, and unavoidably anti-Jewish. If we reread Pauls justification texts, however, paying more attention to the original historical circumstances within which they were composed, then they turn out to say something subtly but significantly different. Pauls justification texts can be interpreted carefully, faithfully, and consistently, in terms of his usual gospelour transformation in Christ. Thus Justification Theory is never activated. Pauls true gospel is thereby liberated from its long captivity to a false alternative. We can now see a kinder, gentler, and more consistent, apostle.