LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW - Concordia Lutheran Seminary

30 LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW XII
Wallis accordingly proposes, is between “works of the law” and “the faith of
Christ” understood somewhat differently than usual: with the tension lying
not so much between “works” and “faith” as between “law” and “Christ”.
Although the passage is difficult, Galatians 3:1-5 can also be read in
support of this interpretation, in part because of the further contrast, twice
within those verses, between evx e;rgwn no,mou and evx avkoh/j pi,stewj. The
latter phrase is especially difficult to interpret, containing at least four
different exegetical possibilities. 31 However, as Wallis explains, the former
phrase (evx e;rgwn no,mou) seems quite plainly to describe “response to God
outside of grace, that is to say, a dispensation of law characterized by the
pursuit of self-attained righteousness.” On the other hand, then, to preserve a
sense of contrast, evx avkoh/j pi,stewj seems to denote “response to God ...
engendered by a dispensation of faith which is intimately associated with
God’s salvific initiatives in Jesus Christ.” 32 The troublesome phrase evx avkoh/j
pi,stewj is thus taken to mean something like “the hearing stemming from
faith”—in other words, an activity in which God is intimately involved, a
hearing which He initiates and enables and bestows, in contrast to the
“works of the law” which characterize humanity’s response.
It is at this point precisely that one of Sam Williams’ more
adventuresome suggestions concerning Galatians 2:16 begins to make
wonderful theological sense. One of the toughest problems in the verse is the
threefold repetition of the idea that combines “belief” and “Christ”—the
noun clauses dia. pi,stewj VIhsou/ Cristou/ and evk pi,stewj Cristou/
bracketing the verbal expression h`mei/j eivj Cristo.n VIhsou/n evpisteu,samen.
Most commentators assume that the only sensible way to understand that
central verbal clause is “objectively”: i.e., “we who have believed in Christ
Jesus”. 33
Williams, however, draws attention to the preposition eivj-which, like evn,
has an intrinsically “local” character, implying entry to or location at a
certain specific place. After noting the way in which this nuance sheds light
on expressions such as “in sin” (evn a`marti,a|), “in the law” (evn nomw/|), and “in
Christ” (evn Cristw|/), Williams notes the significance of two similar
expressions using eivj which speak of “the means by which one comes to be
in this new state (i.e., “in Christ”). 34 In Romans 6:3, Paul talks about the
31
Hays, Faith of Jesus Christ 143-48. The difficulty of the passage is widely
acknowledged; see for instance Hooker 326.
32
Wallis 107.
33
Note, for instance, in the discussion above, that one of Hultgren’s grammatical points
favouring the objective understanding of pi,stij Cristou/ is built around what he considers to
be the “obvious” objective sense of this phrase—which Williams here disputes (hence my
sense that his explanation is “adventuresome”!).
34
Williams 438-41 (here, 441).