By Faithfulness

            Now we will turn to the words "by faith" to find out by whose faith justice is done without our works.

            Most Christians are taught that "by faith" we are talking about our faith.   Partly this is true.  Our faithful trust is a condition of justice-application in Christ.   However, Paul does not focus on the believer's faith in his key statements.  He writes, "which is by faith of Jesus Christ" (Romans 3:22, KJV) and "But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe" (Gal. 3:22, KJV).  Do you notice that he says it is by the "faith OF Jesus"?  Whose faith are we talking about?  Is it Jesus' faith or ours?[1]

            It is His faith.   It is sad that so many modern translations have overlooked this truth by mistranslating "faith IN Jesus" when the original means "OF".  There is one notable exception to this among translations.  The New English Bible translates: "But the scripture imprisoned everything and everyone under sin so that the promise could be given—because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ—to those who believe" (Gal. 3:22, NET)[2].   So justice is done for us by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.   It is not our faith that is the instrument of salvation.  It is Christ's faithfulness.  Here is the NET Bible's note on Romans 3:22:

            It is also remarkable that the Greek translation of Habakkuk 2:4 in the Septuagint, which was used by Paul's contemporaries says, "The just shall live by MY faithfulness"[3].  How could The LXX get away with that!  The reason it could is that the Hebrew text reads, "the just shall live by HIS/his faithfulness" .   It could be interpreted as either God's faithfulness, our faithfulness, or both God's faithfulness and our faithfulness.   Paul interprets Habakkuk 2:4 both ways.  When applying it to the satisfaction of God's justice in Christ, he interprets it as Christ's faithfulness.   Every Jew and God fearing Gentile in the dispersion that Paul preached to would have had access to this understanding, because the Bible they used said, "The just shall live by My faithfulness".

            Whose faithfulness?  God's faithfulness.  That is how the just shall live, first and foremost, and only in the second place "by his own faithfulness" (cf. Lev. 18:5).

            So what does "justified by faith" really come from, in the original language?  It means "justice-is-applied by faithfulness".   It is Christ's faithfulness in doing the work of atonement by which the justice of God is applied to us, and therefore the penalty is paid!  What a beautiful insight when we comprehend the original text! Furthermore, "justice-is-applied by faithfulness" also encompasses the fact that we must repent and faithfully trust God for the justice to be applied in Christ:

                Romans 3:22 Even the justice of God which is by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that firmly trust: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 having justice satisfied[4] freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

            The Reformers might be excused because of their ignorance of Greek and Hebrew[5], but in these last days, the prophecy in Daniel is being fulfilled:

                KJV Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. 4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

            We must recognize that Luther and Calvin were in error.[6]  For what was the fruit of their work?   Luther called for persecution of the Jews and Calvin burned men at the stake just as the Catholics. 

God's Faithfulness unto Our Faithfulness

            Therefore, if your understanding of the gospel was focused on "justified by faith" in the sense of a declaration of innocence before God by your faith, then you have missed the gospel by that emphasis.  It is time to understand that God's "justice-is-applied by the faithfulness" of Christ.   Paul sums up the work of Christ in one word: "faithfulness".  By this he means Christ's faithful action in doing the work of atonement for sin.  His faithfulness is the work of atonement.   Rest assured that by saying "faithfulness" instead of "faith" that we are fully in accord with the Greek and Hebrew background of this word[7].    The photocopy of Bauer's Lexicon, on the page below, gives the definition "faithfulness" in the first definition.   Its examples show that there is no doubt of this meaning with respect to God.  It cites, "the faithfulness/ commitment of God" and cites Hosea 2:20 (Hebrew Text, 2:22) as a key example of this sense.

            And remember that many preachers have correctly pointed out that faith which does not result in faithfulness or good works is not really true faith.   James says the same.   With this in mind, let us look at Paul's thesis in Romans 1:16-17:

            NKJ Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who firmly trusts, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the justice of God is revealed from faithfulness to faithfulness; as it is written, "The just shall live by faithfulness."