1. Romans 1:16- 18 as a Summary of the Gospel

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is 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, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth.

This text is header to Paul’s lengthy discussion of the gospel in Romans, many commentators see 1:16b – 17 as the theme of the letter.

Important Features in this Text

1. The Priority of Righteousness – Paul does not list another revealed attribute of God e.g. love, mercy.  There must be a foundational reason for this selection.
2. The Centrality of God – Paul is theocentric rather than anthropocentric.  It is something objective about God‘s righteousness that is revealed, rather than the human condition.
3. The “Power of God” – there is a dynamic involved through the gospel, not merely information.  (Note the parallel with 1 Cor 1:18, here “the word of the cross” is “the power of God” for “us who are being saved”. Compare James 1:21.)
4. The Primacy of Revelation – it is the revelation of God’s righteousness, not God’s righteousness as such, that saves humanity.  (This is not to say that the revelation is not a righteous act in itself.)
5. The Dynamic Connection between Revelation and Prophetic Utterance – the revelation of the gospel empowers Paul to forcefully articulate its message without shame.  Some have referred to this as “gospel incandescence”.  That is, the gospel is self-motivating.  Compare Galatians 1:11-12, 16; 2 Cor 5:14- 15.
6. The Connection between the Gospel Revelation and the Revelation of Wrath – the absolute necessity of the gospel and its power is recognisable through a parallel revelation that humanity is under God’s wrath.

2.  Signs in the Church of Confusion about the Gospel

1. The Neglect of the Righteousness of God – God’s love, generosity and grace are still popular topics but there is a failure to connect them with his justice.
2. The Anthropocentric nature of Christianity – human need is at the centre of popular preaching rather than divine glory.
3. The Absence of Power – this is indicated by the failure of many Christians (and leaders) to live righteous lives; this signifies a failure to participate in God’s righteousness mediated in the gospel (2 Cor 5:21).
4. The Pursuit of Revelation apart from the Word –revelation tends to be pursued in the context of personal vision, rather than insight into the text or testimony of scripture.  (Conservatives tend to see the latter as “illumination”.)
5. The Lack of Prophetic Preaching and Teaching – this is proclamation that carries the stamp of immediate inspiration in a specific context.
6. The Absence of References to God’s Wrath – under post-modern cultural pressures a vocabulary of judgement has dropped out of much of the church.

3.  The Primacy of Revelation

1. This follows from the fact that we cannot know anything about God, including the gospel, unless he chooses to reveal it to us.  ‘At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’ (Matt 11:25-27).
2. There seems to be an intrinsic connection between righteousness, revelation and salvation.  The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. (Ps 98:2).  Thus says the Lord: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. (Isaiah 56:1).  (Compare Ps 24:5.)  Various texts speak of the “going forth” of God’s righteousness.  21 Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago?  Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none besides me.  22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness  a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow,  every tongue shall swear allegiance.’ 24″Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.  25 In the LORD all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.” (Isa 45:21 -25);I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.” (Isa 46:13); “no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their righteousness from me, declares the Lord.” (Isa 54:17); 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21- 26); In some way the righteousness of God is an active force in the world (as the wrath of God is, Rom 1:18- 32).
3. There are important differences between the revelation of God’s wrath and revelation of his righteousness.
   1. Only the latter is eschatological.  It is through God’s eschatological act in power that the world is set right with the divine purpose.  (This is because it relates to the resurrection of Christ.)  This means the gospel is a message about the transformation of an aeon.  (Compare Hebrew 1:1-2,  1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.)  The locus of the gospel is not personal inner transformation, but the renewal of “all things”.  Acts 3:19-21 19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.  Colossians 1:20-21 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.  2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore, if anyone in Christ, a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  The wrath of God is on “the present  evil age” (Gal 1:4) but this is not identical to eschatological wrath (10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. 1 Thess 1:10; 5 But because  of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. (Rom 2:5).
   2. This difference is connected to the Holy Spirit.  Even though the revelation of God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature…in the things that have been made.” (Rom 1:20), would seem to involve the work of the Holy Spirit through creation (Compare Psalm 104:30), there is no revelation by the Spirit in the content of  the wrath of God as it works itself out in the normal course of the history of this age.  That is, Paul is making a claim that he is able to perceive the wrath of God revealed from heaven in the sinfulness of mankind because of the revelation of the gospel.  He has insight into wrath by being delivered from wrath through the gospel.
   3. This difference in revelation is objective.  It is not simply a matter of subjective perception.  It is not “Accept that you are accepted.” (Tillich).  It is something that relates to the deliberate action of God.  The absence of revelation in wrath is not merely permissive, something God allows, or privative, something people are without, but juridical, that is, an active judgement on the part of God (Compare Rom 1:24, 26, 28; Isa 6:9-10; Mark 4:11-12, 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.”)
   4. This difference relates to the identity of Jesus Christ as the one eschatological person both in relation to wrath (cross) and righteousness (resurrection).  “In the last analysis the gospel is…Jesus’ self –proclamation as the Christ.” (Marxsen)

4. Losing the Revelation of the Righteousness of God in Christ

That God deliberately withholds revelation from his covenant people is clear from the Old Testament e.g. 1 Sam 3:1; 2 Chron 15:3; Lam 2:9; Ezek 7:26; Amos 8:11; Micah 3:6. “Truly you are a God who hides himself.  O God and Saviour of Israel.” (Isa 45:15).  This is a devastating judgement.  It is not easy however to find correspondences to this in relation to the church in the New Testament.  There seems however no alternative explanation for a state of spiritual impoverishment.  The church must lose the spiritual power when it is under the judgement of God and he deliberately withholds revelation.  This has to relate to confusion about the identity of Jesus as manifested in the gospel.  An unholy church lacks revelation because it loses participation in God’s glory.  Holiness is glory concealed and glory is holiness revealed.  The cross – resurrection is the locus of revelation in the New Testament because it is the locus of the glory (Luke 24:26; John 12:23;13:31; 17:1, 5; Acts 3:13; Heb 2:9; 1 Pet 1:11) of a holy God.

 5. Revelation is Identical to the Self- Understanding of Jesus

1. If revelation is a gracious participation in God’s own knowledge of God (John 17:3; 2 Pet 1:4) e.g. of his righteousness it follows that the only site of such revelation is God in Christ.
2. The revelation of the gospel is a share in the revelation the Father granted to Jesus of who he was in the course of his saving human life.
3. This gospel revelation can be nothing other than the revelation that God is the Father of Jesus, or Jesus is his Son. (This is the content of the Incarnation 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14).

There is considerable biblical evidence for this thesis:

1. It is expressly stated.

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Mark 1:1); Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, (Rom 1:1 -3; cf. Gal 1:12; Rev 1:1) 32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “‘You are my Son (Acts 13:32 -33) beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (Acts8:35 -37)

2. It is contained in events in the life of Jesus

1. The baptism of Jesus – and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”(Matt 3:17).
2. The transfiguration – a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matt 17:3)
3. The resurrection – and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 1:4); 32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead (Acts 13:32 -34).

3. It occurs in the life of the New Testament Disciples

1. To those sent out – 25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.  27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. (Matt 11:25- 27).
2. To Peter – 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (Matt 16:16- 17).
3. To Paul – 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born,  and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son in me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles (Gal 1:15- 17).  This pleasure of the Father must be the same pleasure that he took in revealing to Jesus his Sonship (e.g. Matt 3:17).  The verb used is the same (eudokeo).
4. To all Christians – 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book (John’s Gospel); 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30 -31)

6. Grieving the Holy Spirit quenches Revelation

1. If revelation of the Son of God is what the Father is pleased to give, then the absence of revelation in the church must be related to grieving the Holy Spirit concerning the filial identity of the person of Jesus.  (30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption (Eph 4:30)).  This is because the Spirit of adoption/God’s Son who dwells in us (Rom 8:15- 16; Gal 4:6). and reveals to us eschatological things (Eph 4:30) is the same Spirit who revealed to Jesus his own filial identity e.g. at his baptism (Matt 3:16), during his ministry (Luke 10:21) and resurrection (Rom 1:4).
2. The background to Ephesians 4:30 is Isaiah 63:10, 10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.  This is one of the rare uses of the term “Holy Spirit” in the Old Testament and appears in a context of particular intimacy.  9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. (Isa 63:9).  (This seems to correlate with the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. 3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows,  and acquainted with grief;  and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities (Isa 53:3- 5).)
3. The wider context reminds us of the environment in which the gospel is revealed in Romans, the wrath of God.  Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.”2 Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the wine-press?3 “I have trodden the wine-press alone,and from the peoples no-one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath;their lifeblood spattered on my garments,and stained all my apparel. 4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come.  5 I looked, but there was no-one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation,and my wrath upheld me.6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”  (In the New Testament this passage provides the eschatological backdrop for the wrath of the Lamb e.g. Rev 6:16;19:11-16*; 2 Thess 1:7- 8.)
4. The context provides another significant link, this has to do with one other infrequent Old Testament theme –the Fatherhood of God. 15 Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me. 16 For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. (Isa 63:15 – 16).  It would seem that where the tender mercies of God are spurned, the Holy Spirit is grieved and the testimony of Fatherhood is lost in Israel.  In other words,Israel loses sight of her redemptive sonship (Ex 4:22; Mal 2:10).  This is a covenantal condition rather than that which is expressed as wrath to those outside the covenants of promise (Eph 2:12).  It seems to model the current state of the church.
5. Returning to our foundational text in Ephesians 4:30, Paul explains how the Spirit is grieved.  31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (4:31- 32).  When Christians do not exercise love and tender heartedness to each other they do not experience the Father in this way because they are treating one another as if their common Father was a wrathful God.  “The saints’ share in the tree of life and the holy city is diminished.”

7. The Centrality of Gentle Restoration

The notion of “restoration” is one that embraces everything from the individual to the cosmic level (Matt 17:11;19:28; Acts 3:21).  In other words, it is equivalent to the scope of the gospel.

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual (NRSV- have received the Spirit) should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. (Gal 6:1)

This passage is not talking about intentional transgression, but being overtaken by a sin. The process of restoration (katartidzo) from sin in the body of Christ is to take place in a way that manifests the nature of the Spirit himself i.e. the Spirit who is so easily grieved.  The implication, in line with Ephesians 4:32 and Isaiah 63, is that the tender hearted forgive tender-heartedly.  In this way, they reveal that together they are sons of the one Father and brothers of Jesus (Matt 28:10; John 20:17; Rom 8:29; Heb 2:11 -13).

I propose that this manner of forgiveness constitutes the revelation of sonship that is at the core of the gospel.  If “Revelation is reconciliation.” (Barth), then the mode of revelation is key to effecting reconciliation.  This comes down to the question, “How does the Father forgive?”

I am supposing that the key experiences in the life of Jesus that reveal the Father to him (and so to us) all contain within them the revelation that the Father forgives freely, genuinely, fully, non –contractually, compassionately and so on.  These events- baptism, transfiguration, return of the seventy- two, resurrection, are all “gospel events” to do with effecting reconciliation. This will entail various consequences for the meaning of wrath for the Father.  In brief, the “Father” is not wrathful.  (13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him Ps 103:13 ; compare Jer 31:9, 20; Mal 3:17; Luke 15:21 -22).

To contextualise this, I propose that the human experience of restoration at a personal level, particularly as this involves discipline/punishment/judgement, either in the family, community (or the church – though this is more complex), images to the conscience what the divine discipline/punishment or judgement will be imagined to be at all levels of human existence.  Outside of Christ, this imagining is the fundamental content of God’s wrath.

The problem, it seems to be, is that if the above hypothesis is true, there is a confusion between the temporal wrath of God and the eschatological wrath of God, in the perception of the church.  It is the righteousness of God to deliver us from the latter, whereas in many ways there are experiential dimensions incorporated in the former, such as temptation, sin, conflict, disease and physical death that the believer is not immune from in this life.  Even though this cannot be called “wrath”, simply because it is discontinuous with the final state, it can be called “judgement”, “punishment” and “discipline” (1 Cor 11:29- 34; Heb 12:5 -11).  The current “gospel” emphasis to do with temporal prosperity and welfare is therefore in direct contradiction to the true eschatological message of the Sonship of Jesus.

This appears to set up a vicious circle.  If the church confuses these matters in its heart, it will live as if it is under the wrath of God.  That is, it will manifest all the sins that Paul lists in Romans 1:18- 32 to which God has “given over” the unrighteous.  For Paul, it is this “unrighteousness” that opposes the “righteousness of God” revealed in the gospel.  The current state of the church in many ways therefore may be taken as a confirmation of the original thesis of this paper – that the revelation of God’s righteousness is what we are most lacking today, and we are lacking it because much of the church is preaching an untrue gospel by word (false doctrine) and deed (spiritual abuse).