I recently read an excellent paper by E. B. Howell, entitled “Saint Paul and the Greek World”. It is from the Journal Greece and Rome, March, 1964, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 7-29. In it, he makes a comment in passing that the recorded speech we have that Paul gave at the Areopagus in Acts 21 must be an extremely abbreviated version of the whole thing. At that time, and to that audience, the method of address would have followed all the rules of oratory they were expecting, including extensive and detailed proofs of the points argued. I guess it is a good think that Luke anticipated our love of Cliff notes.

Have you ever heard the idiom, “getting down to brass tacks”? It is an Americanism dating from the 19^th century. It means to get down to the essentials. Let’s forget all the peripheral arguments, and maybe even the niceties, and let’s talk about what really matters. When Jesus wanted to get the Pharisees down to brass tacks, he brought up Abraham.

Remember the conversation Jesus had with his disciples after the rich young ruler went away downcast? He told them it is nearly impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And the disciples’ reaction was, “Then who can be saved?” That was an honest question, and it revealed the preconceptions of their worldview. Paul is now dealing with such preconceptions head on.

Once his Jewish audience catches where Paul is going, all sorts of knee-jerk reactions can occur. After all, through centuries of oppression and exile, it has been Torah that has kept the Jewish people together. Putting the Gentiles on the same footing as the Jews, even to calling them true Jews, is the same as saying, Torah is irrelevant. Or is it?

Whether we like it or not, there is no way to read the Gospel which can exempt us from the requirement to do good. Whether we like it or not, there is no way to read the letters of Paul to reach the conclusion that doing good works is not a requirement of our salvation.

In Part 1 we saw that the bottom line to Paul is that the Gospel has the supernatural power we need for our life because it is the revelation of God’s righteousness. That righteousness has brought us a salvation based on the principle of faith. But only those who believe get to see it and grasp it. So, what about the rest of the world?