4qmmt — And Paul: Justification, 'works,' And - N...

, "reckoned as righteousness" is the result of performing specific sectarian rituals that keep the community pure.

4QMMT serves as a "missing link" in biblical scholarship. It demonstrates that when Paul spoke against "works of the law," he was not attacking a religion of "earning" heaven, but rather a religious exclusivism that used the law to bar Gentiles from the covenant. By comparing 4QMMT with Paul’s letters, we see that the core of the New Testament's "justification" is not just a change in an individual's legal status before God, but a radical expansion of the community of God to include all nations, regardless of ritual pedigree. 4QMMT and Paul: Justification, 'Works,' and - N...

, "reckoned as righteousness" is the result of faith in Jesus Christ, which effectively dissolves the very sectarian boundaries that 4QMMT sought to reinforce. , "reckoned as righteousness" is the result of

The parallel between 4QMMT and Paul’s use of Genesis 15:6 (Abraham’s faith reckoned as righteousness) is striking. By comparing 4QMMT with Paul’s letters, we see