gi-io_ fi^Q freedom of Christian service must be in-actically manifested, in foi-bearance and brotherly love and liberality.
gu-18 Peroration, summing up the main points of the Epistle, and the final benediction. Tiie Apostle calls attention to the fact that at any rate for these closing verses he has dispensed with the services of the customary amanuensis, and written his message in his own large handwriting (6'^). Possiblj- the words lypa^a rg ifiy x^'P^ may refer to the whole Epistle.
3. Leading ideas. — (a) Righteousness and Jttsti- fication. — St. Paul and his Judaistic opponents alike expressed their teaching in conventional Jew- ish terminology. Both agreed that the object of all religion is the attainment of 'righteousness' (oiKaioavur) [2-^ 3*' 5"]). The metaphor underlying the word 'righteousness' is forensic, and has its roots far back in the usage of the OT. In its most )n-imitive sense the word ' righteous ' (5u-aioj, Heb. P"^^) is used to describe that one of two litigants whom the judge pronounces to be 'in the right.' ' Righteousness ' {diKaioa-vvri, Heb. pis or ni37¥) is the status of one who is in the right. The verb which denotes the action of the judge in pronouncing him ' righteous ' (Heb. P''=i¥n) is represented by the Greek word diK-aiovp and the English ' to justify' (Lk 7^^). Used in the religious sense, ' righteousness' means the status of one who is in a right relation towards God, in a state of acceptance with God. ' To justify' {SiKaiovf) is to declare one to be in a state of righteousness (cf. Sanday-Headlam, Romans^, p. 28 IT. ).
(6) Works and faith. — The fundamental differ- ence between St. Paul and his opponents was not concerning the nature of righteousness, but con- cerning the way in wiiich it may be attained. The Judaizers maintained that righteousness is the reward of man's own effort. It is the fruit of perfect obedience to the will of God. The Law of Moses is the most complete expression of the Divine will for man. Whether for Jew or Gentile, there- fore, righteousness, the condition of salvation, depends upon an exact performance of all the Mosaic ordinances. We are 'justified by works of the law' (216-2154).
St. Paul exposes the fundamental defect of this position. The doctrine of ' justification by works ' takes no account of the inborn weakness of human nature. If righteousness be attainable by perfect obedience to the Law, then the Incarnation was unnecessary. Christ's death was superfluous and meaningless (2'i), for men can save themselves. But experience shows that human nature is so con- stituted as to be incapable of perfect obedience. The search for justification by works has been tried and has failed. Those who sought most eagerly have been most acutely conscious of their failure (2'^"i^). Tiie Law could not help them. All it could do was to make clear the Divine com- mands, and pronounce sentence on such as failed to keep them (3'^). From its sentence no man escapes. The actual result of the giving of the Law was to teach man by bitter experience that ' by works of the law shall no flesh be justified' (2^*).
But that righteousness which man cannot win by his own individual efforts he can now receive as a free gift won for him by Christ (P 3'^- ").
On man's side the one condition of justification is ' faith.' Faith is much more than mere intellec- tual belief. It is an entire surrender of the whole self to Christ, the conscious act of entering into vital union with Him. This union is no mere meta- phor, but a living personal reality. At baptism the believer ' puts on Clirist' (3-^). Thenceforward he is ' in Christ,' 'Christ is formed in him' (41"), until he can say, ' I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ' (21"--"). Thus ' they that are of faith ' (3**) are justified, not, as by a legal fiction, by the imputation to them of a righteousness which is not really their own, but because, as members of Christ, tliey have become living parts of that perfect human nature which alone is completely righteous, i.e. in complete union with God. Christ's righteous- ness is theirs because they are one with Him (3-^). But there can be no justification without the faith which is absolute self-surrender. Christ must be everything or nothing. If men persist in relying on their own unaided power to obtain righteousness by works, they cut themselves oft" from Christ and have no share in the righteousness which human nature has achieved in Him (5^).
(c) The Law and the promise. — God made a promise to Abraham, that in him and in his seed all nations should be blessed (3"). That promise is fulfilled in Christ. He is the true seed of Abraham (3i^- -'*), and the blessing received by the human race is the gift of the Spirit (3'^), which is the evidence of man's justification. But, when the promise was given, no mention was made of works or law. The Scrijjture speaks only of the ' faith ' of Abraham (3''). The promise given to Abraham was of the nature of a covenant signed and sealed. The Law, therefore, Avhich came more than 400 yeai's later, cannot annul it or add to it a new clause insisting on the necessity of works (3i^* "). The promise came first ; the Law came later. The promise is absolute, the Law conditional. The promise was spoken directly by God ; the Law was issued through mediators, human and angelic (S''*). These facts prove that the Law is subordinate and inferior to the promise, though it would be impious to imagine a contradiction between the two, since one God gave both (3'i). The Law had a real purpose to serve. By its exact definition of trans- gressions and the consequent deepening of man's sense of sin and helplessness (3i"), it prepared the way for his acceptance of the fulfilment of the promise, the ofi'er of justification by faith in Christ. But now that the promise is fulfilled the Law is no longer necessary (3-^' -^).