Passage

Romans 13

• Glossary Term

  Justification

  CRITICAL FALSE-FRIEND DRIFT: in everyday English, 'to justify' overwhelmingly means to give a reason or defense for an action ('justify your answer,' 'how do you justify that expense'), a rational self-defense completely different from Paul's forensic sense of God declaring a sinner righteous.

  ROM.13.11

• Glossary Term

  Righteousness

  In contemporary usage, 'righteous' and especially 'self-righteous' carry a strongly negative, sanctimonious connotation — nearly the opposite of Paul's sense of a right standing before God received as a gift.

  ROM.13.11

• Doctrine

  Salvation

  CRITICAL: English-speaking Christian traditions are themselves divided over 'being saved' as a single datable past event (revivalist/altar-call traditions) versus an ongoing, lifelong reality (Catholic, Orthodox, many mainline Protestant traditions); this curriculum should state which sense a given passage intends.

  ROM.13.11

• Glossary Term

  Salvation

  CRITICAL DENOMINATIONAL CONTEST: English-speaking Christian traditions are themselves divided on 'being saved' — revivalist/altar-call traditions often treat it as a single, datable past-tense event ('I got saved on such-and-such date'), while Catholic, Orthodox, and many mainline Protestant traditions treat salvation as an ongoing, lifelong reality worked out over time.

  ROM.13.11