You do know that the faith worded in Gal 2:16 is Jesus's faith and not our faith, do you not? Jesus is the one that justified us, not ourselves. The NIV version has changed the word "OF" in this verse to "IN" to take away Christ's faith and make it man's faith. When we harvest apples, we have to pick the apple off of the apple tree, and unless we first have the tree, we have no apples. Gal 5:22, But the fruit of the Spirit ls love, joy, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, FAITH, meekness, temperance. How can we have faith without first having the Spirit? In chapter 3 of the letter to the Galatians church, consider verse 23, But before faith (Jesus ) came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith ( Jesus ) which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith ( Jesus ) but after faith ( Jesus ) is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. glfi, If you read the description of the natural man ( 1 Cor 2:14, the man we were before we were born of the Spirit ) it is very hard to believe that man, void of the Spirit can have spiritual faith before first having the Spirit of God dwelling within him. Can you explain it to me?