Our Faith Overcomes the World

[Mobile Conference 2022]

[Posted November 12, 2022]

We have all witnessed just how drastically the things one believes affects the way they live their lives. On the eleventh of September in 2001 the ‘faith’ of a few religious fanatics destroyed the world trade towers, struck the Pentagon, and would have struck the capitol if it had not been stopped by the ‘faith’ of a few who gave their lives to stop those hijackers from making their plane fly into the capitol building here in the U.S. That is what was reported, and while there is much speculation about how those events could possibly be allowed to take place, there is no one arguing against the fact that it was all done through the faith of religious zealots whose faith in the doctrines of their God led them to give their lives for that in which they had placed their faith.

Our faith tells us that if we are the Lord’s elect, the mission of saving mankind from himself will be accomplished by “the Lord and His Christ” alone.

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

He goes as far as telling this about ourselves without Him. This is where we are today:

Isa 59:8  The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
Isa 59:9  Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
Isa 59:10  We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

We live in perilous times, and mankind does not know the way to peace. The Truths of the scripture are as unpopular as they have ever been, and they are becoming even less  popular all by the Lord’s design to try our faith:

Heb 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

While it appears this world is falling apart, and indeed it is, nevertheless “they that be with us are more than they that be with them”.

2Ki 6:15  And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
2Ki 6:16  And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
2Ki 6:17  And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

Elisha typifies those who are in Christ. He typifies you and me, if indeed we are in Christ and He is dwelling within us. The Egyptian army was just as real as the Syrian army. The fiery furnace and the lion’s den were both very real (Dan 3:17, Dan 6:20). However, the Lord is far more powerful that the armies of Egypt and Syria combined, and He is also able to save us out of our own ‘fiery furnace’ and our own ‘den of lions’ if the Lord gives us the necessary faith to endure these fiery trials.

We are not likely to be surrounded by the armies of Syria, and we are probably not going to be threatened with being literally cast into a fiery furnace or a lion’s den. The Lord has already tailored all the trials we need to fit our modern day lives to show us just what we are of ourselves. After He humbles us and shows us our completely hopeless condition, then He shows us what we are when He is living His life within us.

The Truth is that this entire economy in which we live is designed to try our faith and to make us into ‘the sons of God’:

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

The natural man becomes puffed up with these words, but the new man is humbled because he is given to understand that “all things” is a two-edged sword which includes the trials as well as the blessings of this physical realm:

1Co 3:18  Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1Co 3:20  And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

A Godly leader is not what the world considers a ‘motivational speaker’ who tells you that by your own will you can do all things you aspire to accomplish if you will just hunker down and dedicate your life to the pursuit of your goals with barely an allusion to the trials of this life. All the writers of scripture demonstrate the same motivational message Christ brought us. That message, unpopular as it is, includes “the world… life… death… things present [and] things to come”. Christ, Paul and Peter, and James all add to what this means for every future ‘manifested son of God’, and they all agree that all who seek to follow in the footsteps of our Lord will have their faith sorely tried.

We just read how Paul assured us that this world, life and death, things present and things to come are all ours. Paul also assures us the reward will far outweigh the sufferings we must endure to attain the promised reward which is not to be expected in this present time:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

According to these words of the holy spirit through the pen of the apostle Paul, if we are the Lord’s elect, then there is no way we can loose this battle:

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Here is how Christ motivated His disciples. It is the exact same message just with other words:

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Mat 10:18  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Mat 10:20  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

Christ is the ultimate motivational speaker and as such He is honest with His disciples and tells them:

Mat 10:25  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

Is the pope “hated of all men”? Are the mega-ministers on world-wide satellite TV and radio hated of all men? Are the leaders of the Muslim religion “hated of all men”? The obvious answer is that they are not hated of all men. They all have their detractors, but they also have multitudes who love them and are willing to fight for them. However, there is one group who both Muslims and Christians hate and which neither will tolerate, and that group is the Lord’s “little flock” who don’t just hear and repeat the things Christ says, but they do the things He says we should do, and they are indeed “hated of all men”.

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. [Doing the things Christ taught]
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Christians will repeat Christ’s words… “I say unto you that you love your enemies” and in the same breath they will urge you to go out and kill your fellow man for the love of God and country. Muslims do not hide the fact that they hate those words of Christ. They claim Christ as one of their prophets, but they blatantly place the words of Mohammed above the words of Christ. Their doctrine is the same as the law of Moses… “Love your neighbor, but hate your enemy”, and they simply do not tolerate the doctrine of Christ even being spoken. Both have millions of disciples, and it simply cannot be said by any stretch of the imagination that they are hated of all men. There is no need to stretch the imagination to believe that anyone who thinks that you should love your enemies, break the sabbath day, and claim to be the Son of God, while saying of the established religion of His day was “of your Father the devil”, just might be “hated of all men”.

After telling us we will be hated of all men and warning us that even our fathers and brothers will turn on us, Christ tells us this:

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Christ told us that He could do nothing of Himself, and He tells us that we can do nothing without Him:

Joh 5:19  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

Joh 5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

How was Christ able to endure the sufferings of His cross? He was able to do so because He knew who He was, and He believed His Father’s words. That is what He calls “the work of God”, and that is what He tells us will get us through the death of the cross with Him:

Joh 6:24  When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.
Joh 6:25  And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?
Joh 6:26  Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

That is why we must stay close to the ‘Vine’ – Christ. Being ‘in Him’ is to “believe on Him”, and believing on Him is “the work of God”. As Paul words it, our faith is “the gift of God” and it is not of ourselves:

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that [faith is] not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of [our own] works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

A New Testament doctrine which is little known and is seldom ever taught is that the ‘grace’ by which we are saved “through faith… chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live godly lives in this present age”:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811: paideuo, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

The Truth is that our mind learns nothing by simply being told… ‘do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’. The Truth is that God has designed that we are given and “experience of evil” to humble us and make us submit to His will in our lives:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

This verse tells us a part of what that “experience of evil” entails:

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

The Lord uses our own backslidings and wickedness to chasten and scourge us:

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

This chastening from the Lord makes our adversaries think we are cursed by God, but to those who know that grace chastens us to forsake ungodliness, our suffering for Christ is a “evident token… of [our] salvation”:

Php 1:28  And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Our suffering, whether apparently self-inflicted or from persecution, is “for His sake [and] for His body’s sake, which is the church”:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

The Greek word translated as ‘hope’ in Colossians 1:27 is:

G1680
ἐλπίς
elpis
el-pece’
From ἔλπω elpō which is a primary word (to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation (abstract or concrete) or confidence: – faith, hope.
Total KJV occurrences: 54

This word is always translated in the KJV as ‘hope’ except in this one verse where it is used in conjunction with the Greek word translated as ‘faith’ and ‘faithful’:

Heb 10:23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith [G1680, ‘elpis’, hope] without wavering; (for he is faithful [G4103: ‘pistos’, faith] that promised;)

This verse (Heb 10:23) is the only time this word ‘elpis’ is translated as ‘faith’. Of the 54 entries in the New Testament it is translated as ‘hope’ 53 times:

G1680
ἐλπίς
elpis
Total KJV Occurrences: 54

faith, 1
Heb_10:23
hope, 53
Act_2:26; Act_16:19; Act_23:6; Act_24:15; Act_26:6; Act_26:7; Act_27:20; Act_28:20; Rom_4:18(2); Rom_5:2; Rom_5:4; Rom_5:5; Rom_8:20; Rom_8:24(3); Rom_12:12; Rom_15:4; Rom_15:13(2); 1Co_9:10(3); 1Co_13:13; 2Co_1:7; 2Co_3:12; 2Co_10:15; Gal_5:5; Eph_1:18; Eph_2:12; Eph_4:4; Php_1:20; Col_1:5; Col_1:23; Col_1:27; 1Th_1:3; 1Th_2:19; 1Th_4:13; 1Th_5:8; 2Th_2:16; 1Ti_1:1; Tit_1:2; Tit_2:13; Tit_3:7; Heb_3:6; Heb_6:11; Heb_6:18; Heb_7:19; 1Pe_1:3; 1Pe_1:21; 1Pe_3:15; 1Jn_3:3

The Lord’s admonition to us is to ‘Hold fast the profession of our hope, without wavering, because God is faithful who promised’.

The word translated as ‘faithful’ here in Hebrews 10:23 is:

G4103
πιστός
pistos
pis-tos’
From G3982; objectively trustworthy; subjectively trustful: – believe (-ing, -r), faithful (-ly), sure, true.
Total KJV occurrences: 67

As a matter of interest, I want to point out that this Greek word, G4103, ’pistos’, translated as ‘faithful’ is “from G3982” which is grossly mistranslated as ‘obey’ in the King James, and is much better translated as ‘be persuaded’ in the CLV in this verse of Hebrews 13. I will quote the King James version first and then the CLV:

Heb 13:17  Obey [G3982] them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

The Pope and many Protestant ministers love how the King James translates that verse. However, the CLV is a much better translation of what the holy spirit inspired to be written:

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded [G3982] by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you.

The Greek word in question is:

G3982
πείθω
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.
Total KJV occurrences: 55

Here are all those entries so you can decide for yourself which is the best translation:

G3982
πείθω
peithō
Total KJV Occurrences: 58
persuaded, 16
Mat_27:20, Luk_16:31, Luk_20:6, Act_13:43, Act_14:19, Act_18:4, Act_19:26, Act_21:14, Act_26:26, Rom_8:38, Rom_15:14 (2), 2Ti_1:5, 2Ti_1:12, Heb_6:9, Heb_11:13
trust, 7
Mar_10:24, 2Co_1:9, 2Co_10:7, Phi_2:24, Phi_3:4, Heb_2:13, Heb_13:18
confidence, 6
2Co_2:3, Gal_5:10, Phi_1:25, Phi_3:3, 2Th_3:4, Phm_1:21

obey, 5
Rom_2:8, Gal_3:1, Gal_5:7, Heb_13:17, Jam_3:3
believed, 3
Act_17:3-4 (2), Act_27:11, Act_28:24
confident, 3
Rom_2:19, Phi_1:6, Phi_1:14
persuade, 3
Mat_28:14 (2), 2Co_5:11, Gal_1:10
trusted, 3
Mat_27:43, Luk_11:22, Luk_18:9
obeyed, 2
Act_5:36-37 (2)
persuading, 2
Act_19:8, Act_28:23
agreed, 1
Act_5:40
assure, 1
1Jo_3:19
friend, 1
Act_12:19-20 (2)
made, 1
Act_12:20 (2) persuadest, 1
Act_26:28
put, 1
Heb_2:13
waxing, 1
Phi_1:13-14 (2)
yield, 1
Act_23:21

It is obvious that the English word ‘persuade’ is a much better translation than the word ‘obey’.

Getting back to the Greek word G4103, ‘pistos’ this is the BT+ definition of this word:

– Definition:

trusty, faithful
of persons who show themselves faithful in the transaction of business, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties
one who kept his plighted faith, worthy of trust that can be relied on
easily persuaded
believing, confiding, trusting
in the NT one who trusts in God’s promises
one who is convinced that Jesus has been raised from the dead
one who has become convinced that Jesus is the messiah and author of salvation

– Origin: from G3982
– TDNT entry: 08:54,8
– Part(s) of speech: Adjective

Here is where this word first appears in the New Testament:

Mat 24:45  Who then is a faithful [G4103: pistos] and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Mat 24:47  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

“He is faithful (G4103, ‘pistos’) that promised” and He will have nothing less than the same fidelity in those He chooses to “make ruler over all His goods”.

Here are the other entries for this word in the New Testament:

G4103
πιστός
pistos
Total KJV Occurrences: 66
faithful, 53
Mat_24:45, Mat_25:21 (2), Mat_25:23 (2), Luk_12:42, Luk_16:10-12 (4), Luk_19:17, Act_16:15, 1Co_1:9, 1Co_4:2, 1Co_4:17, 1Co_7:25, 1Co_10:13, Gal_3:9, Eph_1:1, Eph_6:21, Col_1:2, Col_4:7 (2), Col_4:9, 1Th_5:24, 2Th_3:3, 1Ti_1:12, 1Ti_1:15, 1Ti_3:11, 1Ti_4:9, 1Ti_6:2, 2Ti_2:2, 2Ti_2:11, 2Ti_2:13, Tit_1:6, Tit_1:9, Tit_3:8, Heb_2:17, Heb_3:2, Heb_3:5, Heb_10:23, Heb_11:11, 1Pe_4:19, 1Pe_5:12, 1Jo_1:9, Rev_1:5, Rev_2:10, Rev_17:13-14 (3), Rev_19:11, Rev_22:5-6 (2)
believe, 2
1Ti_4:3, 1Ti_4:10
believed, 2
Act_10:45, Act_16:1
believeth, 2
2Co_6:15, 1Ti_5:16
believing, 2
Joh_20:27, 1Ti_6:2
true, 2
2Co_1:18, 1Ti_3:1
believers, 1
1Ti_4:12
faithfully, 1
3Jo_1:5
sure, 1
Act_13:34

The ability to believe “He is faithful that promised” is a gift from God. The Lord tries that gift to strengthen our faith and to help us to endure to the end even when we cannot see how His promises are physically possible.

The Greek noun from which the adjective ‘pistos’ is derived is:

G4102
πίστις
pistis
pis’-tis
Strong’s: 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.
Total KJV Occurrences: 221
assurance, 1

Act_17:31

<belief, 1
2Th_2:13

believe, 1
Heb_10:39

believeth, 1
Rom_3:26

effect, 1
Rom_3:3
faith, 215
Mat_9:2; Mar_2:5; Luk_5:20; Luk_17:5; Act_3:16(2); Act_6:5; Act_6:7; Act_6:8; Act_11:24; Act_13:8; Act_14:9; Act_14:22; Act_14:27; Act_15:9; Act_16:5; Act_20:21; Act_24:24; Rom_1:5; Rom_1:8; Rom_1:12; Rom_1:17(3); Rom_3:22; Rom_3:25; Rom_3:27; Rom_3:28; Rom_3:30(2); Rom_3:31; Rom_4:5; Rom_4:9; Rom_4:11; Rom_4:12; Rom_4:13; Rom_4:14; Rom_4:16(2); Rom_4:19; Rom_4:20; Rom_5:1; Rom_5:2; Rom_9:30; Rom_9:32; Rom_10:6; Rom_10:8; Rom_10:17; Rom_11:20; Rom_12:3; Rom_12:6; Rom_14:1; Rom_14:22; Rom_14:23(2); Rom_16:26; 1Co_2:5; 1Co_12:9; 1Co_13:2; 1Co_13:13; 1Co_15:14; 1Co_15:17; 1Co_16:13; 2Co_1:24(2); 2Co_4:13; 2Co_5:7; 2Co_8:7; 2Co_10:15; 2Co_13:5; Gal_1:23; Gal_2:16(2); Gal_2:20; Gal_3:2; Gal_3:5; Gal_3:7; Gal_3:8; Gal_3:9; Gal_3:11; Gal_3:12; Gal_3:14; Gal_3:22; Gal_3:23(2); Gal_3:24; Gal_3:25; Gal_3:26; Gal_5:5; Gal_5:6; Gal_5:22; Gal_6:10; Eph_1:15; Eph_2:8; Eph_3:12; Eph_3:17; Eph_4:5; Eph_4:13; Eph_6:16; Eph_6:23; Php_1:25; Php_1:27; Php_2:17; Php_3:9(2); Col_1:4; Col_1:23; Col_2:5; Col_2:7; Col_2:12; 1Th_1:3; 1Th_1:8; 1Th_3:2; 1Th_3:5; 1Th_3:6; 1Th_3:7; 1Th_3:10; 1Th_5:8; 2Th_1:3; 2Th_1:4; 2Th_1:11; 2Th_3:2; 1Ti_1:2; 1Ti_1:4; 1Ti_1:5; 1Ti_1:14; 1Ti_1:19(2); 1Ti_2:7; 1Ti_2:15; 1Ti_3:9; 1Ti_3:13; 1Ti_4:1; 1Ti_4:6; 1Ti_4:12; 1Ti_5:8; 1Ti_5:12; 1Ti_6:10; 1Ti_6:11; 1Ti_6:12; 1Ti_6:21; 2Ti_1:5; 2Ti_1:13; 2Ti_2:18; 2Ti_2:22; 2Ti_3:8; 2Ti_3:10; 2Ti_3:15; 2Ti_4:7; Tit_1:1; Tit_1:4; Tit_1:13; Tit_2:2; Tit_3:15; Phm_1:5; Phm_1:6; Heb_4:2; Heb_6:1; Heb_6:12; Heb_10:22; Heb_10:38; Heb_11:1; Heb_11:3; Heb_11:4; Heb_11:5; Heb_11:6; Heb_11:7(2); Heb_11:8; Heb_11:9; Heb_11:11; Heb_11:13; Heb_11:17; Heb_11:20; Heb_11:21; Heb_11:22; Heb_11:23; Heb_11:24; Heb_11:27; Heb_11:28; Heb_11:29; Heb_11:30; Heb_11:31; Heb_11:33; Heb_11:39; Heb_12:2; Heb_13:7; Jam_1:3; Jam_1:6; Jam_2:1; Jam_2:5; Jam_2:14(2); Jam_2:17; Jam_2:18(3); Jam_2:20; Jam_2:22(2); Jam_2:24; Jam_2:26; Jam_5:15; 1Pe_1:5; 1Pe_1:7; 1Pe_1:9; 1Pe_1:21; 1Pe_5:9; 2Pe_1:1; 2Pe_1:5; 1Jn_5:4; Jud_1:3; Jud_1:20; Rev_13:10; Rev_14:12

fidelity,
Tit_2:10

The first entry of this Greek word is the New Testament Is in:

Mat 9:2  And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith [G4102: ‘pistis’] said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

The Greek adjective, G4103, ‘pistos’, and the Greek noun, G4102, ‘pistis’ both are derived from the Greek verb G3982, ‘peitho’, meaning ‘to persuade’. Our persuasion of the truth of the words of Christ is the gift of ‘pistis’, faith, through which we are all saved:

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Without this gift from God it is impossible to please Him:

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

The opposite of faith is fear and “fear hath torment”:

1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

We are told that King Saul was tormented from the day that Samuel told him the Lord had taken the kingdom from him and had given it to another man who was better than he:

1Sa 15:26  And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
1Sa 15:27  And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
1Sa 15:28  And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.

In the next chapter we are told:

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth [torments] thee.

When we fear what family and friends, society and men think of us or can do to us, we are sorely lacking in the faith of Jesus Christ, and we are not displaying our love and fear of God, and we will live a life of torment when we do that.

Our lives are all in the Lord’s hands but that does not change the fact that we are all commanded to ask the Lord for both wisdom and faith because they work together to keep us faithful to the end:

Mar 9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mar 9:25  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

Luk 17:5  And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

It is the faith with which the Lord gifts us that will overcome the adversaries desire to destroy us as he wanted to destroy the apostle Peter:

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

The Lord is also our comforter and our advocate to His Father on our behalf:

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate [G3875: ‘parakletos’, intercessor, consoler, comforter] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

With Christ on our side we need not fear what man can do to us nor that Christ will not plead our case with His Father, who Himself has given us His faith:

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

This is the faith that will see us through these perilous times in which we live:

2Ti 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

We have been given the faith to believe these comforting words of the spirit:

Rom 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Christ is married to us, and He will cause us to acknowledge our iniquity and He will redeem us (Jer 3:13-14):

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.