Question:
Dr. Lindstrom. My question is no longer showing on your site. In brief, I wanted to know the definition of “trust”, “believe” and “faith” These seem to be interchangeable when speaking of salvation (i.e. whosoever believeth in Him shall have everlasting life). If a person truely and sincerely “trusts”, “believes” or has “faith” doesn’t it mean that they would follow the path God wants them to and live life the way God intended believers to live because they “trust” in Him. Or does “trust” “believe” and “faith” mean that a person believes Jesus Christ to be their one and only Saviour who died to cover our sins and that believing in this as fact brings them salvation? I guess I could ask it in that if a person who believes doesn’t let God lead their life, does that person really truely believe or are they deceiving themselves?
Answer:
The greek verb pisteuo (pist-yoo’-o) is translated as ‘believe’ in the New Testament. The greek noun pistis (pis’-tis) is translated as ‘faith’ in the New Testament. The best word in english that defines them is ‘TRUST’. So in anwer to your question ‘believe’, ‘faith’ and ‘trust’ are interchangeable. A good example is Romans 4:5 which says, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” We could translate the last phrase ‘his BELIEF is counted for righteousness.” Or, ‘his ‘TRUST’ is counted for righteousness.’