Justification, God’s Glory, and the Spirit
It is important, therefore, to stress the transformative
and restorative substance of what God does, for justification is even more than
a powerful legal pronouncement or act of pardon. Romans 3:24 implies that
justification solves the problem of humans missing out on the divine glory
(3:23). Justification means, in part, restoration to the glory we once
possessed—to true humanity that renders glory to God as the essence of true
humanity, experiencing the presence of God individually and in community.
Justification is the beginning of a new reality that will reach its ultimate
goal in eternal life and final glorification (5:2; 8:18).
Yet another key phrase in Rom 3:23 has been understood in
several different ways. Does Paul say “we fall short of the glory of God” (NRSV,
NIV, NET, RSV, NASB, ESV) or we “lack God’s glory” (NJB; cf. NAB “are deprived
of”)? Despite the answer expressed in multiple translations, it is best to
understand this verse in the second sense. That is, we are (or were, prior to
justification) lacking God’s glory. The basic meaning of glory (Gk. Doxa)
here seems to be divine presence, as in the glory of the Lord that filled the
tabernacle and the temple.
Lacking that glory is one way, then, of describing the fundamental
human predicament of life apart from God, when we have turned our backs on God
and become un-godded. At the same time, then, what humans need, is
precisely the glory of God. In justification, doxa is restored to humans
who have been characterized by lacking doxa. This is likely what Paul
means in 8:30 when he says believers
have been “glorified” by God. (At the same time, it must be remembered that
full and final glory is in the future [5:2], and that whatever glory believers experience
now by virtue of the presence of the Spirit is stamped with the pattern of the
cross [see esp. 5:3; 8:17]. We can refer to the present experience of the
Spirit as cruciform glory and as resurrection infused, or resurrectional,
cruciformity)
Paul asserts that divine glory was one of the blessings God
gave to Israel (9:4). We see this glory especially in the experience of Moses
and the children of Israel at Sinai and in the wilderness, particularly at the tabernacle,
or tent meeting (e.g., Exod 29:43-46; 40:34-35), and later in association with the
temple (e.g., 1 Kgs 8:10-11; 2 Chron 7:1-2). As a Jew, Paul of course also
believes that not only his fellow Jews, but all human beings, were created in
the image of God and given the breath of life from God (Gen 1:27; 2:7). As
such, they were both to give glory (honor and praise) to God and also to be—individually
and corporately—an ongoing representation of God and God’s presence on earth. (Paul
would also affirm with the Scriptures that the whole earth is full of God’s
glory [e.g., Isa 6:3] and that salvation consists of seeing and experiencing
that glory—which is something for “all flesh” [Isa 40:1-5]) God’s glory is to
be displayed in God’s people (Isa 49:3).
We see this clearly when Paul designates both the church
(1 Cor 3:16) and individual believers (1 Cor 6:19) as the temple of the Holy Spirit.
When he speaks of lacking God’s glory, he may once again have in mind the
prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel spoke of God’s glory leaving the temple and God’s people
(e.g., Ezek 10:18-19; 11:23), but he also promised that God’s glory would
return (Ezek 43:4-7) to dwell, by the Spirit, in the people (Ezek 36:25-28) and
also in a rebuilt temple (Ezek 40-48). (Michael J. Gorman, Romans: A Theological
and Pastoral Commentary [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2022], 121-22)
Justification: Vertical and Horizontal
This aspect of justification as involving becoming God’s
temple, individually and corporately, also helps us settle another debate about
justification that has been important especially in recent years. Is
justification (1) about how an individual is restored to right relationship
with God (a “vertical” understanding of justification) or (2) about who, and
how, all people—especially gentiles—are included in the people of God (a “horizontal”
understanding of justification)?
The answer to this question is “Yes.” Once again, we are
faced with a false either-or. Justification is about both the individual and
the community; when we are justified, we are transferred into Christ, into the
people of God, into the community of the just/righteous. In Christ, by the
power of the Spirit, the justified share in the holiness, faithfulness, and
righteousness/justice of God (2 Cor 5:21).
The idea that God’s saving act of justifying sinful human
beings includes remaking them into the temple of the Holy Spirit, individually and
corporately, is not an aspect of justification that has received sufficient
attention. Paul only hints at this truth here, when he implies that those lacking
God’s glory will now possess that divine glory. This sharing in God’s
glory will be only partial in the present, but full in the eschatological future.
The apostle refers to this glorious future reality in 5:2-5 and then puts all
of its significance on display in chapter 8. We were made to be temples of God’s
glory, indwelt and transformed by God’s Spirit, serving God in service to the
world. That is why justification is inseparably connected to
justice/righteousness—to holiness in living. Human adikia is being
undone. Sin is being interrupted and replaced with the divine presence. Christ’s
death makes all of this possible (see also Gal 3:1-5). (Ibid., 123)
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