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

202 to oaot ls Epywv voµou in 3: 10. While the phrase is normally defined in light of the alleged emphasis upon Abraham's faith, it was determined that Paul's focus in the passage was not upon the faith of Abraham but upon the message he received which Paul describes as "the gospel" (3: 8). It was suggested that a more likely contextual clue for the understanding of EK TT(an:wc; was the fuller phrase of ls aKofjc; TTtan:wc; found in 3: 1-5. In this way Paul is saying that those who are "of the faithfulness" or "of the faithfulness of Christ" are sons of Abraham (3:8, 9, 14, 26-29). Conclusion Having explored the meaning of both sides of the antithesis separately it is necessary now to compare those meanings in order to arrive at a carefully refined antithesis between Epywv voµou and TT(an:wc;'IriaoO XptaToO. We concluded that Epywv voµou was not a pejonttive term referring to a misguided effort at human achievement but rather a simple designation of "deeds commanded by the law." Thus, those who were "ls the works of the law" were those who found their identity in Moses by obedience to the covenant. In contra t, TTtaTt=.:wc;'IriaoO XptaTou was found to refer not to human faith in Christ but to "the faithfulness of Jesus Christ" in providing the promised atonement for mankind. Tho e who were "EK this faithfulness" were those who found their identity in Chri t and hi work n alvary . Thus, the essence of the contrast between the two term wa not found t re id m human doing versu human believing but between identity with Mo hri t. o that the contra t between law and go pel wa not and aith a it wa b tween two eparate nomt in G d ' and id ntit ith ff rt mph 1 up n the hi ton quen d ' d lin with man w mph iz d nd nfirm in P ul ' di u i n of r d mpti in :2 - . H p k f b in und r th