Faith and Faithfulness

What is faith? To many individuals, faith is the same as belief: a mental agreement that some idea is true. If I have "faith" in God, that means I believe in him. If I have "faith" in Jesus, I am agreeing with the idea that he exists, and possibly other specific things about him. But this concept of faith is much different from the biblical concept.

Faith must be more than merely consent to an idea. After all, Satan believes in God. What, then, must be added to mere belief to rise to the level of faith?

In Hebrew, there is one word that means both faith and faithfulness: emunah. This word denotes the concept of devotion, loyalty, dedication, alliance, and trust. Faith, from a biblical perspective, is not merely agreement with an idea, nor is it specifically behaving in a certain way. It is a posture of submission and loyalty.

Take a marriage relationship for example. What is it that makes a person a "faithful" husband? Must he merely believe that his wife exists? Must he admit that he is married to her? Obviously, faithfulness goes far beyond this. But on the other end of the spectrum, must he be absolutely perfect? Does leaving the toilet seat up once in a while mean that he is "unfaithful"?

No, a faithful husband is one that is truly committed to carrying out what he promised to do when he was married. He shows love and devotion to his wife. He protect for her and provides for her. He does not turn to other women for affection. He seeks to please her and give her the best. His faithfulness is not the sum of the good things that he has done, but those good things are a natural expression of a relationship based on mutual devotion and trust. The same is true in our relationship with our creator.