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

218 A third view is espoused by a growing fellowship of New Testament exegetes who see the antithesis not between two types of human activity but between human activity and divine activity. That is, the essence of nfcrn<; as Paul defines it is the specific faithfulness of Jesus' sacrifice on Calvary, so that the choice which Paul lays before his readers is "choose between what you can do for yourself or what God has done for you." This view , proposed with slight variations by both Howard and Hays is convincing for the second side of the contrast (faith) but again fails in its dealing with the first side (works). Howard follows Dunn's helpful but insufficient view of exclusivism and Hays simply assumes that "works " is a reference to human activity. The proposal of this chapter was that the essence of the "works-faith" contrast had to be understood in the historical context of the crisis in Galatia and in the scriptural context of the Old Testament. The historical questions grew out of a particular situation and Paul 's answer to those questions is very specific. The crisis first of all involved the relation– ship of Gentiles to the law and the question of how Gentiles were to be included with Jews in the blessings of Abraham. Although the churches of Galatia were most likely composed of a mix of Jew and Gentile , as Paul addresses his letter , he writes to persuade those who are considering becoming Jewish by circumcision not to do so. His aim is focused on a ingle target. Likewise, Paul 's gospel of which he speaks in this letter can not be identified with the generic "justification by faith." Though this is a necessary component of hi go pel, what h preached (1 : 11) to the Galatian was the specific go pel of the Me iah for Gentile (1: 12- 16) . It i hi call to Gentile and not hi understanding of grace which di tingui he him fr m th oth r ap tie (2 :7-9) . Thu , when his reader are tempted to tak on the La , P ul i particularly a toni hed that th y hav o qui kl de rted hi go p l. Thi i th hi t r i 1 C nt t.