The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

159 Howard's thesis is attractively stated, making good sense grammatically and theologically, but the reader is disappointed when looking for specific exegetical demonstra– tion in Howard from the book of Galatians. His work is important, however, because it moves the discussion of "faith" into a significantly different arena: from human activity to divine activity. Human Activity vs. Faithfulness of Jesus Christ Hays slightly refines Howard's understanding of the "divine faith-act" to the more specific "the faith of Jesus Christ" so that the phrase nfan<;'I17aou XptcrTou refers not just to the faithfulness of God keeping his promises but to "the faithfulness of 'the one man Jesus Christ' whose act of obedient self-giving on the cross became the means by which 'the promise' of God was fulfilled. " 50 Throughout the epistle, but particularly in the center (3: 1-4: 11) the argument of Galatians ... finds its coherence in the story of the Mes iah who lives by •faith. " 51 Thus, people are justified by participating in the "faithfulness of Christ," as Paul says elsewhere, Christians are blessed "in Christ" (Eph 1:9, 12; 2:6). 52 Thi phrase does not preclude the necessity or the doctrine of the human act of believing; rather, it accentuates the object of the Christian's faith and not the action of faith. Galatians 2: 16 would till pre erve the foundational truth of the reformation but with a lightly different empha i 50 Hay , The aith of Jesus 'hrist," 175. In the ame pla Ha rn r an imp rt nt caution: "Thi interpretation hould not be under tood to aboli h r pre lud hum n f ith directed toward hri t , which i al o an important comp nent f Paul' th ught. " 1 lbid ., 235 . 1th ul lif nd d th of I ri l , "and th t martc, is ho Ii in ' him," I id ., 5. u f r th th r ' ht TTl Tl th