Romans 1:16-17 and its Appropriation in the SDA Church in Ghana

Abstract

The study concerned a re-reading of Romans 1:16-17 and its appropriation in the SDA Church in Ghana. The study presented the fundamental beliefs of SDAs in the context of righteousness by faith. The study further showed that although the church members adequately understand justification by grace through faith as found in the text, the relationship between faith and works in obtaining salvation is not clear in the minds of many SDAs in Ghana. Church members perceive that the observance of doctrines constitute the basis of salvation and assurance. Data was collected and analyzed concerning the perception of members with regard to righteousness by faith and the need for integration. A brief and descriptive study of the biblical principles of righteousness by faith was presented. The methods used in this work were the combination of Rhetorical criticism of Robert Jewett and the tri-polar exegetical model of Jonathan A. Draper. The study concluded that, since the church has other resources that contain the doctrine of righteousness by faith in the English language, pastors who can contextualize the text to ease the understanding and appropriation should be empowered to handle the baptismal class of the churches as the starting point to transmit the exegetical knowledge to the church members.