English Standard Version, Mark 11:
ESV and most Bible versions translated the Greek using genitive of source. But, in fact, it could be translated as a genitive of apposition identification.
faith
πίστιν (pistin)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4102: Faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness.
in God
θεοῦ (theou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.
We have two nouns in apposition and the 2nd noun is in the genitive case.
Young's Literal Translation:
Now the next verse makes more sense:
If you have received God's faith on this, then it will happen.
Or, it just may be that the "faith of God" is really an acceptable way of implying "faith in God?" Faith, by itself, is something that has an object. It is not so much a package that we receive. More, it is something to be received that we can exercise towards a particular object.
And yet, Paul described faith as representative of Christ himself, in the New Covenant. "When faith comes," he said. And so, faith is an object in itself, and as such, can also be viewed as a package.
But in the case of what "faith" means, it is a package to be exercised towards an object. Faith in God is the object of faith.
We do not exercise faith in faith, but rather, faith in what God says, ie faith in God's word. We exercise the kind of "faith" that has come in Christ after the cross, which liberates us from the condemnation of our sins, and makes us eligible for resurrection to eternal life.
Acts 3.16 It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.
Rom 4.16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
Gal 3.25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
And so, we receive faith, even if it previously existed under the Law, in a new revelation, the revelation of Christ himself. Under the New Covenant faith obtains a new object in God's word, enabling us to obtain our eternal inheritance.
Faith had always existed. But Paul is talking about this "new faith," now revealed in Christ, that formerly had not yet existed to guarantee us eternal life.
I will add this, because I think it is so important. Paul uses "shorthand" often when he describes things theologically. It is too much to express his doctrine one step at a time--it must be abbreviated.
When Paul speaks of "Faith" sometimes, in context he is using shorthand for "Christ," ie the kind of faith that is exercised in the NT, as opposed to faith that had previously existed in the OT era.
Paul wished to distinguish between two different systems of justification, 1st the Law, by which men pleased God and yet could not obtain Eternal Life. And 2nd, Paul identified "Faith" as Christ in the NT through whom we not only please God but obtain eternal justification.
This was important to Paul because the Jews wanted to maintain the OT system, which had the effect of separating faith in Christ from Jewish religion. Paul maintained the the OT form of faith had always meant to be directed towards Christ when he came, leaving Jewish religion empty of the means of Eternal Life.
