Faith in Christ and the faith of Christ

Today I am meditating on one of the most powerful verses in my life, Galatians 2:20. Incredible words to ponder.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (NIV)

Then, there are translations I also look at to keep meditation fresh and one phrase jumped out: “I live by faith in the Son of God.”

Common English Bible: I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son

NET Bible: I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God

The NET Bible online is a great resource because it has thousands of textual notes right with the text. So they explain the two approaches to translating this phrase:

On the phrase translated the faithfulness of Christ, ExSyn 116, which notes that the grammar is not decisive, nevertheless suggests that “the faith/faithfulness of Christ is not a denial of faith in Christ as a Pauline concept (for the idea is expressed in many of the same contexts, only with the verb πιστεύω rather than the noun), but implies that the object of faith is a worthy object, for he himself is faithful.” Though Paul elsewhere teaches justification by faith, this presupposes that the object of our faith is reliable and worthy of such faith.

While I meditate mostly on “being crucified with Christ,” I find myself today meditating on the faithfulness of Christ. Without his faithfulness, my “faith” in him means nothing.