Much of modern Christianity is based around the idea that one must have “faith IN Jesus Christ” to have “salvation.” More often than not, this leads to, “There is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ” – which makes me shudder.
I ask the question, where does one get this idea that one must have faith in Christ to have salvation? Well, the easy answer is, “The Bible says so.” Does it really?
Let’s look at a typical example in Scripture that is often used to support the idea of faith IN Christ:
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith IN Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith IN Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. 17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith IN the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. (Galatians 2, NRSV
WOW! Look at all that “evidence” – or is it evidence? Let us take a look at the footnotes found in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through THE FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by THE FAITH OF CHRIST, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. 17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. (Galatians 2, NRSV
What’s the difference? Well, faith IN Christ easily becomes an intellectual thing. “I believe in Christ, or I have faith in Christ.” We easily translate that into meaning faith IN Christ, and no other, is necessary for salvation.
How different is that when we accept the translation that many scholars believe is more “literal,” that we should have the faith OF Christ? How different would our lives be if we had the faith OF Christ and realized that there is nothing that can happen to us in this world (even crucifixion) that God cannot help us through? Christ could see that even though he’d rather the “cup be removed from him,” that God was going to continue to work and inspire others to carry on the work he started. Whether one believes in a literal resurrection of Christ or not, one can see the resurrection of “the Way” after all the disciples scattered at the first sign of trouble.
For me, having faith IN Christ is not very helpful. It is only an intellectual statement. I wonder, though, how can it be that I can have faith IN Christ when, according to verse 20, Christ lives IN me? If we do allow Christ to live in us, whether we have faith IN Christ or not, aren’t we allowing ourselves to have the faith OF Christ? Doesn’t the faith OF Christ lead us to be more like Christ so that we might “live to God” (Galatians 2:19). If non-Christians have the faith OF Christ, aren’t they also justified or have salvation?
Why don’t we try to have the faith OF Christ? All too often, I think we are simply afraid to have the faith OF Christ, which is to have no faith at all. We’re afraid where it might lead us. Look at Jesus. Look at the early martyrs. Look at Gandhi (who, by the way, “religiously” studied the Sermon on the Mount). Look at Martin Luther King, Jr. They all died living the faith OF Christ.
Let’s live to God. Let’s follow the leading of the faith OF Christ. Remember, it might be Friday, but Sunday’s coming. (Get it… Jesus is said to have died on Good Friday and was resurrected on Easter Sunday – what do we have to fear except fear itself).
(Originally posted at http://theology-of-t-roy.blogspot.com/2005/06/faith-in-or-faith-of.html on June 2, 2005)
