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

193 different. It would seem that the best understanding of aKof]c; rr(crn:wc; as an antithetical counterpart to Epywv voµou would be the passive sense of both words as "the gospel mes– sage" or "the proclamation of the faith." In this way Paul's contrast would be "Did God grant the Spirit through identification with Moses or through preaching of the gospel? " As Hays cautions "This would not, of course, preclude a concern for human receptivity to the message; it would simply mean that the point of the contrast would be located different- ly . . . . " 143 That is the contrast would be not between working and believing but between Moses and Messiah. This would also harmonize well with Paul's statement in 3: 1 concerning the public portrayal of the crucifixion of Christ in which Paul stresses the content of the gospel message without an emphasis upon the human act of faith. While this understanding of the phrase aKof]c; rr(crn:wc; does not discount the other interpretive options , it is a viable grammatical possibility and is compatible with the context. ~ ol EK n (a1Ew<; 3:6-9. One final facet of Paul ' s antithesis is the phrase ol EK rr(an:wc;, used only twice by Paul in Galatians (3 :7 , 9) . While the corresponding phrase oaat t~ Epywv voµou does not occur in 3:6-9 it is clear that Paul ' s discuss ion in 3: 1 Off. about those who are l~ Epywv voµou, once again provides the contrast to this phra e which concerns rr(crnc;. The thought of 3:6-9 is introduced by the comparative Ka8wc; which link the di cussion of 3: 1-5 with 3:6-9. The essence of the link i normally con idered to be bet n tho e ho exercise faith (l~ aKof]c; rr(an:wc;, 3:2, 5) and Abraham who believed (lrr(an:ua , 3:6) od. I44 In thi und r tanding Paul argue that th G I ti n r ed th I43 H y , The aith of le u 144 uBn r not , "D r n chluB n d h nd i t b gri fli h dur h 11101 u I n ( . hl B mit d m n( T we; ) , rbind t b r u h