>>563467
>if you agree with me that the discussion should shift toward the Eucharist, let us do so after this.
Sure.
>Chapter 2: Both Jews and Greeks will be judged for their guilt, whether this guilt is under the Law (for the Jews) or without the Law (for the Greeks)
That is what he says, however before that he establishes that Jews have guilt to be judged for, by accusing them of the same sins as the Gentiles.
>It is not the works of the flesh (circumcision or foreskin) that justify us before God, but the works of the Spirit
Paul does not address justification until chapter 3. Before that his purpose is condemnation.
>This is where Paul makes his first major conclusion: that Jews and Gentiles alike are guilty before God, even if Jews are given priority over Gentiles (whether that is in the salvation or in the condemnation), and so they are alike justified by faith
Paul's conclusion is that all have been condemned by the law, and therefore they must be justified by faith alone. Verses 19 and 20 are extremely vital to understand him, arguably they are the most important in the passage.
<Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God
Though he used a similar expression to describe the Jews alone in the previous chapter, all men are under the law here. All men are judged according to the law, not Jewish ceremonies, but that which is moral. This is Paul's interpretation of everything he has just said, that God wanted men to sin so men would be condemned. God has made the whole world accountable to Himself. Why is this?
<For by works of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
The law was designed to fail that the gospel may succeed. The purpose of the law is to show men that they are sinners, so they see their need for Christ. This is why knowledge of sin is through the law. Paul concludes, therefore, that justification is through faith in Christ alone, because everyone has already failed to be justified by works of the law.
>>563470
>Abraham was justified by faith, apart from observances (he himself was not circumcised)
Despite the "literal" translation, the word here is works, not observances. It is a broad condemnation of actions. Paul's point is not that Abraham was justified without works, but that Abraham was justified irrespective of works. This is why Abraham can be father of both the circumcised and the uncircumcised, because it doesn't matter what you do, only what you believe.
>Through the one man Adam, the world has been contaminated by sin, and all men have been contaminated by death, but through the one man Jesus, the world has been healed from sin, and all men have been healed from death
I think it is very important to have a biblical understanding of sin and grace. Sin isn't some pollutive element that one can introduce into a river to make everyone sick, and grace isn't some magical cure poured into the same water to make everyone better. Sin is personal wrongdoing. Through the one man's sin, all his household was condemned as sinful, and through one man's righteousness His whole household was justified as righteous.
>>563475
>He is not making a statement about the actual guilt of babies in front of God
Of course not, he's making a statement about the actual guilt of everyone in front of God, because everyone is born in Adam. Babies are just one part of that group.
>But Romans 9:30-10:21 addresses the possibility that Gentiles are righteous when Jews are not.
That is about why God has chosen to bless the Gentile nations and why the Jewish nation has been cast aside. It is not at all the same thing as Romans 2, which is about proving that the Jews are just as sinful as Gentiles and must just like them have a righteousness by faith, not an internal righteousness.
>So now Catholics and Orthodox are Pelagians?
No, however this interpretation of Romans 5 is Pelagian.
>Why do you claim that this -alone- is what Christ meant?
Because that is what Christ Himself said He meant? When scripture itself outright tells me what it means, I don't feel the need to find another way of interpreting it.