Faith (G4102)

pistis
pis'-tis
From G3982; persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: - assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.

(Credence: 1. belief as to the truth of something 2. something giving a claim to belief or confidence)

(I believe the words "of religious truth", "a religious teacher" and "system of religious" should be eliminated from this definition, because we should rely on the Father for truth, not religious men. The reason why, because Christ Himself had a problem with religious men of His time.)

FROM: G3982
peithō
pi'-tho
A primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy to pacify or conciliate (by other fair means); reflexively or passively to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty): - agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be (wax) content, make friend, obey, persuade, trust, yield.

(And also I believe, the words "by inward certainty" should be extremely emphasized)

So what is faith? Is it something we have in something else?

For example: this statement of "I have faith in God." Are we to understand this as: you have faith that God "will do" something in the future, seeing it in the "future" tense?
But when you see this statement as something that has already taken place ... it has an effect on our present moment, we now see the old statement of "I have faith in God" as "I have been persuaded/convinced by the Father". (This having to do with perception, which is also related to: repentance; meaning to think differently)

This is the faith that Abraham was convinced of: God convinced Abraham, Abraham believed God and therefore it was accounted to him as righteousness. Abraham believing "what God persuaded/convinced him of" is what was accounted to Abraham as righteousness.
Rom 4:3  For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

G4100
pisteuō
pist-yoo'-o
From G4102; to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), that is, credit; by implication to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well being to Christ): - believe (-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.

(Again, taken from G4102, meaning: persuasion .... also I believe the words "especially one's spiritual well being to Christ" should be strongly emphasized, because our spiritual well being should not be entrusted to religious men.)

So, this is how I believe we are to understand the word "faith", we have to see: Faith IS "that which we have been persuaded/convinced of by our heavenly Father" which this mindset effects us now, not at some future event in time, our life or in the world.

The kingdom of God is at hand, this is a "NOW" statement, not a "future event" statement.

There were three main things that the Father used to convince me not to rely on religious men:

First:
Rom 3:3  For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith (persuasion, convincing) of God without effect?
Rom 3:4  God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
Second:
There are over 30,000 denominations of Christianity, what are the odds of finding the one that is "ALL" truth? I believe ..... slim to none (more than likely none). And the reason there ARE so many different denominations is because of their own interpretation of His word. When one or more disagree with the others in the congregation, they split off and form another church, in other words ... they form another denomination.
Third:
Religious people are always looking to a future event that "is to happen" becoming first the servant, but never move on into what "did happen" that made them sons, to have an effect on their lives "now" in the present.

How can we ... "as seekers of the truth" ... trust any man when they can't even agree among themselves?

The foundation of the majority of "religious" Christian belief systems is not founded upon Christ, despite their claims that it is,  it is founded upon their doctrine of Hell, not upon Christ. Christ is only secondary to hell.

According to religion, as they teach it, you have to:
First, be convinced in the existence of hell (as they teach it)
Second, be convinced you are headed there (because that is what they believed)
Third, be convinced you have to do something about it. (because that is what they did)

The fear of going to hell has to be firmly planted in your mind (as it was in them). FEAR has to grow in your mind ... FEAR is the snare of the devil ..... it binds you and will torment you until you feel you are doing enough to get into the grace of God ..... not knowing that you are trying to buy your way in by works.

When we fully understand that Christ is the only one (not you) that can free you from the bondage of fear, by convincing you that your sins have been forgiven, can you have the peace that goes beyond understanding. That my friend is walking in "faith" ..... in other words "walking in what you have been convinced of".

FAITH = That which you have been convinced/persuaded of

This is what Paul meant when he says, you are saved by grace through faith and that not of yourselves ..... meaning, it was not you who convinced yourself that you have been saved by grace.

God's definition of a child: one who is immature in understanding who He is; He is a loving Father, not a vindictive dictator.

So, this is how we are to understand the word "faith", we have to see: Faith IS "that which we have been persuaded/convinced of by our heavenly Father" which this mindset effects us now, not at some future event in time, our life or in the world.

I said this in the previous post and would like to expand upon it with another verse.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Again, the word "faith" is G4102 persuasion ..... so if we take it's original meaning and place it in the verse we have:

Now persuasion is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

When we see this verse as it should be ... a comparison, we see that "persuasion" is being compared to substance, meaning it is something tangible and also that in the second half of the verse we see that this substance (persuasion) is equal to the word "evidence".

Then when we see the comparison of "things hoped for" is the same truth as "things not seen" ... and that is simply because to hope for something is; to not know for sure that it will take place which is just another way of saying "something not seen for sure".

It is seeing this verse as: "persuasion of things hoped for" is said in different words but is the exact same truth as "evidence of things not seen".

This is what the Father is trying to do with us through His word, to persuade us (give us evidence) that what He says will happen ... will actually happen. This was the whole purpose of the Old Testament, to persuade us of the coming of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. But this is what the Pharisees and Sadducees (the religious of the time) did not want to accept through the words of Christ.

They would not accept Christ as the Savior of the world through His ultimate sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, that this work of Christ would put an end to condemnation through the law by the forgiveness of sins through grace (a better covenant). This is "the finished work" we are to understand through the written word, the good news that would be glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.

If we do not believe that Christ fulfilled the works of the law by His sacrifice, bringing an end to condemnation through the law, then we also do not believe we have been forgiven of our sins by His sacrifice and by it we will continue to try and fulfill the law ourselves through our own flesh. In short, if we do not believe He brought an end to death (first in us), we cannot enter into life (seeing it accomplished in everyone).

It is "HIS" finished work that brings an end to condemnation through the law "IN US" and it is also "HIS" finished work "IN US" that we are "NOW" convinced (having faith) we have been forgiven of our sins by His sacrifice. Thus entering into "HIS" life of forgiveness, (becoming the forgiveness of the Father) so that we may forgive others as we have been forgiven.