In Romans Paul presents Jesus as a conduit, the one through whom God has effected forgiveness for his readers and the subsequent realities they enjoy. Jesus is relatively passive here. Elsewhere in the New Testament he plays a more active role (see, for example, 1 Corinthians 1:17, 2 Corinthians 3:3, Galatians 2:20, etc). In Romans, however, God is the primary actor; Jesus is only the channel ‘through’, ‘in’ or ‘by’ which God exercises his actions:
- “God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus” (2:16).
- “… the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ” (3:22).
- “[All] are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (3:24).
- “… we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:1)
- “God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8).
etc…
To a lesser extent he is the channel ‘through’ whom his readers act toward God:
- “I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you” (1:8)
- “… we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:11).
- “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord”(7:25).
Jesus is not to be considered ‘just’ a conduit, however. Even though it is “the gospel of God” it is nonetheless a gospel “concerning his son” (1:1-3). He is “Jesus Christ our Lord” (1:4) and we “belong to Jesus Christ” (1:8).The letter ends, fittingly with the words: “To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ. Amen” (16:27).