Testing the Gospel in the Book of Romans: The Letter to the Romans and the Supersession Controversy

By Charles Tarrell

Supersessionism is deeply rooted in both Roman Catholic and Protestant theology and is as old as the church. It is the belief that the church is the new Israel, the true Israel, and as such has displaced or superseded ethnic Israel. Throughout the history of the church it has been commonly held that the covenants God made with Israel and the promises God gave to that nation now belong to the Christian church.

The supersession controversy is not an obscure theological debate of interest only to a few Biblical scholars. It involves questions of fundamental importance. Does the God of the Christian Scriptures keep His promises? What are the rules that guide our interpretation of Scripture? Is there a connection between Christian theology and anti-Semitism in “Christian lands?”

The Biblical focus of this controversy is the 11th chapter of the book of Romans. There the Apostle Paul courageously addresses the supersession issue. Tarrell invites the reader to feast on the riches of Paul’s teaching on the atonement (Romans 1-8) and to celebrate so great a salvation. But he also invites the reader to embrace Paul’s teaching about Israel (Romans 9-11). God’s gift of salvation is precious and is thoroughly explained in the first 8 chapters of Romans. But to prove the thesis of the book of Romans Paul tackles the most daunting problem of all, the apparent inability of God to fulfill the promises He made to the nation of Israel. Bringing up the problem of Israel is a gutsy move. But it is the problem that must be addressed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664138933

Charles Tarrell

Charles Tarrell is a graduate of Biola University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He served as a pastor in the Evangelical Free Church for 25 years and then as a hospice chaplain for 15 years. He and his wife reside in Northwest Washington.

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Copyright © 2020 by Charles Tarrell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

All Scripture quotations, except those otherwise noted, are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB). Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Rev. date: 12/17/2020

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CONTENTS

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION TO THE 2020 EDITION

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1 Romans 3:21-26

The Problem No One Is Talking About

Chapter 2 Romans 5 - 8

Real Life Christianity

Chapter 3 Romans 9

The Sovereignty Of God

Chapter 4 Romans 10

The Response & Responsibility Of Mankind

Chapter 5 Romans 11

The Heart Of The Matter

Chapter 6

Conclusion

Appendix A Galatians 6:16 The Israel Of God

Appendix B Sin

Appendix C The Promises To Israel

Appendix D The Covenants

Appendix E Salvation In The Jewish Scriptures

Bibliography Of Works Consulted

DEDICATION

To the memory of Leta Tarrell whose life reflected

that which the Book of Romans seeks to explain.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful to the staff at Hurst Library at Northwest University in Kirkland Washington for their kindness, helpfulness, and generosity.

I am especially grateful to Ross Assink for giving his time and energy to our theological backyard wrestling match. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

INTRODUCTION TO

THE 2020 EDITION

It is with gratitude that this new edition of Testing the Gospel in the Book of Romans is being offered. This new edition is offered with gratitude for Xlibris’s continued interest in the book, and their persistence and patience with this author. It is being offered with gratitude to God for His faithfulness and care during the years since Testing the Gospel was first published.

Internationally much has happened during the past decade. Anti-Semitism is more evident today. The issues Paul addresses in Romans 11 are more relevant than ever.

So, with gratitude for the faithfulness of God, this new edition is presented with the hope that it might inspire a greater love for the book of Romans, a greater love for the descendants of Abraham, and a greater love for our faithful God.

The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Romans 11:29

PREFACE

The authentic Christian message is defined and explained in the first 8 chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans. Then, using the nation of Israel, the thesis of the book of Romans is put to the test in Romans 9 – 11.

The history of Israel seems to disprove the Christian gospel and undermine our confidence in God’s promise of justification by His grace (Romans 1-4) and God’s promise of sanctification by His Spirit (Romans 5-8). If God previously made promises to Israel and established an everlasting covenant with that nation but later gave up on Israel, replacing her with the church, what hope can we have that God will keep His promises to justify and sanctify believers today? This is the issue that the Apostle Paul tackles in Romans chapters 9 - 11. Apparently, these chapters are much more important than we ever thought.

INTRODUCTION

During the last half of the 20th century the nation of Israel occupied center stage, not only in world history, but increasingly in the world of theology and Biblical studies. In the mid1960s the British Old Testament scholar H.L. Ellison published his book The Mystery of Israel, a book that challenged long-held assumptions of Roman Catholic and Reformed theology regarding the relationship of the church to the nation of Israel. It was just 20 years after the Jewish Holocaust and the establishment of the modern state of Israel. The horrific events of World War II had temporarily created sympathy for the Jews in the normally anti-Semitic West, a sympathy that changed world politics and allowed the Jews to return to their ancient homeland. That is not to say that it was easily accomplished or that it was without bloodshed. But, that which could never happen, happened. Dead dry bones had come to life. For the first time in eighteen centuries there was now a nation of Israel.

With the world still reeling from this unlikely miracle and with the theological world wondering how to fit this new historical reality into an old theological mindset, Ellison’s analysis of Romans 9 – 11 threw open the door to a new era in New Testament studies. But, the years since the publishing of Ellison’s book have been awkward years for the church, especially for churches who have always taught that the Christian church had replaced Israel.¹ This ancient belief is called replacement theology or supersessionist theology. It is the belief that the Christian church has permanently displaced or superseded the nation of Israel and that the covenants God made with the nation of Israel and the promises God gave to Israel now belong to the church. The Dutch New Testament scholar, Herman Ridderbos, explains that,

The church, then, as the people of the New Covenant has taken the place of Israel, and national Israel is nothing other than the empty shell from which the pearl has been removed and which has lost its function in the history of redemption.²

Bruce Waltke points to, the hard fact that national Israel and its law have been permanently replaced by the church and the New Covenant.³ He explains that, The Jewish nation no longer has a place as the special people of God; that place has been taken by the Christian community which fulfills God’s purpose for Israel.⁴ Those who embrace this view often refer to the church as The New Israel or The Israel of God or The True Israel.⁵ For example, Wayne Grudem writes, The church has now become the true Israel of God and will receive all the blessings promised to Israel in the Old Testament.⁶

More than fifty years have passed since Ellison’s courageous little book was published. The existence of Israel is no longer shocking. But the Israel question has blossomed, albeit slowly, into a major theological event. In 1965 H.L. Ellison wrote, It has always been a mystery to me how so many who follow in the footsteps of Augustine and Calvin can so cheerfully think of God casting off his people (even though this is expressly denied in Romans11:1). If one election can come to an end, whatever the reason, so can another.⁷ Ellison’s interest in the supersession debate was theological, but also was born of his love for the Jewish people whom he feared would look at the Christian church as the Church, which has taken all his promises and left him all the curses.⁸ In 1971 Herman Ridderbos referred to the existence of Israel as a bone of contention in the theological world.⁹ In 1979, Charles Cranfield, in his commentary on the Epistle to the Romans wrote, I confess with shame to having also myself used in print on more than one occasion this language of the replacement of Israel by the church.¹⁰ In 1996 R. Kendall Soulen explained that, …under the new conditions created by these events [the establishment of the nation of Israel] Christian churches have begun…revisiting the teaching of supersessionism after nearly two thousand years.¹¹ In a 2007 article, Oxford Professor Bruce Longnecker described the theological world as enthralled by and entrenched in the supersession debate. He described it as lurking under every exegetical stone.¹²

Ellison’s book was an exposition of Romans chapter nine through eleven.

In many ways, Paul’s Epistle to the Romans is the most important book in the Christian Scriptures. And for the church today, as it rethinks its ancient belief in supersessionism, those three chapters are taking on an importance that they had never known before. It is as though Paul wrote Romans 9 - 11 prophetically, anticipating the possibility of such a theory taking hold in the church and providing the church of the 21st century the tools it needs as it addresses the supersessionism controversy. Though often misunderstood as a mere parenthesis, disconnected from the flow of Paul’s argument,¹³ Romans 9-11 are in reality pivotal chapters in Paul’s magnus opus.¹⁴ In the words of John Murray, these three chapters, bring to climactic vindication the thesis stated in 1:16,17¹⁵ But in order to understand either the significance or the meaning of these chapters it is necessary to grasp the message of this great epistle regarding justification (Rom 1-4) and sanctification (Rom 5-8). Only then will the heart of the great Book of Romans (chapters 9-11) come alive.

CHAPTER 1

ROMANS 3:21-26

THE PROBLEM NO ONE

IS TALKING ABOUT

The reader of Paul’s letter to the Romans soon discovers that there is a logical progression to the book. Each chapter creates questions that are addressed in the following chapter. Each chapter builds on the last. And along the way, the modern reader of Romans soon realizes that the message of this book is consistently contrary to human nature and the prevailing wisdom of western culture. As such, each chapter feels fresh and gutsy and culturally against the grain. In the face of our society’s aversion to the subject of sin¹⁶ and the widespread fear of being thought judgmental, Paul’s letter to the Romans courageously takes on the untouchable issues of the post-modern world.

The book of Romans is arguably the most thorough and systematic explanation of Christianity in the Bible. Though every chapter is important, a six-verse paragraph in chapter three stands out like a mountain peak in a grand mountain range. Romans 3:21-26 is one of the Bible’s great statements of authentic Christianity. It captures the heart of the Christian gospel¹⁷ and addresses the whole scope of Christian soteriology in compact form. Martin Luther called this paragraph the chief point of the whole Bible.¹⁸ More recently, New Testament scholar Leon Morris referred to Romans 3:21-26 as, possibly the most important single paragraph ever written.¹⁹ Having clearly demonstrated the human predicament in the first two and a half chapters,²⁰ Paul writes:

(21) But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, (22) even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; (25) whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; (26) for the demonstration, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)

The issues addressed in these six verses include the law, the righteousness of God, faith, Jesus Christ, sin²¹, justification, grace, redemption, and propitiation. Almost every word is significant; words like gift, glory, and the blood of Christ. The age old problem of man is how can humankind, with all our moral failures, be made right with God? In a book many argue to be the oldest book in the Bible, Job asked, How can a man be right with God? and Who can acquit me of my guilt? (Job 9:2 & 10:14) Romans 3:21-26 is the Christian answer to Job’s question.

The Rigxhteousness of God

In Romans 3:21 Paul announced that God’s way of providing righteousness has recently come to light; God’s righteousness, not the usual earned righteousness. With the words, But now (νυνὶ δὲ, nooni de), in Romans 3:21, Paul closes the book on the dark subject of sin and guilt (the first 2 ½ chapters) and opens the door to a brighter subject, the good news of God’s grace. Martin Lloyd Jones writes, there are no more wonderful words in the whole of Scripture than just these two words, ‘But now.’²² For readers familiar with Paul’s letters, these words will have a familiar ring. For example, in his letter to the Ephesians Paul reminds his reader that they were formerly separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Then comes those two glorious words, But now, introducing the wonderful news that, in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Eph.2:11-13) And, in I Corinthians 15, Paul describes the dismal situation that would be ours if Christ had not been raised from the dead. Our faith would be worthless. We would still be in our sins. And believers who had died would have perished. Then comes those two glorious words, But now, followed by the apostle’s confident declaration that, Christ has been raised from the dead! (I Cor.15:16-20, see also Romans 6:22; 7:6; 16:25-26; Col.1:22, 26) Alva McClain explains that these two little words but now are Paul’s, particular phrase for making the transition from a dark, gloomy picture to something wonderful God does for us. Paul has the whole world standing with nothing to say before the judgment bar of God, But now."²³

So now, independently of law²⁴ God has made known His righteousness. Paul is adamant that this righteousness is not the result of obedience to the law. It is (χωρὶς νομóυ δικαιοσύνη, choris nomou dikaiosoonay) an apart-from-law righteousness. He begins his teaching about the righteousness of God by clarifying for the reader that it is apart from law (3:21). And he ends the passage restating that we are justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:28)

Paul’s omission of the definite article in verse 21 has led some, on weak grammatical grounds, to argue that Paul is not limiting the subject to the Law of Moses, but is thinking of law in general. The Jewish reliance on keeping the law could be viewed as symbolic of any form of righteousness that is achieved by human effort.²⁵ But the context certainly indicates that Paul is thinking of Old Testament law. Paul’s phrase the righteousness of God implies that there is also a righteousness of man. In fact, one of the major themes of the epistle is the contrast between man’s earned righteousness and God’s righteousness which is provided for the believer by God’s grace, as a gift (i.e. Romans 10:5-6). Paul had asserted in Romans 1:17 that the gospel itself is a revelation of the righteousness of God. And, the theme of Paul’s explanation of the gospel here in chapter three is, again, the righteousness of God. Griffith Thomas points out eighteen ways the righteousness of God is described in this paragraph, including the circumstances of this righteousness (But now), the law’s relationship to this righteousness (apart from), the Scriptural attestation of this righteousness (being witnessed by), the appropriation of this righteousness (by faith), the scope of this righteousness (for all those who believe), the need for this righteousness (for all sinned), the bestowal of this righteousness (being justified), the source of this righteousness (as a gift by God’s grace), the grounds for this righteousness (through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus), the method of this righteousness (whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation), and the efficacy of this righteousness (in His blood).²⁶ So, it is not difficult to identify the subject of this passage. The righteousness of God, δικαιοσύνη θεοû, dikaiosoonae theou, is referred to four times in these six verses (3:21, 22, 25, and 26). The verb, δικαιóω, dikaiao, meaning to be acquitted or to declare someone righteous,²⁷ occurs twice (3:24 and 26). And the adjective, δίκαιος, díkaios, translated as just in this context, also occurs in verse 26. Traditionally, Christian theologians have often described God’s essence or His nature as holiness or holy-love²⁸ and His righteousness as a mode or one of the ways His essence is expressed.²⁹ John Piper defines the righteousness of God as God’s unswerving commitment always to preserve the honor of his name and display his glory.³⁰ When discussing the righteousness of God, New Testament scholars typically distinguish between the righteousness which God possesses (God’s character) and God’s gift which is righteousness.³¹

Though the righteousness of God is an apart-from-law righteousness it is witnessed to (μαρτυρέω, martureo) by both the