Faith
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πίστις means faith, trust, or faithfulness, and in the Pastoral Epistles it carries both personal reliance on Christ and the entrusted body of apostolic truth. The word can describe sincere faith, the faith that receives salvation in Christ Jesus, faith held with a clear conscience, faith that can be shipwrecked, faith some abandon, and the faith Paul has kept to the end.
Reader summary
Full entry for πίστις (G4102) · Open the biblical lexicon
πίστις means faith, trust, or faithfulness, and in the Pastoral Epistles it carries both personal reliance on Christ and the entrusted body of apostolic truth. The word can describe sincere faith, the faith that receives salvation in Christ Jesus, faith held with a clear conscience, faith that can be shipwrecked, faith some abandon, and the faith Paul has.
The BSB source-word alignment has 243 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include faith (178), by faith (21), of faith (13), [the] faith (7), faithfulness (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 8:10. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (40), Hebrews (32), Galatians (22), 1 Timothy (19).
This entry includes 10 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
πίστις means faith, trust, or faithfulness, and in the Pastoral Epistles it carries both personal reliance on Christ and the entrusted body of apostolic truth. The word can describe sincere faith, the faith that receives salvation in Christ Jesus, faith held with a clear conscience, faith that can be shipwrecked, faith some abandon, and the faith Paul has kept to the end.
It can also describe the faith of God's elect and the faithful conduct that adorns the teaching about God our Savior. This range requires careful teaching. Paul is not using πίστις as bare religious sincerity. Faith has an object: Christ Jesus. Faith also has a moral companion: a good conscience. Faith can be nourished by Scripture, guarded against false teaching, modeled across generations, and persevered in through suffering.
In these letters, faith is personal and doctrinal, received and guarded, confessed and lived. It is not works-righteousness, but neither is it empty profession. Pastoral teaching should help readers trust Christ, hold the apostolic faith, keep conscience clear, resist shipwreck, and finish the race.
In the Pastoral Epistles, πίστις moves between personal trust, sincere faith, the entrusted faith, and faithful perseverance. It is joined to love, conscience, Scripture, salvation, and endurance to the end.
The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.
The goal of instruction is love from a pure heart, clear conscience, and sincere faith. Faith is not isolated from moral formation and love.
Holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and thereby shipwrecked their faith.
Some reject a good conscience and shipwreck their faith. The image warns that faith and conscience cannot be safely separated.
Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
Some will abandon the faith by following deceitful spirits and demonic teachings. Faith has doctrinal content that can be deserted.
I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced is in you as well.
Timothy's sincere faith dwelt first in Lois and Eunice and now in him. Faith is personal, generationally witnessed, and genuinely owned.
From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
The Holy Scriptures make one wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Faith's saving object is Christ, and Scripture leads toward Him.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
At the end of his ministry, Paul says he has kept the faith. Faith is not only initial trust, but persevering fidelity to the entrusted message.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Trust in God or Christ as the decisive principle of Christian life and salvation, not mere intellectual assent.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 244 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
faith, belief, trust
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 8 selected witnesses from 242 lexical occurrence verses.
πίστις is built from this root:
Faith is the exclusive means by which God’s righteousness is received.1 Timothy 1:18-20
Faith defines the Roman believers’ identity and produces public testimony.1 Timothy 4:1-5
Actions must flow from trust and conviction before God.Acts 14:8-20
Faith is the means by which sinners receive justification.Acts 20:17-24
Faith is the means by which the promise is received and righteousness credited.Acts 6:1-7
Identifies the decisive response that secures kingdom blessing.James 2:14-17
Instrument of receiving salvation.James 2:14–17
Instrument through which salvation and restoration are received.
Represents trust in Christ’s sovereign authority.
Represents trust in Christ as the basis of salvation.
Defines trust in Christ’s sovereign identity.
Clarifies that genuine trust in Christ produces obedient action. Mounce lexical work is useful for clarifying pistis in context as active trust, not mere assent.
The healed man’s faith contrasts with the crowd’s misunderstanding.
Specifies reliance upon the Lord Jesus for salvation.
Obedience to the faith signifies conversion and allegiance to Christ.
Faith is both personal trust and doctrinal fidelity, central to surviving spiritual warfare.
Apostasy involves departure from both doctrinal truth and saving trust.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The Pastoral Epistles make πίστις a living bond between Christ, truth, conscience, and perseverance. Faith is never a vague optimism. It is sincere trust that bears love, receives salvation through Christ Jesus, clings to the apostolic message, and keeps going when ministry is costly. Paul can speak of faith in a grandmother, mother, and son, showing that faith may be witnessed across generations but must become personally real.
He can warn of shipwrecked faith and abandoned faith, showing that false teaching and rejected conscience are not small matters. He can say he has kept the faith, showing that the race of ministry is measured not by novelty or visible success but by fidelity to the end. This word is therefore central for shepherding. It calls churches to trust Christ, teach Scripture, guard doctrine, cultivate conscience, and prize endurance over religious appearance.
2Tim.3.15
πίστις can mean faith, trust, faithfulness, or the faith as the content believed. The Pastoral Epistles use this range in close quarters. Context indicates whether Paul is speaking of personal trust, the entrusted Christian faith, reliability in conduct, or persevering fidelity. The word should not be narrowed to inner belief alone, nor broadened into works-righteousness.
Scripture consistently presents faith as reliance on God's word and promise, not confidence in self. The Pastoral Epistles bring that pattern into church life by showing faith in Christ Jesus, faith shaped by Scripture, faith held with conscience, and faith kept through suffering until the end.