The Word Became Flesh

1 aIn the beginning was bthe Word, and cthe Word was with God, and dthe Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 eAll things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 fIn him was life,1 and gthe life was the light of men. 5 hThe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man isent from God, whose name was jJohn. 7He came as a kwitness, to bear witness about the light, lthat all might believe through him. 8 mHe was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 nThe true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet othe world did not know him. 11 He came to phis own,2 and qhis own people3 rdid not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, swho believed in his name, the gave the right uto become vchildren of God, 13 who wwere born, xnot of blood ynor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And zthe Word abecame flesh and bdwelt among us, cand we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son4 from the Father, full of dgrace and etruth. 15 (fJohn bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, g‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from hhis fullness we have all received, igrace upon grace.5 17 For jthe law was given through Moses; kgrace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 lNo one has ever seen God; mthe only God,6 who is at the Father’s side,7 nhe has made him known.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 And this is the otestimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, p“Who are you?” 20 qHe confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? rAre you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you sthe Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am tthe voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight8 the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, u“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, v“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even whe who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, xthe Lamb of God, who ytakes away the sin zof the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, a‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but bfor this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John cbore witness: d“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and eit remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but fhe who sent me to baptize gwith water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, hthis is he who baptizes gwith the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son9 of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ithe Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, j“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, k“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.10 40 lOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus11 was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found mthe Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of nJohn. You shall be called oCephas” (which means pPeter12).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 qThe next day Jesus decided rto go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now sPhilip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found tNathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom uMoses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus vof Nazareth, wthe son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, x“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, yan Israelite indeed, zin whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How ado you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, b“Rabbi, cyou are the Son of God! You are the dKing of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,13 you will see eheaven opened, and fthe angels of God ascending and descending on gthe Son of Man.”

Faith and Not Sight

One of Paul’s most well-known statements regarding faith occurs in 2 Cor 5:7: “for we walk by faith, not by sight” (NRSV). In popular culture this verse serves as comfort in response to inexplicable circumstances, such as a disaster or the sudden death of a loved one. The verse must be read in context to gain a true sense of what Paul intended with this statement.

The letter of 2 Corinthians has a terse and serious tone, as Paul defends his ministry from those who spoke against it due to his sufferings. Paul defended his honor against super-apostles who questioned his authority and the effectiveness of his ministry. Paul’s opponents—as well as some Corinthian believers who were convinced by their arguments—viewed Paul as weak and impotent.

Paul challenges the Corinthian believers to see him and his ministry not from culturally conditioned standards but by the criteria established by the cross of Christ (2 Cor 13:4). By viewing the world from Christ’s perspective, one sees worldly power as vapid and weakness as true power (2 Cor 12:9–10). In this context, Paul encourages epistemological faith, where believers are meant to engage an additional sense that transcends their natural faculties. Paul draws on similar ideas in 1 Corinthians, where he wrote, “we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Cor 1:23 NRSV). For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, Christ is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24 NRSV).

Justification by Faith Alone

The phrase “justification by faith,” which figures prominently in Romans and Galatians, is particularly distinctive of Protestant Christianity (e.g., Rom 3:26, 28; 4:5; 5:1; Gal 2:16; 3:11, 24). In popular understanding, this phrase has been understood to mean salvation by acceptance of Jesus’ self-sacrifice for human sin, without personal merit. While there are a few places where Paul makes clear that God’s gifts of grace and salvation are freely given (Rom 4:4–5; Eph 2:8–9), it is necessary to understand the meaning of justification by faith in the first-century Jewish context of Paul’s ministry.

Covenantal Dimension of Faith. Hays defines justification in Scripture as “the event whereby persons are set or declared to be in right relation to God” (“Faith,” 3.1129). He traces the New Testament usage back to its legal and covenantal context in the Old Testament, where justification refers to proper standing with the God of Israel. Thus, justification is a relational term that refers to a status of “faithful adherence to the structure of obligations established by the covenant” (Hays, “Faith,” 3.1129). God expected obedience to the Torah that He had given them, but Israel repeatedly failed to maintain loyalty to the covenant.

Aligning with this Old Testament usage, Jews of Paul’s time seemed to view faith (πίστις, pistis) in reference to relational or covenantal fidelity. Josephus, for example, uses faith (πίστις, pistis) quite often with the meaning of covenantal pledge. For example, he writes of King Josiah that “when [the people of Israel] had gathered together, he first read to them the holy books; after which he stood upon a pulpit, in the midst of the multitude, and obliged them to make a covenant (πίστεις, pisteis), with an oath, that they would worship God, and keep the laws of Moses” (Antiquities 10.63). The translator of this passage, William Whiston, chose to render πίστεις (pisteis) (literally “faiths” or “acts of faithfulness”) as “covenant” (Neh 9:38 [Neh 10:1 LXX]). This is consistent with a wider use of faith (πίστις, pistis) that even involved trusteeship regarding appointment to both public and private managerial positions (Josephus, Antiquities 7.2.1; 12.25; Polybius, Histories 5.41.2).

In reference to Abraham, Philo of Alexandria comments that “God, admiring this man for his faith (πίστις, pistis) in him, gives him a pledge (πίστις, pistis) in return, namely a confirmation by oath of the gifts which he had promised him; no longer conversing with him as God might with man, but as one friend to another” (Philo, On the Life of Abraham 273). Philo presents the idea of God having faith toward us. In this sense, the language of πίστις (pistis) is also relational (or covenantal).

Thus, from a Hellenistic Jewish perspective, the most natural reading of Paul’s language of justification “by faith” (Gal 2:16) is to see Paul as affirming the necessity of covenantal or relational faithfulness and loyalty.

Cognitive Dimension of Faith. The word “faith” (πίστις, pistis) also holds a strong cognitive connotation for Paul, where faith is something you hold with your mind. For example, Paul writes, “Just as we have the same spirit of faith (πίστις, pistis) that is in accordance with Scripture—’I believed, and so I spoke’—we also believe, and so we speak” (2 Cor 4:13 NRSV). Here, faith is primarily a cognitive function from which speech and action flows.

In recognizing this cognitive dimension of the word “faith,” a pattern is visible whereby Paul shows an inherent relationship between belief and action, thought and deed, faith and obedience. For example:

• He rejoices and thanks God at the remembrance in prayer of the Thessalonians’ “work of faith” (NRSV) or “work that comes from faith” (CEB; 1 Thess 1:3; compare 2 Thess 1:11).

• He rejoices with the Philippians even while contemplating that his life may end “as a libation over the sacrifice and offering of your faith” (Phil 2:17).

• He declares to the Romans his apostolic mission to the Gentiles to establish the “obedience of faith” (NRSV), probably best understood as “faith-driven obedience” (see CEB).

Thus, while Paul held to the sense of faith as covenantal fidelity, he also allowed it to convey a cognitive sense. However, to say that faith has a cognitive element is not to restrict faith to the mind. Paul understood that for something to take shape in action, the mind must guide the will and body.

Paul, Torah, and Jesus. Paul aligned with non-Christian Jews in his understanding of faith as covenantal faith. He differed from non-Christian Jews in his belief that faith in Jesus Christ—rather than works of the law—could lead to justification before God. The common understanding among Jews was that they were justified by faithfulness to Yahweh, primarily demonstrated through obedience to Torah. J. C. Beker explains the Jewish perspective on faith and Torah in this way: “Judaism does not substitute the law for God’s grace, or human achievement for the righteousness of God, or works for faith. To the contrary, faith is a cardinal dogma for the Jew as the daily recital of the confession (the Shema) discloses: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord’ (Deut 6:4). The object of Jewish faith is the God ‘who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist’ (Rom 4:17). This confession of faith as belief now embodies itself as faithfulness and endurance, that is, as ‘covenant-keeping,’ through obedience to the mizwoth—’the works of the law.’ Furthermore, faith is not antithetical to rewards or ‘merit,’ because it is inherent in God’s righteous nature that faith will be rewarded in the age to come for its steadfast endurance” (Beker, Paul the Apostle, 268). Paul’s unlinking of faith and Torah (νόμος, nomos) was one of the major causes of contention between himself and his Jewish Christian opponents. While obedience to Torah was how one demonstrated faith before the time of Christ, at and after His appearance, death, and resurrection, demonstration of faith shifted toward worship of and obedience to Jesus Christ.

Paul often abbreviates his expression of this idea by contrasting works of law with faith (Rom 3:27–28; Gal 3:12). This laconic expression has led to much confusion in the history of the interpretation of Paul’s thought. Paul’s opponents in Galatia would not have disagreed that justification requires faith. They may have taken issue with his criticism of the law’s role in justification and his exclusive focus on Christ.