Today begins a sections in which Alison looks at the writings of Paul. He notes that already in Paul the same themes are present in regard to this subversion of thought about God and sin as was present much later in the writing of John's gospel.
In the first place we can see that for Paul the Gospel is the Gospel of the righteousness of God. This is what the death and resurrection of Jesus has revealed for him. That is shown in Romans 1:17 and again in Romans 3:25. What has happened in between these two references is that Paul, because of the necessity of clarifying the question of the exact theological nature of the law, has gone in for a long explanation of the inverse consequences of the same revelation of the righteousness of God : the revelation of what he calls the wrath of God. The content of this revelation is exactly the same as what I suggested above: that all human are constitutionally wrong (we all have a 'debased mind," 1:28) and constitutionally idolaters, as is demonstrated by our not knowing the righteousness of God. It would be well to examine this notion of the wrath of God because of the easy misunderstanding to which it is prone.
It is always amazing to me when things in life come together at the same time - mystical in a way. We are just starting a study of Romans and with that, moving into this part of Romans. Nice to have a few comments from outside the realm of those who write on Romans. Within the realm of the righteousness of God we are handed the reality of our God whose love it eternal - a love that is for us in and through all things. Paul will attempt to give that word to the church in Rome. As Alison puts it, Paul uses the inverse consequences of that revelation of love (God's righteousness) to point to that loving nature. Unfortunately, in chapter one of Romans, it can easily appear as though the focus is about our morality. No. It is more about God who can and who does rescue us and hold us close even as we keep turning and trusting in some other life. Literally throwing ourselves into the arms of more and more brokenness rather than facing up to the truth that we are the beloved of God and one shaped by that love for life. This is why for me Romans 1 has never been the 'word' about homosexuality. As ignorant as I can be in the face of 'scholars', this passage is about all of us - all of us who are constitutionally idolaters. Instead we do what we usually do - we scapegoat and point our fingers at the morality of others rather than at the love of God that can bring home any and all of us when we turn our face from God's loving embrace as we pursue other gods.
Connection: For too long, we define ourselves by what we are not. That is fine as we move to come to more and more clarity about the power of God's love. But too often defining ourselves by the negative turns into wars and witch-hunts and one-upmanship. That is our foul disorder. Yes we can point to a life that is shining with the brightness of God's righteousness breaking out - that is why we keep going back to the cross - to the life of the saints of God who turn our heads and make our hearts beat to the tempo of God's belovedness. So rather than exclude, our witness shines when we open the doors even as that is not in sync with the pressures of a culture that lives by scapegoating.
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