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

162 redemption" rather than the ordo salutis "the subjective application of redemption in the life history of the individual sinner. " 58 The historical question posed by the crisis in Galatia may be stated, "Must the Galatians identify with Moses or with Messiah in order to receive the blessing of Abraham?" That is, "Must Gentiles become Jewish?" As Gordon has noted , the Galatian problem is not a matter first of soteriology but rather of eschatology and ecclesiolo– gy . 59 What Paul is battling is not the problem of whether a human can merit favor with God , but how the epochal shift brought about by the Cross has affected the purposes and parame– ters of the divine program. The essence of his thought is that since Messiah has come, Gentiles who are seeking to participate in Israel's blessings must no longer seek such status by identification with Moses , but rather with Messiah. Gentiles are blessed not by the circuitous route of " through Moses to Abraham, " but by direct participation " in Messiah. " In short , Gentiles do not need to become Jewish in order to participate in the blessings of Abraham. Support for the View Support for this view will be drawn from the book of Galatians and will be discussed under the headings of historical and exegetical factors . Historical Factors As Stendahl first pointed out , the historical situation of the book can not be ignored if we are to under tand Paul . Even wi th hi warning the book i often read a a theology of Judaism or a a hri tian critique of Mo e . But a Howard ha a firm d b th title of hi monograph , " ri i in Ga latia , " g d the l gy an nly m fr m du 8 an day , "The ur of th Law and th " 1 ' ' n. Pr bl m t 1 ti , " 40 . nd r i n ht h n h " d the phr ' i ht u d b f ith ' th d," Paul , 51. but th m mb r