Some years ago I was liberated by a preposition, and these days I've been thinking back on those awakening days.
It happened when I discovered that I was accepted by God not because of my faith IN Christ, but because of the faith OF Christ.
What is curious to me is that the obvious Greek possessive OF -- (or at least what seems obvious to me; I would welcome further information) -- is obviously translated incorrectly as IN in several key passages.
For example, here is Galatians 2.16 translated in the Revised Standard Version (I capitalize the IN):
... a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith IN Jesus Christ ...
But here is the Greek wording (I underline the OF Jesus Christ, followed by a more accurate translation from the good old King James Version):
... οὐ δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ἔργων νόμου ἐὰν μὴ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
(...a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith OF Jesus Christ ...)
It is all the difference in the world. It is a difference between bondage and liberation.
Here is a weak example: if I had a million dollars, would I feel more secure if it is in the bank or under my mattress? If it is under my mattress, my efforts at keeping it safe would be intense.
But if it is in the bank, my "believing" that it is there would simply be a matter of the affirmation of a fact, not the maintenance of an effort.
On any given day I wouldn't even think about it, because I need expend no effort at keeping it safe.
So a man's salvation is secure in the bank (the faith) OF Jesus Christ.
And so Paul says: I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've entrusted unto him against that day.
Logos2Go
Versions that translate Galatians 2.16 "the faith OF Jesus Christ": KJV, Youngs, Darby, Websters, Hebrew Names Version)
Versions that translate Galatians 2.16 "... faith IN Jesus Christ": NIV, ESV, NASB, RSV, ASV)
Other passages containing "OF Jesus Christ...": Galatians 2.20 (the faith OF the son of God), Romans 3.22.
2 Timothy 1.12 ...nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
Liberated by a preposition
Posted by
David Wang
Apr 18, 2010
1 comments:
I'll need to do some study on this (since you welcome further info), but my immediate observation is that there is no preposition "of" but rather the genitive case, which English generally translates with a preposition. It might be more meaningful to translate this as "Jesus Christ's faith," which shows in English the possessive nature of the Greek's genitive construction. This faith "belongs to" Jesus Christ.
(The significant Greek preposition in the construction is the "dia," which also seems to require more English words for its fullest meaning, such as "by means of.")
You admit the weakness of your example. One I observe is that we immediately focus on the amount of the money, and may think of it as our faith. What actually saves us is the bank itself (God!), and according to Jesus, just a dollar's worth (or even a penny's worth?!) of faith is enough (Mt 17:14-19; Mk 9:14-28; Lk 9:37-42).
I don't see this as an "either/or" but a "both/and." It is true, as you point out, that this faith is OF Jesus Christ. But there are places where the NT where the preposition "in" is used (Jn 3:16). Thus faith has BOTH an objective and subjective character. By this I mean that Jesus Christ is both the object of faith (it is IN Him) and the subject of faith (it is OF Him).
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