Don’t worry if you don’t have faith in Christ …
by libr8tr
When I studied Greek, I learned that the –ou endings meant possession. For example, we say, “That’s Bart’s Car“. In Spanish, you would say, “That the car of Bart“. So, the –ou means ‘of (name)’.
So what? Why should I care? Because the New Testament that you’re holding is a testament to the efforts of the Old Adam to resist Grace Alone through Christ alone.
Here are my two examples:
1. Galatians 2:16a: “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ”
Here’s the Greek:
πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ – “faithfulness of Christ Jesus”
Now, the corrected translation mash-up – yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through the faithfulness of Christ Jesus.
That’s a shift from man-centered religion (and worrying about the quality of your faith) to Christ centered religion which is what Christianity is.
The same translation choice was made in Philippians 3:9a:
“not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ”
The following is a better translation:
“not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through the faithfulness of Christ.”
His faithfulness trumps yours. Sorry.
Paul wrote the following: “if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Tim. 2:13).
Check the translation against the overarching message of these letters. Is the author (Paul) concerned with the strength of your believing in a “You just gotta believe bro” way, or is He focused on setting you free from the navel-gazing religion by looking up at a cursed man on a tree who was faithful to the end?
Justified Journal 
PS. It is very disturbing to see someone give such a statement, “Don´t worry if you don´t have faith in Christ…”
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him”.
I’m so glad you wrote. I think your name is Jon? So, I can respond to this post, and I will respond to the other in a day or two.
The titles I write for my blogs are provocative, sometimes. As you say, “it is very disturbing …”. That is good.
Let’s have a conversation.
My intended audience are those Christians whose faith has become weak, they are living with doubt or their faith has been ruined by Christ-less preaching. They have been told things like, “you need to have faith,” or “you don’t have enough faith”. To them, their faith feels/appears weak and insignificant. They read such a title and identify with it.
You were disturbed by it. So, you took “took to the pen” to correct this fatal error. Read Hebrews 11:1. What is the nature of faith? Is it the active work of applying one’s belief to the God of the Bible? Read the whole book of Hebrews. Christ is Prophet, Priest, King (and Sacrifice). In other words, He is all for the Christian life.
Even our sanctification is His work. The Christian life is not and “if-then” statement, As Martin Luther would say, it is a “Since-Therefore” statement, with Christ as center.
The Old Adam hates this. The Old Adam “wants to do a little something” to contribute to his own salvation (See Forde, On Being a Theologian of the Cross). Grace alone threatens the religiosity of the Old Adam. We (Christians) are constantly busy trying to make fig leafs out of anything we can find (including God’s Law) to defend against naked trust in Christ alone. Christ came for the sick. He came for the lost. He came for sinners (see “Simul Iustus et Peccator”).
Our faith does not come from ourselves, it is a gift of God. It comes from hearing (Romans 10:17) the word of Christ. It comes from being buried with Christ in baptism, where the Triune God comes down. For, we are “born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13).
I appreciate your comments and look forward to a fruitful dialogue. With this in mind, if you could tell me about your theological background, that would aid in the discussion.
God bless and keep you,
John