– The Hebrew term emet means firmness, security and stability, proper to God, who for this very reason is invoked as rock, crag, support, while man is nothing more than dust, silage, grass:
Ps 89,3 : You reduce man to dust, and say: “Children of men, return to dust”.
Ps 102 :14 : For he knows what we are made of, and does not forget that we are dust.
– Indicates, at the same time, acceptance of revealed truths and trust in God, faithful keeper of his promises. In many texts the first meaning predominates; in many others, the second. Faith constitutes a fundamental element of all spiritual life, being man’s first contact with the divine realities of revelation:
Acts 14:22 : They exhorted us to persevere in the faith.
1Cor 16,13 : Watch! Be firm in the faith! Be men! Be strong!
Eph 4:13s : Until we all come to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God.
Heb 11 : Faith is the foundation of hope, it is certainty about what is not seen.
Rom 3:21–5 :11: This is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all believers.
Rom 10:1-13 : For Christ is the end of the Law, to justify everyone who believes.
Gal 3,1-14 : Did you receive the Spirit by practicing the Law or by accepting the faith?
Phil 3:9 : But with the righteousness that is obtained through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God through faith.
1Pt 2,6 : I lay in Zion a cornerstone, chosen, precious: whoever puts his trust in it will not be confused.
– And the man of faith entrusts himself and gives himself completely to the word and providence of God:
1Mk 2,52-64 : Was it not in the test that Abraham remained faithful? And was it not imputed to him in righteousness?
Heb 11,8-19 : It was by faith that Abraham, obeying the divine call […]. And he left, not knowing where he was going.
– It is the source of religious life and its foundation:
2Ch 20,20 : Put your trust in the Lord and you will be safe. Believe in his prophets and everything will go well for you.
– Abraham, an example of faith, abandons everything to attend to the Lord:
Gen 12:1-2 : The Lord said to Abram: “Leave your country and your family and […] go to the land that I will show you”.
Gen 15:5-6 : Lift up your eyes to heaven and count the stars, if you are able… […] Abram trusted in the Lord.
Eclo 44,20 : Abraham is the illustrious father of an infinity of peoples. […] kept the Law of the Most High, and made a covenant with him.
– He is ready to sacrifice his only legitimate son:
Gen 22,1-18 : After that, God tested Abraham and said to him: “Abraham!”. “Here I am,” he replied.
Rom 4:18-19 : Hoping against all hope, Abraham had faith and became the father of many nations.
Heb 11:17-18 : It was on account of his faith that Abraham, being put to the test, offered up Isaac, his only son.
– For Israel faith is essential:
Ex 14:31 : Therefore, the people feared the Lord and trusted in him and in his servant Moses.
Ex 19,9 : Behold, I will draw near to you […] and that I may also trust in you forever”.
Ecclesiastes 44: 11–47 : 18 : Their children’s children are a holy lineage, and their descendants are faithful to their covenants.
Ecclesiastes 48: 1–49 :13 : His words burned like a blazing torch. Elijah the prophet soon arose like a fire.
Heb 11,1-38 : Faith is the foundation of hope, it is a certainty about what is not seen.
– In covenant with God:
Deut 30,15-16 : See, today I set before you life with good, and death with evil.
Ps 77:37 : Their hearts did not speak frankly, they were not faithful to their covenant.
– Invitation to faith proclaim it the prophets:
Is 30,15-18 : It is in conversion and calm that your salvation lies; it is in rest and confidence that your strength lies.
Is 40,31 : But those who rely on the Lord renew their strength; he gives them eagle’s wings.
Is 41,1-7 : Islands, be silent to hear me, and may the peoples renew their strength.
Is 44,8.24-25 : Do not be afraid then, and do not tremble!
Is 45,14 : God is only found in your home, he has no rival, the other gods do not exist.
Is 49:23 : Then you will know that I am the Lord, and that those who count on me will not be put to shame.
Jr 7,22-23 : I will be your God and you will be my people; always follow the path that is indicated to you, so that you may be happy.
Jer 17,7-8 : Blessed is the man who puts his trust in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.
Ez 37,14 : When I put my spirit in you to make you come back to life […] Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Hos 8:1 : The enemy rushes […] upon the house of the Lord, because they violated my covenant and transgressed my law.
Am 5,21 : I hate your feasts; they disgust me; I feel no pleasure in your cults.
Mic 5,6-7 : The remnant of Jacob will be, among many peoples, like the dew from the Lord.
– So do the psalmists:
Ps 7 : Lord, my God, it is in you that I seek my refuge.
Psalm 10 : It is with the Lord that I seek refuge.
Psalm 26 : The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 30 : With you, Lord, I take refuge.
Ps 36,3-4 : Wait on the Lord and do good; you will dwell in the land in complete security. Take your delights to the Lord.
Ps 43 : My God, you are my king, you who gave victories to Jacob.
Psalm 61 : Only in God does my soul rest, only from him does my salvation come.
Psalm 73 : Arise, O God, plead your cause. Remember the blasphemies that the fool continually directs at you.
Ps 124 : Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, eternally firm.
– Faith must be alive and work through charity:
Mt 9,2 : Jesus, seeing the faith of those people, said to the paralytic: “My son, take courage! Your sins are forgiven you.”
John 1:12 : But to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.
Jn 3,14s : Everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Jo 7,38 : Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture says: Rivers of living water will flow from within him.
Jn 11:25 : Jesus said to him: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he dies, will live.”
John 14:12 : Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.
Jn 20:29 : Jesus said to him: “Because you have seen me, have you believed? Happy are those who believe without having seen!”
Acts 10:43 : All the prophets bear witness to him, announcing that all who believe in him receive forgiveness of sins.
Acts 15 :9: He made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Act 16:30s : Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your family.
Rom 1,8.16s : Because in him the righteousness of God is revealed, which is obtained by faith and leads to faith.
Gal 3,8-11 : He announced this Good News to Abraham: In you all peoples will be blessed (Gn 18,18).
Heb 11:6: Without faith it is impossible to please God, for to draw near to him it is necessary to first believe that he exists.
– Faith without works is dead for the Christian:
Jas 2,14-26 : What does it profit, brethren, if someone says he has faith, if he does not have works? Can that faith save him?
– Faith is a gift from God:
Jn 6,35,40,47,69 : I am the bread of life: he who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst.
Eph 1,15-19 : For this reason I too […] do not cease to give thanks to God for you, remembering you in my prayers.
Eph 2 :8 : You have been saved through faith. This does not come from your merits, but is a pure gift of God.
Col 1:23 : For this you must remain grounded and firm in the faith, immovable in the hope of the Gospel.
– It is a shield against temptations:
Eph 6:16 : Above all, take up the shield of faith with which you can quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.
1Pt 5,9 : Resist him strong in faith.
1Jn 5,3ss : For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world: our faith.
– Jesus usually asks for faith before performing miracles:
Mt 8,13 : Go, according to your faith be it done to you.
Mt 9,2.22.28-29 : My son, courage! Your sins are forgiven you.
Mt 15:28 : Then Jesus said to her: “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done to you as you wish.”
Mk 2,5 : Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic: “Son, your sins are forgiven”.
Mc 5,34-36 : Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.
Mk 10:52 : Jesus said to him: “Go, your faith has saved you”.
Lk 5:20 : Seeing their faith, Jesus said: “My friend, your sins are forgiven”.
Lk 7:50 : But Jesus, turning to the woman, said to her: “Your faith has saved you; go in peace”.
Lk 8:50 : But Jesus heard him and said to Jairus: “Do not be afraid; only believe and she will be saved.”
Lk 17:19 : Arise and go, your faith has saved you.
– Sometimes Jesus does not ask for it:
Jo 5,5-6 : Do you want to be healed?
Jn 9,6-7 : “Go, wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (this word means emissary). The blind man went and washed and came back seeing.
– Even if it is weak, little, difficult:
Mt 8:26 : “Why are you afraid, people of little faith?” Then, rising, he gave orders to the winds and the sea.
Mt 14:31 : At the same moment, Jesus reached out to him, held him and said to him: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”.
Mt 16:8: Jesus said to them: “You of little faith! Why do you think I spoke to you because you had no bread?”
Mt 17:20 : If you have faith like a mustard seed […] nothing will be impossible for you.
Mc 4,40 : How fearful you are! Do you still not have faith?
Mk 9:24 : Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed: “I believe! Come to the aid of my lack of faith!”
Mk 16,11-12 : When they learned that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not want to believe.
Lc 8,13.25 : Stony ground are the hearers of the Word of God who welcome it with joy; but they have no root.
Lc 24,11.25.41 : O people without intelligence! How slow of heart you are to believe in all that the prophets have announced!
– When faith is strong it works wonders:
Mt 17:20 : If you have faith like a mustard seed […] nothing will be impossible for you.
Mt 21:21 : If you have faith and […] say to this mountain, Get up from there and throw yourself into the sea, it will be done.
Mk 9:23 : Jesus said to him: “If you can do anything!… All things are possible for those who believe”.
Mk 16:17 : These miracles will accompany those who believe: they will drive out demons in my name, they will speak with new tongues.
Lk 17:6: If you have faith […] you will say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
– The righteous lives by faith:
Hab 2 :4 : Behold, he who is not upright in soul succumbs, but the righteous lives by his faithfulness.
Rom 1:17 : As it is written: The just shall live by faith (Hab 2:4).
Gal 3:11 : That no one is justified by the Law before God is evident, because the just shall live by faith (Hab 2:4).
– Faith builds hope:
Heb 11 :1 : Faith is the foundation of hope, it is the certainty of what is not seen.
– Faith is a gift from God:
Eph 2 :8: For freely you were saved through faith. This does not come from your merits, but is a pure gift of God.
2Th 3,2 : And that we may be delivered from perverse and evil men; because not everyone has the faith.
– But it also requires personal commitment:
1Th 1,3 : Indeed, before God our Father, we are continually thinking about the works of your faith.
Heb 4:14 : Let us hold fast to our faith.
– Punishment of infidelity:
Mk 16:16 : Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Jn 3:18 : Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Jo 5,38.44-47 : And you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe in the one he sent.
Tit 3,10s : The man who thus foments divisions, after being warned a first and a second time, avoids him.
Rev 21:8 : The infidels […] and all the liars will have as their lot the pool burning with fire and brimstone, the second death.
– Acts through charity:
Gal 5 :6 : Being circumcised or uncircumcised is of no avail in Christ Jesus, but faith working through love is.
– Get the justification:
Gen 15:6 : Abram trusted in the Lord, and the Lord “accounted it to him” “for his justification”.
Rom 3:22 : This is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all believers.
Romans 4:5, 11 : But whoever believes without any work in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
Rom 5:1-2 : Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Gal 2:16 : We know, however, that no one is justified by keeping the law, but only by faith in Jesus Christ.
Gal 3:26 : For you are all children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Eph 2 :8: For freely you were saved through faith. This does not come from your merits, but is a pure gift of God.
Eph 3:12 : By the faith we have placed in him, we are confident that we can draw near to God .
Phil 3:9 : Not with my righteousness[…] but with the righteousness that is obtained through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God through faith.
Col 2:12 : Buried with him in baptism, you also rose with him through your faith in the power of God.
– The person of faith welcomes people equally:
Jas 2,1 : My brethren, in your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, guard yourselves from all consideration of persons.
– Faith requires consistency:
Gal 2:14 : If you […] live like the Gentiles […] by what right do you compel converted pagans to live like the Jews?
1Pt 1,5 : For you […] because of your faith, for the salvation that is ready to manifest in the last times.
– But it’s never perfect:
Rom 1:17 : Because in him the righteousness of God is revealed, which is obtained by faith and leads to faith.
1Th 3:10 : We pray that it may be given to us to see […] your face and complete what is still lacking in your faith.
– He who has faith is born of God:
1Jn 5:1 : Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.
– Become a child of God:
John 1:12 : But to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.
– The Church is the sole repository of the true faith; the exhortations of the apostles are addressed in the name of God and the Church:
Mt 16,16-19 : Simon Peter replied: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!”.
Mt 18,17s : And if he also refuses to listen to the Church, let him be to you like a pagan and a publican.
Mt 28,20 : Teach them to observe all that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the world.
Mk 16:15 : And he said to them: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature”.
Lc 22,31s : Simon […] behold, Satan demanded of you […] I have prayed for you, that your confidence may not fail.
Jo 21,15ss : “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”. He replied: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you”.
Acts 15:7: You know that […] God chose me […] so that the Gentiles might hear the word of the Gospel from my mouth.
Acts 20:28 : Flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the Church of God.
1Cor 1,10 : I beg you […] that you all be in complete agreement and that there be no divisions among you.
1Tm 6 : O Timothy, guard the good that has been entrusted to you! Avoid frivolous and worldly conversations.
2Tm 4,15 : I charge you in the presence of God and Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead.
Tit 3,10s : The man who thus foments divisions, after being warned a first and a second time, avoids him.
2Jo 10 : If anyone comes to you without bringing this doctrine, do not receive him into your house, nor greet him.
– The reason for our faith is first and foremost in God:
Ps 17:32 : For who is God but the Lord? Who is the rock but our God?
Ps 113,7-8 : Tremble before the face of God, O earth, for whom the rock was turned into a sheet of water.
Is 43,8-9 : Make the blind people appear despite having eyes, and the deaf who have ears!
Is 44,9-20 : The makers of idols are nothing […] their witnesses do not know how to see or understand.
– Next comes His Word:
Deut 6,3-4 : You will therefore hear them, O Israel, and you will take care to do them, so that […] you may multiply abundantly in the land.
Deut 30:14 : But that word is close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can fulfill it.
Wis 1,1-2 : Have perfect feelings towards the Lord, and seek him in simplicity of heart.
Eclo 51,26 : I raised my hands on high, and deplored the error of my spirit.
Mt 13,16-17 : But as for you, blessed are your eyes, for they see! Blessed are your ears, because they hear!
Lk 8,21 : He said to them: “My mother and my brothers are these, who hear the Word of God and observe it”.
Lk 11:28 : Jesus replied: “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!”
Jo 13,17 : If you understand these things, you will be happy, on condition that you practice them.
