What is faith?

Salvation & the GospelIn theological review

The short answer

Faith is trusting God's word and God's Son with your whole weight. Hebrews defines it as the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see. It is not believing without evidence, and it is not mere agreement that something is true. It is the hand that receives what grace gives.

The fuller answer

The Bible defines it before it illustrates it. Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see. Not a leap in the dark, and not wishful thinking. Assurance and certainty are words about evidence trusted and a person relied on, extended to things still future or unseen.

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

Hebrews 11:1 (BSB)

Abraham is the standing example, and the pattern is older than the definition. Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness, long before there was anything to show for the promise of descendants. He trusted a word from God against everything visible. That is why Paul can say salvation comes by grace through faith: faith is the open hand, grace is the gift placed in it, and boasting is excluded because a hand contributes nothing but openness.

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

Genesis 15:6 (BSB)

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Ephesians 2:8 (BSB)

So biblical faith has content, trust, and consequence. It believes specific things about God and his Son, it leans a person's whole weight on them, and it walks differently because of them. Hebrews chapter 11 is a portrait gallery of that kind of faith, and worth reading whole.

Sources

Berean Standard Bible (BSB)

Review status: in-theological-review. Every Contend page passes a human theological review against the Statement of Faith before it is published as approved teaching. This section is in that queue.

Dig deeper

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How can I be saved?By grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and not by anything you contribute. Ephesians says it outright: it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. To be saved is to turn from your sin, confess Jesus as Lord, and trust that God raised him from the dead for you. The rest of your life is learning to live from that gift.What is the gospel?The gospel is the good news of what God has done in Jesus Christ: he died for our sins according to the Scriptures, he was buried, and he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. It is news before it is advice: a death that pays for sin, a resurrection that proves it, and a living Lord who is to be confessed, believed, and followed.What is repentance?Repentance is a change of mind about sin and about God that turns into a change of direction. Peter's command joins both halves: repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away. It is more than feeling sorry, which can evaporate by morning. It is agreeing with God about your sin, grieving it, and leaving it, trusting the mercy that meets you on the way back.Bible Character: AbrahamThe father of Israel, who believed God's promise when it looked impossible, and whose faith was counted as righteousness.