Biblical Concept of Faith

Contemporary English word “Faith” derived from the Latin fides.Today faith denotes trust. Faith does not function as a verb in contemporary English; the verb “to believe” has replaced the verb “to faith”. The English noun “faithfulness” denote truth worthiness or dependability.

The Biblical Concept of Faith

Throughout the scriptures faith is the trustful human response to God’s self revelation via His words and His actions. God initiates the relationship between Himself and human beings. He expected people to trust Him; failure to trust Him was in essence the first sin (Gen. 3: 17).

New Testament Concept of Faith

The dominate New Testament term for faith is the koine Greek word Pistis, usually translated “Faith”. It conveys the idea of trust, a firm internal conviction regarding the trustfulness of someone or some claim.The verb from Pisteuo, is usually translated, “I Believe” or “I Trust”.Pistis also appears in the New Testament with the definite article to describe particular Christian beliefs, termed “The Faith”.Faith is a quality highly prized in scripture. Heb 11:6 sums this up by saying that “without faith it is impossible to please God”.

Faith as a Weapon for Spiritual WarfareThe context: In the Christian life we battle against rulers and authorities (The powerful evil forces of fallen angels headed by Satan, who is a vicious fighter, (I Peter 5:8).To withstand their attacks, we depend on God’s strength and use every place of His armor. Paul is not only given the counsel to the Church, the body of Christ, but to all individuals with the Church.The whole body needs to be armed. As you do battle against “The powers of this dark world”, fight in the strength of the Church, whose power comes from the Holy Spirit.The wicked one in the passage is a direct reference to the personal assault of Satan against believers.

“The Shield of Faith” to understand this better let’s consider I John 5:4: And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.As the shield protects the soldiers body against the attacks of the enemy, so the faith of the Christian functions as a shield to ward off the attacks of doubt, discouragement and despair.By increasing faith through study of the word of God (Rom. 10:12), the Christian is able to stand against the deceptions of Satan. Every temptation that Satan may throw against the Christian can be stopped by the truth that is learned through a study of God’s word. I Corinthians 10:13, II Timothy 2:15, 3:16,17

Faith must be our shield; Fait is all in all to us in an hour of temptation. The breastplate secures the heart, but with the shield we turn every evil away. Faith is like a shield, a sort of universal defense.Fait is the shield with which we must quench these fiery darts that they may not hit us, or at least that they not hurt us. Faith acted upon the word of God and the Grace of Christ quenches the darts of temptation.Conclusively, as active faith gave the Old Testament Patriarchs victory, so it will give us victory over the world. Our faith is our victory in so far as we are moved to respond to the will of God.A dead faith has no victory.Those who have obeyed the gospel/who have place their faith in the Gospel have overcome the mentality and behavior of the world. (I John 2:15, John 16:33).

Reference

Nashville, Tennessee. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Holman Bible Publishers, (1998)Dickson, The Teacher’s Bible International King James Version 2011 by African Internal MissionMatthew Henry, Study Bible King James Version, copyright 1994, 1997 by World Bible Publishers Inc.