Answering Faith: A Guide to Galatians With N.t. WrightSampl

This passage is often read with a misunderstanding of two notoriously difficult concepts: Faith and the Law. First, Law here refers specifically to the Torah, not a modern idea of ‘works righteousness.’ Second, Torah itself was never an abstract set of moral codes. It was a set of community definition markers. The main anxiety of the Jewish world was determining who was a part of God’s chosen people and who was not. This had political consequences because anyone belonging to the family of Abraham could claim an exemption from having to worship local Roman gods. That exemption is part of what the ‘rival teachers’ are fighting about. They worried that if Gentile Jesus followers started claiming that exemption, the Roman authorities might get suspicious or angry and revoke everyone’s exemption privileges.

Faithfulness is also a word with social overtones. In Paul’s world, the term used for faith and faithfulness (pisits) was decidedly NOT about cognitive belief but rather denoted a community activity of reciprocal trust. It was used not to describe a body of beliefs, nor a function of the mind, but a community-creating and community-sustaining relationship. The faithfulness of Jesus to death on a cross demands an answering faithfulness from the people who call him Lord. For Paul, this activity of answering faithfulness is the activity over-against Torah observance, which marks one out, allowing them to be declared ‘righteous’ or ‘a member of the community.’ [As a status, ‘righteousness’ carries the implication that everyone is on the same footing.] [In this way, Paul’s letter to the Galatians is much more about the formation of the early church than it is a road map to ultimate destiny for modern readers.]

Anyway: Paul’s dense argument here, the first rhetorical climax of the letter, rests on how he understands the necessity of a crucified Messiah. Why was the Messiah necessary? Well, if Torah were all that was necessary to be saved, then a crucified Messiah wouldn’t be necessary. Something else must be going on to bring non-Jews into the family. Why not just a more rigorous evangelistic mission to bring everyone under Torah? Because Paul believed the power of the idols that kept Gentiles (really all people) under spiritual slavery was much deeper than anyone had previously imagined, and only the Messiah taking on and defeating those idols would suffice. The people of God are radically redefined by, around, and in the person of Jesus, Messiah.

Reflection:

How have you encountered Jesus being faithful to you? How is God generating an ‘answering faithfulness’ in you?

Are you a part of any communities? How are they organized and/or sustained around a shared sense of loyalty or faith?