RBWords

     The dense theological reflection of St. Paul is not helped by the "swiss cheese" editing of the lectionary for the sake of readability, but enough is there to give an overall snapshot of Paul's argumentation.  The basic context of the passage is the tension between the Jewish reliance on the Law of Moses for righteousness in the sight of God and the Christian reliance on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the source of salvation.  However, Paul takes this tension back to the beginning of creation.  It is the "original sin" of Adam that created a chasm between God and humanity.  The Law of Moses created a temporary solution, but Christ (who becomes for St. Paul a kind of "new Adam") restores the relationship definitively.  

     "Sin," in this context, is not simply immoral behavior but a way of being under the Law of Moses since it is this law that defined what sin meant for Jews and it was obedience to that law that Jewish tradition considered as creating a right relationship to God.  Paul sees the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the fundamental act of "grace" that overcomes whatever reliance on the law one could have.  It is faith in Christ that saves, not faith in the Law of Moses.

     We are dealing here with the anguished reflection of a former Pharisee who has gone into the depths of his conversion and the meaning of Jesus Christ.  In chapters 9-11, we will see how Paul applies his vision to Judaism.  Suffice it to say that reflection by others on Paul's vision led to the Protestant Reformation and it challenges us to understand the true meaning of the Body of Christ as not simply the institutional expression of the church but a much bigger reality that goes all the way back to Adam and Abraham.  AMEN