FAITH IN (OR OF) JESUS CHRIST

 Faith in, or of, Jesus Christ

Let me start out with Showalter's thoughts on this phrase: “Several times Paul refers to faith with a grammatical construction that can be interpreted either as 'faith in Christ' or 'faith of Christ' (Gal. 2.16, 20; 3.22; Rom. 3.22, 26; Phil. 3.9). Scholarly debate centers on whether Jesus is referred to in the first sense as the object of faith or in the second as an example of faith. The NRSV translation includes footnotes that offer the latter reading as an alternative. It has also been suggested that Paul is being intentionally ambiguous with the construction, leaving both possibilities open. In this case it is interesting to note that later documents tend to specify 'faith in Christ,' eliminating the possibility for ambiguity (e.g., 1 Tim. 3.13; Acts 20.21).”

Here are some opinions from Bible scholars concerning those ambiguous cases mentioned above:

Romans 3:22, 26

We may assume that the same meaning is intended in both these occurrences of the phrase in this short section since a rough diagram of repeated key words and concepts in this section shows an approximate parallelism between the first and second part of the passage.

                                                         Figure 1: Romans 3:21-26

        1. righteousness of God

                2. manifested

        1'. righteousness...of God

                        3. faith in/of Jesus Christ

                                4. sinned

                                        5. justified

---------------------

        1''. righteousness of him

                                4'. sins

                2'. showing forth

        1'''. righteousness of him

                                        5'. just, justifying

                        3''. faith in/of Jesus

There is one useful fact pointed out by Vine concerning the phrase in 3'' above: “In Rom. 3:25, the A.V. [Authorized Version, i.e. the King James Version] wrongly links 'faith' with 'in His blood,' as if faith is reposed in the blood (i.e., the Death) of Christ; the en is instrumental; faith rests in the living Person.”

As to the key phrase, Fitzmyer says, “The sense of the gen[itive] is disputed. Some commentators would understand it as subjective...'through the fidelity of Jesus Christ,' i.e., his obedience to his Father, even to death on the cross...While this interpretation might seem plausible, it runs counter to the main thrust of Paul's theology. Consequently, many commentators continue to understand the gen. as objective, 'through faith in Jesus Christ'...Indeed, as Dunn rightly notes, Paul does not draw attention to Christ's faithfulness elsewhere in the extended exposition of Romans, even where it would have been highly appropriate, especially in chap. 4, where Abraham's pistis ['faith'] is the model for the believer. Paul is not thinking of Christ's fidelity to the Father; nor does he propose it as a pattern for Christian conduct. Rather, Christ himself is the concrete manifestation of God's uprightness, and human beings appropriate to themselves the effects of that manifested uprightness through faith in him.”

But Morris takes a slightly different stance in saying that the meaning could be subjective, referring to the faith Jesus exercised, and the word translated faith could be taken in the sense 'faithfulness'. If this last suggestion were adopted, we could understand it either of 'God's faithfulness in Jesus Christ' or of 'the faithfulness of Jesus Christ'.” He feels that only the latter would make sense in the context. But, in fact, Morris is one of those commentators mentioned above who feels that Paul is being purposely ambiguous here so that the phrase can be taken as either “faith in Jesus Christ” or “faith[fulness] of Jesus Christ.”

Then there is Murray, who feels that there is no need to even debate the subject since the answer is quite obvious: “It is hardly necessary to show that Jesus Christ is the object and not the subject of the faith spoken of. It would be alien to the whole teaching of the apostle to suppose that what he has in mind is a faith that is patterned after the faith which Jesus exercised.”

But Kasemann doesn't feel the subject is quite so cut-and-dried: “This section has rightly been called one of the most obscure and difficult in the whole epistle.”

Davidson and Martin feel that either meaning can be taken for the phrase since: “The divine righteousness may be achieved by the faith of the Savior even up to the cross, which strong faith was an integral element in the atoning value of his supreme sacrifice. Again, and in harmony with the NT images, this faith is projected towards Jesus as object, and so becomes faith in the Redeemer.”

Thus, there is still some room for debate on the meaning of “the faith of/in Jesus Christ” in Romans.

Galatians 2:16, 20

Since this is another case in which there is more than one appearance of the phrase in question found within the same passage, it is instructive to diagram it as well, as presented in Figure 2.

                                                         Figure 2: Galatians 2:15-21

  1. justified

                    2. not by the law

                                      3. but through faith in Christ Jesus

                                                      4. in Christ Jesus believed

  1'. justified

                                        3'. by faith in Christ

                    2'. not by works of the law

  1''. justified

                    2''. no one by works of the law

  1'''. justified

                                                        4'. in Christ

                                         3''. by faith in the Son of God

  1''''. justification

                    2'''. if by law

                                                        4''. Christ

You can see by comparing “Figures 1 and 2 that there is a strong family resemblance between the two, especially when you consider that the governing words in each case (righteousness and justification, respectively) are both derived from the identical Greek root dikaio-.

Galatians 3:22

In the NRSV, this verse reads as follows: “But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” The attached footnote after “Christ” gives as an alternative reading “through the faith of Jesus Christ.” Briggs says that “faith in Jesus Christ stresses the believer's faith as necessary for obtaining the promise, while the alternative, faith of Jesus Christ, emphasizes Jesus' faith as that which grants the promise.” Thus, according to this understanding, it really doesn't matter which of the two one chooses since the term is ambiguous enough to encompass both meanings at the same time.

But Guthrie makes a definite choice between the above two options in saying that it “is a genitive construction and is to be distinguished from the use of en or eis with a verb of believing. Here it could be understood either of the faith which Jesus Christ possessed, or of the faith directed to Jesus Christ as its object. Clearly the latter is more in harmony with the context.”

However, Martyn opts for the third possibility and translates this part of the verse as: “But in actuality, the scripture imprisoned everything under the power of Sin, in order that the promise might be given via the faith of Jesus Christ to those who believe.”

Philippians 3:9

I will start with Hendricksen's opinion here: “Not righteousness proceeding from law, says Paul, but that (which is) through faith in Christ. Faith is the appropriating agent, the hand extended to receive God's free gift. Since the only righteousness that has any value before God is Christ's righteousness imputed to the sinner as God's free gift is to the undeserving, it stands to reason that the only possible way to obtain this righteousness is to accept it...by simple faith, that is, by appropriating confidence in the Giver; hence also in his word. “God's Anointed is himself the object of this childlike trust (Rom. 1:16,17; 3:21,22; Gal. 2:20; 3:22; cf Hab. 2:4; John 3:16).”

But Melick clearly interprets this verse differently. “”Normally Paul meant 'faithfulness' when the word was a quality of 'God' or 'Christ,' as it is here. It could mean belonging to Christ, produced by Christ, directed to Christ, or simply of Christ. Most likely, it is the faithfulness which is in Christ and should be read 'of Christ.'”

Next, Hughes takes a somewhat broader view of the key phrase by saying, “What he most desired was the righteousness that 'comes through faith in Christ,' or more accurately, 'that comes through the faithfulness of Christ.' The righteousness that he possessed came from Christ's faithful obedience to the Father on the cross as he drank the cup of death to the full for our sins. It is all grace because of Christ's faithful work.”

Finally, Reumann feels that it is ambiguous and that the phrase may indicate either faith in Christ (objective genitive) or “the decisive attitude and stance on Christ's part that brings God's saving righteousness” (subjective genitive).

I will leave it up to the next two scholars to summarize this whole situation with the following words:

“pisteuo (or pistis) eis Christon depicts the committal of one's self to the person of Christ, something more than an intellectual acceptance of the message of the gospel or a recognition of the truth about Christ...But the two aspects are intimately related. Since the person of Christ is the essence of the message that is proclaimed and accepted, to accept the message concerning him is to accept him...entrance into that state is denoted by hoi pisteusantes (Acts 2:44; 4:32; 2 Thess. 1:10; cf. Gal. 2:16).” (M.J. Harris)

“How one understands the Pauline phrase 'faith of Christ' (and equivalent phrases: Rom: 2:22,26; Gal. 2:16,20; Phil. 3:9; Eph. 3:12), it is clear that the NT presents Jesus as more than the object of faith. He is also the very embodiment or personification of faith and faithfulness (Gal. 3:23-25; 1 Tim. 1:14; 2 Tim. 1:13; Rev. 1:5; 14:12; 19:11). As such, Christ constitutes the necessary and sufficient condition of Christian faith (Acts 3:16; Heb. 12:2; 2 Pet. 1:1). It is only because Christ has 'done it all' that the sinner's faith is possible and can be a saving response to God.” (S.S. Taylor)