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9 Conclusion In one of the earliest references to the collection of Paul’s letters, a pastor reminds his Christian readers, in light of the seeming delay of God’s judgment, to “consider the patience of our Lord to be salvation, as also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him” (2 Pet. 3:15). It is possible that he speaks of Rom. 2:4, where Paul says that the patience of God is meant to lead sinners to repentance. As he continues, the pastor notes that some things in Paul’s letters are “hard to understand” (2 Pet. 3:16). And he was right. Some things in Paul’s letters are indeed “hard to understand.” But this fact should not hinder interpreters and theologians from working to explain Paul’s theology. Instead, it should encourage them to be careful as they do so. This study has attempted to carefully explain the meaning and function of divine judgment according to works in Romans. In what follows, I will summarize the study and then bring it to bear on the tension between justification by faith and judgment according to works in Pauline theology. The Meaning of Judgment in Romans God is the agent of the final judgment in Romans, even as that judgment is brought into human history against the Gentile world. It is striking that Jesus Christ is included as the agent of the final judgment as well. According to Paul’s gospel, “God will judge the secrets of man through Jesus Christ” (Rom. 2:16; cf. Acts 17:31). Paul also describes Jesus Christ as the agent of judgment Rom. 14:1-12, for he uses κύριος ambiguously in reference to both God and Christ. Thus Paul includes Jesus Christ within the divine identity as the agent of the final judgment. Paul describes the action of judgment in binary terms. The final judgment will be an evaluation leading to either justification or condemnation. Throughout Rom. 1:18—3:20, Paul emphasizes the negative recompense of condemnation in order to make the accusation of his gospel. This accusation is the context in which Paul proclaims the revelation of God’s righteousness, or 155 salvation from the condemning judgment through the cross of Christ. In Rom. 14:1-23, Paul again describes the judgment in binary terms, but he is confident that his readers will stand at the final judgment. According to Rom. 1:18—3:20, the ground of judgment will be good and evil works. God “will repay each person according to their works” (2:6), or on the basis of their works. Good works will be repaid with eternal life, and evil works will be repaid with wrath and fury (2:7-11). The standard of judgment will be the Mosaic law for the Jewish people (2:12), or its analogy in the natural law written on the hearts of Gentiles (1:32; 2:14-15). Those who do the law will be justified (2:13). Those who have sinned will be condemned (2:12; 3:20). However, with the revelation of God’s righteousness, there is now an alternative ground of justification—not obedience to the law (3:20, 21), but faith (3:22), grace (3:24a), and the cross of Christ Jesus (3:24b-26). This is the good news according to Paul—salvation from the final judgment of God through Christ (5:1, 9-10; 8:33-34). This alternative ground of justification is also found in 14:1-23. While Paul continues to describe the ground of condemnation as sin (14:23), he describes the ground of justification with more nuance. Works are a necessary and significant factor for the Christian. Each person will give an account of themselves at the judgment (14:12). But Paul is convinced that the Christian community will stand at the judgment on the basis of the saving work of God in Christ (14:3b-4). The object of the final judgment is the entire world of humanity. The Gentile world is experiencing the revelation of God’s wrath within history, and the Jewish people are storing up God’s wrath for the final day of judgment. On that day, God will judge each person according to their works (2:6). And on that day the whole world will stand guilty before God (3:19), apart from his saving intervention. But for the believer, God has satisfied his wrath in the cross of Jesus...

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