Matthew 14:3 reads, “And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little Faith.
In Strong’s Concordance, every time we see the word Faith, the Greek word Pistis is used as the original reference. But what does Faith mean?
When the people of the first century received the letters from Paul, for example, they did not say, “What is pistis?”, as if Paul had invented a new word. Pistis was in everyday use in the Greek language and had been for centuries. It is in the writings of the Greeks, including Aristotle, Plato, Herodotus, etc. The first definition of pistis in the Liddell and Scott Greek Lexicon, sold in college bookstores to students of ancient Greek, is “trust in others.” It was a common everyday word in Greek and not just for religious purposes only.
That is why we say [and should say] pistis means “trust.”
Pistis doesn’t mean Faith, it means trust!
How does this trust come? By hearing, which persuades you to start trusting. So literally Romans 10:17 and other places in scripture, Trust comes by hearing. How? Because what you are hearing is persuading you that it is worthy of trust, it is truly the only thing you can trust in that never fails. But trust in what, since pistis was a common word used for common everyday situations, not just religious? Trust in Jesus. Since we’re talking about the New Testament, trust in Jesus, relying on Him and all the promises he’s given us.
Now, where did the word usage of Faith come from?
“The Bible was then read in Latin for hundreds of years. As the English language developed, our English word faith came from the Latin word fides. There should be nothing mysterious about pistis, fides, or Faith. We know what trust is. Merriam-Webster defines it as assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.”
“If both pistis and fides mean trust, how did Faith come to be defined in our culture as firm belief in something for which there is no proof (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition)? To understand this, we must remember that a dictionary definition is only a record of how people are currently using the word in their speech and writing. This is why dictionary definitions change as time passes.”
“What happened to change the definition of faith from trust to firm belief in something for which there is no proof was: (1) people started to use fait” as belief in something for which there is no proof, (2) that usage was put in the dictionary as a definition of Faith, [including religious people] (3) people who did not know what Faith was looked it up in the dictionary, saw that definition, and used it that way. This process continued over time until now almost everyone thinks Faith is belief in something for which there is no proof.”
Do you believe Faith is something for which there is no proof? I guarantee the answer ninety-nine percent of the time will be, “Yes, that is why we have ‘faith’ in it.”
“Sadly, it is now safe to say that most people do not know that the biblical definition of Faith is trust, and furthermore that they do not have the knowledge or the tools to research that for themselves. Serious consequences come from believing that the Bible asks us to believe things even though there is no proof for them.”
Don’t tell me there is no proof. There is plenty of evidence. Thank God for biblical archeology that can also prove it too. It’s become common now to say, historical Jesus. We have enough history and recorded information about him to make it historical, not fantasy.
“Believers become confused about Faith, not knowing what it is or how to get it and grow in it. Unbelievers, thinking the Bible asks people to believe things without proof, say it is an unreasonable and illogical book, and reject it—to their own doom.”
“How did the idea that Faith is a belief in something for which there is no proof enter into the Christian culture in the first place? The actual historical process is long and tedious, but the concept is simple. The church asked people to trust doctrines that were neither logical nor clearly backed up by Scripture”.
That is why I preach on God’s verifiables, as I call them. I try not to drift too far from that philosophy, that practice.
“For example, the doctrine that the host (bread) and wine that are used in Roman Catholic Mass become the body and blood of Christ is not logical (for example, it still looks and tastes like bread and wine, not meat and blood), and it is not backed by solid Scriptural exegesis. Priests know this, and so they ask people to take it by Faith.”
“The CRUX of this is, people equate Faith now to belief, not to trust. They call their church, THE FAITH, they call the Doctrines of that church they follow, THE FAITH, they have Faith in the traditions and customs that the church does. They have Faith in their Pastors and Elders to be correct, etc.…”
“But HERE is the difference between fides and pistis: Fides is belief or belief in something on the earthly realm, Pistis is trust and trust alone, in God and His promises. We wonder why believers can’t understand absolute and complete trust in God and His promises… It is because believers have been taught to have Fides (Faith) and not Pistis (Trust).”
Here are some scriptural examples.
Mathew 6:30, “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
Do you think Christ was saying, Oh ye of belief in something of the earthly realm? No. What He was saying is, oh ye of little trust and reliance on God and trusting in His promises. Promises of what? His commitment to provide what he has promised, not what you want, but what He has promised. There is a difference. Let’s look at another scripture.
Matthew 14:31, “And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him,”—when Peter was sinking— “and said unto him, O thou of little faith”—the word there again is pistis. Jesus was saying, Oh thou of little total and complete trust and reliance in Me. He said to come, obviously guaranteeing Peter no danger— “wherefore didst thou doubt?” He didn’t have total confidence, and his trust was not upon God’s promise of making sure no danger would come to him.
Does that not change the entire scope of what’s required from us? We need to understand what pistis truly is, and that is trust. Trust because you have been persuaded by what you’ve heard or read. Trusting it to be true, which then moves you quickly into that action part, bringing a so be it (Amen)response. I am not only going to have trust in it, but I am confident because I am trusting in God’s Word and his promises. It isn’t simply to believe (Have Faith). It is trusting in God and Jesus Christ in all aspects of life, as our healer or as in the scriptures I just gave, our provider, etc.
Luke 17:6, “And the Lord said, If ye had faith [Pistis – complete trust in God and Jesus Christ and trust in His promises] as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”
“It isn’t our Faith (belief) that will do this… it is simply a small amount of TRUST in Him, and the power and authority He gave us in His promises that will do the impossible. The actual DOING is His, all we need to do is TRUST completely, and do not doubt, and whatever it is will be done.”
It isn’t about belief. It is about trust. It isn’t about Faith. It’s about trusting the way Faith should be defined, not just in the secular world but also in the religious world.
And how do we get this and grow in it? To be continued.
Learn more at Faith Cometh By Hearing Ministries.