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corpus-paul - RE: If not me, who?

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  • From: Jerry Sumney <jsumney AT lextheo.edu>
  • To: 'Corpus-paul' <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: RE: If not me, who?
  • Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 04:52:27 -0400


Robert Schacht wrote:

So here's the first part of my question: When Paul stresses that God's
grace comes to us through Jesus Christ, does he mean that as a one-way
street? A perfectly free gift from God? Or does he mean "through Jesus
Christ" as a two-way street, perhaps initiated by God, but requiring an
appropriate response. In reading Paul, I get the feeling that he really
wants to have it both ways: that the gift is free, but that how we
respond to that gift is critical to the outcome (i.e., to our salvation).
Please note here that at issue in my question is what Paul was trying to
say (i.e., his theology), not whether or not what he was trying to say
was in some sense or another true.

Jerry Sumney responds:

If I understand Paul correctly, the gift of God is given to those with
"faith". The response you have mentioned is a necessary part of faith.
Many have talked about this with the grammatical terms indicative and
imperative. Victor Furnish in _Theology and Ethics in Paul_ (now over 20
years ago) argued that this is not quite an adequate way to state the
matter because for Paul "faith" includes this response. So those God gives
salvation receive it because they have come to trust God for that gift.
But that trust necessarily and inherently includes (not just ccalls for)
"faithfulness". After all, _pistis_ means "faithfulness" as well as
"trust".

Jerry Sumney
Jerry L. Sumney
Lexington Theological Seminary
631 S. Limestone
Lexington, KY 40508
jsumney AT lextheo.edu
(606) 252-0361






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