One New Man: The Cross and Racial Reconciliation in Pauline Theology

In the Bible, Paul argues that sin has broken humanity’s relationship with God as well as his fellow man, and he recognizes Jesus as God’s provision for the universal problem of sin. Therefore, Christ’s death for our sin is God’s only solution to racial hostility and the only provision for racial reconciliation.

Today, many Christians still allow cultural prejudices to shape their understanding of race instead of scripture. One New Man endeavors to help Christians understand what the gospel says about race and race relations by focusing on selected Pauline texts. Since many churches have either limited their ministry to those within their respective race or homogeneous unit (people within the same ethnic, social, cultural, linguistic, or class context), author Jarvis Williams aims to liberate individual Christians and churches from their bondage to racist ideologies, from a secular model of race relations, and from their disdain toward different races that arise from both the impact of their respective cultures and from the universal impact of sin.

Endorsements

"Finally. The church has waited too long for an exegetical excavation and application of the Bible's teaching about ethnicity, Christ, the cross, and our new humanity. Jarvis Williams serves us all by helping us to see more clearly the implications of Paul's theology of the cross and reconciliation. Heartily commended."

Thabiti Anyabwile
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman

"The Apostle Paul is clear: our vertical reconciliation with God occurs as he reconciles horizontally those who have been at enmity with one another, who then are reconciled together, as one new man, to God in Christ (Eph 2:14-18) . . . Jarvis Williams demonstrates in a clear and compelling way that racial reconciliation is no nice optional 'extra' to the substance and proclamation of the gospel but is at the heart of that message of the cross itself . . . the practical impact of this book is monumental."

Bruce A. Ware
Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"Williams's book on racial reconciliation is an important contribution to a sadly neglected issue in our churches (and) is characterized by careful study of relevant biblical passages and suggestions for application. Particularly important . . . is the author's distinction between ethnic diversity and racial reconciliation. The church, he argues, must not be content with diversity; it must push forward to a biblically distinctive, Christ-centered and Spirit-led embrace of one another in love."

Douglas J. Moo
Blanchard Professor of New Testament, Wheaton College

"One of the saddest realities of American church life is that too many of our congregations are racially and socially isolated. One of the most joyous realities of the contemporary American church is that God is calling out young leaders who are willing to seek to change this. Jarvis Williams is a brilliant, young New Testament scholar (with) a burning passion for churches that picture the gospel in their racial makeup and witness. Read this book and ask the Spirit to show you your place in helping the church model the 'one new man' of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Russell D. Moore
Dean, School of Theology, and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Jarvis Williams is assistant professor of New Testament & Greek at Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Kentucky. He holds degrees from Boyce College and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div., Th.M.., Ph.D.).