By “Faith” is used in four different ways in the Scriptures.
The first use of “faith” in the Scriptures is in the sense of saving faith. This faith is a gift from God (Eph 2:8-9) to believe in Jesus Christ (Rom 16:31). This faith is never just by itself, but always has an object that the faith is in. It is faith “in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21; Rom 3:22; Eph 1:15; Col 1:4).
The second use of “faith” in the Scriptures is in the sense of the totality of Christian Truth as revealed in the Scriptures. This use is common when a “the” comes before the word “faith”. “The Faith” is our foundation for confident Christian living (1 Cor 16:13; Col 1:23; Col 2:7; 1 Tim 3:9), and defines who are part of the body of believers (2 Cor 13:5; 1 Tim 1:2; Tit 3:15) and who are not (1 Tim 4:1; 2 Tim 3:8).
The third use of “faith” in the Scriptures is in the sense of a broad, comprehensive, detailed, trust in God regarding all the affairs of life. This is what “walking by faith” is about (2 Cor 5:7). Again, faith is not some power by itself, but it is faith “in God” (Mark 11:22; Acts 27:25) that transforms your whole life (1 Thess 1:8). This is what Hebrews 11 is all about, both in its definition of this use of faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”, and in its display in the lives of the heroes of “the faith”. All the activities of faith in Hebrews 11 are not so much “saving faith” experiences, as they are testimonies of broad and complete trust in God as shown in simple obedience. This is where the word faith” resembles the Old Testament concept of “the fear of the LORD”.
Finally, the fourth use of “faith” in the Scriptures is that of skillful maturity. It is a combination of spiritual gifts that God allocates to each one (1 Cor 12:9), and our own maturity and skillful use of them for the ministry that God requires of us. Our spiritual gifts are in many ways determined by how spiritually mature we are in the faith (Rom 12:3). In this sense of the word “faith”, we must excel in it (2 Cor 8:7) and beautify it with ever-maturing Christian living (2 Pet 1:5).
Though these four uses of “faith” are tightly connected, they are not to be confused with one another. Saving faith is God’s gracious way of saving us irrespective of our lack of knowledge and skill. “The Faith” is the objective standard of truth that separates true believers from the false. Trust-faith is our complete and unreserved submission to God in all the affairs of our lives. And finally, skillful maturity faith is our practice of the spiritual gifts with personal excellence and growth.
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