About the Book
A careful analysis of the texts of Paul's letters shows that in every church there were two main groups of converts: those who were haptized and those being instruted for baptism. Baptized converts became members of a renewed covenant community of God from which persons who continued to sin were expelled. Paul was always after he became a member of the the group of Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Consequently, his primary message of Gentiles was faithfulness toward God, along with the moral probity of those who believe. Paul eventually developed beliefs about Jesus the Messiah as the Son of God and Lord, in order to win Gentile converts to faithfulness toward God. Being made righteous, the original meaning of Paul's word usually translated as 'justified, ' brings out the depth of Paul's emphasis on the morality of converts.