Further Comments on Romans 3:21-26 Again--Responding to a Question

A question raised by one of our blog readers and the reply I offered is worthy of being raised out of the "Comments" feature to the blog itself.

In response to our discussion concerning pistis Christou as Christ's faithfulness, Daniel asked, Are there any Pauline passages that refer to Jesus being the object of our faith? Or could these passages be explained in the same manner?

Here is my reply.

The object of taking pistis Christou and its variations as depicting the faithfulness of Jesus Christ is not to detract in any way from the necessity of our believing in Jesus Christ in order that we might be justified or in order that we might be saved. John's Gospel repeatedly and in various ways speaks of the necessity of believing in Jesus Christ. John's Gospel was written with this as its primary objective (John 20:30-31).

The objective, therefore, of understanding pistis Christou and its variations as referring to Jesus Christ's faithfulness is to take the passages in the way that we believe is faithful to the apostle Paul's intent. Does doing so detract anything from the gospel? Does it detract anything from the necessity of belief? No, on both questions. As a matter of fact, such an understanding enhances the trustworthiness of Jesus Christ. Indeed, the gospel requires us to believe in Jesus Christ in order that we might be justified. Paul makes this abundantly clear right in the heart of his statement in Galatians 2:16--"We know that no man is justified on the basis of deeds required by the Law but through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, and we believed in Christ Jesus in order that we might be justified on the basis of Christ's faithfulness and not on the basis of deeds required by the Law, for no flesh will be justified on the basis of deeds required by the Law."

Galatians 2:16, alone, is sufficient proof that Paul's gospel requires that we believe in Jesus Christ in order that we might be justified on the basis of his accomplishment and not on the basis of the Law's required deeds. More than this, however, each passage where we encounter Paul's formulaic expression pistis Christou or its variations, we also read of the necessity of believing. In Romans 3:22 Paul speaks of all who believe. Likewise, Philippians 3:8-10 speaks of the necessity of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him. Christ's faithfulness is the very basis that warrants complete and unqualified trust in him and knowledge of him. His faithfulness, featured in his sacrificial death, warrants our abandoning ourselves unto him as completely worthy of our enduring trust to save us from sin's dominion, mastery, and seduction that we might be declared righteous now and ever more before God's judgment bar. For if Christ Jesus is righteous, all who are found in him are and will be righteous before God, also.

What are we to believe? As we have already seen, in Galatians 2:16 Paul speaks of Christ's faithfulness as the basis for our entrusting ourselves to him. He is the faithful one, the one worthy of our deepest and most unreserved trust.

Understanding pistis Christou as Christ's faithfulness, then, detracts nothing from the gospel. Rather, it fills out the gospel by emphasizing the trustworthiness of Jesus. It is another way that Paul emphasizes what he does in Romans 5:12-19. There, Paul underscores the whole basis of our being justified in Christ, namely, on the basis of Christ's obedience in contrast to Adam's disobedience. The same thing is true with regard to Christ's faithfulness, except that Paul's focal point is shifted forward in redemptive history to unfaithful Israel. Observe that whenever Paul speaks of the pistis Christou he does so within the context of Israel and the Law. Why? It is because, like Adam, Israel is a type of the one who was to come, namely, Jesus (cf. Romans 5:14 on Adam). Adam and Israel, privileged as they both were, were disobedient and unfaithful, respectively. Adam disobeyed the single commandment. Israel was unfaithful to God's covenant. Jesus Christ, however, answers both: He is the obedient one and he is the faithful one. He is worthy of our trust, thus we entrust ourselves to him in order that God's verdict over him may be God's verdict over us--justified (cf. 1 Timothy 3:16).

It should, I trust, be evident, then, that we take nothing away from the gospel as the church has historically understood the gospel message. Rather, we are convinced that we restore a rightful biblical and Pauline emphasis in the gospel message, particularly, Christ's steadfast loyalty to the Father's redemptive mission in going the full measure to the cross on behalf of all those he came to redeem. Because Jesus Christ took upon himself the full measure of God's wrath none for whom he acted as redeeming sacrifice shall ever drink from the cup which he drank to the very dregs (cf. Psalm 75:8; Isaiah 51:17, 22; Romans 3:21-26).

Paulos