Faith IN Christ vs. THE Faith OF Christ

A Subtle But Vital Distinction That Reveals the Divide Between Protestantism And The Orthodox Christian Faith

Galatians 2: 16-20

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…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.

The distinction between being saved by faith in Christ vs. saved by the faith of Christ is very subtle but profound.   On these two distinctions hinge different understandings of how we are saved and what it means to be saved.

Protestantism emphasizes that we are “saved by faith”.  While not diminishing personal faith, the Orthodox faith stresses that we are saved by the “faith of Christ”.  Because Protestantism is so given to a privatized and individualized faith, the concept of being saved by the faith of Christ is totally lost.   Thus, many modern translations translate the above verses with “faith in Christ” even though the grammatical structure and context suggests “the faith of Christ”.  The difference is the difference between being saved on your own and in your own way vs. being saved by union with all that Christ taught, completed, and instituted for our salvation, i.e., the faith of Christ.  St. Paul is saying we are not saved by the works of the Mosaic law but by the faith of Christ.   On the one hand there is an individual’s private or personalized faith while on the other hand there is the faith of Christ, i.e. the content of all that Christ taught, did, and established through His apostles and in the Church for our salvation. 

Let’s see if we can illustrate it.  Imagine a drawing where Christ is depicted in the middle of the page.  Around Christ, in a circle, there are 10 people.  Now imagine how these two different concepts of salvation affect each of these people.

To be saved by “faith in Christ” means that each person looks to his own faith in Christ as the basis for his salvation.  The content of what one believes about Christ is minimized or reduced to it’s least common denominator.  The important thing is that each person believes in Christ and thus takes comfort in believing all their sins are forgiven, past, present, and future, and they have complete assurance of salvation, based on their faith.  

Each of these 10 people may believe very different things about Christ and the very content of salvation itself, but what really matters is that each person has faith in Christ. 

Because the content of this faith is secondary or somewhat immaterial to salvation, it ends up being faith in faith more than faith in Christ.  Each one believes he is saved because of his faith.  He is saved by faith, and thus his faith is, in a sense, in his faith. 

Of these 10 people standing in a circle around Christ, one may be a Pentecostal, one may be of the Church of Christ denomination, one may be Lutheran, one Quaker, one Salvation Army, one Episcopalian, one Baptist, and one a follower of Charles Stanley or T.D. Jakes or Joel Osteen.  All relate to Christ through their private or individual faith but they may not be very related at all to one another in what they believe about Christ or salvation.  But it doesn’t really matter to them.  Each one possesses his own individual salvation “out there on his own,” so to speak.

But if these 10 people perceive salvation as a matter of “the faith of Christ” rather than “faith in Christ,” their understanding of salvation is very different.  It is not their faith that saves them but Christ and not just anything about Christ but the faith of Christ.  Thus, to be saved, they must be united to the faith that Christ brought and established.   It is not their faith to make up or believe as they wish but that which is given and complete and the same for all people of all times and in all places.  It is the faith that St. Jude described as “the faith once delivered to the saints”.  As each of the 10 people are united to Christ in “the faith of Christ,” they are at the same time united to one another in the same faith.  Thus, in the Church, all believers are united in the same faith wherever they are found in all the world. 

From this understanding salvation is still personal but it is not privatized or individualized.  It is corporate and worked out, not alone, but in the unity of the Body of Christ, the Church.  We are saved, not by our faith, but by our union with the faith of Christ.

Perhaps this will help to illustrate.  Dell Computers offers the option of ordering a computer in two different ways.  You can order one that is already put together – a completed package deal put together by the manufacturer, or you can pick and choose which components you want and more or less build your own computer to your own taste and desires. 

Now imagine those 10 people with Dell Computer in the middle.  Those who choose a computer based on their own faith, pick and choose what seems best to them even though they may know very little about computers.  Each of the ten ends up with different computers.  Those who choose a computer based on the faith of Dell, accept the expertise of the manufacturer and go with a completed package.  Everyone ends up with the same components or content.

This may be a weak and limited example but perhaps it begins to show the difference between faith in vs. the faith of.   Being saved by faith in Christ doesn’t carry the same understanding as being saved by the faith of Christ.  The difference results in very different paths to salvation, different beliefs and different forms of worship – two different faiths.