What is the Biblical Definition of Faith? By Pastor Paul Ellis

 

What is a Biblical Definition of Faith? by Paul Ellis What is faith? We talk about faith all the time, but what is it? Do you know what faith is? Of course you do, right? Are you sure? Maybe a better question to ask is, “Do I have a Biblical definition of faith?” Contrary to what you may have heard, faith is not wishful thinking or some sort of spiritual currency that you trade for heavenly favors. Nor is faith something you manufacture through sheer determination. So what is faith? Here’s my definition: Faith is knowing and trusting your Father’s love. Faith is resting in the confident assurance that God is good and he longs to be good to you. What, too gushy? Not Greek enough for you? In the original language of the New Testament, there is a family of words that are translated as faith (pistis), believe (pisteuo), trustworthy (pistikos) and faithful (pistos). Then there is another family of words that can be translated as unbelief (apistia), unbelieving (apistos), disbelief (apeitheia), disbelieve (apeitheo), and unpersuadable (apeithes). All these words derive from a common word (peitho) that means to convince, win over, or persuade. Abraham “was fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” (Rom. 4:21). That’s faith. Faith is being fully persuaded or convinced that God is good and trustworthy and that he cares for you. Abraham’s faith Manmade religion preaches blind faith, but Biblical faith is based on knowing God. Faith is not a leap in the dark, it’s walking in the light of God’s love. Again, consider Abraham. God said go and he went (Gen. 12:1). When Abraham got to Canaan, God said stay and he stayed. That’s faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise… (Hebrews 11:8-9) Then God said “I will bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars,” and Abraham said “okay.” Also faith. We tend to overthink faith, but faith is saying yes to God. When we pray the prayer of faith, we are simply saying yes to the Lord. [Sidebar: When you agree with God that’s called confession. Agreeing with God makes you right with God and that's called righteousness (Rom. 3:28). Good things happen when you agree with God.] Where does faith come from? Manmade religion says you have to faith your way into heaven, but that’s not how faith works. True faith is always a response to something God has said or done. We might say that faith stems from hope which comes from love. It’s the unfailing love of God that inspires us to trust him. Here’s a verse that explains the proper order: We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. (1 John 4:16) God loves us (that’s the first bit), then we come to trust in his love (that’s the faith bit). His love for us inspires our faith in him. And since the love of God is revealed in Jesus Christ (John 17:26), we can also say that faith comes from hearing the good news of Jesus: Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. (Rom. 10:17) We don’t get faith from hearing a good sermon; we get it from hearing about Jesus. When we hear about the love of God that is revealed in Jesus, our faith is activated. “Wow! God is so good! How can I not trust him?” In the Bible, believing in Jesus is called the work of God. Are you starting to see what faith is? Let’s finish with some quick contrasts: Religion says, “you need to believe,” without giving you a reason to believe, but the gospel declares “God is good and completely trustworthy.” Religion says “impress God with your faith,” but the gospel says we have been justified “by the faith of Christ” (Gal. 2:16). We love because he loves us, and we believe because God believes in us. Religion says “faith comes from within,” but the gospel reveals Jesus “the author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). He is truly the supplier of our faith, hope, and love. Faith is… Tradition portrays faith has damp ticket to heaven that may or may not be valid for entry, but the faith that God gives us is nothing like this. Faith is not just the means by which we come into union with Christ; faith is the very flavor of our relationship. Faith is living each day in total dependency on the One who spoke the universe into existence and flung the galaxies across the heavens. Faith is knowing your heavenly Father has great dreams and good gifts for you. Faith is an invitation to smile at the storm, stride over the mountains, and live supernaturally here and now. How boring life would be without faith. Those are my thoughts; I'd love to hear yours. How do you define faith? What does trusting God mean in your day-to-day life? Let me know in the comments. ----- If you liked this, you will love Paul’s rapidly-expanding Grace Glossary. Learn the language of the new covenant by discovering the treasures hidden within words like grace, faith, and forgiveness.

Woman is Saved by The Bearing of the Child: JESUS! (From Pastor Paul Ellis)

 

One of the strangest verses in the Bible is found in Paul’s first letter to Timothy:

But women will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety. (1 Timothy 2:15)

If there was ever a verse that could be misused to promote patriarchy and dead works, it’s this one.

“Stay home, make babies, earn salvation!”

Sounds ridiculous, right? Yet it’s not far removed from what some of the Church Fathers actually taught.

Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo, taught that women were put on earth to serve men and make babies:

I do not see in what sense the woman was made as a helper for the man if not for the sake of bearing children.

Martin Luther likewise taught that the chief purpose of women was to reproduce:

Men have broad and large chests, and small narrow hips, and more understanding than women, who have but small and narrow breasts, and broad hips, to the end they should remain at home, sit still, keep house, and bear and bring up children.

Raising children is a noble occupation, but the picture of a man ruling from his throne while his wife raises the kids alone, is contrary to God’s plan for partnership. It comes from Athens, not Eden.

The scriptures are full of exhortations for men to be proactive and engaged fathers (e.g., Pro. 4:1–4, Eph. 6:4, 1 Thess. 2:11). Men and women are both called to raise children.

And this idea that women can be saved by having babies?! That can’t be right. Can it?

Some translations try and wriggle out of it by translating the word saved as preserved. But the original word (sozo) is almost always translated as save or saved elsewhere in the Bible.

Are women really saved through childbearing?

The first thing to note about this strange verse is the word women. This word should be in italics as it has been added by translators. Paul never said it.

Other Bibles translate his words as “she will be saved through childbearing.” Who is she? It is the woman Paul has just been talking about, namely Eve.

For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve… but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. (1 Timothy 2:13–14)

Eve was deceived and became a sinner, but that wasn’t the end of her story. She was saved through childbearing, meaning her Offspring - the Seed of Eve otherwise known as Jesus - undid the damage.

Recall the promise God made to the serpent:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head… (Genesis 3:15)

Are women saved through childbearing? No, but women (and men) are saved because Eve bore a child. No baby, no Jesus.

Imagine if fallen Eve had refused to bear children. Imagine if she had been so racked with guilt and shame that she said, “I will not bring any children into the world.” That would have been a disaster! God’s redemptive purposes would never have come to pass.

Thank God Eve bore children or none of us would be here and none of us could be saved.

Which is a lovely way for Paul to close out what he has been saying. “Because Adam failed to train his wife, Eve fell into deception, and humanity was lost. But God redeemed their mess by giving us a Savior, born from the couple who fell.”

What a Great Redeemer is our God.

Continue in faith, love and holiness

Now that last bit:

– if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Some read this as though Paul was preaching conditional salvation. “As long as you maintain propriety or self-control, you’re saved. But have a bad day and you’re out.”

Paul was not saying this at all. Paul’s frequent exhortations to continue in the faith or continue in the grace of God should not be read as threats to your eternal salvation.

He’s saying, “Don’t be tossed and turned, but keep your eyes on Jesus. Continue trusting him and you won’t be seduced into dead works or religious superstition.”

Again, the context is the key. The immediate context is Eve; the larger context is Timothy’s church in Ephesus.

The Ephesians worshipped the many-breasted Artemis, the goddess of childbirth and midwifery. Artemis was just about the ugliest, most-repulsive idol you could imagine, yet the superstitious and fearful came from miles around to pray to her.

Now imagine you are an Ephesian believer facing a difficult birth. You live in a world without antibiotics, painkillers, and C-sections. You know people who have died during childbirth, and you worry that it could happen to you. What can you do?

For an Ephesian woman, the temptation would be to fall back on old habits and offer sacrifices to Artemis.

“Don’t do that,” said Paul. “There’s no salvation there. Fear not and continue to trust God. Just look at the mighty salvation he wrought through the childbearing Eve.”

What does this mean for us?

We may never be tempted to worship an idol with more udders than a herd of cows. For us, superstition and dead works take other forms.

When facing a trial, we might be tempted to pray a little more or give a little more or go to church a little more in the misguided belief that we can bribe God with our efforts.

“I’ll do something for you, if you do something for me.”

It's very easy to think like this but when we do we are no longer continuing in faith, love and holiness. We're walking after the flesh.

The word for propriety means sound mind. If you want a sound mind in times of trouble, don’t look to yourself for salvation, but fix your eyes on the Savior. Hasten to enter his rest and let nothing move you.

Paul is not saying women are saved by making babies. Nor is he saying a woman’s place is in the home or women must raise children alone.

He’s saying continue to trust the God who saves, and you will have grace for your trials.