I am grateful for Your word!
16 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. 17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (Galatians 2)
Three times in the passage above, Paul refers to the “the faith of” Jesus the Son of God. It does not say faith in, it says faith of. [Translations other than the KJV (even the NKJV) have mostly translated this as “faith in”. My amateurish look at the Greek text did not help me much because the meaning of the possessives depends on parsing the language accurately. I must defer to someone trained in Greek grammar to sort this out. So, I refer to an article by Bobby Grow who takes a look at this exact passage in an evenhanded way. He favors the way the King James has it, all things considered.] If we are “crucified with Christ” and if the life that is now in us is the indwelling Christ, as stated clearly in verse 20, then “faith of” would lend credence to His faith being active in us.
On the other hand, the passage goes on the speak of the possibility of our “building again” as transgressors. This is most likely if we are not actively renewing our minds according to the word and submitting to it.
If it is the faith of Christ by which He did all the Father gave Him to do (and it is). If it is the faith of Jesus that allowed Him to conquer the grave, though He had become sin that its power in us might be broken when it was nailed to the cross in Him (and it is). Would we not do well to understand that it is now His faith that is the power by which we are to live. Does not our self-generated faith come fearfully close to the works of the Law that Paul was saying are totally ineffective at justifying us?
Missionary Sojourn 
Yes, I found this inspirational!
The Complete Jewish Bible would agree with you that a better translation of whose faith is being exercised is Jesus: “…but through the Messiah Yeshua’s trusting faithfulness. Therefore, we too have put our trust in Messiah Yeshua and become faithful to him, in order that we might be declared righteous on the ground of the Messiah’s trusting faithfulness…” (2:16-17) It is HIS trusting that enables us to trust in Him.
The ISV, NET, NTFE, RGT, VOICE, WYC and YLT all use the subjective genetive rather than the more popular objective genetive. And I prefer the applications of this understanding to “faith in Christ.”
However, is “faith in Christ” wrong? These are discussions for us Pharisees who parse the details excruciatingly😉. Crossway has a good piece on why there are so many translations: https://www.crossway.org/articles/why-are-there-so-many-versions-of-the-bible/.
The important issue is to study the Scripture as much as one is able and commit our lives to the One who authored the text and revealed it to His servants before us. We will not go astray whether we accept the subjective or objective genetive of this verse. But there is value in opening our hearts to however Father leads us in our studies.
love and prayers, my brother.
c.a.🤠
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C.A. Thank you for the thoughtful contribution to this post! And of course, faith in Christ is way better than unbelief! Have enjoyed the great pictures from your trip out West. God’s creation is awesome wherever we go!
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Yes, I found this inspirational!
The Complete Jewish Bible would agree with you that a better translation of whose faith is being exercised is Jesus: “…but through the Messiah Yeshua’s trusting faithfulness. Therefore, we too have put our trust in Messiah Yeshua and become faithful to him, in order that we might be declared righteous on the ground of the Messiah’s trusting faithfulness…” (2:16-17) It is HIS trusting that enables us to trust in Him.
The ISV, NET, NTFE, RGT, VOICE, WYC and YLT all use the subjective genetive rather than the more popular objective genetive. And I prefer the applications of this understanding to “faith in Christ.”
However, is “faith in Christ” wrong? These are discussions for us Pharisees who parse the details excruciatingly😉. Crossway has a good piece on why there are so many translations: https://www.crossway.org/articles/why-are-there-so-many-versions-of-the-bible/.
The important issue is to study the Scripture as much as one is able and commit our lives to the One who authored the text and revealed it to His servants before us. We will not go astray whether we accept the subjective or objective genetive of this verse. But there is value in opening our hearts to however Father leads us in our studies.
love and prayers, my brother.
c.a.🤠
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It’s interesting. I’ve been thinking about predestination for a while. There are many flavors and thoughts. I an m not a hard “this way only” on either end – I think I have some free will, and I think God directs our steps. The scriptures you quote (the “of” translation) leads away from free will and toward predestination. Food for thought.
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Thanks Steve for the observation. I’ll keep thinking and praying about this too.
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