Christ’s death is here related to the forgiveness of
man’s sin, while his resurrection is connected with man’s justification. The
preposition διὰ
with the accusative denotes a cause as operative in the mind of the agent. Here
it is the intention which the Father had in « handing Christ over » and in
raising him from death (the Father is undoubtedly implied as the agent
responsible for both actions, since Paul habitually attributes Christ’s
resurrection to the Father’s work). Paul has already discussed the function of
Christ’s death in the remission of man’s sins (Rom 3:24–25). In the next
section of this epistle, he will correlate the new life conferred in Baptism
with the Father’s act of raising Christ (6:4). He will also discuss the
relation between this new life and man’s justification (8:10), Accordingly the
present verse is a trait d’ union
between the two major dogmatic portions of Paul’s epistle, and as such,
recapitulates his doctrine concerning the function of Christ’s death and
resurrection in man’s redemption.
he
was raised for our justification. The term δικαίωσις is probably employed as a simple
synonym for δικαιοσύνη
without any appreciable change of meaning. What does Paul mean by stating that
Jesus was raised for our justification? The parallel form of the sentence is
dictated by something more than the canons of rhetorical elegance (vs Oltramare).
It is based upon Paul’s insight into the meaning of the atonement. Just as the
Father revealed his justice in forgiving sins by means of Christ’s death, so
too his raising of Christ manifests his fidelity to his promises of salvation
because this resurrection has resulted in our justification. It is true to say
that Christ’s resurrection effects man’s justification by constituting the
object of justifying faith (Lietzmann). Yet the omission of the phrase διὰ πίστεως here (cf. Rom 3:21, 25) indicates that
Paul has in mind a more direct connection between Christ’s rising to a new life
« with God » (Rom 6:10) and the Christian life which he here calls « our
justification ». As Lagrange notes, Paul’s statement proves the existence, in
the Pauline conception of justification, of « un élément intérieur de vie »,
which is caused by Christ’s resurrection. If the verse means anything, it
witnesses to a theological conception of the atonement in which Christ’s
resurrection plays a role, with respect to man’s justification, that is in the
same category of causality as his death, with respect to man’s forgiveness. (David
Michael Stanley, Christ’s Resurrection in Pauline Soteriology [Analecta
Biblica 13; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1961], 172-73)
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