Page History

Scanned PDF Version of this Document

The so-called ethical sections of Paul's letters are not loosely tacked on to the weightier theological parts, as concessions to the practical needs of the less than ideal Christians in his congregations. Rather Paul's ethical admonitions are closely and significantly related to his preaching of the gospel, and thus to his fundamental theological convictions. What matters most, he insists, is faith enacted in love (Gal 5:6), and by this he means, in the present life of the believer and of the believing community. Virtually all of his concrete moral instructions are intended to specify the forms that faith's enactment in love should take in specific cases.

...

The same conclusion is confirmed by the long section of ethical appeals in Romans 12-13. This section is prefaced in 12:1 f. and concluded in 13:8-14 with eschatological references: "Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed ..."; and "The night is far gone, the day is at hand," etc. Similarly, in his letter to the Philippians, Paul climaxes his particular admonitions with the reminder that believers are citizens of a heavenly commonwealth, from which they await their Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (3:20). Thus their citizenship status in no way undercuts their present ethical responsibilities, but only makes them the more urgent.

n.d.