What Is Faith?

The Greek word pistis (G4102) appears a total of 244 times in the King James Version of the Bible. It is translated as faith 239 times and assurance, belief, believe, believeth and fidelity 1 time.

According to Strong’s Dictionary of Greek Words, the Greek word pistis (G4102) translated faith in the King James Version, means:

From G3982; persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: - assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.

According to Thayer’s Greek Definitions, this Greek word means:

1) conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it
1a) relating to God
1a1) the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ
1b) relating to Christ
1b1) a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God
1c) the religious beliefs of Christians
1d) belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same
2) fidelity, faithfulness
2a) the character of one who can be relied on

Faith, therefore, is the conviction or persuasion that something is true. Again, we see the connection between belief (or faith) and trust. Joseph Thayer makes this link in his description of the Greek word for faith:

1d) belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same