The Faith of Jesus Christ: The Narrative Substructure of Galatians 3:1-4:11 (The Biblical Resource Series

by Richard B. Hays

Widely praised as a major contribution to Pauline studies, Richard Hays's Faith of Jesus Christ is now available in an expanded second edition complete with a new preface by the author and a substantial dialogue about the book with James D. G. Dunn. In this important study Hays argues against the mainstream that any attempt to account for the nature and method of Paul's theological language must first reckon with the centrality of narrative elements in his thought. Through an in-depth investigation of Galatians 3:1-4:11, Hays shows that the framework of Paul's thought is neither a system of doctrines nor his personal religious experience' both of which are the most common approaches to Paul's writing 'but the "sacred story" of Jesus Christ. Above all, Paul's thought is guided by his concern to draw out the implications of the gospel story, particularly how the "faith of Jesus Christ" reflects the mission of the church.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Spirituality

308 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Richard Bevan Hays was an American New Testament scholar and George Washington Ivey Professor Emeritus of New Testament Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. He was an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church.

Reviews

[Jefferis Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Justified by the Faith OF Jesus Christ, not by Ours....

Jefferis Kent Peterson

The Faith of Jesus Christ.

I’ve been re-reading and have been rekindled by an idea of a scholar Richard Hays, on The Faith of Jesus Christ. And this idea has been very liberating to my spirit and walk in the Lord. It has to do with the misinterpreted line, faith “in” Jesus Christ. Almost everywhere that is written in English is a wrong translation. It is properly translated by the King James, but not even by the New King James or American Standard versions. Let me explain.

“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:20-23, NKJV.
In Greek, the actual wording is “even the righteousness of God, through the faith OF Jesus Christ.” It is a possessive or genitive phrase. Now a genitive means that this phrase can be interpreted as either subjective or objective. In other words, it is like the phrase, the Love of God. That is either our love for God, or the love that God has. In one case it is objective (love for God), in the other subjective (God is the subject) and it describes the love that belongs to God, or God’s love.

In Greek, the faith of Jesus Christ is also a subjective genitive, but has been interpreted as an objective in almost every translation. However, I’ll show you why that is wrong. Paul uses Habakkuk to describe the way of faith:

Hab 2:4 Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith.
The righteous in this phrase is an adjectival noun The young, the rich, etc. These are Adjectival Nouns, meaning the people who are young, the people who are rich, etc. Here it is understood that “the righteous” is the righteous one or the righteous person.
Paul quotes Habakkuk 2 times in his letters. Ro 1:17 For in it (the Gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed through faith to faith; as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.” Ga 3:11 Now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law; for “He who through faith is righteous shall live.”

In Paul’s day, the Essene Community, called the Messiah, the Righteous One or the Teacher of Righteousness, so it was a common expression at that time period. In Romans, Paul draws on the idea of The Righteous One to describe Jesus Christ, who reveals the righteousness of God through his faith. Paul’s whole argument in Romans is that the Law does not justify anyone, not even Abraham was justified by Law, but by faith. The Law, and obedience to it, can actually cause a breach of faith, because no one can keep the whole law. And since all unbelief “is sin” (Rm 14:23), anyone who does not believe God fully, has broken the Law. But here is the key. Paul sees Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophesy of Habakkuk. Jesus is The Righteous One who was able to maintain faith and not break it. To Paul, Jesus is our champion, a hero, like David when he faced Goliath. Jesus was able to do through his faith what we could not, face the giant of unbelief without stumbling or sin. Jesus was able to believe the Father perfectly. That is why he is “The Righteous One who shall live by His Faith.”

Paul is making an argument here that God’s righteousness was revealed “from faith to faith.” God’s perfect righteousness was revealed in and through the faith OF Jesus Christ, and was revealed to faith (our faith as we receive him). That is why the righteousness of God was revealed “apart from the Law”! It was revealed through the faith OF Jesus Christ and, dare I say it, not by his obedience to the Law (although he did not sin). It wasn’t the Law that revealed God’s righteousness in him, it was his faith.

“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through the faith of Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:20-23.
Why is this important? Because it is not our faith in Jesus which justifies us, but the faith of Jesus Christ in us which justifies us. In other words, it is his faith at work in us and in our hearts which produces righteousness and the God kind of life. And what is most important about this is the implications it has for us and our faith. First of all, it explains why faith is a gift and why we are saved through faith by grace and not as a work of our own. It is not our faith which justifies, but the faith of Jesus given to us, which resides in us. Since it is not our faith that justifies, but the faith of our Champion Jesus, whose faith is now at work on the inside of us, we are not called upon to believe God out of our own miserable resources or self generated faith or mental efforts, or our attempts to believe. We are only enabled to believe God through and because of the faith of Jesus Christ at work in us. It is Jesus' faith upon which we are dependent and upon whom we rely. It is upon his faith, which is perfect and never fails, upon which we can rest and fully trust, because we know his faith is sufficient for every need and greater than every obstacle. And it is why Paul said “I can do all things through the Anointing (or the Anointed One, the Christ) which strengthens me.” He was seeing and understanding the immeasurable power at work in him through the faith of God’s Son Jesus.

What this revelation is doing is freeing me up from trying to believe in my strength, for I knew my faith was not up to the task of believing the impossible in the face of obstacles, the supernatural, and the giants of the Land. But the good news is, it isn’t my faith that matters. It is the faith OF Jesus Christ at work in me. He is surely able to believe the Father in all things. So, I am now pursuing, with full reliance upon His faith, to believe for whatever God so wills in my life. I know that with Him, all things are possible and to Him nothing is impossible. His faith is able to accomplish in me all that is necessary and whatever is required.

So I say, bring on the giants! You’ve got no idea who you’re dealing with! You are not just facing me, you are facing the faith of The Righteous One.
From Galatians, just more scriptural background: Ga 3:11 Now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law; for “He who through faith is righteous shall live.”

Paul again continues his argument in Galatians. What is interesting here is how much the reading changes and how much more fluid it becomes if we translate the Greek exactly since it definitely says through the faith OF Jesus in several places. The King James actually has it more accurately than even the New King James.

Notice the different read: “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified,” Galatians 2:16, NKJV. In the first translation, faith becomes our work of believing which justifies us. “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified,” Galatians 2:16, KJV.

Here is is the faith of Jesus which justifies us... It is entirely His work and none of our own. We are justified by HIS faith!

Again, compare how we are justified. Are we justified by hearing with faith (an action on our part), or by hearing of faith (hearing of the faith of Jesus Christ and accepting his work of marvelous faith on our behalf)?

“Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?” Galatians 3:5, RSV. “He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” Galatians 3:5, KJV.
“But the scripture consigned all things to sin, that what was promised to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” Galatians 3:22, RSV. “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” Galatians 3:22, KJV.
In every case, it is the faith of Jesus which is set up as the model and as the agent or instrument of our salvation, so that all credit and honor goes to Jesus for his exceedingly great faith, now given to us as a gift, who are enabled to receive and believe.
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.” Romans 3:20-27, KJV.
I believe these translations take the burden of believing God off of our shoulders as if we are the engine and instrument of our own salvation through faith we can manufacture and manifest, and allows us to rely fully upon the faith of Jesus Christ as our enablement, and so it makes sense then of the entirety of God’s good work in us:

“ For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10, NAS95.
Now we may ask, “Is Having the same Faith which Jesus has, the Will of God for our Lives? “ Yes.
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren.” Romans 8:29, RSV.
If Faith is a gift, will God give us this faith and does God want us to have it?
Yes.

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”” Luke 11:13, RSV.
The point is simple. While on earth, Jesus may have questioned his Father, especially before going to the Cross, but Jesus never doubted his Father. His faith in his Father was perfect. He believed God would heal the sick; he did not question his relationship to the Father nor the Father’s love for him. When he laid hands on the sick, he knew his prayers would be honored and the sick would be made well. He did not doubt that the Father wanted to heal the sick and open the eyes of the blind. He saw his ministry as the fulfillment of the promise of God made in Isaiah:

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the Sabbath day. And he stood up to read; and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”” Luke 4:16-21, RSV.
Since God the Father wants us to look like Jesus, act like Jesus, and love like Jesus, he also wants us to trust Him just like his own Son does. He wants us to become like Jesus and be remade into his likeness. So, it is the will of God that we trust the Father just as Jesus did while on the earth. He wants us to have the same faith towards the Father that Jesus did. It is not a question of whether the Father wants us to have faith nor a question of is he willing to give us this faith... This faith is absolutely necessary for us if we are to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and become like him.

Now faith and love are intertwined, and the faith the Father wants us especially to have is faith in the Father’s love towards us, so that we may be conformed to his Son not only in power but in character. In fact, there are warnings about those who have faith but not love, that Jesus does not know them. Judas had faith to heal the sick along with the rest of the disciples, but he did not love God. My point is that the faith that matters is the “faith that works through love” (Gal. 5:6). For it is not just faith in the abstract, but the faith which comes from being confident in God’s desire for us and in his love for us which gives us to trust God and maintain faith in the face of difficulties, resistance, and hardships. That is the kind of faith that will never doubt, and it is the kind of faith the Father wants us to have, so that in the end we become like Jesus.

[Reid Langehennig · Rating 5 out of 5]

πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful. Tedious. Helpful. Frustrating.
Hays makes a compelling case for he subjective genative use of pistis tou Iesou Christou in Galatians (the faith of Jesus Christ) as opposed to the objective genative (faith in Jesus Christ). I found his work with narrative analysis interesting, which is good since he spent a lot of time on it. I am glad that he incorporated an appendix in this second edition and that he clarified he issues at stake.

However, I must say this book is not for everyone. I struggled through the first hundred pages or so and was often frustrated that his supporting quotes were often in French or German and left untranslated. He also cites passages of the NT in Greek (luckily I knew enough to get by). As someone else had pointed out, it was written as a doctoral thesis and it still reads like one. I was hoping that the fact that it has become so popular would warrent translations in the footnotes but alas it hasn't yet.

[David Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book presents great arguments for a literary reading of Paul’s argument. It is a deep, thought provoking, analysis of a narrative substructure that invokes Christian tradition as a narrative mythos which undergirds Paul’s perception of “the faith of Jesus” argument. There is much to commend here. One must just for themselves whether such a perspective goes too far or is what they needed to hear.

[Nick Nowalk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really torn over whether to give this 4 or 5 stars. I'm tempted to give it 4, as I disagree rather strongly with a number of Hays' specific interpretative moves--especially his decision to render "pistis christou" as the faithfulness of Christ, rather than our human faith response to the gospel of Christ. I think this makes a mess of Galatians, and leaves him grasping for straws at the end to still work human faith back into the gospel story as somehow significant. The Barthian overtones here are misplaced in Galatians.

However, in spite of my reservations and disagreements, Hays' overall thesis--that the story of Jesus undergirds the theologizing and polemical responses of Paul in all his various situations--is deeply compelling, and since this book was released in the early 80's it has led to a salutary revolution in NT studies (Pauline studies in particular). This alone makes the book a classic. Furthermore, Hays' approach to the perenially difficult argument in Galatians 3-4 opens up new vistas of interpretation, and makes sense of the whole far better than anyone who came before him. A game-changer of a book, and one that every serious student of Paul's letters must get around to reading at some point. There is no turning back from Hays' central insight that there is a narrative substructure under Paul's occasional, situational propositional logic in his letters.

[Ben De Bono · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Faith of Jesus Christ is an excellent examination of how narratives are present in Paul's non-narrative writing. Some of the themes overlap with other New Perspective writings, but Hays' book goes into much greater detail. The highlight of the book is by far chapter 4 where Hays, in great detail, defends the reading pistis Xristou as the faith of Christ rather than faith in Christ. It's a controversial issue in contemporary theology. Personally, I find Hays' position quite convincing. The implications of that chapter, and the book as a whole, require us to never read Paul, and especially Galatians, the same way again. Whether you agree with his conclusions or not, this is a must read. Highly recommended

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is most important for its contribution to narrative studies in Paul. Most will be more interested in what he says about Galatians, which is interesting and well done, but the book is written to show that Paul argues from a narrative structure, and we are sometimes required to fill in the narrative to complete the argument. He provides a much more detailed idea of what a narrative reading is than most people. This book will make you think about how you read.

[Chris Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book for asking good questions of the text of Romans and Galatians. It makes one at least think about the phrase "faith of/in Christ". It is worth reading if you are planning on doing an in depth study of the book of Galatians (or Romans for that matter)! You might not agree with anything Hays says but he will definitely get you thinking critically about the Greek and argument Paul employs in his letters.

[T.A. Gallant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second time through. The good stuff is worth 5 stars. The lower star rating is for the literary criticism stuff at the start (which Hays himself later basically called a waste of time). This is an important book, and aside from the literary criticism stuff, should be read by everyone with the requisite chops.

[Matthew Colvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Persuasive in its main argument, but unfortunately pitched over the heads of those who most need to understand it. It's a dissertation, and reads like one.