This passage has been unanimously rendered in misunderstanding ever since Jerome’s Vulgata edition based on Vetus Latina in the 2nd century.  While the traditional rendering is ‘non enim est distinctio (diastolē) (For there is no distinction or difference [among people who believe])’, our proposal is ‘For there is no separation (diastolē) [between the righteousness of God and the faithfulness of Jesus Christ]’.  God’s revelatory act is at issue here, not the human mental states of believing.

On the basis of this correction, we will be able to resolve controversies persisting for centuries concerning such matters as the Gospel and the Law, that is, ‘the law of faithfulness’ or ‘the law of Christ’ and ‘the law of works’ or ‘law of Moses’ (3:27, Gal.6:2, 1Cor.9:9, 9:21).  Furthermore, we can address controversies between God’s predestination and human responsible freedom (9:6-11:32, 6:6:11-14, 14:22), between the Divine predilection and God’s fairness (9:13, 2:11), between God’s righteousness and his love (2:3-8, 11:22, 8:39), between the things before (in sight of) God and the things before (in sight of) man (14:22, 6:19), between God’s vicarious punishment of his Son in the atonement of mankind’s sin and the Anselmian cooperative work of Father and Son (3:21-26, 2Cor.5:19). Among other things, through this correction we uncover Paul’s methodological principle which we shall call the collaboration of logos (universal argument) and ergon (being at work here and now). In a following ‘Proposal and Theses’ essay, we will argue for Paul’s complementary method of logos and ergon.

In this introduction, we will simply offer our reading of the relevant passages concerning the non-separateness between God’s righteousness and the faithfulness of Jesus Christ in its scope and argument. We will argue for this reading from the viewpoint of our semantic analysis.

Our translation of the text [A] 3:21-26 is as follows:

21 But now apart from a law, God’s righteousness being witnessed by the law and the prophets, 22 God’s righteousness has been manifested through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ to all people who believe. For there is no separation [between the righteousness of God and the faithfulness of Jesus Christ]. 23 This is because all sinned and are fallen short of the glory of God, 24 are now the people who are being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a locus of divine presence in his blood through the faithfulness resulting in the demonstration of his righteousness because of the passing over of sins committed beforehand 26 in God's forbearance, for a demonstration of his righteousness in this opportunity in which he might himself also be righteous, in justifying the anyone at all on the basis of Jesus’ faith (3:21-26).

This paragraph is Paul’s report of God’s cognitions, will and deeds on God’s righteousness through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. This paragraph is followed by Paul’s own cognitions and deeds before man which are derived from the report of God’s revelatory act through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ in 3:27-31:

27 Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what manner of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faithfulness. 28 We recognize therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from law of works. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn't he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed there is one God who will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith, and the uncircumcised through the faithfulness [of Jesus Christ].  31 Do we then nullify the law through the faithfulness? May it never be! No, we confirm the law (27-31).

Paul’s inference in 27-31 has been traditionally called ‘justification by faith’ concerning human faith as a mental state. On the basis of Paul’s reports of God’s revelatory act in 3:21-26, his inference of ‘justification by faith’ does not nullify the law of works but ‘confirms’ the law of works by ordering the law of works with respect to the law of faithfulness which is more basic because it is more basic than the law of works which can be separated from the righteousness of God, as it is said ‘21 But now apart from a law’.  Now that ‘there is one God’, two laws of righteousness of God, one of which is a non-separate basic one and the other of which can be separated from it must be ordered properly. By means of the righteousness based on faithfulness, Paul found another root to fulfill ‘the love’ which is ‘the fulfilling of the law [of works]’ and is ‘the fruit of righteousness’ (13:10, Philip.1:11). Love is now transformed and ordered into the law of faithfulness. It is said that ‘anything which is not based on the faithfulness is sin’(14:23) . Also, it is said in Galatians that ‘faith being at work through love is powerful’ (Gal.5:6).

The first issue in Paul’s language of revelation in 3:21-26 is to report the reason why God’s righteousness, being now separated from the traditional Mosaic law of works, has been made known through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. As it is reported ‘through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ’, ‘the faithfulness of Jesus Christ’ in which ‘of’ is the genitive of belonging and is a medium of God’s revelation of his righteousness. Man’s mental state of having faith cannot be a medium of God’s revealing act. God employed the faithfulness which has belonged to Jesus Christ as the mediatorial event bridging his righteousness and all people whose faith God is pleased with. In this paragraph, Paul reports God’s revealing act, without considering any mental state of man except the one of Jesus of Nazareth.

‘Now’ what is revealed as a cognition and a deed of God is the non-separate relationship between God’s righteousness and the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. The issue of being separate or non-separate with respect to God’s righteousness indicates which law either of works or of faithfulness is more basic for God. While the Christ event is witnessed by the law and the prophets, God’s revealing act through this event is separated from the law of works which conveys another aspect of God’s righteousness. The Christ event which is characterized as ‘apart from a law’ implies that the law of faithfulness is more fundamental for God than the traditional law. God recognizes in himself that the faithfulness of Jesus Christ is not separate from his own righteousness. Everything must be inferred and recognized from this basic revelation. One implication is that since the righteousness based on faithfulness is God’s free gift, there is no room for boasting on the human side.

On the basis of God’s understanding of his own manifestation of the new relationship between righteousness and faithfulness, Paul reports why God regards that there is no separation between them in the subsequent long reasoning sentence from v.23-26. First, the scope of God’s plan through this revelation is presented as a matter before (in sight of) God.  This new revelation is concerned with ‘all people’ who sinned, that is, mankind as a whole. Through Christ’s sacrificial redemptory work, God’s new revelation offers a free gift of justification for all people who sinned. Insofar as this is ‘a gift by his grace’, the cooperative redemptory work of God and Christ does not consider any human activity (except Jesus of Nazareth) nor merit in forgiving the sins of all people so as to justify them. God set forth Jesus Christ as a locus of his presence in Jesus’ blood through the faithfulness, resulting in the demonstration of God’s righteousness. God abided with Jesus of Nazareth on the cross in his blood so that God demonstrates his righteousness through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ in this non-separate way.  In a related passage in 2 Corinthians 5:19, Paul says that ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world [mankind] to himself, not counting their trespasses in themselves [instead by burdening Jesus substitutionally with their sins], and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation’.

Since God has been abstaining from the application of the law of works in forbearance, it is now a good opportunity for God to show his righteousness from the more basic perspective, that is, righteousness based on faithfulness. This kind of righteousness is more fundamental for God than the one of the law of works. Insofar as the righteousness based on faithfulness is also found throughout in the history of the Old Testament, it is not the case that God has not fully been righteous in the human history. Given that God has been faithful to the people of faith such as Noah and Abraham, as fourteen faithful people are reported in Hebrews chapter 11, abstaining from the application of the law of works to the sins of people does not necessarily imply God has been unrighteous. In fact, in 3:27-31 Paul argues that ‘there is one God who will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith [as being seen in Old Testament], and the uncircumcised through the faithfulness [of Jesus Christ]’. Thus, abstaining from its application comes from God’s mercy to the people who could not know the Gospel. Paul announces ‘the Gospel’ to be ‘the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith’ (1:16). The Gospel is established by revealing the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ as a collaborative work between God the father and Christ the son. The cooperative relationship of God’s righteousness and his love, and of God’s fairness and his mercy, is for the first time realized through the Christ event.

Indeed, Jesus’ faithful life till his death on the cross offered a good opportunity for God to demonstrate his righteousness through it (cf.Phil.2:6-11). God abided with Jesus on the cross in his blood. This abidance is the basis for the claim of their non-separateness. This cooperative work by God and Christ is revealed to ‘the all people who believe’, that is, all people whose faith God is pleased with. Anyone who is regarded by God to believe knows God’s righteousness through this faithfulness. This revelatory act involves ‘justifying the anyone at all on the basis of Jesus’ faith’.  This is because insofar as God’s righteousness is non-separate from the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, the addressees of this free gift of justification must involve the people whose faith is accepted by God here and now. This is an implication and a derivation of their non-separateness. In this way God’s being there on the cross in verses 23-26 involves justification of his faithful people, which results in demonstrating God’s righteousness. God’s abidance with Jesus on the cross which implies the justification of faithful people explains the reason why there is no separateness between them.

It is not disclosed in this revelatory act, however, whether the number of ‘all people who sinned’ and the number of ‘anyone at all on the basis of Jesus’ faith’ are the same. This will be revealed at the last day of judgment, as it is stated by Paul that ‘I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us’, in which the number of the reference of ‘us’ will be made clear (8:18).

This is the summary of our claim derived from this new translation. We hope that this claim may help readers recognize the mistranslation, which for centuries caused confusion on the central issues of Paul’s theology so that the correct understanding may change our whole attitude to Romans and other theological and biblical works.

This is an introduction to the ‘Proposal and Theses. Access the full essay here.