We Gentiles, not approaching God for the same reason as Paul, think Paul was saying it no longer is necessary to behave righteously. As one translator expressed it when commenting on a passage in Romans, God no longer is interested in our seeking to live righteously but has shown us a different way to get to Heaven:

The following quotation from Taylor (Tyndale House Publishers. Living Letters by Kenneth N. Taylor), quoted in The New Testament from 26 Translations, is a comment on Romans 3:21: "But now God has shown us a different way to heaven—not by being ‘good enough' and trying to keep his laws . . . ."

Where Taylor derived this translation we have no idea. It is not related to the Greek text. Finding the way to Heaven is never presented by Paul as being the goal of salvation. Going to Heaven has nothing to do with the context of Romans 3:21. The Gentile reader would understand "not by being ‘good enough' and trying to keep his laws" to mean God has given us a plan of salvation that is an alternative to godly behavior, rather than what it truly is, an alternative to the Law of Moses.

Taylor is not alone in his thinking. The concept embodied in the above translation has destroyed the moral strength of the Christian churches. The current ignorance of the Christian redemption is demonstrated here. The idea is that God has changed His mind about reforming people and has agreed to take them to Paradise on the basis of their confession of Christ, and that this is the Divine redemption of fallen man. The descendants of Adam are redeemed from life on the earth and brought to the spirit Paradise where they will enjoy earthly delights in a spiritual setting. We shall not be redeemed from sin and self-will but from life on the earth in a physical body. This is today's concept of salvation.

The Christian churches of our day have lost their lampstand, their testimony, because of ignorance of the purpose and procedure of the Divine redemption.

Although we may not have come to Christ in order to obtain righteousness, let a righteous personality and righteous behavior now become our goal. Let us pursue righteousness and the resulting eternal life. Let us realize our true Goal is Christ Himself, for it is as we come to know and possess Him that we come to know and possess righteousness and eternal life in the Presence of Almighty God.

If we make righteousness and eternal life our goal, understanding that to serve unrighteousness is to lose the eternal life that was given us on the basis of initial imputed (ascribed) righteousness, then all of the writings of the Apostle Paul, including his striving to attain the resurrection, will make perfect sense. But to continue in the current traditions will permit us to understand only a few scattered fragments of Paul's reasoning.

To be continued.