Definition of FAITH in the NT

Biblical faith is clearly and plainly defined in Hebrews 11:1.

I see that as a partial descriptor more than a complete definition

I see that as a partial descriptor more than a complete definition

I don't necessarily disagree, but I think that because of its clarity and brevity, Heb 11:1 needs to be foundational.

It seems to me that faith is trusting in something. We trust that the Bible is the word of God, that God was able and willing to communicate to us through writings of the prophets and apostles (and other prominent Christians of the day) - so faith is an assumption about what the Bible is, and what it teaches.

So, when Paul wrote "with the heart man believes unto righteousness," he is talking about assuming that Christ has delivered us from the nature of sin (that is, the principle thereof), which is the same as using our imagination to reach out to God for making us righteous. If we are in Christ, then we are reaching to God with heart-faith for righteousness. And since deliverance from the sin principle is ongoing in this life, we continue living this heart-faith.

"With the heart man believes..." - meaning that we actively imagine God helping us live at all times. So God is with us at all times, and not someone "out there, demanding we do things by our own strength and willpower". So the ethical commands aren't "do this or be condemned," but rather "Christ has done so much for us, that we are so grateful as to love Him with all our heart, to do whatever He says.

"...unto righteousness" - so that our right standing with God is not merely a position in Christ, but is an active and vital role that God is producing right living through us. And here is James also using the idea, since he says "faith without works is dead." He is emphasizing that the right kind of faith is that kind which obeys Christ's command to love others in a practical way. Yet, when he says "faith without works," he is stooping to the level of the gnostics (or whoever is claiming to have faith in the wrong way) in his usage of the term, in order to distinguish between the claim of faith and actual faith in Christ.

And we can see the same idea taught by the writer of Hebrews (a third witness) when he wrote about those people who died in the wilderness of Numbers, saying about their unbelief "they did not mix what they heard with faith." (Heb. 4:2 - I come to this paraphrase after comparing different translations). He uses the term faith in the same manner.

So what James is writing against is the idea that someone having faith in Christ can do just anything they want (namely practice class prejudice) and still be saved. He is saying that's not real faith in Christ, and that's why it's "dead." Someone having real faith is going to love their neighbor in the same way that Christ does and commanded us to do.

This is the only kind of faith that makes "sola fide" correct in the Biblical framework. It's the only kind of faith that measures up to what the whole NT is about.

It is the first sentence in a chapter . The entire chapter teaches the concept of faith and builds on the single verse to articulate a concept

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which did appear.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,

moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.


By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11:1, 3, 6-10, 13-14, 16‬ ‭

see how verse one is then taught in several examples like Noah , he was told by God of a massive flood that he couldn’t see yet but because God said it , he believed and prepared himself for what God said , not seein it yet he acted on what God told him.

and Abraham was told to leave your homeland and go where I will later show you and I will bless you and make you the father of many nations . Abraham had no proof he couldnt see the proof yet but God told him what to do me he did it because he believed God


And then the example of how Abraham was looking up into the heavens for a city rather than the land he journeyed through never settling any place never actually seeing before his death the promises come to pass . But he had believed what God told him even though he didn’t see the proof ahead of time

that’s faith if God speaks we know it’s true even before we see it come to pass so we will act on what he said just because of who said it. Gods word is the proof we need , the evidence is in believing his word before we see it manifest in the natural realm

Noah believed before the floods came so he was ready . Abraham believed before he even knew where God would lead him so he entered that city prepared for him . But all the proof we need is in the word of God

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:17‬ ‭KJV‬‬

If we believe as Gods word being the proof before we see it manifest it’s going to lead us in life

It seems to me that faith is trusting in something. We trust that the Bible is the word of God, that God was able and willing to communicate to us through writings of the prophets and apostles (and other prominent Christians of the day) - so faith is an assumption about what the Bible is, and what it teaches.

So, when Paul wrote "with the heart man believes unto righteousness," he is talking about assuming that Christ has delivered us from the nature of sin (that is, the principle thereof), which is the same as using our imagination to reach out to God for making us righteous. If we are in Christ, then we are reaching to God with heart-faith for righteousness. And since deliverance from the sin principle is ongoing in this life, we continue living this heart-faith.

"With the heart man believes..." - meaning that we actively imagine God helping us live at all times. So God is with us at all times, and not someone "out there, demanding we do things by our own strength and willpower". So the ethical commands aren't "do this or be condemned," but rather "Christ has done so much for us, that we are so grateful as to love Him with all our heart, to do whatever He says.

"...unto righteousness" - so that our right standing with God is not merely a position in Christ, but is an active and vital role that God is producing right living through us. And here is James also using the idea, since he says "faith without works is dead." He is emphasizing that the right kind of faith is that kind which obeys Christ's command to love others in a practical way. Yet, when he says "faith without works," he is stooping to the level of the gnostics (or whoever is claiming to have faith in the wrong way) in his usage of the term, in order to distinguish between the claim of faith and actual faith in Christ.

And we can see the same idea taught by the writer of Hebrews (a third witness) when he wrote about those people who died in the wilderness of Numbers, saying about their unbelief "they did not mix what they heard with faith." (Heb. 4:2 - I come to this paraphrase after comparing different translations). He uses the term faith in the same manner.

So what James is writing against is the idea that someone having faith in Christ can do just anything they want (namely practice class prejudice) and still be saved. He is saying that's not real faith in Christ, and that's why it's "dead." Someone having real faith is going to love their neighbor in the same way that Christ does and commanded us to do.

This is the only kind of faith that makes "sola fide" correct in the Biblical framework. It's the only kind of faith that measures up to what the whole NT is about.

I think the OP has some good things to say about faith, so I am not voting against all that he says. I am only pointing out what I think are a few weaknesses/deficiencies in the definition:

(1) The OP wrote: "It seems to me that faith is trusting in something" - This statement really says nothing about faith at all: The Greek word "pistis" means faith or trust. The verb form pisteuo means = to have faith, to believe, to trust. At least from undertstanding the Greek wording in the NT defining the English word "faith" as "trust" is no help at all.

(2) Faith is real and has evidence and substance (Hebrews 11:1) - it is not a wild stab in the dark at nothing! The OP used the following phrases when talking about faith "so faith is an assumption"; "which is the same as using our imagination" -- I would not use wording like this when speaking of Biblical faith.

(1) The OP wrote: "It seems to me that faith is trusting in something" - This statement really says nothing about faith at all: The Greek word "pistis" means faith or trust. The verb form pisteuo means = to have faith, to believe, to trust. At least from undertstanding the Greek wording in the NT defining the English word "faith" as "trust" is no help at all.

(2) Faith is real and has evidence and substance (Hebrews 11:1) - it is not a wild stab in the dark at nothing! The OP used the following phrases when talking about faith "so faith is an assumption"; "which is the same as using our imagination" -- I would not use wording like this when speaking of Biblical faith.

It seems to me that faith is trusting in something.

Does the Lord consider faith complete with no actions following it?

The four gospels are full of instructions about actions that follow faith, very little about the doctrine of faith alone.

True. But it is more comprehensive. So let's look at Thayer's Greek Lexicon, and even that is a very broad summation:

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 4102: πίστις (pistis)
1. conviction of the truth of anything, belief ... in the N. T. of a conviction or belief respecting man's
relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervor born of faith and conjoined with it: Hebrews 11:1

a. when it relates to God, πίστις is "the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ":

b. in reference to Christ, it denotes "a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God"

d. with the predominant idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same.

So the real issue is "What is saving faith"? And saving faith is absolute and wholehearted belief that everything about the Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible is true, particularly that He is God the Son (also called the Son of God) who died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and rose again for our justification according to the Scriptures. Saving faith comes from hearing (or reading) and believing the Gospel.

You wrote:
So the real issue is "What is saving faith"? And saving faith is absolute and wholehearted belief that everything about the Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible is true, particularly that He is God the Son (also called the Son of God) who died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and rose again for our justification according to the Scriptures. Saving faith comes from hearing (or reading) and believing the Gospel

Yes, I agree with what you wrote above, but a key ingredient of saving faith is still missing. One must not only believe the facts of the Bible and the fact that Jesus died, etc., but one must also believe that I am justly a sinner going to hell and I am in desperate need of the atoning substitutionary death of Jesus to ransom me from eternal judgment.