Monday, July 21, 2008

I Like it...

Dont know too much about Krister Stendahl, but i like what he wrote here...

"Paul knew that the baptized were not free from sin, but such sin apparently did not trouble his conscience. In fact, in Acts 23:1, he says, "Brethren, I have lived before God in all good conscience up to this day" (cf. 24:16). He did struggle with his body (1 Cor. 9:27), but the tone is one of confidence. Romans 9:1 and 2 Cor.1:12 both witness to his good conscience, the confidence of which reaches its highest pitch in 2 Cor.5:10ff., where Paul expresses certainty that the Lord will approve of him. His "robust conscience is not shaken, but strengthened by his awareness of a final judgment which has not yet come" (cf. 1 Cor.4:4; p. 90).

To search for a statement in which Paul would speak about himself as a sinner is futile, argues Stendahl. He does often speak of 'weakness' (2 Cor.11.21ff; 2 Cor. 12.9-10), but weakness is unrelated to sin or conscience (v. 7), with the exception of Romans 5, where 'weak' is synonymous with sinner (p. 91). "

2 comments:

dan lewis said...

cool beans...

it must be a relief for God not to have to worry about all our sin- why should we?

ps. coffee sounds good- how's thurs/fri afternoon?

Craig Glenn said...

fri??