Believe Means Believe

Man insists on doing something to "deserve" salvation, so the religions of men invariably prescribe some form of personal effort (works) to qualify for God's approval. But the one who does the work is the one who gets the glory, and God will share His glory with no man. Therefore God Himself has done all that is necessary to provide justification as a free gift to those who simply believe what He says about what He has done for them.

Many sincere people who cannot completely release their grip on good works, assert that "believe" implies more than simple faith, so they insist that things like "repentance from sins" or "total commitment to Christ as Lord," which simply amount to forms of human works, must also be present for faith to be effective. In other words, those who believe the gospel but do not meet the additional qualifications are not true Christians.

But, is that really what the Bible says? The charts below provide definitions and references to every place in the New Testament in which the original Greek words for "faith" and "believe" are found. As you read each one and pay particular attention to how the words are actually used you will see for yourself what faith and believing really mean.

Illegitimate Totality Transfer

The comprehensive definitions found in concordances often lead the unwary researcher into the error described by James Barr (Semantics of Biblical Languages, Oxford University Press, London, 1961, p. 218) as "illegitimate totality transfer:"

The error that arises when the "meaning" of a word (understood as the total series of relations in which it is used in the literature) is read into a particular case as its sense and implication there.

In other words, "faith" and "believe" are not defined by adding up all of the ways in which the words in the original language are used in all contexts. Even though the words may have a broader meaning when used in other contexts, the definition is determined by the way they are used in the specific context of describing saving faith.

(Definitions and word numbers are from Strong's Concordance, Logos Bible Study Software, Logos Research Systems, Inc., Oak Harbor, WA, 1992.)

BELIEVE (pisteuo)
4100 pisteuo {pist-yoo'-o}; verb -- from 4102
AV - believe 239 times, commit unto 4, commit to (one's) trust 1, be committed unto 1, be put in trust with 1, be committed to one's trust 1, believer 1.

1) to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in

1a) of the thing believed

1b) in a moral or religious reference

1b1) used in the NT of the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative and law of soul.

1b2) to trust in Jesus or God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing something: saving faith

2) to entrust a thing to one, i.e., his fidelity

William. R. Newell

"Romans, Verse by Verse," Chapter 3, pp. 107-109.

BELIEVE (pisteuo) + IN (eis) or ON  (epi)
1519 eis {ice} - a primary preposition
AV - into 573 times, to 281, unto 207, for 140, in 138, on 58, toward 29, against 26, raise 321

1) into, unto, to, towards, for, among

1909 epi {epee'} - a root; prep
AV- on l96 times, in 120, upon 159, unto 4l, to 4l, misc. 338

1) upon, on, at, by, before

 

1 Peter 2:6

Watchman
Nee

"How did you receive forgiveness? You realized that the Lord Jesus died as your Substitute and bore your sins upon Himself and that His Blood was shed to cleanse away your defilement. When you saw your sins all taken away on the Cross, what did you do? Did you say, 'Lord Jesus, please come and die for my sins?' No, you did not pray at all; you only thanked the Lord. You did not beseech Him to come and die for you, for you realized that He had already done so."

"The Normal Christian Life," pp. 34-35.

FAITH (pistis)
4102 pistis {pis'-tis}; noun -- from 3982
AV - faith 239 times, assurance 1, believe + 1537 1, belief 1, them that believe 1, fidelity 1

1) Conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things...

1a) Relating to God.

1a1) the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ.

1b) Relating to Christ.

1b1) a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the [savior], through whom we obtain eternal salvation...

Acts 3:16
Acts 6:5
Acts 6:7
Acts 6:8
Acts 11:24
Acts 13:8
Acts 14:9
Acts 14:22
Acts 14:27
Acts 15:9
Acts 16:5
Acts 17:31
Acts 20:21
Acts 24:24
Acts 26:18
Romans 1:5
Romans 1:8
Romans 1:12
Romans 1:17
Romans 3:3
Romans 3:22
Romans 3:25
Romans 3:26
Romans 3:27
Romans 3:28
Romans 3:30
Romans 3:31
Romans 4:5
Romans 4:9
Romans 4:11
Romans 4:12
Romans 4:13
Romans 4:14
Romans 4:16
Romans 4:19
Romans 4:20
Romans 5:1
Romans 5:2
Romans 9:30
Romans 9:32
Romans 10:6
Romans 10:8
Romans 10:17
Romans 11:20
Romans 12:3
Romans 12:6
Romans 14:1
Romans 14:22
Romans 14:23
Romans 16:26
1 Cor. 2:5

1 Cor. 12:9
1 Cor. 13:2
1 Cor. 13:13
1 Cor. 15:14
1 Cor. 15:17
1 Cor. 16:13
2 Cor. 1:24
2 Cor. 4:13
2 Cor. 5:7
2 Cor. 8:7
2 Cor. 10:15
2 Cor. 13:5
Galatians 1:23
Galatians 2:16
Galatians 2:20
Galatians 3:2
Galatians 3:5
Galatians 3:7
Galatians 3:8
Galatians 3:9
Galatians 3:11
Galatians 3:12
Galatians 3:14
Galatians 3:22
Galatians 3:23
Galatians 3:24
Galatians 3:25
Galatians 3:26
Galatians 5:5
Galatians 5:6
Galatians 5:22
Galatians 6:10
Ephesians 1:15
Ephesians 2:8
Ephesians 3:12
Ephesians 3:17
Ephesians 4:5
Ephesians 4:13
Ephesians 6:16
Ephesians 6:23
Philippians 1:25
Philippians 1:27
Philippians 2:17
Philippians 3:9
Colossians 1:4
Colossians 1:23
Colossians 2:5
Colossians 2:7
Colossians 2:12
1 Thessalonians 1:3
1 Thessalonians 1:8

Hebrews 11:1
Hebrews 11:3
Hebrews 11:4
Hebrews 11:5
Hebrews 11:6
Hebrews 11:7
Hebrews 11:8
Hebrews 11:9
Hebrews 11:11
Hebrews 11:13
Hebrews 11:17
Hebrews 11:20
Hebrews 11:21
Hebrews 11:22
Hebrews 11:23
Hebrews 11:24
Hebrews 11:27
Hebrews 11:28
Hebrews 11:29
Hebrews 11:30
Hebrews 11:31
Hebrews 11:33
Hebrews 11:39
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 13:7
James 1:3
James 1:6
James 2:1
James 2:5
James 2:14
James 2:17
James 2:18
James 2:20
James 2:22
James 2:24
James 2:26
James 5:15
1 Peter 1:5
1 Peter 1:7
1 Peter 1:9
1 Peter 1:21
1 Peter 5:9
2 Peter 1:1
2 Peter 1:5
1 John 5:4
Jude 3
Jude 20
Revelation 2:13
Revelation 2:19
Revelation 13:10
Revelation 14:12

PERSUADE (peitho)
3982 peitho {pi'-tho} -- a primary verb
AV -persuade 22 times, trust 8, obey 7, have confidence 6, believe 3, be confident 2, misc. 7

1) Persuade

1a) to persuade, i.e., to induce one by words to believe

2) Be persuaded

2a) to be persuaded, to suffer one's self to be persuaded; to be induced to believe: to have faith in a thing

2a1) to believe

3) Trust, have confidence, be confident

Hebrews 13:18

CONFIDENCE
Romans 2:19
2 Corinthians 2:3