Untitled

NAZARENE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
THE “NEW PERSPECTIVE”: PAUL’S USE OF δικαιοσύνη
IN REFERENCE TO THE DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION
AS EXPRESSED IN ARTICLE X OF THE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE
A Thesis
Submitted to the Seminary Faculty
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
By
Matthew Mark Slater
Kansas City, Missouri

March 31, 2011
THE “NEW PERSPECTIVE”: PAUL’S USE OF δικαιοσύνη
IN REFERENCE TO THE DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION
AS EXPRESSED IN ARTICLE X OF THE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE
Approved By:
_____________________________
Chair
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
Date
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................1
Chapter
ONE NAZARENE INTERPRETATION OF δικαιοσύνη IN

ROMANS 5-8..............................................................................................7
The Impact of Romans 5-8 on the Doctrine of
Entire Sanctification.......................................................................18
The Importance of δικαιοσύνη.......................................................22
TWO PAUL’S UNDERSTANDING OF δικαιοσύνη FROM

THE NEW PERSPECTIVE.......................................................................24
Paul’s Historical Context and the New Perspective.......................25
Other δικαιό- Words in Romans and Their Meaning.....................28
The “New Perspective” on δικαιό- Words.....................................32
The “New Perspective” on Romans 5-8 and δικαιοσύνη..............35
δικαιοσύνη from the “New Perspective”.......................................49
THREE PAUL’S δικαιοσύνη AND THE DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE

SANCTIFICATION...................................................................................51
An Order of Grace?........................................................................52
Freedom from Original Sin............................................................56
The Spirit’s Work in the Sanctified Life........................................59
Reconciling the Doctrine of Entire Sanctification.........................62
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................65
APPENDIX Article X: Christian Holiness and Entire Sanctification............................67
BIBLIOGRAPHY..............................................................................................................69
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INTRODUCTION
Humans inevitably collect things over a lifetime, whether it be the number of
sentimental treasures in a house, the number of scars from injuries over the years, or the
presuppositions one gathers from his or her life experiences. In the same way, the church
has followed suit with words found in the Bible. Meanings, presuppositions, and
theologies attach themselves to a word that was used in a completely different time,
context, and worldview. Some words, as they are understood today, have more weight
than a houseful of sentimental treasures. δικαιοσύνη, usually translated as
“righteousness” or “justification,” is one of these words.
Within Pauline thought, δικαιοσύνη is used in a number of grammatical variants,
contexts, and metaphors which contribute to the dual translation above. Because of this,
it is a theologically rich and complex word. As Westerholm claims, “Paul undoubtedly
employed dikaio- terminology in ways that went beyond the limits of normal Greek
usage.”1 But what if that limit was not an addition but a subtraction? Many people have
added Greek understandings, philosophies, and terms upon Paul’s words. But if one does
careful exegesis of the term δικαιοσύνη, specifically in Romans 5-8, one will find that
Paul’s understanding of δικαιοσύνη was embedded in his own Jewish context.
1Stephen Westerholm, Perspectives Old and New on Paul: The “Lutheran” Paul and His Critics, (Grand
Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004), 263.
1
δικαιοσύνη is not just a word used by Paul in Romans, but is considered by some
to be the central idea behind the writing of Romans.2 For others, δικαιοσύνη by faith is
the central Gospel of the entire Pauline corpus (even though it is clearly not the most
mentioned theological discourse in the collection of letters).3 This much is clear when
one reads Romans as a whole, δικαιοσύνη is the guiding reality for the life in Christ.
Therefore a proper interpretation of δικαιοσύνη is essential to fully understand Paul’s
thought in the Epistle to the Romans.
Fast forward to today’s Church of the Nazarene. The Nazarene church, being
fairly young in comparison to its brothers and sisters, carries with it the terms, such as
justification and sanctification, that have been used by the early church, the Catholic
church, the Reformed Traditions, John Wesley, and finally the American Holiness
Movement. It is with these terms that they define one of their doctrines that makes
Nazarene doctrine unique from other traditions, entire sanctification. This doctrine cites
specific biblical passages and narratives that help define the term entire sanctification
including parts of Romans 5-8. This section therefore becomes an essential part of the
conversation surrounding entire sanctification.
Because δικαιοσύνη is important to Paul’s thought in Romans 5-8, δικαιοσύνη is
directly tied to the doctrine of entire sanctification. It is a central point of entry to
understand the new life provided by Christ on the cross. But as mentioned before,
2This includes N.T. Wright, Romans, vol. 10 of The New Interpreter’s Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press,
2002), 403. It is the starting place for James Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids:
William Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 340. And it is the “key concept of Romans” in William
Greathouse & George Lyons, New Beacon Commentary: Romans 1-8 A Commentary in the Wesleyan
Tradition (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2008), 28.
3This is noted in regards to the “old perspective” in N.T. Wright, Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s
Vision (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2009).
2
δικαιοσύνη carries too much weight in the present day. It is the aim of this paper to
understand Paul’s use of δικαιοσύνη from his Jewish perspective. The best way to gain
insight on that perspective is to employ the “new perspective” on Paul, which uses
historical context as a starting point for Pauline theology. With the contributions of the
“new perspective,” this paper will examine how Paul’s context may reshape the doctrine
of entire sanctification.
This will be accomplished by an examination of how Nazarene biblical
scholarship exegetes Paul’s understanding of δικαιοσύνη. Then this paper will
summarize how the denomination interprets Paul’s understanding and his link to the
doctrine of entire sanctification. Afterwards, an investigation of Paul’s understanding of
δικαιοσύνη from the “new perspective” will contribute to the conversation. Then this
paper will attempt to provide implications from the “new perspective” for the Nazarene
denomination to consider in its doctrine of entire sanctification. Pauline theology, as
determined by Paul’s understanding of δικαιοσύνη, cannot be used to support the doctrine
of entire sanctification as it currently stands. While many features of the entirely
sanctified life are supported, the theology behind the case for entire sanctification
regarding “subsequent to regeneration” and an ethic of right action as equated to
δικαιοσύνη or “righteousness” are not. These two nuances must be reconsidered if Paul’s
words are to be used to support the doctrine of entire sanctification.
3
The Importance of Romans 5-8
As mentioned before, Romans 5-8 is important because a large section of it is
used in the exposition of the doctrine of entire sanctification. Even from a brief reading
of the section, one can discern Paul’s rhetoric detailing the Christian life. Some have
considered it to be Paul’s section on sanctification.4 Even though Paul’s subject matter is
clear, there are differences among scholars on the specific starting and ending points of
this section. While “some have suggested that 1:18-5:11, or even 1:18-5:21 should be
seen as the first real main section of the letter”5 the reasoning behind the sectioning of
chapters 5-8 must be established.
It is the view of this author that this section should include all of chapters 5-8
because of its overall argument and coherence. Chapter 5 begins with overarching
statements that bring the prior argument into summation for further exposition. The
exposition finds its starting point in 5:12-21, when Paul speaks of the two adams. This
will become the framework for the rest of Paul’s argument throughout the entirety of
chapters 6-8. In fact, chapters 6-8 express this framework in different terms so that Paul
can shape his exposition into a full fledged worldview.6 This is expressed initially by old
adam and new adam (5:12-21), then is shown through contrasting the lives of slavery to
sin and slavery to God (6:15-23), then the life by law and the life by faith (7:1-25), and
4 N.T. Wright, Romans, vol. 10 of The New Interpreter’s Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002), 510.
5 Ibid, 508.
6Wright alludes to this in his commentary on Romans in the New Interpreter’s Bible except he explicitly
sees Paul understanding this section as a narrative parallel to the Exodus narrative. See Wright, Romans,
508-514. He makes the observation that each section is further built upon the foundation of Romans
5:12-21. See Wright, Romans, 549.
4
finally the life by the Spirit and the life by the flesh (8:1-39). All of these point back to
Paul’s initial establishment of the two adams.
The Nazarene perspective has undergone several transformations in its structural
analysis or Romans over the years. Depending on the date of Greathouse’s writing, one
will see variations in his analysis. Greathouse has contended for three positions in three
different works: in his earliest work in the Beacon Bible Commentary he contends that
chapter 5 is separated from chapters 6-8 and is a part of the argument tracing from 1:187;
in Wholeness in Christ he concludes that 5:12-8 is a whole section itself8; and finally in
his latest work with George Lyons he is in agreement with this paper that chapters 5-8 is
a section9. In light of this diversity, his newest works support the claim to segregate
chapters 5-8 as a section. His reasoning behind these claims is because he sees Paul
beginning a new argument for sanctification at 5:12 (with a carry over introduction from
1:18-4 in 5:1-11) 10 and because chapters 5-8 are “bound together by two ‘bookends’:
5:1-11 and 8:14-39.”11 Both of these “bookends” contain a message of hope for the
7William Greathouse, The Epistle to the Romans, vol. 5 of Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City:
Beacon Hill Press, 1968), 124.
8Greathouse makes this claim as a technicality, but he still segregates chapters 5-8 as the section on
sanctification. William Greathouse, Wholeness in Christ: Toward a Biblical Theology of Holiness (Kansas
City: Beacon Hill Press, 1998), 91.
9William Greathouse & George Lyons, New Beacon Commentary: Romans 1-8 A Commentary in the
Wesleyan Tradition (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2008), 150.
10 Greathouse, Wholeness, 91.
11 Greathouse & Lyons, 150.
5
believers.12 It seems that Nazarene biblical scholarship 13, while varying over the years,
helps justify the third assessment of sectioning chapters 5-8 from the rest of the letter.
Other scholars also understand chapters 5-8 as a completed section. N.T. Wright
agrees with the sectioning of the complete chapters of 5-8 because:
there is a marked contrast of style...Paul develops his own line of thought,

alluding to Scripture frequently, and indeed retelling one of Scripture’s greatest
stories, but without regular quotation or exposition of specific passages. And
instead of the diatribe style and its rapid-fire verbal tennis match, addressed to
imaginary debating partners, we have a sustained line of thought.14
Though not a direct support of this paper’s claims above, the reasoning behind Wright’s
claim of chapters 5-8 as a section is similar to mine by seeing the unique features of
chapters 5-8 compared to the rest of the letter. Because this paper is an examination of
Paul’s discussion of the holy life in Romans through the works of Nazarene and “new
perspective” scholarship, these viewpoints from Greathouse and Wright provide enough
evidence to segregate chapters 5-8 as the main section in Romans about sanctification.
12 Ibid, 150.
13This author concedes that Greathouse’s work is not the only source for Nazarene biblical scholarship,
however he is often the most referenced scholar for biblical theology in the tradition.
14 Wright, Romans, 508.
6
Chapter One
Nazarene Interpretation of δικαιοσύνη in Romans 5-8
There is a potent link between Romans 5-8 and the Nazarene doctrine of entire
sanctification. Writing on this section, Greathouse asserts, “the gospel that puts believers
right with God has the power to enable them to live right through the sanctifying gift of
the Holy Spirit.”15 Paul can only speak of this “sanctifying gift” after providing a
developed understanding of justification in 1:18-4:25. As Paul transitions from
justification by faith into a holy life in Christ, Paul seeks to express the justified life in
relation to his understanding of sanctification. Therefore, an examination of Nazarene
interpretation of Romans 5-8 and δικαιοσύνη in that context is needed to understand its
contribution to the doctrine of entire sanctification.
The Nazarene doctrine of entire sanctification only cites a few verses from
Romans 5-8 in its article of faith, Romans 6:11-13, 6:19, 8:1-4, and 8:8-14. However, a
study of these specific verses without context would jeopardize Paul’s words. Therefore
to fully understand the Church of the Nazarene’s interpretation of Paul’s understanding of
sanctification, this paper will employ several Nazarene scholars, including William
Greathouse, for their exegetical connections of this section to the doctrine of entire
sanctification. To better connect this understanding with the larger scope of this paper,
Nazarene scholars’ interpretations of δικαιοσύνη will provide their understanding of
δικαιοσύνη’s link to entire sanctification.
15 Greathouse & Lyons, 32-33.
7
Romans 5 begins with a statement that affirms and assumes Paul’s previous words
found in 1:18-4:25. Before beginning a new argument, Paul provides an exposition in
5:1-11 that portrays the results of justification by faith found in the previous chapters.
These eleven verses speak of the eschatological hope for believers in the present day.
Paul uses the participle δικαιοθέντες in 5:1 to indicate the implications of his prior
argument of “justification by grace through faith.”16 Where Paul repeats this participle in
5:9, Greathouse interprets, “He rehearses and clarifies the implications of having been
made righteous by faith in the death of Christ, the new means of atonement now
available to all.”17 Believers are to expect this justification by faith to effect not just their
final destination of resurrection but also everything around them in the current world.
He moves to describe two paths for all of humanity in 5:12-21.18 The two paths
that are laid before all of humanity are personified by the terms, the old and new adam. 19
Paul makes a bold theological statement; the old way of things (the old adam) that leads
to death does not have dominion over the world! But the new adam provides a new way
that leads to life. Here, Greathouse finds that these terms are not to be pitted against each
other as “fields of force” but instead that:

17 Ibid, 158. Bold and italics are from original source.
18Paul has spoken of the plight of humanity in its sin in detail and the saving grace of God thus far. He is
only able to use this rhetoric with his background argument.
19The old adam pertains to the Hebraic figure of Adam in the Genesis account as he represents the fallen
humanity holistically. The new adam refers to Jesus and the ushering in of how humanity can be within the
confines of Christ’s salvific work.
8
Jesus was the ‘conclusion’ of the old Adam (Adam-and ourselves in Adam) and
the resurrection of Jesus the ‘commencement’ of the new humanity (Christ-and
ourselves in him).20
This “commencement” ushers in the era where death is no longer king, but Christ is king.
Christ’s reign offers a gift of righteousness leading to a life where “death has been
swallowed up in victory.”21
The first occurrence of δικαιοσύνη is located in Romans 5:17 where Greathouse
offers that it is through δικαιοσύνη, imparted to humanity by Christ, that humanity can
live rightly with God. δικαιοσύνη here pertains to the salvific work of Christ and brings
life where there was no life previously. Greathouse is not afraid to equate the gift of
righteousness with justification in this instance.22 Before Paul describes the sanctified
life, he has established here that δικαιοσύνη of God through the work of Christ has led to
the offering of grace for all, which leads to life.
The interpretation of Romans 5:21 by Greathouse bears an important nuance. For
Greathouse, verse 21 is not just a transition verse that allows for Paul’s next section, but
personifies the grace brought through δικαιοσύνη. Grace is an ever present force in the
believers’ lives and is brought through δικαιοσύνη. His translation of δικαιοσύνη,
however, determines how he sees sanctification. Greathouse agrees with the NRSV’s
translation of δικαιοσύνη here as justification, which allows him to lay a foundation for
the Nazarene understanding of the order of salvation. He indicates, “For Paul,

21 Ibid, 168. Greathouse cites 1 Corinthians 15:54 here.
22 Ibid, 167.
9
justification initiates sanctifying grace in a believer’s life.”23 Establishing justification
and sanctification as two events here, Greathouse favors the judicial process provided by
Christ that leads to the holy life, instead of the equating of righteousness of Christ and the
salvific work as translated earlier in 5:17. This plays into the next chapter as Paul’s thesis
in chapter 6, according to Greathouse is “the person who is righteous before God by faith
is a person who has been sanctified by God.”24
Grace, therefore, is not just present in faith alone25 but transforms life through
sanctification. This is expressed strongly in Paul’s rhetoric of dying and rising again in
Christ that is enacted presently yet also affects the future in chapter 6. The implication
for the present day is that as the church will be resurrected in the future, they are to be
resurrected from the prior life in sin currently. Sin no longer has a foothold in the people
of God but grace overtakes the believing community causing it to live differently.
However, the church is only able to fully accept God’s grace by offering itself to God
completely. Paul’s understanding of sanctification is that it is to choose the path in
Christ’s δικαιοσύνη. Stephen Green offers this interpretation, “to allow what God has
done in Christ Jesus to so affect my thoughts, faith, and actions that the sanctifying of my
life will be the result.”26 In doing so, believers become slaves 27 to God rather than to sin.

24William Greathouse, “A Pauline Theology of Sanctification”, Resources for Holiness Preaching, ed. H.
Ray Dunning and Neil Wiseman (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Publishing, 1990), 32.
25 That is, if one translates faith as simply a belief or an understanding.
26Stephen Green, “Newness of Life”, Biblical Resources for Holiness Preaching, ed. H. Ray Dunning
(Kansas City: Beacon Hill Publishing, 1993), 257.
27This author concedes that the term “slave” has negative connotations in American culture. One may use
other terms such as agent or servant. This author uses this term to remain consistent with Paul’s words that
refer to a slave in first century Greco-Roman culture.
10
The first movement of sanctification is the believers’ metaphoric death. Sin has
held humanity to its death sentence since the first adam. The death to sin corresponds
with the unification of believers with Christ in his death. But as Christ was raised, also
believers are raised with him in new life to be free from sin. Paul connects this metaphor
to the practice of baptism in 6:1-11. Weigelt interprets these verses: “the image is one of
being buried in order to grow. If we have been united with Him in death, then we will
certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”28 Being grown in Christ allows
believers to be completely free from sin, thereby empowering a life away from it. That
life also gives a freedom where there once wasn’t. That freedom is the choice between
the still existing reign of sin or the new reign of δικαιοσύνη.
This allows Paul to use the imperative in 6:13 where δικαιοσύνη is first used in
chapter 6. Beginning with a negative command, Paul tells the Roman Christians to not
give their bodies over to sin which would use their bodies for wickedness. Positively,
Paul then commands the believers to offer themselves to God so that they can be used as
όπλα δικαιοσύνης. This term can be translated as “weapons” or “instruments” of
righteousness. In Christ, therefore, they are to be “weapons for righteousness to advance
the purposes of God in this world.”29 δικαιοσύνη is personified here in its use.
Christians are to serve δικαιοσύνη free from the power of sin. Paul also eschatologically
hints at complete transformation in using instruments of righteousness (not just moral
transformation) as noted by Greathouse and Weigelt.30 Paul believes that by serving
28Morris Weigelt, “Goodbye Sin, Hello Holiness”, Illustrated Bible Life (December, January, February
1990-91): 24.
30 Greathouse, Wholeness, 102. See also Weigelt, 25.
11
δικαιοσύνη the believers are to live a different life presently which ends with the
resurrection of Christ’s followers.
Paul describes this path in Greco-Roman terms by employing his rhetoric of
slavery in 6:15-23. Believers are to be slaves of obedience. It is in this juxtaposition
between sin and obedience in verse 16 that Paul shows that obedience leads to
δικαιοσύνη.31 This is the only observation regarding δικαιοσύνη in The New Beacon
Biblical Commentary regarding this verse. It neglects to provide a direct interpretation of
Paul. Thus far in this paper, δικαιοσύνη has been interpreted by Nazarene scholarship as
something that has been accomplished and given to humanity through the death and
resurrection of Christ. Whether δικαιοσύνη is translated as justification or righteousness,
it has been a gift from God, but the interpretation is unclear here. If believers’ obedience
is the way to accept δικαιοσύνη, the interpretation of δικαιοσύνη in verse 16 is essential
to the understanding of justification and sanctification because the movement, on part of
the divine or human, towards δικαιοσύνη (however it may be defined) could weigh
heavily on the doctrine of justification and/or sanctification. That is, if δικαιοσύνη is
understood as justification then it would seem that the initial act of grace is dependent
upon complete obedience. However, if it is understood as righteousness, then complete
obedience refers more to sanctified life than the initial forgiveness given through
justification. The interpretation could even include both the judicial understanding and
new life understanding of δικαιοσύνη could be one experience instead of two. Without a
12
clear understanding of δικαιοσύνη here, confusion abounds in the discussion surrounding
entire sanctification.
However, another Nazarene work does provide a unique understanding of
δικαιοσύνη. Richard Howard takes the position of δικαιοσύνη in this occurrence along
with 6:16 and 6:18 that, “there are several references in Paul where the term (dikaiosune)
is directly related to ethical endeavor and human actions.”32 Though he argues that
δικαιοσύνη is used mostly in Romans to combat a legalistic basis of salvation, he still
interprets δικαιοσύνη in these three verses as human action or an ethic.33 This creates
even more confusion as the term “ethic” can have several meanings. 34 With different
views in the Nazarene tradition on this use of δικαιοσύνη, there is confusion surrounding
not just the theology of Paul, but also Paul’s contribution to the doctrine of entire
sanctification.
While Paul speaks of being a slave to obedience in verse 16, he replaces what the
reader would expect; he switches from obedience to δικαιοσύνη in verses 18-19. The
New Beacon Bible Commentary’s interpretation of this switch is that “Obedience and
Righteousness serve only to personify the benevolent divine counterpart to the sinister
slave master Sin.”35 Here, the understanding of δικαιοσύνη by Greathouse is different
32Richard Howard, Newness of Life: A Study in the Thought of Paul (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press,
1975), 93.
33 Ibid, 93.
34 The term ethic can be understood in several different ways. A theological ethic pertains to an ethic that is
given by God and is often owned by God yet possessed by his believers. A philosophical ethic pertains to a
system of principles by which to live by which is initiated by human work. This author understands the
term “ethic” as the latter. From this point, when the author uses the term, he is referring to a philosophical
ethic unless clarified.
13
because the word is dependent upon Paul’s rhetoric. δικαιοσύνη doesn’t necessarily have
to be equated to justification or righteousness but can used as a personified device for
Paul’s rhetoric.
However, in Wholeness in Christ, Greathouse takes another position citing
Barrett’s work,
God has bestowed righteousness on those who believe. This is purely his gift; it
is juridical, eschatological righteousness, the right relation with God that one may
hope to have at the last judgment. It is essentially a relationship word, but there
would be an internal contradiction if the relationship word was not accompanied
by ethical righteousness.36
Here, Greathouse takes the position that δικαιοσύνη in this instance should be understood
holistically, that it is through δικαιοσύνη that one receives judicial favor (justification) yet
at the same time provides the Divine ethic for the life after the judicial favor
(sanctification). This contradicts the position that δικαιοσύνη is understood as a
personified entity opposing sin. It would seem that a doctrine of entire sanctification
would benefit better from a clearer interpretation. There is much at stake in these
differing interpretations as it muddles the understanding of Paul, as well as the doctrine
of entire sanctification.
A clear interpretation of δικαιοσύνη is not provided in verse 19 either, especially
in its relation to άγιασµός, the word translated typically as holiness or sanctification.
Paul asserts that being a slave of righteousness leads to sanctification. Citing Jewett,
Greathouse and Lyons understand δικαιοσύνη as an ethic,
14
‘An ethic of genuine love, spelled out later in 12:9-21, provides the guideline for
this new type of righteousness...Although it is ordinarily interpreted as an
individual virtue, the second person plural imperatives throughout this pericope
point to a new form of social life as the primary embodiment of holiness.’ 37
Choosing righteousness that leads to holiness38 or sanctification then, is right action in
relationship with God and with the people around the believers. It would seem then that
this interpretation of δικαιοσύνη is understood here as an ethic, which provides
guidelines for the lives of the believers.
Paul reiterates the choice to be a slave to righteousness in contrast to the dominion
of sin in verse 20, the last occurrence of δικαιοσύνη in chapter 6. He solidifies the point
that while there was a certain “freedom” in sin, there is greater freedom out of sin, in
δικαιοσύνη. Because while being a slave to sin allows people to do what they want, it
“disallows a relationship with the only thing that matters, the righteousness of God.”39
This is the message affirmed in these final verses: Being a slave of God bears greater
rewards than any life offered outside of God’s righteousness. One of these fruits includes
sanctification, which is not just a life that is free from the realm of sin, but is the right
way to live with God and with other persons. As Greathouse points out, “There is a
‘freedom’ that is slavery; there is a ‘slavery’ that is perfect freedom.”40
37 Greathouse & Lyons, 191-192.

38It’s important to note that Weigelt translates hagismos as holiness which he defines as: “the whole
process by which God sanctifies those who trust in Him. The process begins with rebirth and continues
into and beyond the experience of entire sanctification.” (Weigelt, 25) While this study is not specifically
on haismos, it is interesting to see the distinction of holiness as the entire life process that is bigger than just
the experiences of justification and entire sanctification.
15
It is in this freed slavery that Paul continues in chapter 7 laying to rest other
implications that may come out of this identity. His attention turns to the Jewish law,
which was at the forefront of many Christians’ minds at this time and how it was to be
understood in this new sanctified life. This section stands between the old life, ruled by
sin and governed by the law, and the newly inaugurated life with the Spirit, initiated by
Christ. So Paul uses the illustration of a woman married to a man who dies; she is able to
marry again. In the same way, the followers of God who were married to the law
originally can now marry Christ and His life in the Spirit, because they have died to the
prior life (as evidenced in chapter 6). And so, the sanctified life is not governed by the
law anymore, but right acting is initiated by faith. This new marriage shows the
beginnings of how sanctification is accomplished by God and not through human action.
It is not the following of a law that sanctifies, but reliance upon God and His work that
causes right action in the believers’ lives.
This does not provide a full explanation of the law’s place for the new follower of
Christ, especially from a Jewish background. The old covenant, which provided the
Levitical law was the heart of Jewish identity. Greathouse takes the position that Paul
employs the first person in the rest of chapter 7 to personify a believer who has his/her
roots in the law 41, or his old past as Saul the persecutor.42 Paul’s rhetoric here is to
convince not just the Jews but himself that life has been given by Christ. Though that life
is shaped by the context of the law, it is not guided by the law, but by faith in Christ. The

42 Ibid, 110.
16
rhetoric is intended to dispel any kind of opposition that salvation is brought through
human obedience to the law.
Though not specifically mentioning δικαιοσύνη or sanctification, chapter 7 sets
the stage for chapter 8 by stating what a life enslaved to δικαιοσύνη is not; a life that
follows the law. Paul is cementing his argument that justification and sanctification
cannot come without faith. That faith is the willingness to wholeheartedly be slaves of
God in this new life. Only then can the fruits of Christ’s salvific work be present in the
believers’ lives. Providing that fruits do not come from the law, Paul reaches the end of
his discussion on sanctification in chapter 8, the role of the Holy Spirit in sanctification.
Chapter 8 begins with a summation of what has been said already, that Christ has
freed humanity from its sinful nature because the law could not do so. Essentially 8:1-4
brings home the point asserted by Brower: “The goal of Christ’s death was
righteousness...Paul is not arguing for a new legalism. His focus is on living according
to the Spirit.”43 These beginning verses set the tone for Paul’s discussion on the Spirit’s
work within the church.
Paul then moves to define the two paths again, except this time he has defined the
two paths in terms of flesh and Spirit. Romans 8:5-8 is essentially a reiteration of the
lives of the adams of chapter 5, the choice of slavery between sin and righteousness of
chapter 6, and the law and faith found in chapter 7. 44 The path of flesh is still within sin
and leads to death and the path of Spirit is the life provided by Christ that leads to life.
43Kent Brower, “God’s Children, In the Flesh”, Illustrated Bible Life (December January February
1990-1991): 35. Bold font is from original source.
44
This was not specifically mentioned by any of the authors studied within the Nazarene tradition. This is
my own observation.
17
Therefore it is incumbent upon the believers to commit to God’s way of life completely
so that they may die to the old self in sin and live the new life with the Spirit.
Paul asserts that the life in the Spirit is led by the Spirit of God/Christ. The
presence of the Spirit is to be found in the believers. The continuing imagery of death of
the old and the life of the new continues here, and Paul only comes to this conclusion in
verse 10 because of his exposition of δικαιοσύνη in prior chapters. Greathouse translates
this instance of δικαιοσύνη as justification or righteousness; it does not matter.45 And so
the work of Christ leads to the indwelling of the Spirit now that will also lead us to the
resurrection in the final days. The Holy Spirit is the guide of the church for the rest of its
days.
The rest of chapter 8 establishes the implications of the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit, including the final placement of believers and the constant hope of God’s presence
among the church. These things are not as pertinent to the discussion of entire
sanctification other than the direct benefits of living a sanctified life. Believers can look
forward to a glorified life with God (8:17-25) at the end, which allows Paul to give
encouragement for the believers in the midst of the suffering, persecution, and death of
this world (8:28-39).
The Impact of Romans 5-8 on the Doctrine of Entire Sanctification
It is obvious that Paul speaks about a life in Christ in Romans 5-8. The holy life,
understood from Paul’s Jewish perspective and detailed in Greco-Roman terms
18
(particularly slavery), directly contributes to the Church of the Nazarene’s doctrine. It is
here where a connection will be established between the two while also objectively
revealing issues surrounding such an interpretation.
The first contribution to the doctrine of entire sanctification by this interpretation
of Romans is the order of the salvific work in believers’ lives. This is an important part
in understanding entire sanctification in Nazarene doctrine, as without such an order
found in the Nazarene interpretation of Romans, article X would not have the wording
“subsequent to regeneration.”46 A distinct “order” of the grace brought by Christ’s
salvific work is only established because of the order of Paul’s rhetoric. This order
doesn’t come without context though, as Paul’s goal in writing about sanctification is not
to detail what happens to an individual believer, but how the church is to act in the
sanctified life brought by Christ’s salvific work. With his basis of “justification by faith”
in chapter 4, he is able to detail this new life in Christ in chapters 5-8. This is why most
make the interpretive jump that there is an order to grace, specifically because of Paul’s
rhetoric.
This does not come without snags. While the order that places justification before
sanctification seems fairly straight-forward in Romans by Paul’s rhetoric, the
understanding of δικαιοσύνη for Paul could potentially change this perspective. The
reasoning behind this lies within Paul’s use of δικαιοσύνη in this section of Romans, and
whether that use pertains to God’s salvific work, a moral understanding, or a Jewish
judicial understanding. Nazarene scholars have favored a dynamic use of δικαιοσύνη in
46
Dean Blevins, Charles Crow, David Downs, Paul Thornhill, and David Wilson eds., Manual 2009-2013
Church of the Nazarene (Kansas City: Nazarene Publishing House, 2009), 33.
19
Romans, providing that its use can be understood differently each time, as the work of
Christ, a characteristic of Christ, or an ethic. Sometimes Nazarene scholars see that both
translations of δικαιοσύνη could be used in a specific instance (i.e. 8:10). This does not
give a clear and concise understanding of Paul’s words and contributes to the confusion
surrounding entire sanctification.
Secondly, Paul’s rhetoric about the freedom from sin directly contributes to the
doctrine of entire sanctification in that to choose Christ’s saving grace also launches
believers into the reality where sin and death are not in control of the believers’ lives.
This gives believers the ability to stay within the realm of God’s righteousness
continuously. As Greathouse indicates of chapter 6,
It is not straining the language, therefore, to argue that such abandonment to

righteousness results in what Wesley spoke of as ‘entire’ sanctification-heart
purity and entire conformity of the believer to the character of God. 47
This interpretation of chapter 6 is the core of the doctrine of being “made free from
original sin...and brought into entire devotement to God.”48 To abandon the old life of sin
is to abandon the need for sin in the believers’ lives. This does not mean that sin has
gone away completely in the believers’ lives, just that it does not have control over the
lives of believers. And because sin does not have control, the believers are to subject
themselves to the righteousness provided by God through Christ to be “slaves” of it.
It must be noted that this section in Romans does not necessarily define the life
ruled by righteousness as “entire sanctification.” While one can make the case that the
alliance to sin or righteousness evokes the understanding of entire devotement in the

48 Manual, 33.
20
doctrine, even Greathouse concedes that, “the term ‘entire sanctification’ derives from the
words of Paul’s prayer for his Thessalonians converts...”49 and not from Romans. This is
why many theologies do not include a doctrine of “entire” sanctification, but only
sanctification.
The third contribution to the doctrine of entire sanctification is the work of the
Spirit within the believers’ lives. Romans 8 is especially clear about the work of the
Spirit in a holy life. Paul asserts that the Spirit of God lives within the believers guiding
them away from sin and into right action. It does this by “dethroning sin and establishing
the reign of grace in us, the Spirit disposes the flesh.”50 The entirely sanctified life then is
honestly seeking and doing the will of God in the world through the Spirit’s action.
The snag in this discussion then is the level of presence of the Holy Spirit within
believers’ lives. When looking at 8:1-9 Greathouse asserts:
What Paul means here by being ‘in fact’ indwelt by the Spirit is what he
elsewhere refers to by being ‘filled’ with the Spirit. The degree of indwelling is
dependent upon the degree of yieldedness to God.51
He later makes a distinction between a believer having the Spirit and the Spirit having the
believer.52 It seems that entirely sanctified people can have different degrees of a holy
life, which automatically raises questions about the use of the word “entire.” If two
believers are entirely sanctified, yet live differently when it comes to acts of service and
the presence of sin, how can both be “entirely” sanctified?

50Greathouse, Wholeness, 117. Greathouse in this section sees “flesh” as the conflicting force with the
Spirit in Paul’s rhetoric. It represents the life with sin and death without the Spirit.
51 Ibid, 119.
52 Ibid, 119.
21
The Importance of δικαιοσύνη
However what does δικαιοσύνη have to do with these issues? Paul’s rhetoric in
Romans 5-8 speaks of a holy life that is incredibly similar to entire sanctification, and
nothing shapes his theology more than his understanding of δικαιοσύνη. His grammar
not only shows it as something that comes from God, but at times it is a personified
entity. Therefore the interpretation of δικαιοσύνη is essential to entire sanctification
because it is a gift from God, the entity that believers are enslaved to, and the resulting
action provided by the Spirit. This is apparent from just reading the text.
Nazarene scholarship has provided the both/and explanation in regards to
δικαιοσύνη. Greathouse is dynamic with his definition of δικαιοσύνη, switching to and
fro with each usage in Romans. He and other Nazarene exegetical works understand
δικαιοσύνη both as the salvific act and an ethic. This has contributed to the confusion
surrounding not only Paul, but entire sanctification as an article of faith. Defining the
term as both justification and righteousness is understandable, only because Paul’s use of
δικαιοσύνη is incredibly dynamic. It is used as a modifier, a noun, and a framework. It’s
even interpreted as a personification in Nazarene interpretation.
However, does this interpretation really give justice to Paul’s worldview? And if
so, what would Paul’s worldview provide as far as the understanding of entire
sanctification? The important nuance between the judicial understanding of δικαιοσύνη
and the uprightness understanding of δικαιοσύνη directly effects not just the
understanding of Jesus’ salvific work on the cross, but the believers’ abilities to live a life
in δικαιοσύνη. Is a life in Christ’s δικαιοσύνη truly a life of uprightness, moral and
22
within truth, or just a life that is in the forgiveness of Christ? Or is it both? These are the
essential questions leading into the study of Paul’s context and his understanding of
δικαιοσύνη in Romans 5-8.
23
Chapter Two
Paul’s Understanding of δικαιοσύνη from the “New Perspective”
When a Greek student first encounters δικαιοσύνη in Romans, he/she will notice
something unique about the word very quickly: traditionally it does not translate into one
English word! Throughout the epistle, the word is often translated as “justification” or
“righteousness,” which presents specific problems for any student of Paul. How can this
word have two different definitions? The Pauline scholars do not always help either,
providing theses even more diverse than the translation debate. This is the world that one
must enter to fully grasp Paul’s understanding of sanctification in Romans and its
implications in the conversation surrounding entire sanctification in the Nazarene
doctrine.
The first task in understanding Paul’s use of δικαιοσύνη in Romans is to
understand the word in its most basic form which is the lexical definition. δικαιοσύνη is
defined as:
1. Uprightness, justice as a characteristic of a judge

2. In a moral and religious sense: uprightness, righteousness, the characteristic
required of men by God, whether that be in the sense of fulfilling the divine
statutes or in which uprightness is the compelling motive for the conduct of a
person’s life.53
While there are two distinct definitions of δικαιοσύνη, a common similarity between the
two is the translation: “uprightness.” Uprightness is dependent upon an ideal, whatever is
truly right, to be in δικαιοσύνη is to be in the right. This reveals that δικαιοσύνη is a
53Walter Bauer, trans. William Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1979),
196-197.
24
relational word. Because it is relational, δικαιοσύνη has a source, a standard, and even
further implications.
The only conclusion that can be taken from this definition is that δικαιοσύνη is a
relational word and that there is a standard held in δικαιοσύνη, whether that is moral,
judicial, or theistic. This does not give Paul’s understanding, only the nature of the word.
Therefore in order to grasp Paul’s understanding and use of δικαιοσύνη, a simple
definition of δικαιοσύνη is ineffective. The task of this chapter is to understand
δικαιοσύνη from all angles in Paul’s theology. This will be accomplished by examining
Paul’s theological framework that is shaped by his historical context. Then, the family of
δικαιό- words in Romans 5-8 will be investigated for a complete view of δικαιοσύνη.54
Finally the specific instances and the overall theme will be understood through the
exegesis of δικαιοσύνη in Romans 5-8 to decipher Paul’s understanding.
Paul’s Historical Context and the “New Perspective”
It is imperative to understand who Paul was before concluding anything about his
theology. Why? Because just as humans get older they acquire mountains of
possessions, the church has developed a mountain of presuppositions attached to Paul’s
life and world. Paul’s words must be understood, not the church’s words about Paul55.
Subjection to the different interpretations provided in years past does not grasp Paul’s
54 It should be mentioned that the scholars studied for this inquiry also detailed the family of δικαιό- words
in order to fully define δικαιοσύνη. Its family are integrally connected with Paul’s concept of δικαιοσύνη
and cannot be ignored.
55Stephen Westerholm’s Perspectives Old and New on Paul highlights the diversity of Pauline theology
over the years and the challenges facing it because of influences from different theological frameworks.
25
words fully, whether they come from a Reformed, Lutheran, Catholic, or Orthodox
perspective.
The first observation to note is that Paul was a Jew in the first century. This is
common knowledge to any person studying Paul and is evident in Pauline historical
studies. While he has been called Christianity’s first real theologian or even to the point
of calling him the greatest Christian theologian56, there is no denying that before Paul
experienced the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he was a zealous Second Temple
Jew.57 Wright places Paul as “a Shammaite Pharisee; not just, perhaps, as a Shammaite
Pharisee, but as one of the strictest of the strict.”58 This context was not abandoned by
Paul, but transformed by his experience with Christ. The significance of this is
highlighted in present day Pauline studies through the “New Perspective.” “New
Perspective” authors, including N.T. Wright, James Dunn, E.P. Sanders, and Richard
Hays, have reignited the conversation around the Jewish nature of Paul’s work (not to
mention the conversation between Christianity and Judaism) and provide the best
framework to understand Paul’s theological worldview as a Jew. Because of this,
contributions by scholars of this perspective will be some of the main sources from which
to investigate Paul’s theological context, because they seek to understand Paul’s theology
in his context and from his worldview, rather than a Reformed, Lutheran, Catholic, or
Orthodox perspective on Paul’s theology.
56James Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing Company,
1998), 2.
57 See Acts 7:54-8:3, 9:1-2 as well as as well as Romans 10:2, Galatians 1:13-14, Philippians 3:6.
58N.T. Wright, What St. Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity? (Grand
Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997), 26.
26
When Paul encountered the risen Christ59, his life and ministry changed
dramatically. Many consider this to be his conversion, but as said before Paul maintains
his Jewish identity even after this experience. Krister Stendahl sheds light on this
discussion in his claim that Paul’s experience wasn’t a conversion at all, but a “prophetic
call” to the mission of Christ in his world.60 While not using the same terms, Hays
expounds upon the Jewishness of Paul’s words in his work The Conversion of the
Imagination, his thesis being, “the interpretation of Israel’s Scripture was central to the
apostle Paul’s thought”61. And that interpretation of scripture is the basis for the position
that Paul sees the newly formed church as a continuation of God’s plan of salvation
through His covenant faithfulness to Israel through the salvific work of Christ. 62 Paul’s
identity as a Jew was his context, shaping his theological worldview.
This was why Paul was constantly bridging the relationship between Jews and
Gentiles in his letters. Two very contrasting and sometimes opposing worlds were all of
a sudden embracing an identity together. That identity fused new relationships and
ignited new debates. This is seen throughout the entire Pauline corpus, where Paul is
commanding unity to settle arguments around old traditions and to embrace the new
identity in Christ.63 And even though this is not the main purpose of Romans, these
themes are still found in the letter. Therefore he had to bridge his own identity as a Jew
59 See Acts 9, 22:1-22, and 26:1-29.

60Krister Stendahl, Paul Among Jews and Gentiles (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976), 8. His entire
argument for this position is on pages 7-23.
61Richard Hays, The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter of Israel’s Scripture (Grand
Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), viii.
62 N.T. Wright, Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2009), 35.
63 I.e. divisions in 1 Corinthians 3, the “wedge” between Jews and Gentiles in Ephesians 2:11-22.
27
with the Hellenistic world around him, thereby adopting a Hellenistic rhetoric for his
letters in the Greek tradition.64
Other δικαιό- Words in Romans and Their Meaning
Understanding Paul’s historical context provides an important framework to
understand his language in Romans. With this backdrop, proper emphasis and meaning
of δικαιοσύνη can be understood. But to define Paul’s understanding of δικαιοσύνη,
careful investigation of its family of words is needed. The reasoning to look at other
δικαιό- words in Romans 5-8 stems from the need to understand Paul’s use of the δικαιό-
root in light of his worldview. δικαιοσύνη is a word that is not in its simplest form,
because it is rooted in the verb δικαιόω. To understand δικαιοσύνη then is to understand
Paul’s use of these words and the theological framework around it.
The family of words includes the verb δικαιόω, the adjective δίκαιος, and the
noun δικαίωµα. All three of these words are intricately related. δικαιόω’s basic
definitions include: to show or do justice, to justify or vindicate, to be acquitted or
declared righteous, or to make free or pure. 65 While these definitions are similar, the
translation of δικαιόω in Paul’s writings is dependent upon who the actor is and to whom
δικαιόω is being done. According to Bauer, Paul’s use of δικαιόω in Romans 5 points to
the acquittal definition, where Paul uses the participle in the aorist passive to denote what
has been done unto himself and the church in Rome. δικαιόω is not an action that is done
by humanity, but has been done through God’s redemptive work. In fact, looking at the
64 N.T. Wright, Paul in Fresh Perspective (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009), 4.

65 Bauer, 197-198.
28
use of δικαιόω overall in the entire letter, it is only active when being done by God and
always passive when speaking of humans. 66 Therefore, the ability to declare things
righteous is reserved only for God.
Chapter 8’s use of δικαιόω further emphasizes this point where God is the subject
of the action.67 In both uses in 8:30, Paul uses δικαιόω in the 3rd person aorist active
indicative to describe the action of God. Paul makes it clear in verse 33 that it is God
alone who can do this act of acquittal. From what is known of δικαιόω in chapters 5-8
(and of Romans in general) is that δικαιόω is an action not done by humans, but by God.
However in 6:7, another use of δικαιόω emphasizes the point that humans cannot
personally enact δικαιόω, but it does not carry the same context and causes most
translations to use another meaning: to make free or pure. This is likely because it is
acting upon the phrase άπὸ τῆς ὰµαρτίας, or “from sin.” It is understandable why a
translator would take this position, especially since the overall subject of chapter 6 is
within the reality that has freed all humanity from the reign of sin and death.
If the action of δικαιόω is only able to be carried out by God, then there is a need
to understand δίκαιος, as it is used oftentimes in Paul to describe the people who have
been justified. In fact the definition of δίκαιος is: upright, just, or righteous according to
a legal or religious sense (usually used to describe humanity), the status of being
righteous as God in his judgments, the ideal of being righteous found in Jesus, or an
obligation to justice.68 This transfer of emphasis is obvious if one is to take the acquitted
66 Bauer, 197-198
67 Ibid, 197.
68 Bauer, 195-196.
29
or declared righteous position of δικαιόω, as the act of God is bestowed upon humanity.
Those who enter into the life with God are therefore declared to be acquitted of the sin
and death that has plagued humanity since the fall. This is especially true of 5:19.
The other two occurrences of δίκαιος are slightly different. While it is still used
as a modifying word to describe someone or something, it is not modifying a person in
the salvific acquittal sense as seen in 5:19. Instead it is modifying a person in 5:7 for
which Paul is describing an upright person and the law in 7:12 giving the law its status.
This is where a difference is seen among translators, simply because it does not seem to
be speaking of the salvific work as seen in other occurrences, but simply a moment where
Paul is using the word as a modifier to make points. This is a point of entry for those
who take a dynamic translation of the word family in Romans.
A rare word is used in the family of δικαιό- words, both in 5:16 and 8:4.
δικαίωµα is known as: a regulation, requirement or commandment, or a righteous deed.69
This word defined like this seems to be the word that is used to convey an ideal statute of
what uprightness would look like in action. However this word translated with the above
definition only occurs once in 8:4 where Paul speaks about the fulfillment of the law.
The other occurrence is in 5:16, where some translators see its usage as a replacement for
δικαιοσύνη and translate it as “justification.”70 The context for this usage is to speak
about how Christ’s work dramatically changes the world by providing a path into new
life. It is easy to translate δικαίωµα as justification here, not just because of its context
but also because of the case and number being used in the verse (singular neuter) to
69 Ibid, 198.
70 Bauer cites Kuhner to have this intepretation, 198.
30
maintain proper grammar and as Bauer indicates: “it is chosen obviously because of the
other words in -µα and is equivalent in meaning to δικαίωσις.”71 This shows the close
connection between δικαίωµα and δικαιοσύνη.
The final word to examine in the δικαιό- word family is δικαίωσις. It is defined
as: justification, vindication, or acquittal.72 This word is only used twice in the entire
New Testament, specifically by Paul in Romans 4:25 and 5:18. A pause is warranted here
only because this word is very close to δικαιοσύνη in meaning and translation. In both of
these cases, δικαίωσις is used in the context of what has been given to humanity. It
alludes to the process by which humanity is declared righteous, that is in a legal sense.73
It is a return to the salvific work of Christ. It would seem that δικαιοσύνη is the product
of δικαίωσις.74
The family of words surrounding δικαιοσύνη, especially in the context of Romans
5-8, are used in correlation with the relationship between God and humanity. That
relationship is expressed through a variety of manifestations including the law, the
salvific work of Christ, and the ideal life in the identity of God. This is an
unquestionable principle in Paul’s thought and an immovable perspective because of the
context of the other δικαιό- words found in Romans. Because of this, δικαιοσύνη, as a
part of this family of words, carries with it implications regarding the relationship status
71 Bauer, 198.
72 Ibid, 198.
73 This meaning will be fully fleshed out in N.T. Wright’s point of view regarding δικαιό- language.
74 This is especially a part of Westerholm’s point of view.
31
of the Christian life. This shows the connection of δικαιοσύνη to the understanding of
justification and sanctification.
The “New Perspective” on δικαιό- Words
Because it is the view of this author that the “new perspective” is the best
interpretation to understand Paul’s theology due to its attempt to keep Paul’s historical
context at the center of his theology, an investigation of that perspective on δικαιό- words
in Romans is needed. The authors of the “new perspective” begin outside the section of
Romans 5-8. Their investigation of δικαιό- words begins with “the righteousness of
God” first used in Romans 1:16-17. Dunn believes that, “the wider use of dikaiosyne
(“righteousness”) and dikaioo (“justify”) in the Pauline corpus confirms the centrality of
the concept for Paul.”75 Therefore, any δικαιό- language in Romans 5-8 has implications
from this first and subsequent uses. This confirms the prior observation that δικαιοσύνη
is a relationship word for Paul. The relationship is dependent upon the standard set by
δικαιοσύνη, that is the Divine standard.
To understand δικαιοσύνη from this Divine standard, δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ as
understood by Paul must be defined76. The standard is expressed through the Divine
initiative. Wright, Hays 77, and Dunn 78 use similar terminology for this “righteousness” in
the larger narrative of Israel and salvation. The term “covenant faithfulness” is used
75 Dunn, The Theology of Paul, 341.

76Romans 1:17. This is where most scholars will cite the “righteousness of God” as the main theme
throughout Romans, including Wright.
77 Hays, 147.
78 See Dunn’s chapter “Justification by Faith” in The Theology of Paul the Apostle.
32
often in conjunction with this phrase as Wright contends it is “the expectation that the
God of Israel, often referred to in the Hebrew Scriptures by the name YHWH, would be
faithful to the promises made to the patriarchs.”79 Paul as a Jew was always expecting
God to do what He promised, tracing back to the covenant made with Abraham. It is in
this context that Paul is interpreting the events of the recent life of Jesus of Nazareth and
the events occurring in the early church shortly after Christ’s resurrection.
The only reason that one can take this position is by understanding the God-
Jewish narrative in this sense,
The purpose of the covenant was never simply that the creator wanted to have
Israel as a special people, irrespective of the fate of the rest of the world. The
covenant was there to deal with the sin, and bring about the salvation, of the
world.80
Here, Israel wasn’t just the chosen people to receive the blessings of God, but to
distribute the blessings of God throughout its life and relationship with Him (Genesis
12:1-3, Exodus 19:1-6, Romans 4:1-25). They were to be the actors of salvation in the
world. Yet through the human-Divine narrative, Paul finds that they had made a mockery
of the original covenant, hence his sections about the law and its inability to bring about
the salvation of the world (Romans 2:17-29, 3:19-20, 7:1-25). Therefore, δικαιοσύνη did
not come through Paul’s context as a Jew through the old covenant, but in the completion
of the covenant by Christ’s work. δικαιοσύνη was now available to all because of the
universality of Christ’s work instead of being tied to the original covenant through the
Jews.

80 Wright, What St. Paul Really Said, 118. Italics are from the original source.
33
Secondly, δικαιοσύνη, when used in this manner, is also linked to God’s own
judgment. δικαιό- language also carries law court imagery. Therefore, this family of
words relates to Paul’s understanding of God as the judge of the entire world where He
would declare who the “righteous” are based on this understanding: “the status of the
successful party when the case had been decided.”81 Therefore the “righteousness of
God” is interpreted as a characteristic of God. He is the Divine judge with the ability to
declare whomever to be “righteous” in the law court of the universe. It is by his
“righteousness” that he is able to give this declaration. He is the standard by which the
created world is to abide when it comes to anything. 82
While these two things seem separated from each other, Wright contends that they
are linked closely. He writes,
we discover that God’s righteousness, seen in terms of covenant faithfulness and

through the image of the lawcourt, was to be the instrument of putting the world
to rights- of what we might call cosmic restorative justice.83
δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ then becomes the very framework for any kind of δικαιό- language used
in Romans, because God has been the initiator of this justice since the creation of the
world. For Paul, using δικαιό- language represents the ongoing narrative since the
beginning of time where God has been providing redemption for His creation. The story
has simply undergone a recent transformation for Paul, in that Jesus brought the cosmic

82It is easy right now to formulate an image that this is relating to ethics, by which God is the absolute truth
when it comes to right action in the world. But this is not the only area God is the absolute standard for
Paul. God is the standard in which all things are compared. He is the creator and all the rest seen in this
world is the creation. So it cannot be stressed enough that Paul sees God as a judge ruling over morals, but
God as the source, substance, and sustenance for all things that are good, in the physical, spiritual, moral,
realms of understanding (he would not see these as separate, but as a whole).
34
redemptive work for the allowance of any person, Jew or Gentile, to be found “righteous”
in front of the Divine Judge himself. Rooted in this reality, Paul writes the rest of
Romans, where the people who have been declared “righteous” through Christ’s salvific
work are to join that narrative. This is why Paul focuses on the work of Christ in
1:18-4:25, so that all may understand that this is the work of God provided for all of
creation to participate in and through which they can live without the fear of sin and
death.
When δικαιοσύνη is fully understood from this framework in 1:18-4:25 the reader
can see where Paul is headed in chapters 5-8. δικαιό- words need to keep this framework
in chapters 5-8 because Paul is not shifting his focus away from this new life in this new
reality brought by Christ, but is further expounding upon it, thereby describing and later
commanding how the church is to live (in chapters 9-16).
The “New Perspective” on Romans 5-8 and δικαιοσύνη
Knowing δικαιοσύνη’s connection with its family of words that deal with the
relationship between God and humanity, one can proceed into the interpretation of the
specific instances of δικαιοσύνη, with this thought: δικαιοσύνη represents the ongoing
faithfulness of God to His covenants with humanity brought through His salvific work.
This must be remembered when one looks at δικαιοσύνη in its specific uses in Romans
5-8.
Similar to virtually all interpreters of Romans (including Nazarene scholarship),
the “new perspective” understands the beginning of chapter 5 to provide the
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consequences of the prior argument in chapter 4. These consequences in 5:1-11 include
an eschatological hope in the midst of current suffering (5:3-5). This hope provides a
reason to “boast” in this because “it indicates that the process of salvation is under
way.”84 Paul is instilling a sense of pride for all believers because of what has happened
in the Christ event, and because of what will happen in the future. The Christ event has
brought a new era for Paul and his next task is to urge the church to live in this era.
However this only lays a foundation for Paul’s rhetoric in 5:12-21. These verses
summarize 5:1-11 and set the basis for the rest of his argument in chapters 6-8.85 He
introduces “the clash of the kingdoms”86 which is a part of his rhetoric of the two adams.
One kingdom is headed by the personified “sin” and “death” (5:14, 17a, 21a), while the
other is headed by the believers in grace (5:17b, 5:21b). 87 But these two kingdoms are
not equal, as Paul asserts that the overwhelming gift of God through the salvific work of
Christ has triumphed over the old adam, the kingdom of sin and death. This triumphant
declaration establishes a foundation for Paul’s description of the believers’ lives.
It is in this declaration where the first occurrence of δικαιοσύνη is found. In 5:17,
δικαιοσύνη is in the genitive being acted upon by λαµβάνω in the 3rd personal plural
future active indicative. It is used with “grace” and “gift.” No matter the translation, the
subject of the sentence is the group of people who receive this grace, this gift, and this
δικαιοσύνη through Jesus Christ. This is a further elaboration on the two paths Paul is
84 James Dunn, Romans 1-8, vol. 38, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word Books, 1988), 265.
86 Ibid, 524.
87 Ibid, 524.
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laying out in his exposition of the two adams. Because Jesus Christ is the new adam, it is
through Him the gift of δικαιοσύνη is given. Therefore Paul establishes that δικαιοσύνη
is provided only through the salvific work of Christ.
To understand δικαιοσύνη in the same context as established earlier, then
δικαιοσύνη is the gift of the covenant faithfulness through the salvific work of Christ
declaring believers to be righteous. Simply put, the believers live in the “vindicated”88
life. Their status has changed in this δικαιοσύνη and provides eschatological implications
in which the believers are God’s people through which God exercises His final rule. 89
Salvation has been arranged for the people to live into and through until their final
destination of resurrection with the resurrected Christ. So, out of the gift of δικαιοσύνη,
the new life emerges.
Paul further develops his understanding of δικαιοσύνη in 5:21. Here, Paul
understands grace as a worldview; its own “reign” that has come through δικαιοσύνη. It
is here where grace is directly connected to δικαιοσύνη, thereby, δικαιοσύνη brings grace
and the benefits of life with God. If grace and this life leading to eternal life is indeed
what is given to humanity through δικαιοσύνη, then δικαιοσύνη points to an action by
God. That action is in the giving of the grace known as δικαιοσύνη. This shows that
δικαιοσύνη in Paul’s thought here is referring to God declaring humanity righteous in a
law court context, and it is through this status given that humanity can live in this new
life provided by Christ.

89 Ibid, 538.
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Before venturing further, a claim needs to be made regarding the use of
δικαιοσύνη in Paul’s overall argument. As Paul has established δικαιοσύνη as the work
of God in His covenant faithfulness that declares the guilty party (humanity) righteous,
Paul has set this rhetoric in place to later complete his argument in chapters 6-8. If
anything, these developments of δικαιοσύνη in chapter 5 cannot be thrown away in the
rhetoric to come, but are given the chance to blossom in Paul’s description of the life in
δικαιοσύνη.
So to explain the life in this δικαιοσύνη further, Paul uses different imagery in
6:1-11. While δικαιοσύνη is not explicitly used here, it is still the framework through
which Paul is speaking. This is how Paul can rhetorically pose his question in verse 1 to
quickly rebuke in verse 2. This also frees him to use the metaphor of death and
resurrection with baptism language in regards to the framework of δικαιοσύνη he has
established. The metaphor of the death and resurrection of Christ is used in conjunction
with baptism language to show the ushering in of the reality of δικαιοσύνη. Believers
have joined in the nature of Christ dying to the sinful reality that has plagued humanity
and have been resurrected in the new reality without sin. δικαιοσύνη is the reason for this
transformative experience and Paul views that experience as the impetus for the believers
to live in the new reality.
Paul writes next of a completely dedicated life to δικαιοσύνη after this experience.
He offers an interesting use of δικαιοσύνη in 6:13. This is the first occurrence where one
might translate δικαιοσύνη as simply “righteousness” because of its use in conjunction
with “instrument” or “weapon.” One might view δικαιοσύνη as an ethic here because
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δικαιοσύνη is a modifier. It is cases like this that move the theologian to a dynamic
translation of δικαιοσύνη thereby contributing to the dual translation of the word.
However, the change in context does not constitute a different definition of δικαιοσύνη.
The reason for this is because Paul has already set a worldview of what δικαιό-
terminology represents; the status giving legal ramification of Christ’s salvific work in
the larger story of God’s covenant faithfulness.90 To suddenly change δικαιό- language to
represent an ethic for one verse is not constructive to his overall argument.
However, it is more plausible that Paul is using δικαιοσύνη in a different rhetoric
and keeping the same understanding as established in earlier arguments. Even though
Dunn warns against a narrow view of δικαιοσύνη he states that in this context: “For Paul
‘righteousness’ is evidently a summary here for the gracious power of God which claims
and sustains the believer and reaches its final expression in eternal life.”91 δικαιοσύνη is
maintaining its meaning and cannot be understood as an ethic. It is the guiding force
behind God’s work in his faithfulness to creation through the salvific work of Christ.
δικαιοσύνη is the framework that affects everything in the worldview of those who
follow Christ.
This means that to be an “instrument” or “weapon” of δικαιοσύνη is to embrace
God’s work in living the new life without sin. In line with Dunn, Wright asserts that
δικαιοσύνη is “a metonym for the whole God-side of the picture, and hence even as a
metaphor for God.”92 It continues to carry the meaning Paul established not just in
90 See: The “New Perspective” on δικαιό- Words.

91 Dunn, Romans 1-8, 335.
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chapter 5, but all the way back to 1:17. And so to be instruments of δικαιοσύνη is to be
wholly devoted to God’s work in Christ. The believers are to be Christ to all people.93 It
is not just a life that is without sin, but a life that embraces and enacts the work of God in
the believers‘ lives. Believers are to enact God’s mission in the world, His covenant
faithfulness. To reduce the translation of δικαιοσύνη to an ethic here does injustice to
Paul’s entire argument in Romans.
With another question raised for rhetorical emphasis regarding sin in verse 15 that
is again is answered with a negative, Paul seeks to frame this understanding in the
imagery of slavery in 6:15-23. Rhetorically, δικαιοσύνη is used as an antithesis to
ὰµαρτία (sin). Here, Paul contends that every life is a life of slavery where obedience
shows one’s allegiance.94 Dunn describes Paul’s view how all have “the obedience of a
slave as the obedience which he has no option but to offer.”95 One must have an
allegiance to either sin or to δικαιοσύνη. However, Paul’s understanding of δικαιοσύνη
should not be viewed as being only received through obedience to a set of rules or ethic
(this would be a “works righteousness” perspective), but that a person’s obedience must
either go to the sinful life that leads to death or the life in δικαιοσύνη that ends with
eternal life. The declaration of δικαιοσύνη has been given, but only to those who fully
obey the grace that has been given. Paul continues in the same rhetoric regarding the
church’s allegiance to the obedience of δικαιοσύνη in verse 18. Wright confirms the
consistent use of δικαιοσύνη by Paul,
93Though this is Romans, this fits very well in Pauline theology, especially when Paul speaks of the body
of Christ in 1 Cor. 12:12-31.
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‘Righteousness’ here is not so much ‘virtue’ or moral goodness, but rather (as
Paul will eventually make clear) a periphrasis for ‘God’; it is the divine
righteousness, revealed in the death and resurrection of the Messiah, the
righteousness through which grace has operated.96
δικαιοσύνη is a continuing consistent force in Paul’s rhetoric that is always pointing back
to God, thereby showing the centrality of God’s work for the new life in Christ.
Romans 6:19-23 continues the slavery imagery, but δικαιοσύνη is used with the
word often translated as “sanctification” in verse 19. This is especially central to the
investigation of δικαιοσύνη in Romans 5-8, simply because of its direct contribution to
doctrines of sanctification. δικαιοσύνη is in the dative being acted upon by “members as
slaves” that lead to the accusative of “sanctification.” This is important because Paul
establishes an order in his grammar. His words here provide that people are to present
themselves (even their physical bodies) over to δικαιοσύνη. As Paul has noted earlier,
there are only two lives to present as slaves to, sin or δικαιοσύνη. This moment of
sanctification is the same occurrence of the offering of oneself to slavery of δικαιοσύνη.
ὰγιασµός is the direct movement from such a presentation of the “members as slaves”
through the use of είς or “into.” A translation of “leading to”97 in place of just “into” is
deceiving here, as it provides the illusion of a movement after the presentation of
“members as slaves.” Instead, ὰγιασµός occurs in tandem with the pronouncement of
δικαιοσύνη to those who offered themselves. The grammar here does not suggest a
second act, but a singular act done by God. δικαιοσύνη is already offered. The human

97 English Standard Version
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response to δικαιοσύνη is when one offers him/herself as a slave and ὰγιασµός occurs in
one moment.
Remember that δικαιοσύνη hasn’t changed its meaning because its use here
incites “God’s gracious, sustaining power.”98 It is in δικαιοσύνη that ὰγιασµός occurs.
Therefore, regeneration and sanctification should be seen as one event from Paul’s
perspective. Wright shows how the one experience of obedience is transformative,
Christians owe allegiance to the God whose covenant faithfulness rescued them
in Christ; the result of this allegiance is that they become fit, through the
obedience that wells up from the heart, for the presence of this same God.99
Sanctification isn’t about the believer at all, but about the act of God restoring humanity
to be His image in the world, with life and without sin. God’s purifying action
(sanctification) through his δικαιοσύνη allows for believers to live without sin
immediately, not gradually. Paul is asking the believers in Rome to leave the old world
behind and to grasp their new purified identity in Christ.
Paul looks back to the old life again in 6:20, where he emphasizes the “freedom”
from δικαιοσύνη and one’s ability to sin. He is reiterating his prior argument of slavery,
of there only being two masters. It is in δικαιοσύνη where sin is not free to reign. As
Dunn summarizes:
it is not possible to be wholly dominated by sin and at the same time to be under
the sway of God’s righteousness; in any decision of daily responsible living ‘sin’
and ‘righteousness’ are mutually exclusive alternatives.100

100 Dunn, Romans 1-8, 347.
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It is in this sanctified life through δικαιοσύνη that allows holy daily living that results in
eternal life (6:22-23). Paul has offered his view of what the new adam looks like for
believers of God’s δικαιοσύνη.
An understanding of Romans 6 in Paul’s perspective shows that δικαιοσύνη is not
referring to ethic to be followed as sanctified believers, but the work of God presented
already to all of humanity. Wright summarizes δικαιοσύνη in chapter 6 well, “It is not
the ‘righteousness’ of Jesus Christ which is ‘reckoned’ to the believer. It is his death and
resurrection.”101 Believers die and are raised just like Christ, this is why he uses the
metaphor of baptism. Only in this can one be sanctified at the time of his or her
presentation of themselves as slaves to δικαιοσύνη. δικαιοσύνη is what encompasses the
entire life of the believer, allowing one to do the work of God’s δικαιοσύνη in the world
around them.
This paper will provide only a brief look at chapter 7, not because it isn’t
important to Paul’s thought, but because of the lack of the use of the term δικαιοσύνη. It
must be remembered though that Paul’s writing here is still within the framework of
δικαιοσύνη he has set up since 1:17 and the life in δικαιοσύνη he is establishing within
chapters 5-8. Paul’s exposition tracing back to chapter 5 turns to the law, that which is of
utmost importance to many Jews in the first century church (not to mention Paul). The
section’s overarching purpose in Paul’s understanding of God’s salvific work is to show
the continuity between the law and the Christ event or as Wright puts: “how God has
renewed the covenant in Christ and by the Spirit.”102 Even though Paul has earlier in
101 Wright, Justification, 232.

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Romans showed how the law became a stumbling block to all in God’s salvific work, this
is the section where he shows the salvation narrative since the beginning of Israel and
finally culminating in Christ.
He uses the first person singular in his rhetoric to show the issues surrounding
those confused by God’s work in Christ who are predisposed to the law. He shows the
tension between the law and the new reality established by Christ. For Wright, the use of
“I” has nothing to do with a personal struggle with the law and Christ event; it is used for
rhetoric only.103 None of the scholars in the “new perspective” place anthropological
emphasis upon this passage as they understand that Paul is fleshing out the action needed
to be taken by believers in light of the Christ event.104 While having different
perspectives regarding Paul’s emphasis 105, the scholars all agree that Paul is writing this
section because of Christ’s establishment of δικαιοσύνη for the believers rather than the
law. The law cannot provide δικαιοσύνη, but that does not mean it did not have its
purpose. If anything, chapter 7 affirms the Torah in the overall work of God by showing
the role “that Torah has played in the history of salvation, even at the very moment when
it might seem most negative.”106 And so, Paul’s rhetoric here is to emphasize life within
God’s δικαιοσύνη through Christ instead an ethic that is dependent upon human effort in
abiding by the law.

104 See Wright, Romans, 549-557. See also Dunn, Romans 1-8, 357-412.
105Wright concentrates on the overarching narrative of God’s faithful work to covenant. See Wright,
Romans, 549-557. Dunn sees this section showing the eschatological tension between the new life without
sin and death with the ever present old way with sin and death. See Dunn, Romans 1-8, 357-412.
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This emphasis is realized in Paul’s exposition of living in the Spirit, which is his
conclusion (of this section) in chapter 8. Paul continues elaborating on his concept of the
adams in chapter 8, just as he did in chapters 6 and 7. This time, it is expressed using the
terms spirit and flesh. The new adam is the life within the Spirit, while the old adam is
life based on flesh. This part of Paul’s argument not only gives a vision of life within the
Spirit, but also the life leading towards the end. As Dunn asserts,
the Spirit that brings the eschatological life of believers to complete fruition in
the cosmic liberation of the resurrection, by guaranteeing their hope, by sustaining
them in the weakness of their this-ageness, and by thus confirming their assurance
of future glory.107
Just as the Christ event ended in resurrection so does δικαιοσύνη. This brings hope to the
slaves of δικαιοσύνη. However, Paul also addresses the death that still plagues humanity.
It seems that Paul has ended in this manner so that he can tell the entire story of God’s
salvation history and how one can have hope in the complete redemption of His
creation.108
Though the focus has been on δικαιοσύνη and its use, the use of δικαίωµα
warrants a small detour, only because of its placement in chapter 8. In 8:4, Paul uses
δικαίωµα in the nominative only to be modified by the law or decree to be found within
the believers. Paul is confirming the δικαιοσύνη of God here in the Christ event. The
event did not just provide salvation, but fulfilled the salvation from the earlier covenant.
Speaking of 8:4 Wright states,
107 Dunn, Romans 1-8, 413.

108 Wright, Paul, 12-13.
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God condemned sin in the flesh of Jesus, so that the life the law offered could
rightly be given to those led by the Spirit. The latter was the long-term purpose of
the former, the former the necessary precondition of the latter.109
He goes on to say that Paul’s understanding of Christ’s death doesn’t merely allude to a
law court transaction, but that sin suffered its death through Christ’s death.110 Though the
law was not able to give life without sin (it even brought more sin), the law was fulfilled
in Christ because the law was no longer held by sin. Israel and its law were unable to
bring salvation in the world, but Israel’s representative, its Messiah, was able to in His
death and His resurrection. Paul finishes the story of salvation with the overflowing
grace of God through His son, Christ. Only then can Paul begin to look to the future and
the work of the church in its eschatological tension.
Before Paul comes to a profound declaration in 8:9-11, he speaks further about
the antithesis between flesh and Spirit in 8:5-8. It comes to a head especially in verse 5
where Paul stretches the tension of the current era. Dunn asserts that,
until that time (resurrection of the church), with its complete outworking of
God’s condemnation of the sinful flesh, their continuing fleshliness was an
integral element in the continuing eschatological tension.111
Paul is not trying to put some idealistic vision of the life in the Spirit in Romans, but is
wholeheartedly engaging the issues (especially death) that still plague all of humanity and
still believers. It is in creating this tension in his rhetoric that he will be able to
profoundly bring the Romans to understand their place as sanctified believers in a broken
world.

111 Dunn, Romans 1-8, 441. “Resurrection of the church” was added by the author for clarification.
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Romans 8:9-11 is where Paul changes everything in his argument, where the last
occurrence of δικαιοσύνη is located in Romans 5-8. In 8:10, it is used in regards to the
status of the church. Because no verbs are written, it is implied that Paul is using the verb
“to be” between the nominatives and the rest of the predicates. δικαιοσύνη is in the
accusative and is a part of a prepositional phrase. dia is its preposition which takes the
translation “because” when used before an accusative. δικαιοσύνη is therefore the reason
for the qualifications Paul is making about the Spirit and life with the Spirit. δικαιοσύνη
cannot be considered an “ethic” here because Paul has already made the case that actions
by humanity cannot gain the life without sin and death. He has made it explicitly clear
that it is only by the Divine initiative. So, the life in the Spirit of God comes only by the
δικαιοσύνη of God, the covenant faithfulness to all of creation through His salvific work
on the cross.
One can make this interpretive move because of Paul’s overall declaration to the
believers in Rome. In 8:9-11, Paul declares the Romans to be in this life that he has been
speaking of since chapter 5. Up to this point Paul has spoken of the responsibility of the
believers to God in light of His δικαιοσύνη. Wright asserts that these verses are “the
heart of his argument for assurance (those whom God justified, them God also
glorified).”112 Believers carry responsibility, but they are also promised the coming of
the Spirit by Jesus. That promised fulfilled on Pentecost, the Spirit is upon all believers.
Believers are able to live in this reality without fear of sin and death because the Spirit
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guides them to their final destination, the glorification in the resurrection of Christ’s
church.
It is after this firm declaration that Paul further expounds upon the responsibilities
for the church in 8:12-17. It echoes Paul’s exposition of chapter 6 where he says to leave
the life of sin and death behind by not participating in sin. He asks that the church
participate in “a determined spiritual discipline”113 to be “sons of God” who are “led by
the Spirit of God” (8:14). The church is to be led by the Spirit to enact the δικαιοσύνη
bestowed to them through Christ by living a life without sin.
It is in living that life the believers can look forward to the very end. 8:18-39 is
the final section which speaks to the redemption of creation and how that brings hope to
the believers in everything. When Paul speaks about a God who is “for us” and asks
“who can be against us?”, he is speaking as a leader in the early church, establishing that
God has already given his δικαιοσύνη to creation, and he, along with these believers he is
speaking to, have accepted that δικαιοσύνη as their framework in which to live.
Therefore, that framework brings with it the present reality of freedom from death and sin
and the future reality of the redemption of all creation (because death is even still
present). This section is a turning point where he will give practical instructions in being
the people of God in the sanctified reality for the rest of the letter. He has laid the
foundations of the believers’ life in the δικαιοσύνη of God and the realities that come
from such an amazing gift.
113 Dunn, Romans 1-8, 458.
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δικαιοσύνη from the “New Perspective”
Explored from the stance of the “new perspective,” δικαιοσύνη is the guiding
force for all of Paul’s thinking in Romans. δικαιοσύνη in Romans has nothing to do with
an ethic or a set of rules to maintain a righteous life but has to do with God’s unique
faithfulness to His salvific covenants, not just to Israel, but now to the entire creation
through the Christ event. δικαιοσύνη, when used by itself in Romans points back to
God’s work, the declaration of righteousness, or vindication. This is what Paul means
when he uses this term. Therefore it is hard to justify a dynamic translation of
δικαιοσύνη into either “justification” or “righteousness.” Paul’s rhetoric points to one
meaning, guiding his entire exposition of the sanctified life. However it is also
problematic that Paul’s understanding of δικαιοσύνη carries a theological weight that
cannot be expressed in the present day understanding by one word.
Therefore one should not translate δικαιοσύνη simply as “justification,” because
that English term carries with it incredible weight as mentioned before. One cannot use
“justification” as a translation without proper clarification because of its variety of
interpretations as defined by different traditions.114 One also cannot simply translate
δικαιοσύνη as “righteousness” for the same reason above. The word also carries with it
not just different definitions by all traditions, but specifically is often used in tandem with
an ethical system. 115 Though Paul never changes his understanding of δικαιοσύνη, it is
easy to swing back and forth between two understandings.
114Though not a “new perspective” scholar, Stephen Westerholm’s Perspectives Old and New on Paul is an
overview of these different understandings.
115 See the section Nazarene Interpretation of δικαιοσύνη in Romans 5-8 in this paper.
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The only way one can properly give δικαιοσύνη its due in English then is to
combine the two understandings, just as Paul understood δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ. δικαιοσύνη
should be understood as a combination of “justification” and “righteousness” in such a
way that combines the law court definition of justification and the status-giving definition
of righteousness. This is the only way to fully understand Paul’s viewpoint of δικαιοσύνη
because it includes both aspects insinuated by Paul by his use of δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ. As
God’s covenant faithfulness and salvific work are directly connected to each other, also
the law court understanding and status of righteousness are connected in δικαιοσύνη.
This paper asserts that δικαιοσύνη is the undeserved status-giving pronouncement
of favor upon humanity bringing it out of its sin due to the covenant faithfulness of God
through Christ’s salvific work. There is no one English word here to provide a reader,
only this definition to fully understand Paul’s use of δικαιοσύνη. With δικαιοσύνη now
defined in Romans 5-8 through Paul’s historical context (or the “new perspective”), the
next step is to see how this can speak to the Nazarene understanding of δικαιοσύνη and
how it should be understood in its doctrine of entire sanctification.
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Chapter Three
Paul’s δικαιοσύνη and the Doctrine of Entire Sanctification
While the work thus far has been separately concentrating on two different
perspectives, this chapter will construct a conversation around how the “new perspective”
can build upon or possibly cause a reconsideration of the Nazarene understanding of
Paul’s δικαιοσύνη and the entirely sanctified life.
The first observation between the two perspectives is the difference in its
translation of δικαιοσύνη. Greathouse and others in the Nazarene perspective see
δικαιοσύνη both as “justification” and “righteousness”, maintaining a difference between
the words. Yet at times he asserts they are so similar, they can be interchanged in specific
occasions. The “new perspective” however understands δικαιοσύνη to have only one
translation which is a holistic understanding not satisfied by either of these two English
translations. Their understanding of δικαιοσύνη is a combination of the two words
above. They do not consider δικαιοσύνη as having two different understandings in
Romans but offer one interpretation consistently for the entirety of the letter.
It is with this difference where the “new perspective” can contribute to the
Nazarene understanding of Paul in its doctrinal position. To understand δικαιοσύνη
holistically can change the interpretation of Romans drastically and furthermore change
the understanding of entire sanctification. And so to apply the view of the “new
perspective” to the current discussion around entire sanctification, a revisiting of how
Romans 5-8 contributes to the Nazarene doctrine of entire sanctification is needed.
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The three contributions to the doctrinal position provided by the Nazarene
interpretations of Romans 5-8 include: an order, that is entire sanctification is
“subsequent to regeneration”116; the framework Paul uses to tell of the defeat of sin and
death, or “the freedom from original sin, or depravity, and brought into a state of entire
devotement to God”117; and finally the presence of the Holy Spirit in the sanctified life, or
the sanctified life “is wrought by the baptism with or infilling of the Holy Spirit, and
comprehends in one experience the cleansing of the heart from sin and the abiding,
indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, empowering the believer for life and service.”118
The goal from here is to see if Paul’s understanding provides evidence for these
contributions. This chapter will investigate each of these contributions separately and if
need be, offer alternative nuances and understandings for the doctrine of entire
sanctification based upon the interpretation of Paul’s understanding of sanctification in
Romans 5-8 from the “new perspective.”
An Order of Grace?
The new adam is the framework for the sanctified life. That new adam is only
built upon the foundation of Paul’s theology in chapters 1-4, where justification by faith
is established as the way to participate in the new adam. Chapter 5 is a further exposition
upon that argument, Paul is just putting it in the rhetoric of two paths. Each path leads
humanity into two realities the reign of sin and death or freedom from sin and death. But
116 Manual, 33.

117 Ibid, 33.
118 Ibid, 33.
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Paul already knows where the church in Rome stands, they have chosen this new
framework (5:1). He then places that framework in terms of δικαιοσύνη. δικαιοσύνη is a
gift in the reality of the new adam, who is Christ. In other words, δικαιοσύνη is what has
been given by Christ in His salvific work. Maintaining the definition from the “new
perspective” in chapter 5, δικαιοσύνη has been given through the work of Christ and the
choice to participate in that gift leads to the life without sin. δικαιοσύνη declares
believers to be righteous in the new reality.
Chapter 6 further cements this understanding. When Paul begins to frame the life
in the new adam defined in the framework of slavery, he is arguing on the level of status.
A person is either a slave to sin or to the new adam. The choice to live in this new
framework dramatically changes everything starting from the status change. To choose
the new adam is to die to the old way of sin and to be raised in Christ free from sin. Paul
is still speaking of the one experience of turning from the old and living in the new from
chapter 5. Analyzing this grammatically, choosing obedience of God’s new adam is to
είς δικαιοσύνη (6:16). There is no verb here, but just είς or “into.” Therefore, obedience
to Christ in His salvific work is to be given δικαιοσύνη. In the “new perspective,”
submitting to the new adam is to put on δικαιοσύνη, the salvific work of God through His
covenant faithfulness. Therefore, a sanctified life is the life that has submitted to
Then, an understanding of δικαιοσύνη as an ethic in 6:18-19 is not supported as
Howard asserts in Nazarene interpretation. δικαιοσύνη is still considered to be the same
work of God through Christ as defined earlier. So the sanctified life is not presenting
53
one’s self as an instrument of an ethic, but as an instrument of God’s redeeming work that
brings the δικαιοσύνη of God to the believers. When Paul uses the phrase, instrument of
δικαιοσύνη, he is not envisioning a second experience where believers are to be
sanctified, he is speaking of the one experience that has already occurred for the believers
in Rome. He is expressing the new adam in slave terminology that has been established,
thereby allowing Paul to command the believers to live the life without sin. They have
already been sanctified.
The conclusion one can draw from this is that Paul’s understanding of the
sanctified life does not include a specific order in which entire sanctification is
subsequent to regeneration. The moment where one accepts the new adam begins the
sanctified life in δικαιοσύνη. This causes a reconsideration of the article of entire
sanctification in its use of “subsequent to regeneration” because Paul understands the
moment of one being declared righteous (δικαιοσύνη) as the same moment of being
sanctified. The declaration of righteousness upon the believers indicates a status change
which corresponds to a changing of reality. One is no longer in sin but is right with God,
separating one from the dominion of sin. That separation is through the acceptance of the
status God has given through his δικαιοσύνη, which aligns one with the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. That alignment embraces God’s δικαιοσύνη for the world by
embracing the new reality which leaves the dominion of sin behind and participates in
right action provided through the Spirit.
This is why Paul uses the metaphor of baptism in chapter 6. He understands that
in the one event of baptism, to die to the original sin and to be raised in the life without
54
sin, though two separate parts, baptism is just one event. The framework of the new
adam brings only one crisis moment, that is when one takes on the new adam or is
“justified” (using present day terminology), one is also sanctified in that moment. To
portray Paul here with a second experience of entire sanctification would be a
misrepresentation of what he is saying about the sanctified life. Accepting δικαιοσύνη
means one is sanctified.
The Church of the Nazarene has made some revisions recently to its doctrine of
entire sanctification,119 placing entire sanctification as a part of the sanctification process
in a person’s life. Sanctification as a whole includes initial sanctification, entire
sanctification, and finally glorification. 120 While this may clarify the experience of
sanctification, it still maintains a second act of grace, and that the result of entire
sanctification is to be “made free from original sin.”121 Paul’s rhetoric here does not
speak to such an experience but to accept δικαιοσύνη through Christ’s work frees one
from original sin (the former adam). In that acceptance, the life afterwards is sanctified
in that believers are free from sin and death.
As Paul believes sanctification occurs with regeneration in one experience, he
believes that growing in the Spirit is a part of the life sanctified. If one is entirely
sanctified, it does not happen separately from justification. One is entirely sanctified at
the moment the one gives full devotement to God. At that moment, righteousness has
been declared and one is to be found in line with God, who is indeed holy. Believers are
119 See appendix.

120 Manual, 33.
121 Ibid, 33.
55
therefore holy, brought out of reality of sin’s dominion in the world and alive in the life
with God. A holy life is a life wholly devoted to the life with God that embraces the
salvific work of Christ and a constantly leaning upon the Holy Spirit in life. The battle
against sin is over in this one experience.
And so, the Church of the Nazarene should reconsider its interpretation and use of
Paul in its doctrinal statement regarding the phrase “subsequent to regeneration.” Paul
only establishes one sanctification experience in the releasing from sin, which is a part of
the original δικαιόω moment, when God declares in favor of the believer. In light of that
experience, the believers now are to live sanctified lives through constant reliance upon
God and his δικαιοσύνη.
Freedom from Original Sin
Other parts of the Nazarene doctrine of entire sanctification are incredibly well
supported by Paul’s words in Romans 5-8, as long as he is interpreted in his context with
the proper understanding of δικαιοσύνη. However, even the smallest nuances in the
interpretation of Paul for this doctrine must be considered so one doesn’t misconstrue
Paul’s understanding of the sanctified life and δικαιοσύνη.
Thus far, what has been documented about Paul’s understanding is that accepting
δικαιοσύνη, the gift provided by Christ, frees one from the sin and death that hangs over
all of humanity. Understanding the entirely sanctified life as “made free from original
sin, or depravity, and brought into a state of entire devotement to God, and the holy
56
obedience of love made perfect”122 is a well worded interpretation of Paul’s language in
Romans 5-8. The nuances that surround the doctrine must be properly clarified.
To be released from original sin and living in δικαιοσύνη should not be
considered a movement by humans from one ethic of life into another. While not the
direct position of Richard Howard, he still interprets several uses of Paul’s δικαιοσύνη as
human action. Even though this is an incredibly small nuance, it can be considered by
some to be a major misstep. Not only does understanding δικαιοσύνη as an ethic portray
an opposite movement (human to divine rather than divine to human) in sanctification,
but misreads Paul’s Jewish context completely, as provided by the “new perspective.”
δικαιοσύνη does not provide a life lived by an ethic, but it gives a life lived in the
forgiving, status-giving reality provided by God. This small nuance must be identified in
the understanding of Paul in the doctrine of entire sanctification.
The danger of understanding δικαιοσύνη as an ethic is the placement of
movement in entire sanctification. Though Paul maintains that believers are responsible
to live in the new world without original sin, δικαιοσύνη is the movement of God to
humanity through His salvific work. To understand δικαιοσύνη as an ethic to be followed
through human action maintains movement upon humanity to do right action upon its
own accord. Paul does not preach this! Any respected Nazarene scholar would agree
with Paul in this conclusion123, however when one uses ambiguous terms such as “ethic”
in his/her interpretation of Paul, this understanding becomes muddled.
122 Manual, 33.

123
This is especially true if a scholar abides by article X in its description of how entire sanctification is the
work of God, not the believer.
57
This is why Paul constantly talks about the law in Romans. The life lived in
God’s identity is not by the works of righteousness through the law that was to be
followed by the Jews, but is lived in the reality of righteousness given through Christ.
The interpretation of chapter 7 by the “new perspective” further solidifies this nuance.
His exposition of the law shows how δικαιοσύνη is not brought by any kind of action on
human’s terms, but completely by God. δικαιοσύνη isn’t something by which to be lived,
but is in which to be lived. Only in δικαιοσύνη does one live a sanctified life, not by
living a “righteous” life according to a set of laws. A sanctified person lives righteously
only by living in δικαιοσύνη that God has granted through Christ. Paul asserts that then
to live in this δικαιοσύνη is to completely give oneself over to the Spirit and to thereby
live in that same Spirit. Right action does not come from an ethic, but only from God’s
δικαιοσύνη. This is why Paul ends his section on the sanctified life with the Spirit in
chapter 8. The ability to live rightly comes only through the presence of the Spirit within
believers. The Spirit comes to those who are in God’s δικαιοσύνη and causes right
action. This will be examined next.
An “instrument” of δικαιοσύνη then must be understood as the presentation of
the whole person to God’s δικαιοσύνη and to be used in that same reality. When
Greathouse speaks of the believer to be a part of the in-breaking of God’s kingdom, he is
right in interpreting an instrument of δικαιοσύνη as being a person further spreading the
purpose of God124, or merging it with the “new perspective,” the δικαιοσύνη of God.
This means that to live the sanctified life, one has the responsibility of promoting God’s
124 See footnote 24 on pg. 10.
58
work in the world. Those who believe in Christ are now to take up the responsibility of
being the image of God in the world that Israel was never able to maintain through its
obedience to the law. This is why Wright interprets Paul’s arguments in Romans to be
parallel to the narrative of Israel. Gentiles are to join Israel as the people of God in his
δικαιοσύνη, promoting God’s δικαιοσύνη in the broken, sinful world around them.
Therefore the entirely sanctified life then is to be a servant of God and His
δικαιοσύνη in the world. The Nazarene doctrine expresses this quite well in its
understanding of devotement, holy obedience, and life and service. But it must be
understood that to serve δικαιοσύνη is not to take up a new ethic of life, but to live in the
reality of δικαιοσύνη. While that requires discipline and constant reliance upon God, the
movement to live a holy life is not from obeying a specific ethic, for that would be
against what Paul was alluding to constantly in Romans about the law. The movement in
a sanctified life comes from God’s presence within the life of δικαιοσύνη, not from a
movement by believers to live in a certain way. He is remaining faithful to the people he
has made a covenant with in the new adam. His presence is manifested fully in the
Spirit’s presence among the believers. In order to better understand the role of the Spirit
in the sanctified life, Paul’s understanding of the Spirit must be explored.
The Spirit’s Work in the Sanctified Life
As said before, Paul ends Romans 5-8 with an exposition of the Spirit because his
rhetoric has been leading to a final climax of how life is lived within the reality of the
new adam. He saves his understanding of the Spirit for the end of this section because it
59
provides assurance for the believers who find themselves caught between the world
without sin and death and the presence of physical death that still hangs over the
believers’ heads. Paul’s exposition of the Spirit isn’t just to provide assurance for the
present but it also provides the reasoning behind the sanctified life within the reality of
δικαιοσύνη. The Nazarene doctrine of entire sanctification provides that the life entirely
sanctified is “wrought by the baptism with or infilling of the Holy Spirit” and that it
“empowers the believer for life and service.”125 An investigation of how Paul
understands the Spirit and how it contributes to the doctrinal statement will now
commence.
Paul moves into his final argument with his exposition on the Spirit of God in the
believers’ lives in chapter 8. He first establishes that there are still sufferings and death in
the world, especially in his antithesis between the flesh and the Spirit. How can believers
live in the reality without sin and death while continuing to experience a world filled with
the hurt and pain? Paul boldly declares that the same Spirit of God, the same Spirit that
was with Christ, is now in the lives of the believers. This gives assurance for the future
resurrection even in light of the present suffering. But more pertinent to the discussion is
the implication for the sanctified life.
Being that the sanctified life, according to Paul, is the life in the Spirit, that life
has been given through δικαιοσύνη. Greathouse argued that in this case “justification” or
“righteousness” could be used here. 126 Either way, he sees Paul understanding that the
life in the Spirit comes through Christ. The “new perspective” doesn’t understand
125 Manual, 33.

126 See footnote 45 on pg. 18.
60
δικαιοσύνη here as an either/or, but provides a holistic understanding of δικαιοσύνη.
However, the important aspect in understanding this passage is that life in the Spirit
comes through the salvific work of Christ, which both interpretations provide. Though
not a direct issue, it is essential not to translate δικαιοσύνη as an ethic in this moment.
This would again undermine everything Paul has said about δικαιοσύνη and the law. But
the sanctified life comes through God’s δικαιοσύνη.
This means that life in the Spirit is an everyday reality, however it is ushered in by
one experience in the reality previously explored. Paul does not portray a second
experience that involves a baptism or infilling of the Holy Spirit. Paul is continuing
down his same rhetorical path as earlier when one chooses the new adam, one receives all
the benefits of δικαιοσύνη including sanctification. It is the presence of the Spirit that
allows believers to live without original sin and that guides them in everything. This is
why Paul writes a praxis on Christian living after 8:9-11. The church can only act
accordingly if it is dependent upon the Spirit, not just for assurance, but to do the work of
God in the world. As mentioned before, to be instruments of δικαιοσύνη is to be fully
reliant upon the Spirit.
The most constructive concept to the conversation around entire sanctification is
that a life sanctified is an everyday reality provided by the Spirit that has been given
through δικαιοσύνη. The question plaguing the discussion should be, why does the
Nazarene church understand sanctification as the life after receiving δικαιοσύνη (as Paul
sees) yet have a separate second experience known as entire sanctification? Once one
accepts δικαιοσύνη, one receives the Spirit and lives his/her life out in that reality. Paul’s
61
words should not be used here to support a second experience of entire sanctification.
Entire sanctification in its current wording would be a foreign understanding to Paul. For
him, it is one reality or another, the old adam or the new adam, a slave to sin or a slave to
δικαιοσύνη, a person of the flesh or a person of the Spirit.
Reconciling a Doctrine of Entire Sanctification
Just as δικαιοσύνη has been given extra weight in the form of interpretative
movements and terms over the years, so has the doctrine of entire sanctification, at least
from what Paul understood. Paul contends that the sanctified life begins at the
acceptance of δικαιοσύνη and living a life without sin and death through complete
surrendering of life to δικαιοσύνη. It does not manifest itself through a life guided by an
ethic like the old covenant of the law, but through a life in the Spirit given by God
through Christ. A holistic understanding of δικαιοσύνη from the “new perspective”
provides Paul’s understanding of that life. It is obvious that if the understanding of
δικαιοσύνη carries much weight, it causes a weighted understanding of the sanctified life.
If Paul’s Jewish context is to be taken seriously with this understanding of δικαιοσύνη, a
consensus may be made of what entire sanctification really is. Entire sanctification is the
life as described by the Nazarene doctrine with one major difference; entire sanctification
is the one experience when one fully submits to δικαιοσύνη. It is not a second experience
according to Paul. And the life after submitting to God’s δικαιοσύνη involves the
constant reliance upon God’s Spirit in δικαιοσύνη to live the entirely sanctified life. That
life has these characteristics: freedom from original sin, right action empowered by the
62
Spirit’s inspiration and guidance, and the further maturation as a disciple of Christ’s
Much of this has been said already by the Nazarene doctrine of entire
sanctification, but the one hurdle it has faced is how to describe the experience of entire
sanctification. Is it a process or an experience? Paul has established that the
sanctification itself is an experience in tandem with regeneration. The life already
sanctified continues in total reliance upon God’s δικαιοσύνη. It is not that one is
sanctified everyday, but once one is sanctified then one is to forever live in that reality.
To try to go further than that in describing the experience only adds more weight to the
discussion ultimately creating more confusion. Therefore to be in God’s δικαιοσύνη is to
be entirely sanctified enabling the one declared righteous to go and live in that reality.
The practical solution for this is for Nazarene doctrine to provide an article of a
holy life segregated from the article of entire sanctification, as the holy life which
describes the daily life of believers is different from the one experience of entire
sanctification. It is the position of this author that such a move would create less
confusion around entire sanctification. Freeing entire sanctification from an article that
includes both the experience and the life after allows it to be understood in the same
manner as Paul understood it: entire sanctification is the doorway to a holy life. It is in
the regenerative act of entire sanctification that one is declared holy. Only then can one
live a holy life. To place a doctrine of a holy life with the doctrine of entire sanctification
only muddles the latter, which is exactly what the Church of the Nazarene does.
Adopting this understanding of a holy life as what occurs after entire sanctification would
63
prove to be clearer in its description, more helpful in Nazarene doctrine, and more
Pauline than the current article of faith as it stands.
64
Conclusion
Taking years of weight off the term δικαιοσύνη in Romans 5-8 has revealed Paul’s
understanding of the life sanctified by God. Paul understands δικαιοσύνη as God’s
covenant faithfulness through the salvific work of Christ that declares those who believe
in Christ to be righteous. Receiving δικαιοσύνη bring the new sanctified life in Christ, in
an instant. Paul’s rhetoric speaks of this experience through the metaphor of baptism and
provides direct consequences and imperatives to the church to live in that new reality.
That new reality is without sin and death and in the Spirit, bringing God’s δικαιοσύνη to
the rest of creation. Receiving δικαιοσύνη causes a direct change in life, embracing the
Spirit, doing its work, and living without sin. The world of the old adam entrenched in
sin and death no longer has power over the believers. The righteous life can no longer be
defined by an ethic or law. But the life without sin leading to the final resurrection is to
be embraced and enjoyed by God’s presence in the Spirit, brought through Christ’s work.
The lifting of the weight from δικαιοσύνη causes a reconsideration of the doctrine
of entire sanctification in the Nazarene church. While being incredibly accurate in its
portrayal of the sanctified life as defined by Paul including “freedom from original sin”
and “the infilling of the Holy Spirit,” it fails to embrace Paul’s understanding of the
sanctification experience through his lens of δικαιοσύνη. For Paul, sanctification is not
something that occurs throughout the life of the believer, but occurs at the same time of a
person’s acceptance of God’s δικαιοσύνη. The phrase “subsequent to regeneration” is not
supported by Paul’s view of sanctification in Romans 5-8. Therefore the Church of the
65
Nazarene should either reconsider this wording in their doctrine or clarify its
understanding of Romans 5-8 in its doctrine.
δικαιοσύνη also makes one pause when using the word ethic to describe the
sanctified life according to Paul. While the sanctified life includes right action, it is not
lived according to an ethic, but it is lived in the reality of God’s δικαιοσύνη. Right action
comes through the Spirit, guiding God’s people to enact his δικαιοσύνη in the world. To
understand δικαιοσύνη as an ethic goes against everything Paul says about the law in the
entirety of Romans. The people of God are to leave the way of living based on their own
effort behind and they are to embrace the life in δικαιοσύνη through Christ and in the
Spirit.
While collected things over a lifetime can spark a person’s memory, that memory
cannot fully give justice to the experience as it happened in its context. In the same way
a word with collected meanings over the years cannot express its original understanding
in its context. The understanding of δικαιοσύνη must shed its traditional presuppositions
to understand Paul’s use of it in Romans. By doing so, one can understand the sanctified
life as proposed by Paul in Romans 5-8. It speaks to the present day context of the
Church of the Nazarene and its doctrine of entire sanctification. As he continues to speak
to the present day church through his letters, may the church not place its own
understanding upon him, but embrace his words in their own context. Only then can the
church understand one of the most perplexing, frustrating yet genius theologians in
history and use his contributions correctly in its understanding of the Christian life.
66
APPENDIX
X. Christian Holiness and Entire Sanctification1
13. We believe that [entire] sanctification is [that] the [act] work of God [, subsequent to
regeneration, by] which transforms believers into the likeness of Christ. It is wrought by
God’s grace through the Holy Spirit in initial sanctification, or regeneration
(simultaneous with justification), entire sanctification, and the continued perfecting work
of the Holy Spirit culminating in glorification. In glorification we are fully conformed to
the image of the Son.
We believe that entire sanctification is that act of God, subsequent to regeneration, by

which believers are made free from original sin, or depravity, and brought into a state of
entire devotement to God, and the holy obedience of love made perfect.
It is wrought by the baptism with or infilling of the Holy Spirit, and comprehends in one
experience the cleansing of the heart from sin and the abiding, indwelling presence of the
Holy Spirit, empowering the believer for life and service.
Entire sanctification is provided by the blood of Jesus, is wrought instantaneously by

grace through faith, preceded by entire consecration; and to this work and state of grace
the Holy Spirit bears witness.
This experience is also known by various terms representing its different phases, such as
“Christian perfection,” “perfect love,” “heart purity,” “the baptism with or infilling of the
Holy Spirit,” “the fullness of the blessing,” and “Christian holiness.”
14. We believe that there is a marked distinction between a pure heart and a mature
character. The former is obtained in an instant, the result of entire sanctification; the latter
is the result of growth in grace.
We believe that the grace of entire sanctification includes the divine impulse to grow in
grace as a Christlike disciple. However, this impulse must be consciously nurtured, and
careful attention given to the requisites and processes of spiritual development and
improvement in Christlikeness of character and personality. Without such purposeful
endeavor, one’s witness may be impaired and the grace itself frustrated and ultimately
lost.
1Constitutional changes adopted by the 2009 General Assembly are in the process of ratification by the
district assemblies at the time of printing. Where changes are being made, words in italics are new words
and words in brackets [ ] are words being deleted.
67
Participating in the means of grace, especially the fellowship, disciplines, and
sacraments of the Church, believers grow in grace and in wholehearted love to God and
neighbor.
(Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Malachi 3:2-3; Matthew 3:11-12; Luke 3:16-17; John 7:37-39;
14:15-23; 17:6-20; Acts 1:5; 2:1-4; 15:8-9; Romans 6:11-13, 19; 8:1-4, 8-14; 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians
6:14-7:1; Galatians 2:20; 5:16-25; Ephesians 3:14-21; 5:17-18, 25-27; Philippians 3:10-15; Colossians
3:1-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Hebrews 4:9-11; 10:10-17; 12:1-2; 13:12; 1 John 1:7, 9)
(“Christian perfection,” “perfect love”: Deuteronomy 30:6; Matthew 5:43- 48; 22:37-40; Romans 12:9-21;
13:8-10; 1 Corinthians 13; Philippians 3:10-15; Hebrews 6:1; 1 John 4:17-18
“Heart purity”: Matthew 5:8; Acts 15:8-9; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:3
“Baptism with or infilling of the Holy Spirit”: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Malachi 3:2-3;
Matthew 3:11-12; Luke 3:16-17; Acts 1:5; 2:1-4; 15:8-9
“Fullness of the blessing”: Romans 15:29
“Christian holiness”: Matthew 5:1-7:29; John 15:1-11; Romans 12:1-15:3; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians
4:17-5:20; Philippians 1:9-11; 3:12-15; Colossians 2:20-3:17; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:7-8; 5:23; 2 Timothy
2:19- 22; Hebrews 10:19-25; 12:14; 13:20-21; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 2 Peter 1:1-11; 3:18; Jude 20-21)
68
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bauer, Walter. Translated by William Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich. A Greek-English

Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 1979.
Blevins, Dean, Charles Crow, David Downs, Paul Thornhill, and David Wilson eds.
Manual 2009-2013 Church of the Nazarene. Kansas City: Nazarene Publishing
House, 2009.
Brower, Kent. “God’s Children, In the Flesh”. Illustrated Bible Life. December January
February 1990-1991, 34-36.
Dunn, James. Romans 1-8. Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 38. Dallas: Word Books,
1988.
----------------. The Theology of Paul the Apostle. Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1998.
Greathouse, William. “A Pauline Theology of Sanctification”. Resources for Holiness

Preaching. Edited by H. Ray Dunning & Neil Wiseman. Kansas City: Beacon Hill
Publishing, 1990.
------------------------. The Epistle to the Romans. Beacon Bible Commentary, vol. 8.

Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1968.
------------------------. Wholeness in Christ: Toward a Biblical Theology of Holiness.

Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1998.
Greathouse, William & George Lyons. New Beacon Commentary: Romans 1-8 A
Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2008.
Green, Stephen. “Newness of Life”. Biblical Resources for Holiness Preaching. Edited
by H. Ray Dunning. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Publishing, 1993.
Hays, Richard. The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter of Israel’s

Scripture. Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing, 2005.
Howard, Richard. Newness of Life: A Study in the Thought of Paul. Kansas City: Beacon
Hill Press, 1975.
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Purkiser, W.T., Richard Taylor, and Willard Taylor. God, Man, and Salvation: A Biblical
Theology. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1977.
Sanders, E.P. Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion.

Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977.
Sanders, E.P. Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983.
Stendahl, Krister. Paul Among Jews and Gentiles. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976.
Weigelt, Morris. “Goodbye Sin, Hello Holiness”. Illustrated Bible Life. December,
January, February 1990-91, 23-25.
Westerholm, Stephen. Perspectives Old and New on Paul: The “Lutheran” Paul and His
Critics. Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004.
Wright, N.T. Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision. Downers Grove: InterVarsity
Press, 2009.
---------------. Paul in Fresh Perspective. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2009.
---------------. Romans. The New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. x. Nashville: Abingdon Press,
2002.
---------------. What St. Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of
Christianity?. Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997.
70

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NAZARENE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

THE “NEW PERSPECTIVE”: PAUL’S USE OF δικαιοσύνη

IN REFERENCE TO THE DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION

AS EXPRESSED IN ARTICLE X OF THE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE

Kansas City, Missouri

IN REFERENCE TO THE DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION

AS EXPRESSED IN ARTICLE X OF THE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE

ONE NAZARENE INTERPRETATION OF δικαιοσύνη IN

TWO PAUL’S UNDERSTANDING OF δικαιοσύνη FROM

THREE PAUL’S δικαιοσύνη AND THE DOCTRINE OF ENTIRE

APPENDIX Article X: Christian Holiness and Entire Sanctification............................67

Humans inevitably collect things over a lifetime, whether it be the number of

than a houseful of sentimental treasures. δικαιοσύνη, usually translated as

“righteousness” or “justification,” is one of these words.

Within Pauline thought, δικαιοσύνη is used in a number of grammatical variants,

it is a theologically rich and complex word. As Westerholm claims, “Paul undoubtedly

Paul’s understanding of δικαιοσύνη was embedded in his own Jewish context.

Therefore a proper interpretation of δικαιοσύνη is essential to fully understand Paul’s

thought in the Epistle to the Romans.

conversation surrounding entire sanctification.

Because δικαιοσύνη is important to Paul’s thought in Romans 5-8, δικαιοσύνη is

directly tied to the doctrine of entire sanctification. It is a central point of entry to

This will be accomplished by an examination of how Nazarene biblical

scholarship exegetes Paul’s understanding of δικαιοσύνη. Then this paper will

doctrine of entire sanctification. Afterwards, an investigation of Paul’s understanding of

denomination to consider in its doctrine of entire sanctification. Pauline theology, as

determined by Paul’s understanding of δικαιοσύνη, cannot be used to support the doctrine

of entire sanctification as it currently stands. While many features of the entirely

regarding “subsequent to regeneration” and an ethic of right action as equated to

words are to be used to support the doctrine of entire sanctification.

As mentioned before, Romans 5-8 is important because a large section of it is

considered it to be Paul’s section on sanctification.4 Even though Paul’s subject matter is

chapters 5-8 must be established.

Paul’s initial establishment of the two adams.

The Nazarene perspective has undergone several transformations in its structural

agrees with the sectioning of the complete chapters of 5-8 because:

there is a marked contrast of style...Paul develops his own line of thought,

Nazarene Interpretation of δικαιοσύνη in Romans 5-8

developed understanding of justification in 1:18-4:25. As Paul transitions from

relation to his understanding of sanctification. Therefore, an examination of Nazarene

contribution to the doctrine of entire sanctification.

to fully understand the Church of the Nazarene’s interpretation of Paul’s understanding of

Nazarene scholars’ interpretations of δικαιοσύνη will provide their understanding of

δικαιοσύνη’s link to entire sanctification.

15 Greathouse & Lyons, 32-33.

found in 1:18-4:25. Before beginning a new argument, Paul provides an exposition in

other as “fields of force” but instead that:

16 Greathouse & Lyons, 152.

The first occurrence of δικαιοσύνη is located in Romans 5:17 where Greathouse

the offering of grace for all, which leads to life.

The interpretation of Romans 5:21 by Greathouse bears an important nuance. For

believers’ lives and is brought through δικαιοσύνη. His translation of δικαιοσύνη,

the Nazarene understanding of the order of salvation. He indicates, “For Paul,

20 Greathouse & Lyons, 162.

is a person who has been sanctified by God.”24

completely. Paul’s understanding of sanctification is that it is to choose the path in

23 Greathouse, Wholeness, 97.

the still existing reign of sin or the new reign of δικαιοσύνη.

όπλα δικαιοσύνης. This term can be translated as “weapons” or “instruments” of

righteousness. In Christ, therefore, they are to be “weapons for righteousness to advance

hints at complete transformation in using instruments of righteousness (not just moral

transformation) as noted by Greathouse and Weigelt.30 Paul believes that by serving

resurrection of Christ’s followers.