Here we begin to see the idea of ‘working’ – elaborated
in ch. 4 v. 4 via the metaphor of a labourer – merge with the idea of ‘works’
as such. ‘Working’ in order to earn a wage morphs into possessing ‘works’ that
might lead one to be reckoned as ‘righteous’ by God. Paul insists that such
reckoning is possible independently of a person possessing ‘works’, and he
cites Ps. 31.1-2 LXX (MT 32.1-2) to this effect. The psalm citation adds a new
dimension to the argument: Paul has so far spoken of God reckoning
‘righteousness’ to a person who displays trusting faith in God. The opening of
Psalm 31 announces the possibility of God refraining from reckoning sin to a
person. Paul equates God’s positive imputation of righteousness to a
person with God’s declining to impute sin to a person. This intertextual
addition permits us to grasp more clearly why Paul referred to God’s ability to
‘justify the wicked’ in ch. 4 v. 5: a person is ‘reckoned righteous’ and has
his own wickedness wiped away, even if he has no ‘works’ to show, because he has
faith in God’s very ability to justify him. The psalm presents its reader with
two different nouns for the concept of ‘sin’, and two different verbs to
describe the way in which God chooses to forgive sin. Ps. 31.1 (LXX) declares
the person blessed whose ‘transgression’ (ἀνομίαι) is ‘forgiven’ (ἀφέθησαν; MT
Ps. 32.1: נשׁוי־פשׁע ), and whose ‘sin’ (ἁμαρτίαι; MT: חטעה ) is ‘covered’ (ἐπεκαλύφθησαν;
MT: .(כסה These are the people to whom God imputes ‘no iniquity’ (μὴ λογίσηται
κύριος ἁμαρτίαν; MT: לא יחשׁב יהוה לו עון ), for they have no ‘deceit’ (δόλος;
MT: רמיה ) in their spirits.
These references to ‘sin’ in the psalm citation echo
Paul’s reference to ‘debt’ or ‘obligation’ (ὀφείλημα) in Rom. 4.4. But for
Paul, the remission of sins is shaped to fit the message of God ‘crediting’
righteousness to a person ‘apart from works’ (5.6). For Paul in Rom. 4.5-8, the
imputation of righteousness as a result of faith is equivalent to the
‘remission’ of sins, of being ‘acquitted’ of ‘debts’. This is quite different
to ‘working’ for ‘wages’ as a ‘debt’ (4.4); it is the bestowal of a ‘gift’
without having ‘worked’ for it, and thus is received ‘apart from works’. For
Paul, ultimately then, ‘works’ cannot achieve the remission of the ‘debt’ of
sin. The vexed question that remains, nevertheless, is What is meant by ‘works’
in Rom. 4.4-8? Paul repeats that Abraham’s ‘faith’ was ‘reckoned’ to him as
‘righteousness’ (4.9) – and if God ‘reckons righteousness apart from works’
(4.6), we would presume that, in this immediate context, Abraham’s circumcision
constitutes a ‘work’ in this sense. For Paul states that the ‘blessedness’
received by faith comes to both the ‘circumcised’ and the ‘uncircumcised’
(4.9). God imputed righteousness to Abraham prior to his circumcision,
when he demonstrated faith in God’s promises (cf. Gen. 15.6). For Paul,
circumcision itself becomes a ‘seal’ of that righteousness (4.11), not a ‘work’
in itself that produces righteousness.
This is not to say that ‘works’ (cf. 4.4-6) should be
reduced to the commandment of circumcision every time Paul uses the word in the
context of ‘righteousness’ or ‘justification’. Paul views circumcision as the
visible sign and ‘advantage’ of ‘the Jew’ (Rom. 3.1), which signifies the
entire ‘law’ (2.25). Indeed, doing the law is what leads one to be ‘justified’
(οἱ ποιηταὶ νόμου δικαιωθήσονται) and to be considered ‘righteous in God’s
sight’ as opposed to merely ‘hearing the law’ without observing it (2.13).
Circumcision is ‘of value’ if one obeys the law, but if one does not, it ‘has
become uncircumcision’ (ἀκροβυστία; 2.25). Those who keep the law’s
requirements (τοῦ νόμου φυλάσσῃ), although not sealed with the sign of
circumcision, will be considered ‘circumcised’ by God (2.26). These statements
suggest that Paul uses ‘circumcision’ as a code or signifier for the whole law,
not for one isolated mitzvoth; as a seal of the covenant, circumcision
stood for all the ‘works’ one could do in God’s sight. If Abraham was
‘justified’ before his circumcision (before the ‘works of the law’), he was
justified as one of the ‘ungodly’. In Romans 4, ‘works’ constitute all the
virtuous doings that a ‘worker’ would undertake for his Master – the mandates
of the Torah vis-à-vis others. ‘Right doing’, or δικαιοσύνη/ צדקה , in Brendan
Byrne’s words, ‘performance in a broader range of moral endeavour than the more
“sociological” interpretations [of Dunn and the NPP] seems to allow’.157 And
yet, even if Abraham had all of these works to ‘boast’ about, before God (Paul
argues), it would be as nothing; it was Abraham’s faith that brought him
gratuitous reward, remission from sin and made him ‘blessed’ (Ps. 32.1-2). (Ruth
Sheridan, The Figure of Abraham in John 8: Text and Intertext [Library
of New Testament Studies 619; T&T Clark, 2020], 264-66)
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