The First Sunday in Lent, February 22, 2026

Paul takes this opportunity to connect believers who were not born Jewish to the tradition Jesus was born into. He argues that Abraham was chosen by God not because of his adherence to the Law, (traditionally, Judaism recognizes 613 laws given by God in Scripture) but to his belief in God. Similarly, Paul argues, those who do not follow the Law in the Roman world (and today by extension), are connected to God by belief in God’s son.

For Paul, God’s faithfulness is covenantal, not arbitrary. Paul stresses that God’s promise of faithfulness rests on grace so that it may be “guaranteed” to all Abraham’s descendants. One need not be born Jewish to be descendant of Abraham. God is reliable and covenantal in character. God’s love for humanity does not depend on human ability to follow rules. God’s steadfast, persuasive faithfulness across time, grounds trust not in sheer power but in consistent and relational reliability.

We are set “right” with God in the context of God’s promises and faithfulness and our trust, rather than as a legal acquittal based on our ability to perform or obey. When we think in process relational terms, the idea of righteousness is not, like Paul argues here, about strict adherence to rules. Righteousness is the establishment (or deepening) of right-relatedness with God, where “righteousness” names covenantal fidelity more than an imputed legal status.

But then, if God will love us, care for us, be in intimate relationship with us regardless of whether or not we perform properly or obey strictly, why should anyone do what is right? If God will forgive and forgive and forgive, why should I bother following Jesus’ teaching? I’ll be forgiven regardless. Here is the thing. We/I fail to follow Jesus’ teachings regularly. Often that comes from mindlessness that leads to self-centered actions. Sometimes, it comes from strong emotions that overrides my better judgment in the moment. Rarely, it comes from ugly places in me that I would rather not discuss, let alone acknowledge exist in me. Why should I bother to cultivate love for my neighbor, practice self-control, or do the deep work of healing my wounds, if God will just forgive me? Lots of people turn to God’s wrath and fear of hell to answer that question. I think that answer is motivating for many, many people. But, it is inconsistent with the love of God shown through the person of Jesus Christ.

For those of us who understand that not just God, but all of existence is relational, we behave well, practice self-care that brings self-control, we do the hard internal work, because we are not alone. Because, without my relationships – with God, with other people, and with the world – I am nothing. Right relationship, remembering that to love God is to love my neighbor as myself, is what God asks of us. God who is faithful on a scale we cannot begin to imagine, will always keep up the Divine end of the bargain. God returns again and again and again in the face of our failures and sins to draw us back over and over into right relationship. God never gives up. Because God never gives up, and I am free to respond to my failures with another try at getting it right. If I will be forgiven, why even try to avoid sin? Because I am not alone. Because grace is free, but not cheap. Because the relational response to forgiveness is to cultivate forgiveness, to mirror God’s stance toward the world in the world to the best of my ability.

Because God responds to my lack with Divine fullness, I am filled with the ability to turn toward right relationship. Will I ever get it perfect? Maybe not, I am far from perfect. This is why faith and not the Law is the foundation of relationship with God. The good news is that God will respond to our failures with another chance to get it right.

Let me close with a story. I have a friend who drives so aggressively it is nearly reckless. Sometimes it is plain reckless. I dread getting in a car with him. Despite several accidents over the years that have led to some major problems (but not injuries!), he insists that he is the best driver on the road. The story he tells about his dangerous driving goes like this, ‘he is so good at driving, he gets impatient with other people and their obviously bad driving, any accidents or near misses are their fault as a result of their ineptitude.’ This otherwise decent person is a menace on the road. What he cannot see is that he is the cause of accidents and near misses. It seems to me that once he enters a car, he forgets that the people in other vehicles are people. That his perspective of the road is not theirs and he might not be in command of all of the facts, although he believes he is. Are there other bad drivers out there? Sure! Is everyone else a bad driver? I have a hard time believing that. Lest you, dear reader, may think I am being too harsh, let me give you an example. According to my friend, the rules of the road, (the Law, if you will) need not apply to anyone. He curses at people who come to a full stop at a stop sign. He tailgates people obeying the speed limit. Yet, he brake-checks people he believes are following too close. This is just to name a few examples. This is not the kind of freedom from the Law that Paul advocates.

Paul is not arguing that we need no rules, no laws governing human behavior. Indeed, we do. Rules provide order, they keep every interaction from turning into a negotiation (like who gets to go first at a stop sign), they regulate the smooth movement of a complex world full of individuals. Rules, at their best, point us toward the kind of behavior that acknowledges the complex relationality and keep things running smoothly. In this passage, he argues that God’s Law for the Jews is not the only path to righteousness. Let me tell another story. I once sat at a very busy four-way stop during the height of afternoon traffic, on a baking summer day. Each stop sign was 20 cars deep, at least. People were annoyed at the time it took for everyone to take turns making the complex turns allowable at this intersection. As I finally approached the sign and it was my turn to go, we all heard the siren. Before we could even see the emergency vehicle, we all stopped. Did someone have time to slip through that intersection before the ambulance came through? Probably. Did we? No. Because the life of the person in that ambulance is more important than me shaving one minute off my driving time. The sheer humanity of all of us at that messy intersection brought me to tears of gratitude for the goodness of people. Legally, could someone have made it through that intersection before the ambulance arrived? Probably. Morally, we all did the right thing. Paul is not advocating for abandoning all rules when he argues that faith is the foundation of right relationship with God. He is arguing that faith is the foundation of right relationship with God and others.

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Rev. Dr. Torbitzky received her doctorate from Claremont Graduate University, in Claremont, CA. She earned her Master of Divinity from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and a bachelor’s degree from Truman State University.  She served congregations in Pittsburgh, PA; Ontario, CA; and De Soto, MO, before taking up the Chaplaincy at Lindenwood University where she  has served as faculty in the Philosophy and Religion Department and now serves as Assistant Provost. Her research focuses on the atonement theory and process theology. Torbitzky recently co-edited a volume on Open, Relational, and Process preaching and practice, Preaching the Uncontrolling Love of God.  She edits the Process and Faith lectionary commentary series.