Faith: A Word Study (Part I)

Learning to Trust God When the ‘What Ifs’ Don’t End

Aug 21, 2025

I’ve decided to study the word FAITH. For the most part, when I study the Bible, I go verse by verse, book by book, because topical studies are more at risk for taking scripture out of context.

However, I’m going to use three books that I’ve already studied carefully, verse by verse as a whole, so that I don’t cherry pick something I haven’t read in context. I’m also going to focus my word study using verses from the whole of scripture: One from a book in Torah, one from the Gospels, and one from the New Testament. That way I’m covering the full scope/arc of scripture.

Here they are…

“And he believed the LORD, and He counted it to him as righteousness.”
Genesis 15:6

“He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.’”
Matthew 17:20

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1

Let’s dive in.

If I want a Biblical definition of the word faith, I need to first look at the original words.

GENESIS 15:6

In Genesis 15, the Hebrew word here is הֶאֱמִן (he’emin). It means to consider reliable, to trust, to confirm as true, to lean on.

Fun fact, this is where the word “Amen” comes from as well.

Consider reliable
To trust
To confirm as true
To lean on

What is the context of Genesis 15:6? Abram has left Ur, he’s rescued Lot, and God has promised him that he will become a great nation. However, Abram hasn’t had children yet. So when it says it was counted to him as righteousness, scripture is saying Abram believed that God’s promise was going to come to pass, even though it appeared impossible.

Now let’s look at the verse in Matthew.

MATTHEW 17:20

In Matthew 17, the Aramaic word here is ܗܝܡܢܘܬܐ (haymānūṯā). It means belief, fidelity, trust, loyalty. This word has the same root as the Hebrew word.

Belief
Fidelity
Trust
Loyalty

What is the context of Matthew 17:20? This is right after the transfiguration. And there is a demon possessed boy that the disciples try to help, but they can’t. They are unable to heal him. Jesus then heals the boy and expels the demon, and later the disciples ask Him why they couldn’t. Jesus responds with this scripture.

HEBREWS 11:1

In Hebrews 11, the Greek word here is πίστις (pistis). It means trust, confidence, conviction, loyalty, fidelity. This has a slightly different root than the other two as this word comes from the Greek root πείθω (peitho) which means to persuade or trust. But it was an accepted Greek equivalent of the word Faith as understood at that time.

Trust
Confidence
Conviction
Loyalty
Fidelity

What’s the context of Hebrews 11? The book was written to Jewish Christians who were thinking about returning to Temple sacrifices because of persecution. The whole point of chapter 11 is to show that God’s people have ALWAYS lived by faith. The chapter goes on to explain the faith of Abram and references Genesis 15 directly. His faith came well before the Law was given to Moses.

How do we create a three dimensional definition of the word faith using these three references?

I took the entire list and asked ChatGPT to help me with some statement definitions that blend these words and meanings together. I asked it to not flatten scripture but speak to the word’s depth. Here is what it said….

Faith is leaning your whole weight on God’s promise—treating His word as more solid than what you see.
Faith is covenant loyalty—the steadfast fidelity of clinging to God even when circumstances scream the opposite.
Faith is relational trust—confidence not in yourself, but in the reliability of God’s character.
Faith is fidelity expressed through obedience—living in such a way that your loyalty to God shows itself in action.
Faith is conviction of unseen reality—an inner assurance that what God has said is more real than what is presently visible.
Faith is allegiance—not just belief about God, but loyalty to Him, pledging yourself as trustworthy to the Trustworthy One.
Faith is confidence that produces endurance—the deep persuasion that enables you to stand firm under trial without abandoning Him.
Faith is confirmation through trust—treating God’s promises as already true, even before they materialize.
Faith is the merging of belief and faithfulness—holding both the mental persuasion of truth and the lived fidelity to that truth.
Faith is trust in the faithful One—a recognition that your confidence is only as strong as the God you lean on, and He is utterly reliable.

When I read through the scriptures above and expand out the definition of the word faith to really understand what it is, it’s clear that while faith has its roots in logic and understanding of the character and promises of God, it goes out from there….

…out in the big scary waters of uncertainty where the rational mind isn’t fully in charge.1

How do you live out faith when you have a strong rational mind?

This has been the question of decades for me. Faith, as a concept, has been misused in my Church community many times, and caused me quite a bit of pain. In one instance, I was in a room with someone I cared about who was dying, and there was no allowance for us to talk about anything other than God’s ability to heal. It was obvious that God wasn’t going to heal him right there and he died a few days later.

I also am someone who has a lot of questions. I don’t trust easily. I make backup scenarios for fun. When something doesn’t make logical sense, I can get stuck in overthinking loops trying to rationalize my way through a problem to make it make sense.

Abram was a man who lived in a pagan culture and responded to God’s call to leave his home and become the father of a nation.

We read that and say “Oh yea, that’s Abram for you.” I want you to imagine you’re sitting at home making dinner for your family and all of a sudden God comes to you and says, “Pick up and leave.” The amount of overthinking I would have done. We don’t know exactly how God spoke to Abram as the scripture doesn’t say (in that passage). In future passages it does, but not in that one.

God spoke. Abram heard. He listened. Then he took action.

In Matthew, we have the disciples trying to expel a demon. They’ve seen Jesus do it. They’ve done it themselves before. Yet their past experience wasn’t enough to rely on. The power Jesus had given them wasn’t like a gumball machine. Is it possible they’d come to rely on their technique rather than God?

Jesus then tells them that faith as small as a mustard seed is all they need. At first glance it seems like Jesus is saying even the smallest faith could have done it. The fact they could not expel the demon meant they weren’t acting in their faith at all, but in something other than faith.

In Hebrews, the Jewish Christians are under persecution. They believe Jesus is the Messiah and the ultimate sacrifice and yet, He’s not returned yet. What if they got it wrong? What if they really need to go back to the temple and make offerings? They don’t realize the Temple is going to be destroyed soon. The delay, the pressure, the rising conflict, are all causing them to question their belief.

When I think about these three stories and what faith looked like and sounded like, I realize that my own faith struggles to even be the size of a mustard seed.

More often than not, I’m in the land of “But what if?” …

“But what if it wasn’t God?”
“But what if that’s not the right decision?”
“But what if I mess it up?”
“But what if God didn’t really mean it that way?”
“But what if I’m wrong?”
“But what if there is some evidence I’m missing?”
“But what if people are going to be upset or mad at me?”
“But what if I can’t understand it fully?”
“But what if my sin or my flesh is too strong?”
“But what if I don’t want to?”
“But what if it’s God’s will that I suffer?”
“But what if it doesn’t work and I look like a fool?”

I’m pretty sure this is why God wants me to study faith and what it means/entails. He knows this is hard for me. This was the rock I tripped over multiple times and ended up leaving Church entirely.

In fact, when I started to reconstruct my faith, the only thing I could rest on to begin was that Jesus was in fact the Messiah. I wasn’t quite sure of anything else. This conclusion started as a rational and logical study but ultimately, required belief. I wasn’t able to go back in time and see the evidence for myself, but I knew that the belief was based on sound arguments. That’s where my faith started to be rebuilt.

Since then (about six months ago), God has been building my faith brick by brick through His word and through prayer. Slowly my what if’s are being replaced with quiet belief that He is going to exactly as He said and there is nothing I can offer Him that will change the outcome of His plans. But I can offer Him my trust & my belief.

Here on this side of eternity, I only have a set number years to give God my trust and my faith. For once I die, I will be reunited with Him and never have to live separate or apart from His love and glory.

These are the moments I can show belief and trust in Him because the story isn’t over yet. Faith is needed in the gap. That’s the point.

Will I trust Him and believe Him when I can’t see or understand it fully?

That is faith. That is what I asking Him to build in me.