The Deliverance of God: an Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul

Chapter Sixteen: Atonement and "Justification" in Romans 3.21-26

S.1. Preamble

We now know not to read JT into the text (p639).

S.2. The Meaning of Romans 3.25a.

2.1 The Christological Key: Exploring atonement (p640-41); "God intended Christ to be a Illusteriona by means of his fidelity, by means of his blood" )p642); the use of the article (p643); arthrous and anarthrous, the objective and the subjective (p644); the canon of Apollonius and the emergence of  the subjective (p645-46).

2.2 The Underlying Martyrological Narrative: The role of the Passion (p647); Greek: Illasterion: 4 Maccabees:  blood, death and salvation (p648); a mutual antecedent not a sequence (p649); Leviticus 17 (p450); cultic aspects not fundamental (P651); Genesis 22 and the Temple, Illasterion and the mercy seat (p652); claim that the atoning martyrdom theory connected with Genesis 22 is post Temple destruction now overturned by Qumran; Paul explicitly activates the martyrdom motif: R 3.22,25,26 on Jeus' Fidelity; 3.21-26 refers to another heroic dying, relating to blood (p653); some kind of atonement but not tied to JT (p654); the chain of allusion (p655).

S.3. A Liberative Analysis of "Justification" in Romans 3.23-24

i) All sinned and lacked the glory of God; ii) all who believe are 'justified'; iii) 'justification' is free; iv) instrumentally caused by Christ's Apolutrosis.

3.1 The Meaning of (Greek: Apolutrosis) in Romans 3.24 (p656): Literally means a  release: Christ has released humanity from some form of slavery or bondage; so J is some form of liberating process (p657).

3.2 The Meaning of Romans 3.23: The "loss of glory" is the loss of God's image that Adam and Eve possessed.

3.3 The Meaning of (Greek: Dikaioo) in Romans 3.24 (p658): The difference between being found guilty as charged and one's general moral orientation; but this is God and eschatology. Judgments on charges are indicative but that might have intrinsic performative conditions (a sentence tariff); in eschatological terms, in pronouncing the verdict God also indicates heaven or hell (p659); Paul strongly indicates a combination of indicative and performative (p660); God positively varied performative judgment in OT (p661); performative-liberative or "amnesty" (p662); JT confines Paul's options to forensic-retributive,  blunting perception of other options. Nothing in 3.21-26 necessarily retributive (p663); a forensic-liberative reading of unconditional benevolence (p664); a language of life and resurrection.

3.4 The Rhetorical Significance of Romans 3.23-24.

Excursus: Continuities with Contemporary Jewish Sources (p665)

Retribution and benevolence in Psalms (p666); 4 Ezra, Wisdom, Qumran (p667).

Paul wishes to defuse eschatological insecurity; the Teacher marginalises the Christ event; the decisive events of the eschaton have already taken place; Paul shifts "righteousness" from the retributive to the liberating. There will be no future retributive judgment (p668); God justifies the ungodly; in Christ he has set them free; Christ's guarantees (p669).

S.4. The Meaning of Romans  3.25b (p670)

(Greek: Paresis) passing over or release? The "holding back" is of human oppression not God's wrath (p671) clemency or even the respite from God in Christ.

S.5. The Meaning of Romans 3.26b

God returned to the position of active subject (p672); we end up where we began with  the self-disclosure of God in Christ (673); grammatical factors  (p674); "God is right in the very act of liberating that one by means of faithfulness - namely, Jesus" (p675). "The nature of God, his 'righteousness', seems to be revealed definitively in the Christ event, and especially in Christ's Resurrection - an obvious but ultimately very significant claim."