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

185 Thus it may be that the "faithfulness of Christ" (n(anc; 'IriaoO XptaTou , 2: 16; 3:22) is a specific example of the "faithfulness of God" (Ttjv n(anv ToO 81:00 , Rom 3:3) 117 and that by it Paul points repeatedly to Calvary as the faithful fulfillment of the promise of redemption. Having said all this, the case in 3:22-26 carries more definitive contextual clues about the phrase. Twice in 3:23 Paul uses n(anc;, both times with the article. He first speaks of the time "before the coming of (the) faith (Ttjv n(anv ) " and then of "being shut up to the faith which was about to be revealed (Ttjv µD,Aouaav n(anv dnoKaAu<j>0 fjvm)." The article objectifies faith in both phrases pointing the reader to the "faith" just mentioned in 3:22 which is EK nfaT1:wc;'IriaoO. 118 That is, Paul's grammar indicates that his references to "faith " (Ttj v n(anv ) and to "the faith to be revealed" (3:23) are shorthand for the fuller expression in the context of "EK n(aT1:wc;'IriaoO XptaToO" (3:22). 119 It would be unusual to speak of .;, faith(fullness) ," Ibid . , 167. 117 1n Romans 3:21-22 Paul states that the "righteousness of God apart from the law" has now been manifested 8ta nfaTEw<;' IriaoO XptaToO, d e; navTa<; Touc; m a T1:uovTa<;. Although the phrase 8ta nfaTEw<; 'IriaoO XptaToO is often taken as the objective genitive, two factors here argue for the subjective genitive reading . First , if the phrase is understood as "through human faith in Christ" then the sentence becomes tautological because of the last phrase "for all who believe ." More importantly , however , the controll ing verb (and idea) in the sentence of 3:21-22 is "manifested " (n1:<j>avlpwTat), i. e., how God's righteousness is now demonstrated apart from the law . The demonstration of God's righteousness can hardly be seen in "human faith" (obj ective genitive), but it is clearly seen in the 'faithfulnes of Chri t" on Calvary (subjective genitive). The idea of Jesus' faithfulness on Calvary as the demon tra– tion of God 's righteousness is an emphasis, if not the main point , of the conte t a een in 3:26. Once again, this is not to deny the necessity and the place of human faith in Chri t, which is mentioned in the context (e.g., 3:22) . It i imply to warn that 'human faith in hrist" i often overemphasized to the detriment of the concept of the "faithfulne of hri t." 118 "The faith in que tion, referred to three time in . 23 and 25 a 'the faith' (articular) , i the faith ... ju t poken of in v. 22," ung , Galatian , l 119 "Paulu pricht om 'Kommen ' de laub n , ie r in . 1 achkommm n A ham = Je u hri tu ge pro h n h t. ' e1 ni ' (bonn rd) , d nn h i t in . 2 ni ht auf di i d dt h ilb1 ing nd it d M 1 it d it