yet Scripture states that a good deed covers many sins, and "faith" there is undefined, is it belief, is it an action verb, what. See, we have a belief in Jesus, a tradition of teaching, a body of work, and then we have faith in Christ, that is differentiated from belief in that faith can only come from God, and one's faith in Christ might lead them quite afield from some others who have a belief in Jesus, all of this better explained at the "pistis" link imo
Here's the link:
Strong's Concordance
pistis: faith, faithfulness
Original Word: πίστις, εως, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: pistis
Phonetic Spelling: (pis'-tis)
Short Definition:
faith, belief, trust
Definition:
faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness.
HELPS Word-studies
4102 pístis (
from 3982/peithô, "
persuade, be persuaded") – properly,
persuasion (be
persuaded,
come to trust); faith.
Faith (4102/pistis) is always a gift from God, and
never something that can be produced by people. In short, 4102
/pistis ("faith") for the believer is "God's
divine persuasion" –
and therefore distinct from human belief (confidence),
yet involving it. The Lord continuously
births faith in the yielded believer so they can know what He prefers, i.e. the
persuasion of His will (1 Jn 5:4).
[4102 (
pistis) in secular antiquity referred to a
guarantee (warranty). In Scripture, faith is God's warranty, certifying that the revelation He inbirthed will come to pass (
His way).
Faith (4102
/pistis) is also used
collectively – of all the times God has revealed (given the
persuasion of) His will, which includes the full
revelation of Scripture (Jude 3). Indeed, God the Lord
guarantees that all of this revelation will come to pass! Compare Mt 5:18 with 2 Tim 3:16.]
1. The root of 4102
/pistis ("faith") is 3982
/peithô ("to persuade, be persuaded") which supplies the
core-meaning of faith ("
divine persuasion"). It is God's warranty that guarantees the fulfillment of the revelation He births within the receptive believer (cf. 1 Jn 5:4 with Heb 11:1).
Faith (4102/pistis) is always received from God, and never generated by us.