Faith...Faithful...Faithfulness (One Last Pass)

I keep having additional thoughts related to faith and faithfulness as we pass through Hebrews 11 in our morning bible study.  (Forgive me for revisiting the subject again.)  Dan Lancaster pointed out in one of his lessons that the Greek word for faith has some ambiguity that permits it to be translated as "faith" or "faithfulness".  Lancaster speculated that Paul used this ambiguity to his advantage when communicating to a society that focused on the mind over the heart. 

 

Sometimes I find it interesting to compare the usage of similar biblical concepts in the Hebrew text and the Greek text.  Since God is unchanging (Mal 3:6), “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8), we expect the fundamental principles related to obedience and worship of God to be unchanging.  This principle both provides the believer with a solid foundation from the beginning of scripture and offers a way to test the validity of new insights into scripture.  When we find a difference between a biblical principle in the Hebrew text compared to the Greek text, we should stop, take note, and ask why the difference appears to exist.

One place we find a difference is in the way “faith” and “faithfulness” are presented in the Hebrew and Greek texts.  The following tables presents the different frequencies faith related words are found in sections of the New American Standard translation.

	Use of the word…	Hebrew Text	Gospel and Acts	Pauline Epistles	Hebrews Epistle	Other Epistles
	Faith	4	41	136	31	23
	Faithful	29	9	17	6	3
	Faithfully	14	0	0	0	1
	Faithfulness	38	1	2	0	0
	Unfaithful(ness)	38	0	0	0	0

While the New Testament appears to focus primarily on “faith”, the Old Testament emphasis is on “faithfulness”, or “unfaithfulness” when a person fails to remain “faithful”.  From the Hebrew text we read, “The LORD will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness,” (1 Sam 26:23).  The most frequently quoted passages in the New Testament include: “Faith comes from hearing and hearing the word of God” (Rom 10:17), “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1), and “The righteous man shall live be faith,” (Rom 1:17).

One simple and reasonable explanation for the difference between the “faithfulness” of the Old Testament and “faith” in the New Testament focuses on the different audiences of the prophets and the apostles.  A largely Hebraic audience, “entrusted with the oracles of God” (Rom 3:2), and already possessing a knowledge of God, did not need to come to “faith” in God, but to return to God through repentance and acts of faithfulness.  However, the New Testament Gentile audience did not possess the same understanding, but were largely devoid of any knowledge of God, “having no hope and without God in the world,” (Eph 2:12).  First century Gentiles needed to first believe and profess faith in the one true God before they could move on toward the calling of faithfulness.  After Gentile believers came to “faith” in Jesus Christ, they were then expected to progress toward a life of “faithfulness”, as it is written, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentle ness, self-control,” (Gal 5:22).

Unfortunately, the focus on “faith” in the New Testament has been largely preached to the detriment of “faithfulness.”  As a result, believers do not often “press on to maturity,” (Heb 6:1).  Although “faith” and “faithfulness” are closely linked, they become somewhat separated as they pass from Hebrew through Greek and into the English language.  Faithfulness implies a lifestyle lived in obedience to God, “I have chosen the faithful way, I have place Your ordinances before me,” (Psalms 119:30).  On the other hand, “faith” is more often viewed as an intellectual position, “I have faith in Jesus” or “Have you put your faith in Jesus?”  When we speak of “faith” in the Greek text, we should also understand that “faithfulness” is implied.

 

The focus on faith over faithfulness is also impacted by translational considerations as the principle passes from the Hebrew language through Greek and into English.  This is not unique.  For example, the original Hebrew word for repentance is “teshuvah,” which literally means “to turn around,” as in, “Repent, then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out,” (Acts 3:19).  True repentance is also accompanied by deeds, as John the Baptist spoke, “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance,” (Matt 3:8).  Unfortunately, the Greek word used for repentance in the New Testament is “metanoeo,” and is understood to mean, “changing a person’s mind.”  As a result, modern repentance has often been reduced to an expression of sorrow for our actions, when restitution or other acts for a wrong may also be required.

The Greek word used for faith, “pistis” (Strongs-4102), is somewhat ambiguous, because it can be translated as either “faith” (Rom 1:16), or “faithfulness,” (Rom 3:3).  The specific translation is dependent on the context, although the primary translation in the New Testament is “faith”.  It appears that Paul used this ambiguity in “pistis” from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) to his advantage.  Paul spoke of “faith” to a largely Greek audience that elevated the intellect above the physical action, (Acts 17:21).  By comparison the Hebrew believer focused on the heart as the motivating force behind action, as it is written, “Doing the will of God from the heart,” (Eph 6:6).  For this reason, the original call to action in the Hebrew text is often morphed into contemplations of the mind as the text passed through the Greek language into the English, i.e., “faithfulness” (action) becomes “faith” (thought or profession of the mind). 

“Pistis” can mean faith in the New Testament, such as in, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1).  However, many times “pistis” would be better understood as “faithfulness”, such as “Without faithfulness it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him,” (Heb 11:6).  “Faithfulness” is more appropriate in this verse because both belief and action are referenced.  A key component that must be incorporated into any faith is the action of seeking God, as Paul wrote of man, “That they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him,” (Acts 17:27). 

There are numerous other examples in the New Testament were “faith” can (and should) be translated as “faithfulness”.  For example, the frequent New Testament phrase “faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal 2:16, 3:22, 3:26, 5:6) can also be translated “faith of Jesus” or “faithfulness of Jesus.”  According to Dwight Pryor, the literal Greek reads “faith(fulness) Jesus Christ”, which leads the conjunctive word and emphasis open to interpretation.  More often than not, the emphasis should not be on man, but on Jesus Who is called “A faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,” (Heb 2:17).  Therefore, an equally valid translation can read, “For you are all sons of God through the faithfulness of Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:26)

The often quoted passage of Paul, “The righteous one shall live by faith” (Rom 1:16-17), originates from the prophet Habakkuk, “The righteous will live by his faith,” (Hab 2:4).  The Hebrew word “emunah” occurs over 30 times in the Hebrew text and is only translated as “faith” this one time in Habakkuk 2:4.  At other times, it is translated as “faithfulness” (25 times) and faithfully (8 times).  Therefore, it would be more accurate to translate the passage as “The righteous one shall live by faithfulness.”  Unfortunately, it appears that the English translators back translated Habakkuk based on their interpretation of Paul, rather than be consistent with how “emunah” is translated elsewhere in the Hebrew text.

In the chapter of faith (Hebrews 11), all the examples provided by the author demonstrate faithfulness by their actions, such as: Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain (Heb 11:4), Noah warned about things not seen built an ark (Heb 11:7), Abraham obeyed by going to a place to receive a reward (Heb 11:8), Abraham “lived as an alien in the land of promise…for he was looking for the city which has foundation, whose architect and builder is God,” (Heb 11:9-10), Abraham “Offered us Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten,” (Heb 11:17), etc.  The chapter on faith concludes by describing the faithfulness of other individuals:

“What more shall  I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouth of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight…And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,” (Heb 11:32-39)

Although “faith” is required of all believers, our faith must lead to a daily walk of “faithfulness”, as it is written, “If you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?” (Luke 16:11).  To the unfaithful (Num 5:6), Jesus warns, “Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness,” (Matt 7:23).

 

Have a blessed week - Scott