The Faithfulness of Jesus or the Faith in Jesus Christ?:

An Exegetical Study of Romans 3:22

Abstract

The prepositional phrase dia. pi,stewj vIhsou/ Cristou/ in Rom 3:22 modifies dikaiosu,nh de. qeou/（the righteousness of God）. The implied subject of pi,stij is Christ and the genitive noun vIhsou/ Cristou/ is used subjectively. The phrase does not mean “the faith in Jesus Christ” but “the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.” The faithfulness of God (Rom 3:3) consists in the fulfillment of his words of promise. The faithfulness of God was realized by the faithful action of the Son of God, namely, Christ (cf. I Cor 1:18-20). Christian Faith is defined as a belief in the fulfillment of the promise of God through Christ’s faithful act (Rom 3:28; Gal 3:2, 5, 7). It is a response to the faithfulness of God revealed by that of Christ. We can conclude that the thesis of justification by faith (Rom 3:21, 28; Gal 2:16) is not based on anthropology but on Christology.