Mark Mattison has several updates on his fantastic resource, The Paul Page including a link to the following article:
Excursus: Paul, "Works of the Law" and First-Century Judaism
Douglas J. Moo
From The Epistle to the Romans, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996): 211-217
There's also a link to the following site, which I had not come across before:
Paul's Perspective
It is an extensive site from the "Reformed" perspective, explicitly attempting to challenge the New Perspective on Paul, alongside something called The Federal Vision, which they also oppose. Material on the New Perspective on Paul has its own page which begins with a kind of caricature summary of the New Perspective but goes on with some useful bibliography and some links, promising more on-line reproductions of key articles in due course. One that I had not spotted before is the following:
A. Andrew Das, "Beyond Covenantal Nomism: Paul, Judaism and Perfect Obedience," Concordia Journal (July 2001): 234-252
Look at the 5 options Moo gives for understanding this thorny statement in Romans 2:13 -- "doers of the law will be justified"
ReplyDeleteJust a few thoughts to help navigate you through this expression about the law.
1. The law was not soteriological. It was not given for the purpose of producing salvation. That was never its intent.
2. If someone (even hypothetically) observed the works of the law perfectly, there would be no reward of salvation. Why? See 1. above and 5 below.
3. Solution to 2.13 (doing the law). To do the law was to do whatever it required. So, how does one ENTER the law? For how one ENTERS deals with how one is to be a doer. Observers of the law were to be redeemed people. Prerequisite for ENTRANCE was to be a REDEEMED person. Redemption, as in the case of Abel, Abraham, and all OT saints was by FAITH.
4. Hence, a doer of the law includes ENTRANCE into the law, which was by faith.
5. Also, just a note: works of the law had nothing to do with ENTRANCE. Works dealt with those already in (that is, those who had already dealt with the ENTRANCE issue). To put this another way, works of the law did not ask, "How do you get in?" (That question was limited to 'doer of the law.')
Hope this provokes some thought.