in the chapter an undoubted use of pistis after the manner of the Old

'For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the Faith

of God of none effect?  Let it not be so; yea, let God be True, but

every man a liar ... If the Truth of God hath more abounded through my

lie unto His glory ...' (Rom. 3:3-7 author's translation).

Here we have the expression, ten pistin tou Theou.

This cannot mean our faith in God, it means here His faithfulness (the

'truth' of verses 4 and 7).  In Romans 4:16 we have another expression that

may help us:

'To the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only

which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham'

(to ek pisteos Abraam).

It is perfectly clear that this cannot mean our faith

in Abraham, but refers to Abraham's own faith.  This expression finds a

parallel in Romans 3:26:

'The Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus' (ton ek pisteos Iesou).

When we compare this passage with the one cited above from 4:16 we

shall agree that something is wrong with the A.V. rendering.  Galatians 3:22

uses the expression in an exactly similar context to that of Romans 4:16:

In order 'that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ (ek pisteos Iesou

Christou) might be given to them that believe'.

If we translate this as meaning that the promise by faith in Jesus

Christ is given to them that believe, we feel conscious that something is

amiss, one word, either 'faith' or 'believe', is an unnecessary repetition.

The promise is not ek nomou = out of law (verse 21), but ek pisteos Iesou

Christou = the faith of Jesus Christ.  This parallelism indicates the two

possible sources or origins of the inheritance.  They arise either (1) out of

the law, or (2) out of the promise made 430 years before the law to Abraham.

The context decides that it is not out of law, but out of the promise made to

Abraham (Gal. 3:16 -18).  The promise to Abraham looked forward to one seed,

Christ.  Christ came in relation to that covenant previously made by God

(verse 17), and His faithfulness in every phase of His work and office is the

great ground of justification.  So in Romans 3:22 we have two great

presentations to faith.

The Righteousness of God.

Through the Faithfulness of Jesus Christ, to all who believe.

There is no difficulty in translating pistis as 'faithfulness', and

pisteuo as 'believe', for this is in line with the LXX and the Hebrew

rendering of the two words.  We quote here from Glynne, on Galatians, on this

use of the genitive:

'When a writer would describe a person as the author or owner of a

thing, the proper and obvious course is to write the name in the

genitive case; if he desires to present him as the object of reference,

a variety of forms suggest themselves (which are freely employed by New