Qualities of Faith – What Faith?

Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:1)

In 2 Peter 1:1 the apostle wrote to, “those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours.” Many people say they have faith, or that they live a life of faith, but what does the Bible say about how to acquire the faith Peter was talking about? The Apostle Paul explained the starting point when he wrote that, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:8–10; see also 1 Corinthians 15:1–11).

The English word “faith” is translated from the Greek word pistis (G4102). Here is the definition of pistis according to Strong’s Concordance^[1]: “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.” The key element of this definition is, “reliance upon Christ for salvation” (compare with Acts 4:12).

The writer of Hebrews provides the following definition: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The rest of Hebrews 11 details how some people have demonstrated the faith they possess. In every example listed the starting point for assurance and conviction is belief. In 2 Peter 1:1 the apostle is speaking to people who believe the truth about the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. Peter then explains how those who possess the same kind of faith he has can demonstrate they have that faith.

The Apostle Peter wrote to a scattered audience (1 Peter 1:1–2) who had one thing in common – faith. This faith is defined as a way of life based on the right belief system. It is not simply a belief about Jesus and that He existed; it is a belief in Jesus and what He did to purchase our salvation, and rescue us from the penalty of sin, which is death. It is a belief in the gospel – the good news about the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14–15; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:1–11; Hebrews 12:1–2).

FOOTNOTES

1. Dictionaries of Hebrew and Greek Words taken from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D. Published in 1890; public domain. ↑