What is Faith?
Faith is one of those words that is commonly used but not always understood. Some of that confusion comes from how the word faith is used in everyday conversation; a quick look at Dictionary.com shows seven different uses! One common way people use the word faith is to refer to belief in something despite lacking any evidence. But is that what the Bible means by faith? The answer is a resounding no! So, when the Bible uses the word faith, what does it mean?
The Bible's closest to offering an exact definition is Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” From this particular passage, we see that the central feature of faith—is confidence or trust. In the Bible, the object of faith is God and his promises. A clear example of this is Abram's encounter with God in Genesis 15. In response to God's promise of countless descendants, Abram “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6). Commenting on this, the Apostle Paul writes, “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:20-21). Thus, faith means trusting God and having confidence that he will fulfill his promises.
Biblical Meaning of Faith
Pastor John McArthur speaks of the Biblical meaning of faith: "Some say faith is merely believing certain facts. One popular Bible teacher says saving faith is nothing more than confidence in the divine offer of eternal life.
Biblically, however, the object of faith is not the divine offer but the Person of Jesus Christ. Faith in Him is what saves, not just believing His promises or accepting facts about Him. Saving faith has to be more than accepting facts. Even demons have that kind of faith (James 2:19).
Believing in Jesus means receiving Him for all He is (John 1:12). It means confessing Him as Savior and yielding to Him as Lord. In fact, Scripture often uses the word obedience as a synonym for faith (cf. John 3:36; Acts 6:7; Hebrews 5:9)."
Genuine faith in the Bible is reflected in everyday life. James emphasizes that faith without corresponding actions is dead (James 2:17). Faith operates through love to produce concrete evidence of its existence in a person's life (Gal. 5:6). In other words, the obedience that pleases God is the result of faith (Rom 1:5; 16:26) rather than a mere sense of duty or obligation. The difference between a husband who buys flowers for his wife out of love and one who does it merely out of obligation is significant.
Faith is incredibly important because it is the means through which we establish a relationship with God. As it's written in Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith." Faith is how we receive the gifts of what Jesus has done for us - he lived a life of perfect obedience to God, died to pay the penalty for our sinful nature, and by His Resurrection, defeated sin, death, and the devil. By putting our trust and faith in Jesus, we receive forgiveness for our sins and the gift of eternal life.
