Faith Defined

Introduction

This weeks Bible study comes from Hebrews 11:1. This is the most direct definition of faith given in the Bible.

Comparison

ESV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

NASB

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

NIV

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see

NLT

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.

Notable Differences

Confidence vs. Assurance vs. Reality – The Greek word is the same but the translators chose to render it differently in order to clarify the meaning for the intended audience. The NIV uses “confidence” because it is easier to understand. We fully comprehend confidence, but assurance can be a little fuzzy. Reality clarifies the meaning even further and this is why I like to read a verse in multiple translations.
Conviction vs. Assurance vs. evidence – The same thing happens here, the root is the same but the rendering is different. In this instance “conviction” can sometimes have more negative connotations and its meaning in this context can be fuzzy but “assurance” here is crystal clear as is evidence.

Observation

These are just a few examples you may have more observations, in fact I hope that you do.
1) Definition of faith
2) Now connects to previous verses
3) Hope=assurance
4) Not seen=evidence

Deep Dive

Faith

The Greek word used here is pistis it appears 243 times in the NT and is translated as faith for all but two of these occurrences. Why does this matter? Faith is an important concept in the NT and the word count here proves this to be the case.

Assurance

The word here is hypostasis it only appears 5 times in the NT and is translated as assurance only in this verse. Other times it is translated as confidence. Knowing this it is easy to understand why the translators of the NIV chose confidence. The meaning remains the same, this is something we can count on.

Confidence

The word used here is elenchus this is its only appearance in the NT. This is a true needle in the Greek haystack. Most words have at least one other occurrence in the NT but this one only appears this once. That is not to say that the English word confidence is not found anywhere else in the NT.

Application

We see the word faith many times throughout the NT but this verse is the first time it is clearly defined. Faith by definition is a concept its not something we see but it is something we see evidence of. For example in Ephesians 2:3-4 we are told that “we are saved by grace through faith.” We can’t see grace but we hope its there and have faith that it is. Grace saves us but it is our faith that allows us to accept it.