What Is Faith?
Faith is trust in and reliance on God, particularly on the promises and person of Jesus Christ, central to how Christians describe salvation.
Meaning
Faith, in Christian usage, is more than intellectual belief that something is true. It describes personal trust, reliance, and commitment, particularly trust placed in God and in Jesus Christ. The Greek word pistis carries this fuller sense of trust and faithfulness, not mere agreement with a set of facts.
The book of Hebrews offers Scripture's clearest definition: now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen. The chapter that follows catalogs figures like Abraham and Moses who acted on trust in God's promises before seeing them fulfilled. Paul places faith at the center of salvation itself, teaching that people are made right with God through faith rather than through keeping the law.
Christian traditions agree faith is essential but differ on its relationship to works. Historic Protestant traditions, following the Reformation principle of sola fide, faith alone, teach that faith alone justifies a person before God, with good works following as evidence of genuine faith. Catholic and Orthodox teaching affirm faith as foundational but describe it working together with love and good works, sometimes summarized as faith working through love, drawing on the book of James's teaching that faith without works is dead. The disagreement is often more about emphasis and sequence than about whether both faith and works matter.
In Scripture
Hebrews 11:1“Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.”
Explore more terms in the Christian glossary, see how the traditions understand it on the denominations guide, or read related verses explained.
Faith: Frequently Asked
Is faith just believing something without evidence?
Not in the biblical sense. Christian faith is described as trust grounded in God's demonstrated character and past faithfulness, not a blind leap unconnected to reason or experience. Hebrews 11 describes faith as confident assurance and describes people acting on it based on God's prior track record of keeping promises, not on wishful thinking.
How is faith different from just believing facts about Jesus?
Christian teaching distinguishes mere intellectual agreement from saving faith. James notes that even demons believe God exists in a factual sense. Biblical faith involves personal trust and reliance, entrusting oneself to Jesus Christ, not just accepting historical claims about him. It is closer to the trust you place in a person than agreement with a statement.
Do faith and works contradict each other?
Christian traditions do not see them as opposites. Paul teaches salvation comes through faith, not earned by works. James teaches that genuine faith naturally produces works, and that faith without any works is dead. Most traditions read these together: works do not earn salvation, but real faith reliably shows itself through a changed life.