\"Of Little Faith\" in the NT
Volume 3, Number 27Of Little faith - Part 2:January 1, 2010 was the sixth anniversary of Faith Studies. Over the last 6 years, 94 have been sent through cyberspace to about 450 e-mail addresses. As with any human endeavor there are bound to have been errors along the way, certainly in grammar, punctuation and sentence structure, but I hope none in the presentation of God's Word. There are two things I'd like to remind you of at this time: 1) if you change your e-mail address and you wish to continue receiving faith studies please let me know about the change; 2) feedback... Continue reading →
\"Of Little Faith\" in the NT
Volume 3, Number 26Of Little faith - Part 1 - Care or Anxiety addressed:Seven different Greek words were identified in the New Testament (NT) that convey the idea of faith/believe or the lack thereof and were listed in Faith Study Vol. 3, No. 21 dated September 15, 2009. My goal is to examine every passage these words are found in order to understand what the Word of God teaches about faith/ believing. We are presently in the Gospels, i.e., Matthew, Mark, Luke and John where we have examined 2 words thus far; “pistis: usually translated “faith” and “pistos,” usually translated “faithful.” Today we... Continue reading →
\"Faithful\" in the NT
Volume 3, Number 25The word “Faithful” in the Gospels - Part 3 - Recap:Our last three studies (Vol 3, No 22 through 24) explored the use of the Greek word “pistos,” translated “faithful” found 12 times in the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John where Jesus Christ's earthly ministry is recorded. We found He was the only one to utter this word in these accounts and He did so, as recorded 11 times in Matthew, Mark and Luke to teach His people, the Nation of Israel, some of the requirements for being admitted to His Kingdom here on earth. In these passages He... Continue reading →
Thomas & "Faithful" in the Gospels
Volume 3, Number 24The word “Faithful” in the Gospels - Part 3:In Parts 1 & 2 we looked at 11 of the 12 occasions the Greek adjective “pistos,” translated “faithful” is used in the Gospel accounts and found that Jesus Christ was the only one to utter this word in these passages. He did so to teach His people, the Nation of Israel, that:1) The faithful and wise servant is one who is constantly waiting and watching for his master's return, Matthew 24:45 - 51 & Luke 12:41 - 48.2) The good and faithful servant is one who is diligent to invest and... Continue reading →
The Faithful & Wise Servant
Volume 3, Number 23The word “Faithful” in the Gospels - Part 2:In Part 1 we examined the teaching of the word “pistos,” translated “faithful” where it is used 7 times in 4 different passages in Matthew and Luke. It is used once each in 2 passages indicating that the faithful and wise servant is one who is constantly waiting and watching for his master's return, Matthew 24:45 - 51 & Luke 12:41 - 48 and 5 times in 2 passages indicating the faithful and wise servant is also one who is diligent by doing something to invest and increase that with which he... Continue reading →
The Faithful & Wise Servant
Volume 3, Number 22The word “Faithful” in the Gospels - Part 1:The Greek word “pistos,” usually translated “faithful,” occurs 66 times in the New Testament. In this and the next few studies we are attempting to understand what Jesus Christ taught with this word during His earthly ministry. Pistos/faithful is found 12 times in the Gospels, i.e., Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which is significant in that 12 is the number for governmental perfection in the Bible and thus is indentified with the nation of Israel. Jesus Christ's earthly ministry was to the Nation of Israel, Matthew 15:24 and Jesus uttered this word... Continue reading →
Recap of the "Faith" Words in the NT
Volume 3, Number 21Greek words translated faith, faithful, believe, of little faith, unbelief, etc. in the New Testament:We began studying the subject of faith in the New Testament over a year ago. Our methodology in doing so is to examine how different words having to do with faith are used in their various Scriptural contexts and from that attempt to derive what our Lord has for our understanding. For the purpose of this study I am using the King James version of the Bible and as with any version it should be noted that some Greek words in the original manuscripts are translated... Continue reading →
Background of "Faith" in the Bible
Volume 3, Number 20Faith in the Gospels - a look back & forward:In the original languages in which it was written the Word of God was perfect, like everything God created. The Holy Spirit even chose the words used in the original to convey His ideas to man when He inspired the authors of Scripture. But when that Scripture was translated into our language there were, in some cases, no words to convey the exact meaning in the original. Then, many of our English words have assumed different meanings as generations have come and gone. To compound the issue various scholars have established... Continue reading →
The Faith of the Son of Man
Volume 3, Number 19Faith in the Synoptic Gospels as taught by the Greek word “pistis” - Part 5:We continue our study of the Greek word “pistis” translated with the English noun “faith” found 24 times in Matthew, Mark and Luke. (It is not found in the book of John.) Jesus uttered it 23 times, His disciples once. Part 1 of this series (Vol 3, No 15) described 8 incidents in which Jesus alluded to the faith of 13 people as the key to their healing and/or forgiveness from sins. In Part 2 (Vol 3, No 16) we studied 4 incidents in which Jesus... Continue reading →
Faith Omitted from the Law by Israel's Leaders
Volume 3, Number 18Faith in the Synoptic Gospels as taught by the Greek word “pistis” - Part 4:We continue our examination of the Greek word “pistis,” translated with the English noun “faith,” found 24 times in Matthew, Mark and Luke. (It is not found in the Gospel of John.) Jesus is recorded as having uttered it 23 times while His disciples did so once. Part 1 of this series (Vol 3, No 15) described 8 incidents in which Jesus alluded to the faith (pistis) of 13 people as the key to their healing and/or forgiveness of sins. In Part 2 (Vol 3, No... Continue reading →