Psalm 32
1How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
3When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
4For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.
5I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD";
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
6Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
7You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
8I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you.
9Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.
11Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

I learned today (second hand) that there is no word in Hebrew for "faith", only "faithfulness".

Perhaps the import of this is that emphasis should be on "doing" and not on "saying" or "thinking".

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I learned today (second hand) that there is no word in Hebrew for "faith", only "faithfulness".

Perhaps the import of this is that emphasis should be on "doing" and not on "saying" or "thinking".

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Yes, I have heard people argue that, but it’s just wrong. The scriptures clearly teach that justifying “faith” is at rest, doing nothing, That makes salvation to God’s glory. The works that flow out of the one who has faith, show the faith to be a true faith, among other things, and they also glorify God,. and are rewarded in Heaven. But those who try to mix the natures of faith and works are in as much error as those who would try to mix the natures of Christ. Faith and works are bound together as links on a chain are, but they are never conflated into each other, or spoken of as the same thing. This will give you the biblical context of justifying faith. It is simply believing God, trusting in Him… Our being counted as Righteous comes by truly believing Jesus is our savior, trusting Him to save us…


What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin."

Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. --- Romans 4:1-12

I was only wondering whether you knew whether there was a Hebrew word for "faith". Geez.

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I was only wondering whether you knew whether there was a Hebrew word for "faith". Geez.

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I believe that one transliterated Hebrew word for faith is: “emeth”, but there are several other Hebrew words that are translated “faith” that are verbs, but looking at just that is a bit of evidence in the sophists hand that he uses to help blind those who he wishes to convince to look to and trust in themselves. The reason I printed the passage from scripture is so that we can get the biblical definition of the what kind of faith justifies us, (the kind that rests in Him) and therefore not be at the mercy of some wolf who would have us look to our own deeds to merit Christ’s merits. At that point we let the scripture define and interpret scripture to us.



[This message has been edited by Notafraid (edited 11/7/2005 10:52p).]