Bible verses about faith

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Eight words, and the clearest one-line definition of the Christian life. Sight is not wrong; it is just not what we are steering by.

“Have faith in God,” Jesus said to them.

Said to disciples staring at a fig tree that had withered overnight. The object of faith is the whole instruction: not faith in faith, faith in God.

Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Where faith comes from, in one sentence. It is heard before it is held, which is a good reason to keep hearing the words.

Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

A father with a desperately ill son, praying the most honest prayer in the Gospels. Jesus heals the boy; the mixed faith was enough.

So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.

James is not arguing against grace but against a faith that never leaves the house. Real trust shows up in what you do next.

Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.

The Bible's definition, opening a chapter that lists people who lived by it. Assurance and certainty are strong words for things not yet seen.

For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Paul's summary of the gospel, quoting Habakkuk. Faith from start to finish: it is how you begin and how you keep going, not a stage you pass through.

And without faith it is impossible to please God. For anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Two things faith believes: that God is, and that seeking Him is not wasted. The second is the one that gets people out of bed to pray.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Faith described as leaning: putting your weight on the LORD rather than on your own reading of the situation. Learned by heart by more people than almost any other passage.

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.

Salvation is a gift received through faith, and even the faith is not something to boast about. Worth memorizing for the plain order of grace, faith, gift.

Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.

Abraham, promised a son at an age when it was absurd. Faith here is not the absence of doubt but being persuaded, over years, that God can do what He said.

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Faith as the way a whole life is lived, day by day, in the body. The last clause is the reason it can be: who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

“Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

The disciples had just failed to heal a boy. The point is not the size of the faith but the size of the God it is placed in; a mustard seed is enough.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The longest passage here and the most quoted at the start of anything hard. Faith is a race with witnesses, an author, and a finisher, and the eyes are fixed on Him, not on the course.