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  • From: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>
  • To: Corpus-Paul <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] God's Elusive Judgment
  • Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2007 12:20:02 -0500

Dear Loren,
List-members --

Did Paul believe that God would judge the righteous?
That Christians, while guaranteed salvation, might
still be punished for bad deeds? Or did he believe
that God would judge only the wicked? That Christians
would appear before God at the judgment and give an
account of themselves, but would be waived through
after receiving their reward?
Yes, the believers will be saved, but they will be judged. God judges everything we do. That's why he disciplines us for our good.
Not an easy question to answer, but I think the latter
is correct, with a qualification. The key texts in
question would be Rom 2, Rom 8:33-34, Rom 14:10-12, I
Cor 3:10-15, I Cor 4:1-5, II Cor 5:10, and Philip
2:12b-13.
Of those texts, I Cor 3:10-15 makes the strongest case
for a judgment on the righteous: Paul speaks of those
being "saved, but "only as through fire". But this
passage is really about church founders, not believers
in general. Paul seems to be saying that churches
founded by rival apostles leave much to be desired,
and are subject to judgment. The "builders" of these
churches may be saved in the end, but will suffer
serious punishment for leading others astray. Paul
apparently held pastors like himself to a higher
standard than "lay believers" who would not be judged.

I don't think the passage is only talking about church founders. I don't see rival apostles in the picture in 1 Corinthians 3. Paul addresses the same people to whom he is writing the letter, all the people of the church of Corinth, and speaks about their behavior:

1Cor. 3:3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?

He uses himself as an example of someone who acted with wisdom and calls on them to do the same:

1Cor. 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
1Cor. 3:10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.

Each one of them in Corinth was building, I think. Paul is speaking somewhat metaphorically. He laid a foundation, and they are building on it with their life choices. He had led them to Christ but how they lived their lives was their responsibility, and they would have to give an account of it to the Lord. That is, God would judge them for their thoughts and actions.

For, as Philip Esler points out, Rom 8:33-34 implies
that no charge will be brought against God's elect.
And when we appreciate what Paul meant by DIKAIOSYNE,
this is easy to understand. Righteousness, for him,
was a form of ascribed honor, or privileged/blessed
identity. It had nothing to do with
forensic/declaratory categories, nor
behavioral/ethical ones.

I don't agree with this. The NT language about righteousness is thoroughly forensic at many points. But it is, as you say, as ascribed righteousness through the merits of Christ, not a righteousness fundamentally earned by the recipient of the status.

The righteous were acceptable
to God, period.

Right. But God can display displeasure even with his children:

Rev. 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

Their righteousness was gifted to them
not because they'd done anything to deserve it, but
because God had chosen them (Rom 4, 9).

Right, but this is a forensic process involving the imputed righteousness of Christ.

They would not
be charged at the judgment: they would give an account
of themselves, and then be waived on after receiving
their reward. (See Conflict and Identity in Romans, pp
162, 265-266, as well as Esler's section on the
meaning of righteousness.) For better or worse, that
seems to be what Paul believed.

It seems incorrect to say that we will not be judged when the Bible uses the term to describe us:

Rom. 14:10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
Esler doesn't comment on I Cor 3:10-15, but I would
reconcile it with his interpretation of Rom 8:33-34 as
follows. It was competition and rivalry which brought
out nuance in Paul's theology of the judgment -- much
indeed as we might expect of a Mediterranean macho
man. His belief that God would (naturally) not judge
the elect whom He had righteoused was tempered by
growing convictions that the deity might very well
make certain apostles "pay the price" for misleading
people in ways that were not pleasing to Paul.
What do list-members think of this?

You are evidently denying judgment in the sense that our eternal destiny will not hang in the balance. I agree with that, but there are a lot of ways that God can judge us, and Romans 14 states that he will judge us. Determination of rewards or lack of rewards is a significant judgment in itself.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard





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