This discussion was started on the thread 'Presuppositions and Homosexuality' by postings late July and 2 August 2011. These postings should be read to make sense of this posting.

Roger

As a first step I wonder whether you could comment on my attempt to summarise Bishop Wright's view, based on your quote:

Those who enter eternal life do so because they have sought glory and honour and incorruption by endurance in good work and they are enabled to do this because of Christ's death and resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Is that a fair summary please?

Phil Almond

Dave and Phil, thank you for your recent posts on the thread 'Presuppositions and Homosexuality'.  And Phil, you are quite right to start a new thread here as my recent post on the former thread has wandered away from its subject.

Phil, your summary of Tom Wright's view looks about right when you write, 'Those who enter eternal life do so because they have sought glory and honour and incorruption by endurance in good work and they are enabled to do this because of Christ's death and resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit'.

That's the sort of conclusion I have come to in trying to square the words of Romans 2 with those of Romans 3 and beyond (including the texts you quoted Dave).  I have often been intrigued by the number of people in the Bible who are commended by God.  For example:

• 'The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?  There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil"' (Job 1:8);
• 'The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God' (Luke 1:30);
• '[Cornelius] was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generrsously to the people and prayed constantly to God' (Acts 10:2; see also v.4).

I assume such, in some sense, are drawn by Christ ('the firstborn of all creation') and his Spirit (see, for example, John 16:8-11).  These encounters seem to accord with Romans 2.

I have just seen this post from the Resurgence website which looks like it may be relevant:

"The only way we can be saved or justified is by good works; the question is whose? http://jesus.to/qFfPnq"

http://theresurgence.com/2011/08/01/sproul-driscoll-chandler-tchividjian-discussion-panel

Phil,

Some of the sayings of NT Wright which have caused controversy are:

“Paul has . . . spoken in Romans 2 about the final justification of God’s people on the basis of their whole life.” -Paul in Fresh Perspective, p. 121

“Present justification declares, on the basis of faith, what future justification will affirm publicly (according to [Rom.] 2:14-16 and 8:9-11) on the basis of the entire life.” -What Saint Paul Really Said, p. 129

“This declaration, this vindication, occurs twice. It occurs in the future, as we have seen, on the basis of the entire life a person has led in the power of the Spirit ”that is, it occurs on the basis of ‘works’ in Paul’s redefined sense.” -”New Perspectives on Paul,” 260

http://www.dennyburk.com/n-t-wright-on-justification-at-ets/

NT Wight has clarified his views:

The point, again, is that by the Spirit those who are already justified by faith have their lives transformed, and the final verdict will be in accordance with that transformation, imperfect though it remains. 

http://ablakew.blogspot.com/2010/11/wright-ets-round-up.html and see the rest!

Dave

There is an interesting article on this theme I have just noticed at:

http://ugleyvicar.blogspot.com/2011/08/musings-on-grace.html