1.         Introduction

 1.1       The Revival Centres International (RCI) and Revival Fellowship (RF) share a reputation for promoting several interpretations of historic doctrines and church practices that digress from those as understood by the historic Christian Church. Often some measure of support for the Revivalist position is claimed from appeals to the original languages through which the biblical revelation was recorded - classical Hebrew and koine (common) Greek. 

1.2       Neither group has ever disputed the fact that their ministers lack training in the biblical languages, so it is somewhat surprising that senior pastors assume an ability to make binding pronouncements of the meanings of theologically significant[1] words. Meanings that are often quite contrary to widely held, accepted and approved definitions.

1.3       The aim of this essay is to assess various published RCI doctrinal positions on the word 'belief', and to evaluate the same against accepted biblical usage. Although RCI documents form the basis of the evaluation, the general perspective that is introduced is shared equally by the RF.

2.         What do the Revivalists teach about belief?

2.1       Two RCI documents separated by several years formed the basis for this evaluative study. A comparison of the two demonstrates a gradual shift in wording, however, not in underlying intent. This may demonstrate either an unwillingness to concede doctrinal error on the part of the organization, or a lack of appreciation regarding the gravity of the issues that result.  

BELIEVING IS MORE THAN BELIEVING PISTEUO - DO IT!

The 0ld Testament word for "believe" is aman and it means to "uphold" or to "remain steadfast in". The New Testament word is pisteuo and means to "rely on", "trust", "embrace", and "obey".

There are many who "believe" in Jesus Christ and/or the Word but fail to obey it - embrace it, rely on it and by so doing "uphold" it. If John 3:16 was truly "believed", it would prompt immediate repentance, water baptism and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. For our Lord had already spelled out quite clearly to Nicodemus in this same chapter that certain steps were to be taken and certain results were to be obtained.

In Acts 19 Paul questioned their appreciation of "believing" because of their lack of obedience in water baptism and results in the Holy Spirit. To believe in Jesus Christ is not to acquiesce to His claims as the Son of God, but to obey His clear command to obtain salvation and stand upholding and embracing the truth of the gospel. "But be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" - James 1:22.

- RCI pamphlet, "Believing is More than Believing: Pisteuo - do it!  (www.cults.org/archives)
 

The title of this once popular pamphlet is rather unfortunate. In some respects it's a little like demanding "faith - get it!" What should rightly be embraced as an inner, or spiritual conviction borne from a developing dependence on Christ, is altered into something altogether different - a demand for outward conformity. The impression of belief as proposed by the RCI, therefore, might be encapsulated in the word obedience.

2.2       The unnamed author of the above article correctly identified the root word 'aman as being the Old Testament equivalent of the Greek root pistis. However, he misunderstood its proper meaning and altogether failed to describe its development to the derivative form ^emûnâh (which is rendered pisteuo in the Greek version of the Old Testament). This likely occurred due to an over dependence on entry-level, secondary literature (such as a Strong's Concordance) which was necessary due to a lack of personal familiarity with the Hebrew grammatical structure. 'Aman, given in the niphal stem properly means: to be true, reliable and faithful.

2.3       The ^emûnâh form of the verb in Old Testament usage beautifully describes a living act of trust, and was used only in the personal dimension - with stress being laid on a future goal. At no time did the form ^emûnâh or its root 'aman, ever refer to any concept of obedience.

2.4       That the author attempted to fashion a defence of his view around the passage of John 3:16 is somewhat surprising. The meaning of Jesus' statement to Nicodemus (John 3:5) has been uncritically taken by him as a reference to baptism in water and by the Holy Spirit (inferring 'tongues'). However, this has not been properly established, with many scholars throughout Church history noting the more obvious parallel to the teaching of Ezekiel 36:25-27. It is this which Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel should have properly understood, not references to a novel practice then recently adopted by one John, known widely as the Baptizer.

2.5       In the third paragraph of his defence, the author concluded by dismissing one of the most important qualifiers of Christian belief - an acceptance that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The emphasis on faith in the passage is diminished, in direct proportion to the introduction of an emphasis towards works.

IN SOME CHURCHES THEY SAY THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS BELIEVE IN JESUS, WHY DO YOU SAY I MUST BE BAPTISED AND RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Firstly, we do say that you must believe on Jesus. But some have watered this down to, in effect, "acknowledging the existence of Jesus". The word "believe" in the Bible is much stronger than in everyday English. There are two Greek words used in the context of believing: pisteuo meaning 'to have faith in', 'to entrust', 'to commit'; and peitho meaning 'to be persuaded of, to place confidence in, to trust in, and to rely on'. Entrusting and committing ourselves to, and relying on, Jesus leads us to do what He says...

 ...When they asked, "what must we do?" Peter replied "Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." "And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation." (Acts 2:38-40)

The miracle of the followers of Jesus receiving the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues gathered the crowd. The preaching by Peter of Jesus' death and resurrection led them to ask, "What must we do?" So Peter told them. We also continue to preach this life-transforming message.

To those who preach less, we ask "Why?"

- Pastor Geoff Beggs, official RCI statement on belief (www.rci.org.au/FAQ)

 

2.6       Pastor Beggs introduced his defence of the Revivalist position by assuring his readers that his fellowship does support to a central theme of the historic Christian truth: 'belief on the Lord Jesus' (pisteuson epi ton Kurion Ieesoun). However, and unfortunately, he reduced the impact of this statement by introducing the inaccurate notion that elements within the Christian Church lowered the true standards - by 'watering down the meaning'.

2.7       It would be beneficial at this stage to pause and to consider the meanings of the two verbs Pastor Beggs introduced, in a little more detail than was provided.

Peitho

2.8       In Classical Greek usage, peitho had the basic meaning of trust. The original intransitive[2] and active voice[3] verb had become transitive (i.e. to convince or persuade) by the period in which Homer penned his Epics. This occurred only after having first passing through the passive[4] sense along the way (i.e. to be convinced or to be persuaded). Classical Greek, as is true of all 'living' languages, was subject to structural decay, devolution and simplification. By the time Jesus was born, the original meaning to trust had been taken over in a wholesale sense by the middle voice[5], passive form of peithomai. As far as the New Testament writings are concerned, therefore, only the second person[6], perfect[7] form pepoitha (i.e. to be convinced, to trust) retained the root word's original meaning.   

2.9       When considering New Testament usage, the range of meaning of the verb peitho can be ascertained by looking at its tenses - specifically with regard to the beginning, end and duration of the action concerned. In the active form of peitho, given in the aorist tense[8], the verb always has the meaning: to persuade, induce and even to mislead or corrupt. By contrast, the imperfect[9] sense expresses an attempt to influence a person to adopt a particular attitude or action. It is widely used in this sense by Luke in his Acts of the Apostles to describe Paul's preaching to the Jews in the synagogues (e.g. Acts 13:43). Peitho, therefore, does not properly define 'belief' per se in New Testament usage; rather it better describes the act of persuasion - either forced or free.

Pisteuo

 2.10     This word is, perhaps, among the most marvellous that the Greek language offers - embracing the interrelated concepts of 'belief' (the verb pisteuo) and 'faith' (the noun pistis). The basic meaning of the verb is to entrust; which is descriptive of an act borne out of faith placed in another. In the New Testament, pisteuo is linked directly and consistently to the saving faith and trust of a believer in the promises of God made through Christ. 

2.11     When used in the accusative[10] case, the verb means to believe, to be convinced of (e.g. John 11:26) or to entrust (Luke 16:11).  In the infinitive mood[11], it means to have confidence in (e.g. Romans 14:2), whilst in the dative case it is defined as entrusting implicitly (e.g. John 8:31).

2.12     However, it is when combined with the various Greek prepositions that the majesty of pisteuo is fully revealed. In 1 Peter 1:21 for example, the phrase tous dia autou pistous eis theon is found, expressing the human or divine instrument by which people come to a saving faith in Christ or God. The combination of pisteuo eis, or 'belief-in' is the most common prepositional form of the verb. Nowhere is it used with a human as the object of the faith, rather it is always a faith and belief focussed towards the Divine. In New Testament usage, 'pisteuo belief' connotes the confident trust that an individual places in a divine Person, and not merely the simple credence he or she gives to verifiable facts. There is absolutely no linkage in any sense, form or way between the notion of obedience and the 'belief' that is defined by the verb pisteuo.

3.         Conclusion

3.1       Both the former and current policy statements on 'belief' that have been published by the RCI fail in their efforts to correctly define the meaning of the verb and its usage in the New Testament.

It would be appropriate for both Revivalist organizations to review their understandings of this theme, and to willingly and openly embrace a position more in accord with the grammar and intent of the Greek Scriptures. It would be extraordinarily sad to allow pride and/or fear to cause either organization to continue to propagate a false and misleading teaching.

I attempt to avoid proof-texting whenever possible, but if I was called upon to respond to the misunderstood and contextually misapplied proof-text of Acts 2:37-38, it would be with Acts 16:30-31. Works have no part in 'pisteuo belief'. Such is the realm of saving faith alone.

Selected References:

Greek Language Texts

1.      E. Nestle and B. and K. Aland: Novum Testamentum Graece, 27^th ed., Deustch Bibelgesellschaft, 1993 (1999).

2.      M. Robinson and G. Pierpoint (eds.): The New Testament in the Original Greek according to the Byzantine/Majority Text Form, Original Word, 1991.

3.      The Englishman's Greek New Testament (Textus Receptus), Zondervan, 1974.

4.      Aland, Karavidopolous, Martini and Metzger: The Greek New Testament, 4^th ed., United Bible Societies, 1993.

5.      A. Ralfs: Septuaginta, 2 Vol., Wuerttembergischle, 1962.

6.      Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum Graecum, Bibelgesellschaft, 1939.

Lexica and Concordances

1.      W. Bauer, W. Arndt, F. Gingritch and F. Danker: A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2^nd ed., University of Chicago Press, 1979.

2.      H. Liddell, R. Scott and H. Jones: A Greek-English Lexicon, 9^th ed., Oxford University Press, 1940.

3.      J. Louw and E. Nida: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, United Bible Societies, 1988.

4.      Balz, Horst and Schneider (eds.): Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 3 Vols, Eerdmans, 1978.

5.      W. Moulton and S. Gedes: A Concordance to the Greek Testament, 5^th ed., T & T Clark, 1978.

Greek Grammars

1.      M. Zerwick and M. Grosvenor: A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament, Biblical Institute, 1978.

2.      J. Moulton: A Grammar of New Testament Greek, 4 Vols, T & T Clark, 1908.

3.      C. Moule: An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek, Cambridge University Press, 1963.

4.      H. Dana and J. Mantry: A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, MacMillan, 1955.

[1] theologically significant words are those categorised by scholars as having significant technical meaning of themselves individually, as well as in the contexts in which they appear in Scripture

[2] Intransitive relates to a verb not needing a direct object to complete its meaning

[3] Active Voice identifies that the subject performs the action

[4] Passive Voice demonstrates that the subject has the action performed upon it

[5] Middle Voice demonstrates that the subject is the cause of the action, and that the action reflects back on the subject in some way

[6] Second Person is a grammatical form of pronouns, adjectives and verbs that indicates the person spoken or written to

[7] Perfect Tense in the Greek verb system indicates that the effect of the action continues until the time of the discourse

[8] Aorist Tense indicates a completed action

[9] Imperfect Tense indicates that at the time of the discourse the action of the verb was incomplete or continuing in the past

[10] Cases - the Greek language uses five 'cases' or inflectional forms of nouns, pronouns or adjectives that indicate its grammatical relation to other words. These are: (1) accusative, (2) nominative, (3) genitive, (4) dative [which is absent in modern Greek], and (5) vocative

[11] Moods - likewise, there are six moods: (1) indicative, (2) subjunctive, (3) optative, (4) imperative, (5) infinitive, and (6) participle.