Faithful (4103) (pistos from peítho = to persuade - induce one by words to believe, have confidence) is something or someone who is worthy of faith or keeps promises and is applied to God, humans, His Word, etc
Pistos is used 67 times in the NT - Pistos is translated believe(2), believer(4), believers(5), believing(1), faithful(43), Faithful(1), faithful one(1), faithfully(1), sure(1), trustworthy(7), who believe(1).
Matthew 24:45 "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?
Matthew 25:21 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'
23 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'
Luke 12:42 And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?
Luke 16:10 "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.
11 "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?
12 "And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?
Luke 19:17 "And he said to him, 'Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.'
John 20:27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing."
Acts 10:45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
Acts 13:34 "As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: 'I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.'
Acts 16:1 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,
15 And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.
1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 4:2 In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.
17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.
1 Corinthians 7:25 Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
2 Corinthians 1:18 But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no.
2 Corinthians 6:15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
Galatians 3:9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 6:21 But that you also may know about my circumstances, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you.
Colossians 1:2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf,
Colossians 4:7 As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information.
9 and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the whole situation here.
1 Thessalonians 5:24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
1 Timothy 1:12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service,
15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
1 Timothy 3:1 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.
11 Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.
1 Timothy 4:3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.
9 It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance.
10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
12 Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.
1 Timothy 5:16 If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are widows indeed.
1 Timothy 6:2 Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.
2 Timothy 2:2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
11 It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
Titus 1:6 namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion.
9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.
Titus 3:8 This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.
Hebrews 2:17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Hebrews 3:2 He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.
5 Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later;
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
Hebrews 11:11 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.
1 Peter 1:21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
1 Peter 4:19 Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.
1 Peter 5:12 Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
3 John 1:5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers;
Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood--
Revelation 2:10 'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
13 'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
Revelation 3:14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
Revelation 17:14 "These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful."
Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
Revelation 21:5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."
Revelation 22:6 And he said to me, "These words are faithful and true"; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.
Pistos occurs some 46 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (Nu 12:7; Deut 7:9; 28:59; 32:4; 1Sa 2:35; 3:20; 22:14; 25" class="scriptRef">25.28" class="scriptRef">25:28; 2Sa 20:18; 23:1; 1Ki 11:38; Neh 9:8; 13:13; Job 12:20; 17:9; Ps 19:7; 89:28, 37; 101:6; 111:7; 145:13; Pr 2:12; 11:13, 21; 13:17; 14:5, 25; 17:6f; 20:6; 25:13; Isa 1:21, 26; 8:2; 22:23, 25; 33:16; 49:7; 55:3; Je 42:5; Da 2:45; 6:4; Hos 5:9)
(Num 12:7) “Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household;
Vincent gives a nice summary (expanded in the discussion that follows) of the meaning of pistos, faithful, writing that it is used
"(1), of one who shows Himself faithful in the discharge of a duty or the administration of a trust (Mt 24:45). Hence, trustworthy (2Ti 2:2). Of things that can be relied upon (2Ti 2:11). (2), Confiding; trusting; a believer (Gal 3:9; Acts16:1; 2Cor 6:15; 1Ti 5:16)" (Word Studies in the New Testament)
Webster says that "Faithful" means firm in adherence to whatever one owes allegiance and implies unswerving adherence to a person or thing or to the oath or promise by which a tie was contracted.
Pistos is used in two senses in the NT
1) An active meaning = trusting or believing
This is the less frequent usage. This sense speaks of a sinner exercising faith in the Lord Jesus. In the first NT use in this sense, Jesus "said to Thomas,
“Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing." (Jn 20:27)
Paul instructs Timothy to
"let those who have believers (pistos) as their masters not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but let them serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers (pistos) and beloved. Teach and preach these principles." (1Ti 6:2)
When pistos is used in this active sense to refer to the faith which a lost sinner must place in the Lord Jesus in order to be saved, it includes the following ideas -- the act of considering the Lord Jesus worthy of trust as to His character and motives, the act of placing confidence in His ability to do just what He says He will do, the act of entrusting the salvation of his soul into the hands of the Lord Jesus, the act of committing the work of saving his soul to the care of the Lord. This means a definite taking of one’s self out of one’s own keeping and entrusting one’s self into the keeping of the Lord Jesus. Thus Paul says
So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer (pistos). (Gal 3:9)
Using a striking contrast, Paul asks
what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? (2Cor 6:15)
Luke records that Paul
came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. (Acts 16:1)
Note also that with regard to believers, they are spoken of sometimes in the Active sense (as "believers") and sometimes in the Passive (as "faithful").
The New Testament concept of faith includes three main elements, mutually connected and requisite, though according to circumstances sometimes one and sometimes another may be more prominent
(1) a fully convinced acknowledgement of the revelation of grace; (2) a self-surrendering fellowship (adhesion); and (3) a fully assured and unswerving trust (and with this at the same time hope) in the God of salvation or in Christ. (Modified from Cremer)
2) A passive meaning = trustworthy or faithful.
Here the basic idea is that of trustworthiness. In this sense pistos describes God, Christ, servants, His Word as faithful, reliable, worthy of belief or trust, , , dependable.
Marvin Vincent adds that pistos used of God describes Him as
True to his own nature and promises; keeping faith with Himself and with man.
Paul writes that even
if we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself. (see note 2 Timothy 2:13)
Pistos in this passive sense is used of one who shows Himself faithful in the discharge of a duty or the administration of a trust
Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Mt 24:45.
Hence, pistos describes the one who is trustworthy
And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. see note 2 Timothy 2:2).
Of the Word of God (which is the sense pistos is used in Titus 1:9) that can be relied upon
"It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do." 1Ti 3:1
"It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him." - see note 2 Timothy 2:11
In this passive sense of trustworthy or faithful, pistos is applied to God as fulfilling His own promises (see notes Hebrews 10:23; Hebrews 11:11), as fulfilling the purpose for which He called men (1Th 5:24-note; 1Co 1:9), as responding with guardianship to the trust reposed in Him by men (1Co 10:13-note; 1Pe 4:19-note). Christ is faithful (2Thes 3:3; He 3:2-note; He 2:17-note Re 19:11-note) Christ as the faithful witness (RE 1:5-note; Re 3:14-note). God’s and Christ's faithfulness in these verses speak not only of His essential being (faithful is Who He is), but also of His faithfulness toward us, as shown for example in the famous verse
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 Jn 1:9)
In the papyri, we find the following illustrations of the use of pistos -- "Whom no one would trust even if they were willing to work" = confidence in the person’s character and motives. "I have trusted no one to take it to her" = confidence in the ability of another to perform a certain task.
The Septuagint (Greek of the Hebrew OT) uses pistos 42 times, the first occurrence describing God's testimony about Moses declaring
"Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household." (Nu 12:7)
Moses in turn records the following of God writing
"Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, Who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments." (Dt 7:9)
Notice the seal of assurance stamped upon God's covenant. It is backed up by His faithful character.
In addition there are three uses of pistos in the Septuagint which parallel the truth in Titus 1:9 ("the faithful word"), two of these uses in Psalms and the other in Daniel in reference to one of the most foundational prophecies ever recorded in Daniel 2:
Psalm 19:7 "The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the LORD is sure (Translated in Septuagint with pistos - "faithful"), making wise the simple." (Comment: Spurgeon comments that "God’s witness in his Word is so sure that we may draw solid comfort from it both for time and eternity, and so sure that no attacks made upon it, however fierce or subtle, can ever weaken its force. What a blessing that in a world of uncertainties we have something sure to rest upon! We hasten from the quicksands of human speculations to the solid ground of divine revelation." - see Spurgeon's note)
Psalm 111:7 "The works of His hands are truth and justice. All His precepts are sure (Translated in Septuagint with pistos - "faithful")."
Spurgeon (his commentary) writes "All that he has appointed or decreed shall surely stand, and his precepts which he has proclaimed shall be found worthy of our obedience, for surely they are founded in justice and are meant for our lasting good. He is no fickle despot, commanding one thing one day and another another, but His commands remain absolutely unaltered, their necessity equally unquestionable, their excellence permanently proven, and their reward eternally secure. Take the word commandments to relate either to his decrees or his precepts, and we have in each case an important sense; but it seems more in accordance with the connection to take the first sense and consider the words to refer to the ordinances, appointments, or decrees of the great King."
Whatever the mighty Lord decrees,
Shall stand for ever sure.
The settled purpose of his heart
To ages shall endure.
Daniel 2:45-note "Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy."
In short, God's Holy Word is trustworthy, dependable, reliable and sure because God Himself is faithful (1Cor 1:9, 1Th 5:24-note) and cannot lie (Titus 1:2 [note], Nu 23:19). Because God's Word is faithful, those who teach and preach the Word must also be faithful or trustworthy (1Cor 4:2, cf Num 12:7) and "entrust it to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2Ti 2:2-note).
The same combination of "faithful" (pistos) and "logos" translated here as "faithful word" is found five other times in the pastoral epistles and each of these other occurrences is translated "trustworthy statement" (1Ti 1:15, 3:1, 4:9, 2Ti 2:11-note, Titus 3:8-note).
In the Revelation John records some of God's final words on His word: "And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words (logos) are faithful and true.” (Re 21:5-note) God always speaks truth ( “Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth" Jn 17:17) One of the seven angels said to John "These words (logos) are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly take place." (Re 22:6-note)
God's Word will surely come to pass. Therefore, it behooves the overseer to be diligent to cling to this precious trustworthy Word as he leads the flock into all truth and counters all lies and liars with the Word of Truth
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Greek Word Studies ( - )
Read freely Greek Word Studies from the Austin Precept text commentary of the Bible in text and pdf format. Precept Austin is an online free dynamic bible commentary similar to wikipedia with updated content and many links to excellent biblical resources around the world. You can browse the entire collection of Commentaries by Verse on the Precept Austin website.We have been "bought with a price" to be "ambassadors for Christ" and our "salvation is nearer to us than when we believed" so let us "cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" "so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming." (1Cor 6:20, 2Cor 5:20, Ro 13:11, 2Cor 7:1, 1Jn 2:28)