Faith Is . . .
This past week, I was reading and meditating on Romans 5:1-2 at the Perk. I have included the passage here for your convenience:
But I was drawn to do some deeper study of this word, "faith." Is faith a belief, a trust, or something totally different? As I studied, I discovered the Greek word, pisteuo, is translated often as faith. In Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, pisteuo can be understood as (a) trust; (b) trustworthiness (in relation to God), (c) what is believed, (d) a ground for faith, or (e) a pledge of fidelity. Vine's goes on to explain that the elements of faith are (1) firm conviction, (2) personal surrender to Him, or (3) conduct inspired by such surrender.
This extra study has challenged me to better understand this word that we often throw around in Christian circles. It seems that we must do the extra study to understand the context of each passage as we determine the correct meaning of "faith" in the Bible. But, in my thinking, there is a difference in belief and trust. I can believe in Jesus, but there seems to be more depth of relationship if I trust in Jesus.
So, I hope my thinking out loud has been helpful and maybe ever spurred you on to do some studying of your own. I don't know that I have come to a conclusion yet, but I look forward to better understanding this rich & significant word of the Christian life.
1 "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."I am familiar with the theological meaning of our justification by faith. We are justified not by our works but by what Christ did for us on the cross. Christ's righteousness is imputed (God counts the righteousness of Jesus as our own) to us. Many times we refer to Hebrews 11:1 for a definition of faith which says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
But I was drawn to do some deeper study of this word, "faith." Is faith a belief, a trust, or something totally different? As I studied, I discovered the Greek word, pisteuo, is translated often as faith. In Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, pisteuo can be understood as (a) trust; (b) trustworthiness (in relation to God), (c) what is believed, (d) a ground for faith, or (e) a pledge of fidelity. Vine's goes on to explain that the elements of faith are (1) firm conviction, (2) personal surrender to Him, or (3) conduct inspired by such surrender.
This extra study has challenged me to better understand this word that we often throw around in Christian circles. It seems that we must do the extra study to understand the context of each passage as we determine the correct meaning of "faith" in the Bible. But, in my thinking, there is a difference in belief and trust. I can believe in Jesus, but there seems to be more depth of relationship if I trust in Jesus.
So, I hope my thinking out loud has been helpful and maybe ever spurred you on to do some studying of your own. I don't know that I have come to a conclusion yet, but I look forward to better understanding this rich & significant word of the Christian life.
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