Im not sure how relevant this is but here is an email i received from someone who i am debating NT Wright with.
"“As for me, my justification is with God. In His hand are the perfection of my way and the uprightness of my heart. He will wipe out my transgression through his righteousness.”
“From the source of His righteousness (here righteousness means His covenant faithfulness) is my justification and from His marvelous mysteries is the light in my heart.”
“As for me, if I stumble, the mercies of God shall be my eternal salvation. If I stagger because of the sin of flesh, my justification shall be by the righteousness of God which endures forever.”
- (1 QS 11.2-3, 5, 11-12)
If you asked a Jew in Christ’s day, “What is your great hope?” They would likely have answered, “When God comes to restore His people from exile.” (Deut. 30). For Jews, it wasn’t a matter of going to heaven when you die. The OT doesn’t even really talk about salvation in the NT sort of way. Everything is wrapped up in the idea that God would one day come and restore His people. And so the question is, how would they know that they would be a part of that restoration, or how do they know they’d experience that salvation. I can almost guarantee you that if you asked that question to a Jew today, their answer would NOT be because they keep Torah. It would be because they are a part of God’s chosen people. They belong to Abraham. And God made promises and covenants with Abraham and His offspring. NT Wright is suggesting that you’d get a similar answer from Jews in Christ’s day. “How do I know I will be restored? Because I belong to God’s true chosen people. I belong to Abraham. I belong to the covenant. And God is a righteous God, He is a covenant faithful God.” Now, you ask them, well how do you know you belong to God’s people? “Because I’m circumcised and I keep Torah.”
So when you get to Galatians, you wonder why Paul has this big ol’ section about his acceptance with the apostles and his confrontation with Peter (1:11-2:14). The law isn’t mentioned once in that passage. If Galatians is all about going after legalists, why take up 20% of the book on something that has nothing to do with law? Because the issue is not so much the law, but that God’s grace has been given to someone outside the people of Israel. National Israel is the not the center of God’s redemptive activities. So first he goes after the centrality of Israel (1:11-2:14), then he goes after the law (2:15-4:7), then he goes after circumcision (5:1-12). The flip side for Paul is that the promises belong to Christ (3:16) and all those who are IN CHRIST through faith (3:26-29). It’s not a matter of being in Israel through circumcision and the law, it’s a matter of being in Christ through faith."
Any comments on this particular email? I sent him a link to the book pilgrim recommended, The Great Exchange.
