Does God belong to Jews alone?
Does he not belong to Gentiles, too?
The Jews had several advantages over the Gentiles. They had been taught the moral law explicitly whereas the Gentiles could only grope at it with their natural reason. Beyond that, the Jews had been given the covenants, and all of the ceremonial acts associated with those covenants. Many came to believe that as long as they kept up their ceremonial acts they could have the blessings of the covenants. Yet it was clear that this was not happening. The blessings were being blocked by a force that was equally problematic for both Jews and Gentiles: sin.
all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.
This line is not to say all without exclusion. Our Lord was sinless, and so, by the grace of his cross, was Our Lady. When we read earlier in Romans that "None is righteous, no, not one" the context of the Psalm being quoted demonstrates that their is nevertheless another group, God's people, the generation of the righteous, the poor who take refuge in him. Therefore, it is not all without exclusion that were deprived of God's glory, but rather that neither Jew nor Gentile had any advantage in this regard. Even the righteous individuals of the Old Testament were not righteous because of their works, nor because of the covenant, but because of their faith. Righteousness was never something one could achieve through ceremony or moral effort, but which had to be received. This is why Paul went to such great lengths to emphasize the faith of Abraham.
For we consider that a person is justified by faith
apart from works of the law.
But this faith was not just any faith. It was not, for instance, merely believing that God existed. This faith recognized one's own limitations and trusted in God to set things right, to make "expiation" to allow for "the forgiveness of sins previously committed". Past times were times of mercy, before grace was fully unleashed by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Faith during these times looked toward the time when God himself would provide the lamb that could finally atone for the sins of mankind. It was in many ways an implicit faith, yet pointed toward Jesus, though by shadow and symbol. This was the deeper truth conveyed in the story of Abraham's offering of Isaac (see Genesis 22:1-19). Abraham really did believe that God himself would somehow make possible a satisfactory offering in a way that wouldn't render the covenant promises impossible. This belief, the writer of Hebrews tells us, was an implicit belief in the resurrection.
He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back (see Hebrews 11:19).
The Pharisees did not want to recognize that they stood in the same need of salvation as did the Gentiles. They doubled down on works and ceremony to assure themselves that no inner changes were needed in their hearts. They didn't want to see what was truly in their own hearts. Yet the more they insisted on their self-righteousness the more they found themselves implicated in the group of sinners who were deprived of the glory of God. They were taking the side of those who slayed the prophets, because the prophets message was always one of repentance and faith. The scribes too were implicated, because their teaching did not show the people the true path to God. Nor could they, because they were unwilling to accept what that path was themselves.
Circumcision was necessary for a time, but it was not sufficient. Knowledge of the law was provided by revelation, but it was misused. The only viable path to salvation was faith in Jesus. In Jesus God was finally broadening his offer of salvation to all the nations, just as he first promised to Abraham. He was tearing down any boundaries that privileged one people over another and making faith the one thing central and necessary, the new and true key of knowledge by which people could enter the Kingdom.
Yes, also to Gentiles, for God is one
and will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith
and the uncircumcised through faith.
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