**5. Conclusions**

In this paper, I argued that we need to read Romans not within the antithetical framework of Judaism–Christianity but as a text reflecting the conflicts between a cultic tendency represented by the gentile members in the Roman church and a Jewish sectarian tendency shown in Paul's arguments. Based on Romans, we learn that some gentile members were assimilating the Jewish law as a means of attaining the Greco–Roman virtue of self-mastery. With this erroneous understanding, they were thinking that they have already attained salvation and were standing in a superior position compared to others. For Paul, this understanding of the law was seriously problematic because it misunderstands the Jewish tradition centered around faith, which is also in line with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Another problem was the assumption that gentile believers have now replaced Israel and that unbelieving Jews are destined for destruction. For Paul, this was also an incorrect understanding of God's faithfulness and mercy that saved gentiles will save "all Israel" at the time of eschaton.

As seeing the danger of gentile believers being drifted away from the root of Judaism, Paul, throughout the letter, strives to reinstate the sectarian boundary and the symbolic unity with Israel. For this goal, he first corrects the gentile misunderstanding of law and salvation by stressing the futuristic aspect of salvation and God's sovereignty in judging humanity. Paul also corrects the wrong idea about the fate of unbelieving Jews by elaborating on God's faithfulness promised to Israel and the overarching divine plan for salvation. Paul also reminds his gentile audience of the Jewish root of their faith, while stressing the separateness of the church from the Roman world. Throughout these efforts, Paul tries to create a united community consisted of believing Jews and gentile, which functions as the group of elects in the time of eschaton, but in no way separated from Judaism.

Did Paul succeed? From the late first-century C.E., we begin to see more churches in different regions of the empire establishing their identities separated from contemporaneous Jewish groups. We also observe the emergence of Christian anti-Jewish polemics, which continued throughout the history of Christianity. In this sense, it might be argued that Paul, ultimately, have failed in uniting two separating groups together and setting up a model for later Jewish–Christian relations. Reflecting the history of opposition between Christians and Jews throughout centuries, however, Paul's ardent appeal for unity in Romans seems to be more meaningful than ever.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.

<sup>19</sup> For Paul's other efforts to demarcate a firmer boundary of the Roman church from its cultural context, see (Rock 2012).
