Communication Includes Logic And Mathematical Concepts
Definitions Are Required For Proper Communication
Lexical Application
Table Of Synonyms For Belief/Faith And Believe With Practical Application
The Denotation And Connotation Of The Words
The word "is" represents equality such as when reading 4 + 2 = 6 aloud results in "four and two is six"; moreover, for equality, the word "equals" can be used for the symbol "=".
Lord Jesus uses the word "is" when He says "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29).
Lord Jesus establishes equality with His use of the word "is" when He says "this is the work of God", and His word of "is" places "this" on one side of the equal sign and "the work of God" on the opposing side fo the equality sign, as in "this = the work of God"; moreover, He directly applies "this" to the sentence predicate of "that you believe in Him whom He has sent", so linguistically the clause includes "this = that you believe in Him whom He has sent"
Essentially, Jesus indicates the work of God is the belief of you in Jesus whom the Father has sent.
The transitive property of equality states that if a = b and b = c then a = c.
With these factual concepts established, let's take a further look at Lord Jesus's words of "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29).
Let's apply the transitive property of equality to John 6:29 by expressing three equations:
equation a) "the work of God" = "you believe in Him whom He has sent"
equation b) "the belief of you" = "you believe in Him whom He has sent"
equation c) "the work of God" = "the belief of you"
All 3 of these equations are all true, including equation b since the "belief" state of being inextricably joins with the "believe" action of belief, so a=b and b=c therefore a=c.
Lord Jesus declared "Daughter, take courage; the belief of you has made you well" (Matthew 9:22 - this is based on the Greek - the NASB renders this verse as "Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well").
See "the belief of you" spoken by Jesus and recorded by the Apostle Matthew in Matthew 9:22.
The words "your faith" are truly "the faith of you" throughout the entirety of the New Testament.
Relatedly, and highly relevant, is "your God" truly being the "God of you".
Jesus commanded Mary to go say to His brothers "I ascend to the Father of Me and Father of you and God of Me and God of you" (John 20:17 "I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God" in the NASB).
This the only occurrence of "your God" in the entirety of the New Testament.
See "God of you" (wrongly translated as "your God").
In a manner of speaking, the "you" does not wield "God", but "God" wields the "you".
And, likewise, see "the faith of you" (wrongly translated as "your faith").
In a manner of speaking, the "you" does not wield "faith", but "faith" wields the "you".
The three equations and logic above clearly illustrate belief/faith in God is the work of God, faith in God is not the work of man, but belief in God is the act of God.
Core to the matter as Lord Jesus teaches, a believer's deeds manifests as wrought in God (John 3:21), with each of these representative equivalencies:
The Word of God is cohesive:
Strong's Concordancepistis: faith, faithfulness
Original Word: πίστις, εως, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: pistis
Phonetic Spelling: (pis'-tis)
Definition: faith, faithfulness
Usage: faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness.HELPS Word-studies
4102 pístis (from 3982/peithô, "persuade, be persuaded") – properly, persuasion (be persuaded, come to trust); faith.
Faith (4102/pistis) is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. In short, 4102/pistis ("faith") for the believer is "God's divine persuasion" – and therefore distinct from human belief (confidence), yet involving it. The Lord continuously births faith in the yielded believer so they can know what He prefers, i.e. the persuasion of His will (1 Jn 5:4).
[4102 (pistis) in secular antiquity referred to a guarantee (warranty). In Scripture, faith is God's warranty, certifying that the revelation He inbirthed will come to pass (His way).
Faith (4102/pistis) is also used collectively – of all the times God has revealed (given the persuasion of) His will, which includes the full revelation of Scripture (Jude 3). Indeed, God the Lord guarantees that all of this revelation will come to pass! Compare Mt 5:18 with 2 Tim 3:16.]
1. The root of 4102/pistis ("faith") is 3982/peithô ("to persuade, be persuaded") which supplies the core-meaning of faith ("divine persuasion"). It is God's warranty that guarantees the fulfillment of the revelation He births within the receptive believer (cf. 1 Jn 5:4 with Heb 11:1).
Faith (4102/pistis) is always received from God, and never generated by us.
Ro 12:3: "For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith (4102/pistis)" (NASU).
Eph 2:8,9: " For by grace you have been saved through faith (4102/pistis); and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast" (NASU).
Gal 5:22,23: "22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faith (4102/pistis), 23gentleness,
self-control; against such things there is no law."
2 Thes 1:11: "To this end (glorification) – indeed each time we pray about (peri) you for the purpose (hin) of our God counting you worthy of the call – even that He may fulfill (His) every good-pleasure that comes from (His) goodness and work of faith, in (His) ability."
Reflection: Faith is only (exclusively) given to the redeemed. It is not a virtue that can be worked up by human effort.
2. Faith (4102/pistis) enables the believer to know God's preferred-will (cf. J. Calvin; see 2307/thelçma). Accordingly, faith (4102/pistis) and "God's preferred-will (2307/thelçma)" are directly connected in Scripture.
2 Ro 12:2,3: " And do not be conformed to this world, but betransformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will (2307/thelçma) of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 3For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith (4102/pistis)" (NASU).
5 2 Cor 8:5,7: " And this, not as we had expected, but they first
gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will (2307/thelçma) of
God" (NASU).
7" But just as you abound in everything, in faith (4102/pistis)
and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love
we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also"
(NASU).
Heb 10:36,38: "36For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will (2307/thelçma) of God, you may receive what was promised" (NASU).
" BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH(4102/pistis); AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM" (NASU).
1 Jn 5:4: "For whatever is born of God conquers the world;
and this is the conquest that has conquered the world – our faith
(4102/pistis)."
3. In sum, faith (4102/pistis) is a persuasion from God that we receive as He grants impulse ("divine spark"; cf. the Heb hiphil form of believe, *mn, in a later discussion). Faith is always the work of God and involves hearing His voice – whereby the believer lays hold of His preferred-will (cf. J. Calvin).
1 Hab 2:1: " I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart;
And I will keep watch to see what He will speak in (Heb b ) me" (NASU).
Hab 2:4: "Behold, as for the proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live in his faith" (= 4102/pistis, "faith from the Lord").
More on what faith is . . . and isn't
In Scripture, faith and belief are not exactly the same. Faith always comes from God and involves His revelation therefore faith is beyond belief! Faith is God's work; faith is never the work of people. We cannot produce faith ourselves, nor can we "drum it up at will." Rather, faith comes as Christ speaks His rhçma-word within (see Ro 10:17, Gk text). In all of Scripture, only the term faith is ever used in the following way: Ro 14:23: Whatever is not of faith (4102/pistis) is sin." Heb 11:6: "And without faith (4102/pistis) it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (NASU).
Reflection: Nothing quite like this two-fold witness appears elsewhere in the Bible. These sweeping statements sober the heart and inspire the soul!
The Lord offers to inbirth faith in each scene of life – so that each matters equally in eternity . . . no matter how insignificant they seem (Lk 16:10 with Lk 17:6 and 2 Pet 1:2).
Key quotes
"Faith always pre-supposes revelation" (W. H. Griffith Thomas, Genesis, 55). "Faith is always a response to a divine revelation" (W. H. Griffith Thomas, Hebrews, 143). "Faith . . . both in its initiation and every step of the way, is Spirit given . . . faith is God given" (W. Hendriksen, Galatians, 197). "Faith precedes works, and is not something merely deduced by
reason of existing" (D. Edmond Hiebert, Thessalonians, 2 Thes 1:11). "Faith is always a gift of God" (L. Morris, John, p 520). "The basis of faith is God's revelation of Himself . . . Christianity came
to be seen as a faith event" (O. Michel, Dictionary of New Testament Theology).
"Faith is the divine response, wrought in man, by God" (from Berkof's Systematic Theology, representing the views of Barth and Brunner).
"Faith always has the element of assurance, certainty and confidence . . . and evidential value substantiating the thing we hope for . . . with faith, there is no strain or tension; rather, it has the element of assurance and confidence in it . . . if there is strain or tension . . . trying to persuade yourself to keep from doubting, you can be quite sure that it is not faith . . . faith is not the law of mathematical probability, . . . faith is not natural . . .faith is spiritual, the gift of God . . . you cannot command faith at will, faith is always something that is given-inwrought by God; . . . therefore, if you want to be a man of faith, it will always be the result of becoming a certain type of person" (M. Lloyd Jones, Romans, Ro 4:18-25).
"Faith is the divinely given conviction of things unseen" (Homer Kent Jr., Hebrews, 217, quoting Theological Dictionary of the NT vol 2, 476).
"Faith is the organ which enables people to see the invisible order" (F.
F. Bruce, Hebrews, 279).
"Faith is knowing what is His will toward us; therefore, we hold faith to be the knowledge of God's will toward us" (John Calvin, as quoted by R. McAfee Brown in Is Faith Obsolete?).
"Right faith is a thing wrought in us by the Holy Spirit" (Wm. Tyndale).
"We have made faith a condition of mind, when it is a divinely imparted grace of the heart . . . we can receive faith only as he gives it . . . you cannot manufacture faith, you can not work it up . . . you can believe a promise, and at the same time not have the faith to appropriate it . . . genuine, Scriptural faith is not our ability to ‘count it done,’ but is the deep consciousness divinely imparted to the heart of man that it is done, . . . it is the faith that only God can give . . . do not struggle in the power of the will . . . what a mistake to take our belief in God and call of faith . . . Christ, the living word, is our sufficiency . . . (Charles Price, The Real Faith, Logos/publications).
Note: On the distinction between believing (belief), and faith in the Scriptures see Js 2:19; Jn 10:38; Ac 8:13, 26:27,28; Ro 14:2; 2 Thes 2:11; 1 Jn 4:1; also Jn 2:23, 7:31, 12:42 and 4102/pisteuô ("believe").
As in the Gospels, a person's believing (belief) is vital (cf. Heb 11:6). But a personal encounter with Christ (a true connection with Him and His Word) is always necessary for believing ("man's responsibility") to be transformed into faith (which is always and only God's word). See also Mt 8:10,13, 9:22,28,29, 15:28; Ac 20:21; Ro 9:32; Gal 3:9,22.
Summary
Belief and faith are not exactly equivalent terms. When Jesus told people, "Your faith has made you well," faith was still His gift (Eph 2:8,9). Any gift however, once received, becomes the "possession" of the recipient. Faith however is always from God and is purely His work (2 Thes 1:11).
Note: The Greek definite article is uniformly used in the expressions "your faith," "their faith" (which occur over 30 times in the Greek NT). This genitive construction with the article refers to "the principle of faith (operating in) you" – not "your faith" in the sense that faith is ever generated by the recipient.
[The meaning of the definite article in this construction is "the principle of faith at work in you," "the operating-principle of faith in them," etc. For examples see: Mt 9:2,22,29; Lk 17:19; Phil 2:17; 2 Pet 1:5, etc.]
Faith (4102/pistis) involves belief but it goes beyond human believing because it involves the personal revelation (inworking) of God. Faith is always God's work. Our believing has eternal meaning when it becomes "faith-believing" by the transforming grace of God.
Reflection: Demons believe (and shudder) . . . but they do not have (experience) faith!
Js 2:19: "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder" (NASU).
Copyright © 1987, 2011 by Helps Ministries, Inc.
faith (fāth)
n.
- Belief in God or in a set of religious doctrines.
- A set of religious doctrines; a body of dogma: adhered to the Muslim faith.
- often Faith Christianity Secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will viewed as a theological virtue.
- Confident or unquestioning belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. See Synonyms at belief, trust.
- Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one's supporters; refused to break faith with his friends.
Idiom:
in faith[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman fed, from Latin fidēs; see bheidh- in Indo-European roots.]Indeed; truly.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
be·lief (bĭ-lēf′)
n.
- The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another: My belief in you is as strong as ever.
- Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something: His explanation of what happened defies belief.
- Something believed or accepted as true, especially a particular tenet or a body of tenets accepted by a group of persons.
[Middle English bileve, alteration (influenced by bileven, to believe) of Old English gelēafa; see leubh- in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: belief, credence, credit, faith
These nouns denote mental acceptance of the truth, actuality, or validity of something: a statement unworthy of belief; an idea steadily gaining credence; expert testimony meriting credit; has no faith in the poorly collected data. See Also Synonyms at view.
Antonym: disbeliefAmerican Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Strong's Concordancepisteuó: to believe, entrust
Original Word: πιστεύω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: pisteuó
Phonetic Spelling: (pist-yoo'-o)
Definition: to believe, entrust
Usage: I believe, have faith in, trust in; pass: I am entrusted with.HELPS Word-studies
4100 pisteúō (from 4102 /pístis, "faith," derived from 3982 /peíthō, "persuade, be persuaded") – believe (affirm, have confidence); used of persuading oneself (= human believing) and with the sacred significance of being persuaded by the Lord (= faith-believing). Only the context indicates whether 4100 /pisteúō ("believe") is self-serving (without sacred meaning), or the believing that leads to/proceeds from God's inbirthing of faith.
Copyright © 1987, 2011 by Helps Ministries, Inc.
be·lieve (bĭ-lēv′)
v. be·lieved, be·liev·ing, be·lievesv.tr.
- To accept as true or real: Do you believe the news stories?
- To credit with veracity: I believe you.
- To expect or suppose; think: I believe they will arrive shortly.
v.intr.
- To have firm faith, especially religious faith.
- To have faith, confidence, or trust: I believe in your ability to solve the problem.
- To have confidence in the truth or value of something: We believe in free speech.
- To have an opinion; think: They have already left, I believe.
Idioms:
believe (one's) earsTo trust what one has heard.believe (one's) eyesTo trust what one has seen.[Middle English bileven, from Old English belȳfan, belēfan, gelēfan; see leubh- in Indo-European roots.]
be·liev′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
A noun is a person, place, or thing.
A verb is an action.
Some theologians confuse belief (noun) with believe (verb) on which foundation they construct their assertion that belief (noun) is less than faith (noun), but their distinguishing between faith and belief is false.
In the HELPS Word-studies secton of https://biblehub.com/greek/4102.htm a list is provided as support for the theologian's assertion. The list is James 2:19; John 10:38; Acts 8:13, 26:27,28; Romans 14:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:11; 1 John 4:1; John 2:23, 7:31, 12:42Here are the errors with the list the theologian's claim that belief is something less than faith:
- Every occurrence presented is the verb of the base "believe" (pisteuó). The occurrences are not the noun of belief/faith (pistis).
- More than once James 2:19 is cited as a proof, yet James 2:19 contains "believe" (pisteuó - verb) while absent belief/faith (pistis - noun).
- In the explanatory text for the list (and elsewhere in the HELPS Word-studies secton of https://biblehub.com/greek/4102.htm) believing, a verb, is followed by a parenthetical of belief - like this "believing (belief)" - which appears to be an effort to illegitimately mix the English verb "believe" and the English noun "belief".
- In Romans 14:2, the Greek word "pisteuó" (believe - a verb) is translated to "faith" (in the NASB and NIV), and "faith" is a noun.
One or more theologians say in the above from https://biblehub.com/greek/4102.htm:
First, let's examine Romans 14:23 with the word "faith" (in the below table's left column) as well as the word "belief" (in the below table's right column)
| "But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because [his eating is] not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23) | "But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because [his eating is] not from belief; and whatever is not from belief is sin" (Romans 14:23) |
The results on Romans 14:23 are exactly the same.
Now, let's examine Hebrews 11:6 with the word "faith" (in the below table's left column) as well as the word "belief" (in the below table's right column)
| "And without faith it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must believe that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) | "And without belief it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must believe that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) |
The results on Hebrews 11:6 are profound. While the meaning of "pistis" being "faith" and "belief" is accurate, when the word "believe" (pisteuó) is encountered, then the cohesion between "belief" and "believe" blossoms!
The assertion that faith is something different than belief fails within just the theologian's scripture citation context.
The theologians refer to people who God imparts faith in Jesus as believers; in other words, people who God imparts belief in Jesus are believers.
Notice that "belie" is the same in the words "belief" and "believer".
Notice also that "pist" is the same in the words "pistis" and "pisteuo".
Despite the theologian's assertion, the definitions above bear the meaning that belief and faith are the same.
Equivalents are in each row - nouns in the left column, verbs in the middle column, and verse usage in the right column.
| Belief/Faith can be described as (noun): | Believe can be described as (verb): | Usage in Hebrews 11:6 (practical) |
|---|---|---|
| persuasion | persuaded/persuading | "And without persuasion it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must be persuaded that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) |
| condition | conditioned/conditioning | "And without condition it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must be conditioned that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) |
| state of being | acknowledged/acknowledging | "And without state of being it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must acknowledge that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) |
| course (track) | affirmed/affirming | "And without course it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must affirm that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) |
| guarantee (warranty) | secured/securing | "And without guarantee it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must be secured that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) |
| steadfast | stood/standing | "And without steadfast it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must be standing that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) |
| conviction | convicted/convicting | "And without conviction it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must be convicted that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) |
| leader | followed/following | "And without leader it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must follow that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) |
| controller | regulated/regulating | "And without controller it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must be regulated that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) |
| salvation guarantee | belief/faith in action | "And without salvation guarantee it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must have belief/faith in action that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) |
| sanctification warranty | produce fruit | "And without sanctification warranty it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must produce fruit that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6) |
The English nouns "belief" and "faith" are used to define each other, so the Greek noun "pistis" can translate to either of these English nouns; therefore, the denotation and connotation of the English nouns "belief" and "faith" are the same as the Greek noun "pistis".
The denotation and connotation of the English verb "believe" is the same as the Greek verb "pisteuô".