Analysis Of The Apostle Paul's Central Theological Thought: Romans And Galatians

The Apostle Paul’s central theological thought is expounded rather systematically in two of his epistles, namely, Romans and Galatians. Neither the church nor the sacraments hold any place in Paul’s central thought. Paul’s primary theme in Romans is the basic gospel, God’s plan of salavation and righteousness for all mankind (1:16-17). Paul’s thought is expounded in the framework of the salvation history of God. The main themes which constitute his central thought are God’s grace and love, redemption through the atoning death of Christ on the cross, reconciliation, and justification by faith through grace rather than by keeping the law given through Moses. “Justification” means, for Paul, “being declared as righteous” by God. The core of Paul’s central theological thought is expressed in Romans 3:20-24:
By the works of the Law no one will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
As a matter of fact the Roman Church has ignored the two epistles. But Paul’s central thought reverberates even in the epistles to the Corinthians, the Ephesians and the Colossians, which are highly valued by the Catholic Church because the references to the church are made in them. The passages in these epistles which echo Paul’s central theme are I Corinthians 1:17-24, 30, 2:1-2; II Corinthians 5:19-21, 14-15; Ephesians 2:6-8; Colossians 1:14, 20-22. Paul’s doctrine of salvation by the grace of God conforms to the fundamental proclamation of Christ which is expounded in, for example, two of his parables, namely, the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16), and the Parable of the Pharisees and the Publican (Luke 17:9-14). Paul recognized that this concept of grace is central to the gospel of Christ. It is no little matter that the Roman Catholic Church has failed to grasp this gospel of our