The word 'faith'used throughout the bible.

[Pamella]

This is a word I see often throughout the new testement. It is always vague and hazy to me, as far as its clear definition when used in, especially the apostle Pauls writings. It seems to have a variety of definitions in the way it is used. Does the Greek language have more words for this? Example: 2 Timothy 2:22. 'Now flee youthful lust sand pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord Jesus with a pure heart.'
What do you think YOU would be pursuing here by pursuing faith? It seems like more of an umbrella term that includes pursuing everything already listed, so why would it be included in the list? Know what I mean?
Also, I know faith is 'being sure of what we hope for, conviction of things not seen.' Hebrews 11:1.
Faith could mean your christian religion, as some people call it their 'faith.' Our society calls it various faiths. So if it were our faith, it means we would be pursuing our God. How? Reading the Word, spending time in prayer in various ways. I would like to post other verses, but I'd be doing alot of work right now flipping the pages and looking. :)
It just ALWAYS bugs me when I read that word, because it is not clearly defined.

 

[Pamella]

Also, much is spoken concerning Abrahams faith in Romans. How he 'believed' God which credited to him as righteousness.
So along those lines, how would you pursue belief in God. Doesn't really fit. Everytime I read that word thru Paul, except in the case of Abraham, it just BUGS me.

 

[Jun2u]

I hope the explanations below helps.

We read in Ephesians 2:8-10:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Going back to verse 8 we ask, what is not of ourselves and what is the gift of God? Is it grace or is it faith? Is God talking here in Ephesian 2:8 that faith is not of yourselves but the gift of God? I believe this is what God is actually teaching here.

It is by grace that someone is brought into the kingdom of God and becomes the inheritor of the gift of salvation. It is by grace and through faith that the gift of grace manifests itself. So if we compare this with the gifts of the Spirit in Ga 5:22: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith…etc.

Faith is one of the gifts of the Spirit and the gift of the Spirit is only going to be manifested by whom the gift exist, and by whom the Spirit of God is going to indwell, because these are the manifested gifts of God. Hence they are called the gifts of God.

What does it mean the fruit of the Spirit? The Spirit manifests itself by its existence, by its presence, by the fruit that it brings. The Spirit of God when He goes and dwells within a person and He enters them, He brings with Him the manifested gifts, His fruit, and this individual will begin to manifest these fruits, and one of these fruits is faith.

Ro 10:17 reads: So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. This is a fundamental principle, no one can become save unless he hears the Gospel. The word of God does not return void!

You see, we do not naturally possess faith. Humanly speaking, we all have faith, but the faith that God talks about in scripture the faith to believe in Jesus Christ is NOT something that occurs naturally. It comes as a gift or the manifested gift of the Spirit.

And, when the Spirit enters a human being (which is a sinner), and brings with Him His gifts and begins to manifest them that faith grows. So as a child of God grows in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as he reads the word of God, which really is the manifestation of Jesus Christ, it is the living word, sharper than any two edged sword, this faith and their knowledge of scripture as God the Spirit opens our eyes to greater truths of scripture, our faith grows the faith OF Jesus Christ.

When Jesus laid down His life as the sacrificial Lamb, it required Him to trust that if He allowed Himself to be put to death that His Father will raise Him. Again this took faith the faith that Jesus alone possesses. Well, God The Father, and God the Holy Spirit possess this faith also, and that's a great mystery which I cannot unravel. I have no idea how all this interrelates but I do know that based on Ga 2:16 it is the faith OF Jesus Christ that impelled Him to trust His Father and to put His life into His Father's hand trusting that He would raise Him again from the dead. That is a great mystery, but it is true, for the wages of sin is death, and to atone for sins as the atonement and propitiation for sin, He had to die. He had to die the death as required for payment of sin. He had to allow Himself to be put to death, He submitted Himself, sacrificed Himself, and He trusted that He would come out on the other side and be resurrected, and not only will He be resurrected but He carried with Him captivity captive and we were resurrected with Him when Jesus was resurrected.
As we study scripture and as we begin to understand it we can only do so with the presence of the Holy Spirit within us. We must also have been given a new heart and we must be given the mind of Jesus Christ. So that we can begin to think God's thoughts. As we do this, it will be manifesting that the Holy Spirit is working within us.

So then to believe in Jesus Christ is a gift that comes with the Spirit. It is NOT something that occurs in us naturally.

Many people want to believe that the way to salvation is by exercising our faith, the natural faith that we are born with or that God may give us at some point, but then they believe you have to exercise that faith in order to become saved, and then if we compare that to what God has warned or what God have said about mankind in Ro 3:10-11

If your doctrinal belief is that you must seek God with all your heart and then you'll find Him apart from God drawing you, YOU ARE BELIEVING IN WORKS! You are believing that it is by your work, by your seeking God that makes you save, and that's not it at all. We have to compare scripture with scripture and spiritual things with spiritual.

To God Be The Glory

 

[ATP]

1 Peter 1:3-5 NIV Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Eph 2:8-9 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.

 

[mjrhealth]

Jesus Christ as he reads the word of God, which really is the manifestation of Jesus Christ, it is the living word, sharper than any two edged sword

See how easy it is to replace Jesus, Jesus is teh living Word, even the bible declares that,

Joh_1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

the written word is,

2Co_3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

You cannot gain life by reading the bible only Christ can give that to you,

as Jesus said

Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Joh 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

it is His voice,

Joh_6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

It is waht we hear that gives us life when it is from Him.

And that is how the devil keeps man from God. Replace God with a book, and teh flesh loves it.

In all his Love

 

[StanJ]

We read in Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

That's right, Grace is not from ourselves, but that doesn't mean we don't have faith or belief. Paul taught clearly in Rom 10:8-10, what comprises salvation;
But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

It's all a matter of belief in something external from our understanding. Paul teaches ALL men are capable of believing and seeing God in His own creation. Rom 1:20

 

[Jun2u]

Revelation 19:11 reads: And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

We see that the very essence of faith is Jesus!

Here is a test for all who believe (pardon the pun) that they possess to have faith/belief in Jesus. Substitute the name of our Lord “Jesus” with the word “faith” that you find in scriptures (this is Biblical). For example going back to Eph 2:8 we can read it this way:

For by grace are you saved through Jesus (faith); and that not of yourselves: it is a gift.

Many and if not all, believe that they have the ability to have faith “in” Jesus, but the truth is the opposite as we read in Ga. 2:16:

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith “of” Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith “of” Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Man is NOT the maker of salvation but the recipient/inheritor of salvation!

To God Be The Glory

 

[StanJ]

Revelation 19:11 reads: And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

We see that the very essence of faith is Jesus!

Here is a test for all who believe (pardon the pun) that they possess to have faith/belief in Jesus. Substitute the name of our Lord “Jesus” with the word “faith” that you find in scriptures (this is Biblical). For example going back to Eph 2:8 we can read it this way:

For by grace are you saved through Jesus (faith); and that not of yourselves: it is a gift.

Many and if not all, believe that they have the ability to have faith “in” Jesus, but the truth is the opposite as we read in Ga. 2:16:

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith “of” Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith “of” Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Man is NOT the maker of salvation but the recipient/inheritor of salvation!

To God Be The Glory

Sorry, but your interpolation here is flawed. Being faithful does not make one faith. The MAKER of salvation was the Holy Spirit and Mary. The author was God, who draws us to Jesus and gives piques our faith to accept Jesus as our saviour. Many ignore that. Some don't.

 

[Jun2u]

Sorry, but your interpolation here is flawed. Being faithful does not make one faith. The MAKER of salvation was the Holy Spirit and Mary. The author was God, who draws us to Jesus and gives piques our faith to accept Jesus as our saviour. Many ignore that. Some don't.

I said on another thread that I was not going to respond to your posts any longer but here I am reneging, as I believe your post needs to be addressed and three days have passed with no one responding.

Do you have any idea what is the unpardonable sin?

Mark 3:28-30 reads:

28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

The term “He hath an unclean spirit” they (Pharisees and Scribes) believe that Satan is the power behind the Holy Spirit. Just as you believe that Mary is the Maker of salvation. Now, therefore, you are in danger of eternal damnation!

Isaiah 43:11 reads:

I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

God here is teaching that beside Him there is NO other savior.

You are being blasphemous! Mary can NEVER be a Co-Redemptrix! Read her Magnificat.

God is the only Who can forgive sin.

To God Be The Glory

 

[StanJ]

I said on another thread that I was not going to respond to your posts any longer but here I am reneging, as I believe your post needs to be addressed and three days have passed with no one responding.

Do you have any idea what is the unpardonable sin?

No worries Jun2u...if I don't want to hear from you, I will put you on ignore like I do with those I no longer feel I can get through to or who are irrevocably lost IMO.

The UNPARDONABLE sin, is knowingly attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to Satan, which is close to what the Pharisees did in
Matt 12:22-30. v25 says, "Jesus KNEW their thoughts"...so they hadn't actually done it, but were a razor's edge away from doing so.

 

[KingJ]

This is a word I see often throughout the new testement. It is always vague and hazy to me, as far as its clear definition when used in, especially the apostle Pauls writings. It seems to have a variety of definitions in the way it is used. Does the Greek language have more words for this? Example: 2 Timothy 2:22. 'Now flee youthful lust sand pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord Jesus with a pure heart.'
What do you think YOU would be pursuing here by pursuing faith? It seems like more of an umbrella term that includes pursuing everything already listed, so why would it be included in the list? Know what I mean?
Also, I know faith is 'being sure of what we hope for, conviction of things not seen.' Hebrews 11:1.
Faith could mean your christian religion, as some people call it their 'faith.' Our society calls it various faiths. So if it were our faith, it means we would be pursuing our God. How? Reading the Word, spending time in prayer in various ways. I would like to post other verses, but I'd be doing alot of work right now flipping the pages and looking. :)
It just ALWAYS bugs me when I read that word, because it is not clearly defined.

There is no need to be confused but I can certainly relate to being confused with its crazy use in Christianity today.

The actual word is simple. It is best defined imho as 'putting confidence in the unseen'.

Faith is always in something. It is not a stand alone word. If we say ''I have faith'', what we are actually saying is that we have faith in our faith. Christianity is all about faith in Jesus. Abraham's faith was in God.

Abraham's faith is key to understanding Christian faith. Many want to spin it into ''Abrahams actual faith (in faith)'' = righteousness. But that is satanism. Abraham's faith in God = righteousness.

See Abraham knew there was a God. His faith in God's ''existence'' was on par with our faith in gravity. But His faith in God's '''goodness''' is what really counted in His favor. It is because Abraham believed and more importantly approved of what is good / God's goodness that He trusted / had faith in God's will being done in his son's lfe. He knew that God had one hell of a good reason for asking something so crazy of him / putting him through something with such an appearance of evil.

Isn't this what we do as Christians? We say 'God I give you my life and trust it 100% in your hands to do with as you wish''. Now would we do this if we did not believe God was good? If we hated what is good?

Now if we look at early Christian history we see that God's will resulted in many early Christians dying cruel deaths and living uncomfortable lives.

This is a stark contrast to faith movements today teaching that our faith can cause God to give us a nice, prosperous, healthy, hunky dory life. They would see persecution as momentary. When reality is that a Christian is persecuted by the devil from day 1 to the day they leave this earth. Job is a shining example of Abraham type faith too. His faith in God was at its greatest when he was at his worst.

A Christians faith in God's existence is a must / like our faith in gravity Heb 2:6 (must believe God is). A Christians faith in Jesus as Lord is an eqaul ''absolute'' 1 Cor 12:3. Hence Christian faith in Jesus is on par with faith in gravity.

Faith teachers will quote Peter walking on water. His doubting caused him to sink. He did not have enough '''stand alone faith''. Well Peter never knew that the person asking him to walk on water was God of the universe. If He did, do you think he would have sunk? He only received a revelation of Jesus later Matt 16:16-17. When you '''know'' God is and that you have His ear ....you will '''laugh'' at walking on water. You will be sleeping on it. Hence Jesus is very sarcastic in His statement ''faith of a (ridiculously tiny) mustard seed can move a mountain''. Christians walk at a very high level of faith in Jesus. The only reason we are not walking on water by ''''faith'''' is because we also know to not tempt God.

Whenever someone mentions the word faith or we read about it. We need to always ask what is this faith they are referring to....in?

Example: You need faith for God to answer your prayers. Uhmm....what faith exactly do I need?????????

Faith in God's existence?
Faith in God being good?
Faith in God hearing my voice?
or Faith in the fact that my positive mental state is able to affect a positive outcome with God of the universe.... :blink:.

We must believe God exists Heb 2:6. We believe God is good because of the cross. We know we have God's ear John 9:31. All the blocks are ticked for us. There is no mustering of faith needed. Perhaps just occasional reminders of these truths.

 

[KingJ]

Edit: Heb 2:6 should be Heb 11:6.

 

[OzSpen]

I hope the explanations below helps.

We read in Ephesians 2:8-10:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Going back to verse 8 we ask, what is not of ourselves and what is the gift of God? Is it grace or is it faith? Is God talking here in Ephesian 2:8 that faith is not of yourselves but the gift of God? I believe this is what God is actually teaching here.

It is by grace that someone is brought into the kingdom of God and becomes the inheritor of the gift of salvation. It is by grace and through faith that the gift of grace manifests itself. So if we compare this with the gifts of the Spirit in Ga 5:22: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith…etc.

Jun2u,

Let's look at the gender of some of the nouns and the demonstrative pronoun in this verse (Eph 2:8-9 ESV): "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God".

• The noun, grace - charis - is feminine gender;
• The noun, faith - pistis - is feminine gender;
• The demonstrative pronoun, this/that - touto - is neuter gender.

So it is clear in NT Greek that touto, neuter, cannot refer back to the antecedent feminine nouns - charis and pistis. If the demonstrative this/that was meant to refer to grace or faith, there is a perfectly good Greek way of expressing this. The demonstrative would be the feminine, taute. It is not used. It is the neuter gender, touto.

To what does "this/that" refer if it is not to grace or faith? Verse 8 tells us that "it is the gift of God', thus referring to salvation, which is in the language of the phrase, 'by grace you have been saved through faith'.

I know this is somewhat technical. However, this grammatical explanation is necessary to refute the idea that 'this' refers to 'grace' or 'faith'. Greek grammar prevents such an understanding.

NT Greek exegete of the 20th century, Dr A T Robertson, explained the grammar this way: '"Grace" is God's part, "faith" ours. And that (kai touto). Neuter, not feminine taute, and so refers not to pistis (feminine) or to charis (feminine also), but to the act of being saved by grace conditioned on faith on our part' (Robertson 1931:525).

Oz

Works consulted
Robertson, A T 1931. Word Pictures in the New Testament: The Epistles of Paul, vol 4. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press.

 

[OzSpen]

This is a word I see often throughout the new testement. It is always vague and hazy to me, as far as its clear definition when used in, especially the apostle Pauls writings. It seems to have a variety of definitions in the way it is used. Does the Greek language have more words for this? Example: 2 Timothy 2:22. 'Now flee youthful lust sand pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord Jesus with a pure heart.'
What do you think YOU would be pursuing here by pursuing faith? It seems like more of an umbrella term that includes pursuing everything already listed, so why would it be included in the list? Know what I mean?
Also, I know faith is 'being sure of what we hope for, conviction of things not seen.' Hebrews 11:1.
Faith could mean your christian religion, as some people call it their 'faith.' Our society calls it various faiths. So if it were our faith, it means we would be pursuing our God. How? Reading the Word, spending time in prayer in various ways. I would like to post other verses, but I'd be doing alot of work right now flipping the pages and looking. :)
It just ALWAYS bugs me when I read that word, because it is not clearly defined.

Pamella,

Our English language has similar kinds of nuances for faith.

This is a word I see often throughout the new testement. It is always vague and hazy to me, as far as its clear definition when used in, especially the apostle Pauls writings. It seems to have a variety of definitions in the way it is used. Does the Greek language have more words for this? Example: 2 Timothy 2:22. 'Now flee youthful lust sand pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord Jesus with a pure heart.'
What do you think YOU would be pursuing here by pursuing faith? It seems like more of an umbrella term that includes pursuing everything already listed, so why would it be included in the list? Know what I mean?
Also, I know faith is 'being sure of what we hope for, conviction of things not seen.' Hebrews 11:1.
Faith could mean your christian religion, as some people call it their 'faith.' Our society calls it various faiths. So if it were our faith, it means we would be pursuing our God. How? Reading the Word, spending time in prayer in various ways. I would like to post other verses, but I'd be doing alot of work right now flipping the pages and looking. :)
It just ALWAYS bugs me when I read that word, because it is not clearly defined.

Pamella,

In English we also have a number of nuances for the meaning of faith:

• Christianity Board has a 'Statement of Faith'. This is a statement of the fundamental beliefs of Christian theology accepted as a foundation for posting on this forum.
• I had faith that my Hyundai Getz was in sufficient working order to take me to a local retail store with my wife today.
• I have been faithful to my wife for the last 47 years.
• I have faith that my children and grandchildren will join us at our place on Christmas Day.
• They have a history of keeping their word, so I have faith to believe that this will continue this year.
• I often use faith as synonymous with believe. The Statement of Faith is a Statement of Fundamental Christian Beliefs or orthodoxy.
• I believe that my children will come to our residence on December 25.
• I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, I placed my faith in Jesus, when I was saved - a long time ago (see Acts 16:31 ESV).
• Etc.

To better understand the various uses of the word, 'faith', I recommend a read of these articles:

1. Faith (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia online);


2. Faith (Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Theology online, BibleStudyTools).


3. Faith is used 4 ways in the Bible (bible.ca)


Sincerely in Christ,
Oz