Bible Verses About Faith
Hebrews 11 defines faith and then spends an entire chapter showing it in people who mostly did not see the promise fulfilled in their lifetime.
Faith in scripture is described as substance and evidence for what is not yet seen, and demonstrated more often through action — Noah building, Abraham leaving, Moses refusing — than through a stated feeling of certainty.
Featured verses
“Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1 · WEB
“So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Romans 10:17 · WEB
“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 · WEB
“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.”
James 2:17 · WEB
“for we walk by faith, not by sight.”
2 Corinthians 5:7 · WEB
More verses
“Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, "I believe. Help my unbelief!"”
Mark 9:24 · WEB“for most certainly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:20 · WEB“For in it is revealed God's righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, "But the righteous shall live by faith."”
Romans 1:17 · WEB
Questions about faith
What does the Bible say faith actually is?
Hebrews 11:1 is the Bible's closest thing to a definition: faith as confident assurance about things hoped for and evidence of things not yet seen, rather than certainty produced by proof.
What's the difference between faith and works in the Bible?
Ephesians 2:8-9 states salvation comes through faith, not works, as a gift rather than something earned — but James 2:17 immediately complicates a purely private reading by saying faith without any accompanying action 'is dead.' Most readings treat these as complementary rather than contradictory: faith as the root, action as the visible fruit.
Does the Bible say faith can be small and still count?
Matthew 17:20 says faith 'as a grain of mustard seed' is enough — one of the smallest seeds known at the time — which is usually read as emphasizing where the faith is placed rather than how much of it a person has.