What is faith?

1 Timothy 4:12

"Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

What is faith? Since the name of this blog is 'faith around the world,' I thought it might be good if I did a study on it. Below, I've listed several verses that talk about faith.

Matthew 9:22
But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

John 20:29
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Acts 15:9
And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Romans 3:25
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Romans 4:9
Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.

Romans 5:1-2
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 4:2
Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

2 Corinthians 1:24
Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

2 Corinthians 5:7
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

Faith is mentioned many times in the Bible. In all instances, faith is conveyed as something important, something that is needed for all believers. In Matthew 9:22, a woman was healed simply because she had faith that it would happen.

Acts 15:9, Romans 3:25, Romans 4:9 and Romans 5:1-2 all talk of faith being counted as righteousness, faith justifying us, or our hearts being purified by faith- talking of salvation. 1 Corinthians 4:2 says that faith is required to hold a position in the church. And the last two verses (The ones we will principally be dealing with) show that faith is all we have, truly.

Faith is variously defined as "complete confidence in a person or plan," "loyalty or allegiance to a cause or a person," and "religion: a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny."

Faith in the Bible would be something closer to "A complete, total surrendering of oneself to the reality and power of God."

But how does faith apply to a young woman who has already trusted in God? Does faith have a practical application after salvation? Yes, it does, and this application is contained in the last two verses.

"By faith you stand..." 'Standing' in the Bible is commonly defined as standing on the Word, on principles, on morals, or on God's grace. Without faith in God, we can't do any of those things properly- and without it, we definitely can't stand on God's grace.

Ephesians 3:17-19 "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."

From this verse, I gather that without love, or charity, we cannot have faith- and love is, of course, given by the correct spirit and- you guessed it- faith! We have three interdependent attributes that are given to God's people- and only his people.

((This post is taken originally from my personal blog. All links go to there, and this post is part of a series, so to get some background on this post, you can go there. ;) ))

~Liberty