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

200 beforehand to Abraham was that in him, or more specifically, in his seed which is Christ, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. This understanding does not prove Paul's point in 3: 8 if his point concerns the human response of faith, but if by ol EK nf aTEwc; Paul refers to those who have received the "message of faithfulness" (3:2, 5) and those who have been justified "through the faithfulness of Christ" (2: 16), who are therefore "in him" (2: 17) , then Paul's quotation corresponds in every respect to his point. Thus, it makes good sense if Ev aoi refers not to some "quality 'in Abraham,' but to his descendant, i.e. , Christ." 162 Paul 's opponents taught that Abrahamic sonship came Ev voµQ but he argues that it comes "in Christ" just as he has phrased the argument before (2: 16-20), as he summarizes it now (3: 9) and will again (3:26-29). Conclusions. The second side of the "works-faith" antithesis is described by Paul in a variety of ways. His first mention of the concept in 2: 16 involves the fullest expression when he says no one is saved through the works of the law but "81a nfaTEwc; 'IriaoO XptaToO." He uses the same phrase again in 3:22 with a slight change from 8ta to EK in 2:16b and 3:22 saying we are justified "EK n(aTEwc;'IriaoO" and the promise comes" EK nfan:wc; 'IriaoO XptaToO," respectively . It was determined that the phrase is probably be t translated as the "faithfulness of Jesus Christ," referring to his faithful fulfillment of God' promise of atonement as the object of human faith. To paraphra e Paul' thought of 2: 16, ' e have believed (human re ponse) in Christ that we may be ju tified b the 'faithfulne of Je u hri t (object of faith)." hi view wa confirmed by Paul ' u e of the phra in the ection of 3:22-26 in which he begin the di cu ion ith the fuller phra 'lK n(aT we; 'I riaoO XptaToO" and then refer ba k to it e ral tim lb n d , h ur f th ith th abbr iati n f niITTL<; ith ,, ' 4.