Repentance and Justification
Many interpreters of the letter’s theologically and
rhetorically powerful chapter 6 think Paul has left the subject of
justification behind and is now describing the process of sanctification, of
becoming more and more holy, or Christlike. Although we do find the language of
holiness or sanctification in this passage (6:19, 22), it is a mistake to
separate sanctification from justification.
Paul, in fact, has not left justification in the dust but
is further explaining its significance by once again stressing the transition
from death to life that has occurred for believers. To do this, he draws on his
discussion of justification from the letter to the Galatians. Paul depicts justification
in Galatians and baptism in Romans within the same framework: participation in
the death and resurrection of Christ. (The connection of baptism in which his
disciples would share; Mark 10:38-39.) The following table shows the similarities
between justification according to Galatians and baptism according to Romans
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN
GALATIANS 2:15-21 (JUSTIFICATION) AND ROMANS 6:1-7:6 (BAPTISM)
|
FEATURES |
GALATIANS 2:15-21 |
ROMANS 6:1-7:6 |
|
Transfer into
Christ |
“we have come to
believe in [Gk. eis; “into”] Christ Jesus” (2:16); “justified in
Christ” (2:17); cf. Gal 3:27 |
“baptized into [Gk.
eis] Christ Jesus” (6:3); “alive to God in Christ Jesus” (6:11); “eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:23). |
|
Death to the
law/law and Sin |
“through the law I
died to the law” (2:19) |
“you have died to
the law through the body of Christ” (7:4); cf. “died to Sin” (6:2); “so that
the body of Sin would be destroyed, and we would no longer be enslaved to Sin”
(6:6); “dead to Sin” (6:11) |
|
Co-crucifixion
(expressed in the passive voice), death of self |
“I have been
crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live” (2:19-20) |
“baptized into [eis]
his death” (6:3); “buried with him by baptism into death” (6:4); “United with
him in a death like his” (6:5); “our old self was crucified with him” (6:6); “we
have died with Christ” (6:8) |
|
Resurrection to new
life |
“so that I might
live to God. . . . And the life I now live in the flesh” (2:19-20) |
“just as Christ was
raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in
newness of life” (6:4); “alive to God in Christ Jesus” (6:11); “those who
have been brought from death to life” (6:13); “died to the law . . . the new
life of the Spirit” (7:4, 6). |
|
Present and future
dimensions |
Present: see 2:19-20 |
Present: throughout |
|
Participation with
Christ and “go” God |
“so that I might
live to God . . . it is Christ who lives in me” (2:19-20) |
“alive to God in
Christ Jesus” (6:11); “so that you may belong to another, to him who has been
raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God” (7:4) |
|
Faith and love (Christ’s
and ours); that is, proper covenantal relations with God and others |
“faith of Jesus
Christ . . . faith of Christ” (2:16); “we have come to believe in [eis;
“into”] Christ Jesus” (2:16); “I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me
and giving himself for me” (2:20 MJG). |
“No longer present
our members to Sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to
God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members
to God as instruments of righteousness [/justice]” (6:13); “you . . . have
become slaves of righteousness [/kjustice]” (6:18; cf. 6:19b); “the advantage
you get is sanctification” (6:22) |
In 6:1-7:6, then, Paul is depicting the same sort of reality
he describes in Gal 2:15-21: namely, a participatory experience of
co-crucifixion and co-resurrection with Christ. (The only two occurrences of
the verb “co-crucify” in Paul’s letters are in Gal 2:19 and Rom 6:6. Paul has apparently
borrowed the word used in the gospel tradition referring to those literally
crucified with Jesus [Matt 27:44; Mark 15:32; John 19:32]) Justification is
like baptism, and vice versa. More precisely, justification and baptism are
two sides of the one coin of entrance into Christ and his body through dying
and rising with him. Both faith and baptism involve transferal into Christ
by means of dying and rising with Christ. The result is life: being “alive
to God” now (6:11) and one day having “eternal life” (6:22-23). And this means
that in Christ, we are meant to become like Christ. (Michael J.
Gorman, Romans: A Theological and Pastoral Commentary [Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Eerdmans, 2022], 165-67)
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