The English words used in translation are not exclusive to the means of salvation. English has given three words to translate one Hebrew root and one Greek root. Faith- belief- trust. Only one of these words correctly conveys what the original root meant. What it conveyed to those that first heard and then had the joyful experience of trust happening and being exercised in them for the first time.
Faith and belief are inherent in man and can be summed up as a psyching up of the mental attributes. Not unlike a positive mental attitude towards something or someone.
Trust is the spiritual endowment of the abandonment of self into the care of another.
The general revelation of the existence of the Creator that leaves all men without excuse only requires faith or belief. Salvation requires trust and this gift is not inherent in man and must be received.
Again truster , like alot of what you've said.
Let me try to find more common ground.
You said ,
"Faith and belief are inherent in man and can be summed up as a psyching up of the mental attributes."
I say ,
Your absolutely right , and , what you've stated is a basic understanding of what "Faith" (or faithing) is in the human life. We fulfill thousands of acts of Faith or faithing every day . Every time we fulfill an act , based upon a belief , sustained by confidense , thats an act of Faith or faithing.
We perform a dozen acts of faith just getting out of bed in the morning. But none of those things are NT saving Faith or faithing (pisteuo). Only a specific act , based upon a specific belief , sustained by a specific confidense will produce a relationship with Christ.
What is the complete Nt understanding of how we faithe (pisteuo) into Christ?
The act ? It's right there in the Vines Greek dictionary , "A personal surrender to Him". What are we surrendering? Our lives.
The act? , based upon what belief ? Based upon the belief God will accept , care fore , maintain , and complete , the surrendered life. The act , based upon a belief is on "JESUS" not His Word , "HIm"!
What is The sustained confidense ? Again , it's right there in the Vines Greek dictionary for the word pisteuo used 248 times in the NT. First , it states ,"A personal surrender to Him " , and then there is a second part of "pisteuo" after the surrender , and it says , " And a life inspired by such surrender ."
In other words , the specific sustained confidense is while were making all the daily decisions , we are making them filtered through the fact that our life is not our own anymore but His. These decisions not only fulfill the "trust" you spoke of , but shows God that our surrender is genuine , not perfect , but genuine.
You mentioned the Hebrew , which is one of the worst languages on the planet. They had two pictorial words for Faith or faithing.
One , "Running to the shelter of o mother birds wings." Emphasis on the the act of continual running to a specific gtoal.
Two , "The leaning on a staff". Emphasis on the continual leaning on a staff (Christ) with "all" your weight behind it.
Both of these examples support "pisteuo" and the definitions that are available in the Vines Greek dictionary . The Greek being the most precise a best language on the planet.
Just scratching the surface here truster. I get excited when i come across someone who sees Christ in similar ways as myself. Hope to here more from you on what i presented.
