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What is faith? (the biblical definition)

Faith

Short answer

The Bible's one explicit definition is Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see" (BSB). Across Scripture faith is not blind belief but trust grounded in the trustworthiness of God, its primary idea is reliance on a Person whose word is sure (Proverbs 3:5; Romans 4:20-21). It engages the whole person (mind and will and heart): it includes knowledge of what is claimed, assent that it is true, and trust that rests on it (Easton's). Hebrews 11 then defines faith by example, a roll-call of people who acted on God's promises before seeing them fulfilled. Faith comes "by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17, BSB), so it is responsive, not self-generated.

Question

What is faith? What is the biblical definition of faith?

Analysis

The one stated definition, Hebrews 11:1

Hebrews 11:1 is the closest Scripture comes to a formal definition: faith is "the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see" (BSB). The two Greek nouns behind it:

Greek termSenseWhat it means for faith
hypostasis (G5287)substance / assurance / firm foundationFaith gives present substance to future hope, it stands under it
elegchos (G1650)conviction / proof / evidenceFaith is inward certainty about realities not visible to the senses

Faith is therefore oriented to the unseen and the future, it is the faculty by which "things hoped for" and "things not seen" become firm and operative now.

Faith's core idea is trust

Easton's Bible Dictionary frames it directly: "Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true… Its primary idea is trust." The ground of that trust is not the reasonableness of the claim but the veracity of the One who makes it, faith, as Easton's puts it, rests immediately on "Thus saith the Lord." Hence Abraham, the Bible's model believer, was "fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised" (Romans 4:21, BSB; cf. Genesis 15:6).

Three classic elements (knowledge, assent, trust)

A long-standing analysis (reflected in Easton's, drawing on the Reformation tradition) distinguishes three components, useful as description, not as a contested doctrine:

ElementDescriptionTexts
Knowledge (notitia)Knowing the content believed; "faith comes by hearing" (BSB)Romans 10:14-17; John 10:38
Assent (assensus)Agreeing it is true; an act of the understanding and will1 John 5:1; John 20:31
Trust (fiducia)Resting on, entrusting oneself to, Christ personallyJohn 7:38; Acts 16:31; Galatians 2:20

Easton's stresses that genuine saving faith "consists chiefly, not in the assent given to the testimony of God… but in embracing with fiducial reliance and trust the one and only Saviour", i.e., the trust element is decisive.

Faith defined by example, the "Hebrews 11" gallery

After defining faith in Hebrews 11:1, the chapter defines it ostensively, by showing it in action. Each figure acted on God's word before seeing the outcome:

PersonAct of faithText
AbelOffered an acceptable sacrificeHebrews 11:4
NoahWarned "of things not seen as yet" (KJV), built the arkHebrews 11:7
AbrahamLeft his land; offered Isaac, trusting the promiseHebrews 11:8-19
Moses' parents / MosesHid the child; chose affliction with God's peopleHebrews 11:23-28
Israel / RahabCrossed the sea; Jericho's walls; hospitality to spiesHebrews 11:29-31

Hebrews 11:6 adds the minimum content of faith toward God: "anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him" (BSB). Hebrews 11:13 notes that "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar" (ASV).

Where faith comes from

Faith is responsive, awakened by God's word, not produced from within:

Faith and its objects

Nave's Topical Bible catalogs faith under several heads, faith enjoined, exemplified, faith in Christ, and the trial of faith, showing the breadth of biblical usage. Two strands matter:

A note on "the faith" (the body of belief)

Scripture also uses "faith" to mean the gospel itself, the content believed, e.g., "contend earnestly for the faith" (Jude 1:3, BSB); "obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7, BSB); "the faith = the gospel" (Easton's). Context distinguishes faith-the-act from faith-the-content.

Faith vs. related ideas (clarifications)

Faith is NOTBecause
Blind belief without groundsIt rests on God's revealed word and character (Romans 10:17; John 20:31)
Mere intellectual assent"Even the demons believe that — and shudder" (James 2:19, BSB); trust and life-response are integral
A meritorious work"only the hand by which we take hold of the person and work of our Redeemer" (Easton's); cf. Ephesians 2:8-9
Sight"We walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7, BSB); faith concerns "things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1)

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

  • Hebrews 11:1bsb

    Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.

  • Proverbs 3:5bsb

    Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

  • Romans 4:20bsb

    Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,

  • Romans 10:17bsb

    Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

  • Romans 4:21bsb

    being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.

  • Genesis 15:6bsb

    Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

  • Romans 10:14bsb

    How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?

  • John 10:38bsb

    But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”

  • 1 John 5:1bsb

    Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him.

  • John 20:31bsb

    But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

  • John 7:38bsb

    Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”

  • Acts 16:31bsb

    They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”

  • Galatians 2:20bsb

    I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

  • Hebrews 11:4bsb

    By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

  • Hebrews 11:7bsb

    By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

  • Hebrews 11:8bsb

    By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.

On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.

What is faith? (the biblical definition) · Bubble Bible