Nevertheless I Live, Part I

Sometimes the difference between success and failure is in the details. Small differences may have large consequences.

Nearly all Christians are familiar with Galatians 2:20. It is one of the verses commonly memorized in churches that put a strong emphasis on verse memorization. It is also one of the most important verses to know and know well. But often memorization leads to a knowledge of the words without a grasp of the meaning and a verse often repeated can seem more obvious than it really is.

This verse, in particular, is a problem, because there are two ways that it has been translated, one being more fruitful than the other. Let's look at them.

All translations start out pretty much the same:

"I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (AV( KJV))

" I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (NIV)

All modern translations I have seen follow the example of the NIV. Can you see the difference?

In one it says that Paul lived by the faith of the Son of God and in the other it says he lived by faith in the Son of God. Think about it. Does it make a difference? To be continued...