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Page 24 Reis • Justification by Faith: A “Both-and” book, Paul and the Palestinian Judaism, attempting to elucidate the relationship between Paul’s theology and the Jewish beliefs of his time. In his book, Sanders coined the term “cov- enantal nomism.” Sanders used this term to demonstrate that Second Temple Jews believed that an individual is a member of God’s people on the basis of the covenant, which is un- merited since God graciously chose the Israelites to be his covenant people through Abra- ham. In addition, the proper response to God’s covenant is obedience to his command- ments. 5 The main point of Sanders’ term is to demonstrate that Jews didn’t seek obedience to the law in order to obtain salvation, whereas submitting to God’s commandments served only as evidence that one is truly a member of God’s covenant people. Thus, when the Apostle Paul says that no one is justified by “works of the law” (Gal.3 Rom.3:28), he is not inferring that some were attempting to achieve salvation through the obedience of the law (legalism) since they were graciously chosen to be part of the covenant in the first place. In conclusion, Sanders’ main contribution consisted in proving that Jews living during Second Temple Judaism did not struggle with legalism since they were aware of being graciously chosen by God to be his people, and obedience to his commandments was true evidence of salvation. “New Perspective on Paul” (NPP), a term coined by J.D.G. Dunn, 6 sprang up from these two foundational works. Those who adhere to the New Perspective claim that their major concern is to understand the apostle’s Jewish roots and context in order to fully com- prehend his theology. 7 The two main proponents of the NPP are J.D.G. Dunn and N. T. Wright who were majorly responsible for “reformulating Pauline theology within the framework of a ‘New Perspective.’” 8 As it will be presented in this paper, one of the areas of Paul’s theology most affected by this new interpretation is the apostle’s view on the doc- trine of justification. Generally, NPP scholars differ from the traditional interpretation in claiming that Pauline justification has to do with ecclesiological purposes. This indicates the new status of the believer regarding his relationship to God’s covenant after coming to faith. In other words, the act of being justified is not referring to the individual’s salvation or a moral transformation but only to the declaration of his or hers change of membership status. 9 As Wright puts it, “Justification is not how someone becomes a Christian. It is the declaration that they have become a Christian.” 10 In light of Wright’s view, the purpose of the paper is to demonstrate that, although there are ecclesiological dimensions in Paul’s theology of justification (the reformed view), emphasizing the apostle’s usage of the term in order to indicate how someone becomes a Christian is still valid and coherent with the Scriptures. The paper is divided into two main sections. The first section provides a brief 5 E. P. Sanders, Paul and the Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977), 75. 6 Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte, “A New Perspective of Justification: Recent Developments in the Study of Paul,” Zeitschrift fur Dialektische Theologie 6 (2014):132. 7 N.T. Wright, Paul: In Fresh Perspective (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005), 3-20; in the first chapter, Wright argues that one must understand Paul’s three worlds in order to fully comprehend his theology. The worlds are Second Temple Judaism, Hellenistic culture, and Roman Empire. He points out the danger to influence by modern interpretations neglecting what truly was said by the Apostle. 8 S Brian Pounds, “Romans 4:1-8 as a Test Case for the New Perspective,” Biblical Theology Bulletin 41 (2011): 213. 9 N. T. Wright, Justification: God’s Plan and Paul vision, 91. 10 N. T. Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said: was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity? (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Pub, 1997), 125.