Greek word · Strong's G4102

πίστις

pístis · noun · “faith, trust”

In a sentence

Pistis is faith — trust or confidence placed in God and his promises. It is the empty hand that receives what God freely gives, and the settled reliance by which the righteous live.

Pistis means more than intellectual agreement; it is trust that leans its full weight on another. Biblically, faith is directed at a person — God, and specifically Christ — relying on his character and promises rather than on one’s own performance.

Hebrews 11:1 calls it “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” then parades a gallery of people who acted on God’s word. Saving faith is this kind of trust resting on Jesus: not a leap in the dark, but confidence grounded in who God has shown himself to be.

Strong's reference

Definition: persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly, constancy in such profession; by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself

KJV usage: assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity

Reference gloss from Strong's Concordance (1890, public domain).

Key verses BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.” Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,” Romans 10:17 “Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

Original BibleDawn word study. Original-language data and the public-domain Strong's (1890) gloss are referenced; see sources.