pvj-05: Word Studies — Faith, Works, Law, Justify¶
G4102 pistis (faith)¶
Definition: From G3982 (peitho); persuasion, credence; moral conviction of religious truth; reliance upon Christ for salvation; constancy in such profession.
KJV translations: "faith" (153x), "of faith" (22x), "By faith" (15x), "the faith" (10x), "assurance" (1x), "believe" (1x), "belief" (1x), "fidelity" (1x)
Usage by Author¶
Jesus (Gospels): - Personal trust in God's power: "thy faith hath made thee whole" (Mat 9:22), "thy faith hath saved thee" (Luk 7:50) - Trust as power-activator: "faith as a grain of mustard seed" (Mat 17:20, Luk 17:6) - Faithfulness/fidelity as ethical virtue: "the weightier matters of the law... faith" (Mat 23:23) - Faith in God: "Have faith in God" (Mrk 11:22) - Faith as something to be found: "shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luk 18:8) - NOTE: Jesus never uses pistis as the instrument of forensic justification
Paul (Epistles): - Instrument of justification: "justified by faith" (Rom 3:28, 5:1, Gal 3:24) - Channel of salvation: "by grace through faith" (Eph 2:8) - Contrasted with works of the law: "not by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ" (Gal 2:16) - Active through love: "faith which worketh by love" (Gal 5:6) - Also as personal trust and faithfulness (1 Tim 6:11, 2 Tim 2:22)
pvj-04 finding: Paul's semantic range is a superset of Jesus's. Paul uses every sense Jesus uses plus additional forensic/soteriological senses.
G2041 ergon (work/deed)¶
Definition: From ergo (to work); toil as an effort or occupation; an act, deed.
KJV translations: "works" (60x), "work" (32x), "the works" (9x), "deeds" (7x), "doing" (1x), "labour" (1x)
Usage by Author¶
Jesus (Gospels): - Positive deeds reflecting character: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works" (Mat 5:16) - Deeds as evidence of identity: "by their fruits ye shall know them" (Mat 7:20) - Mighty works: "in thy name done many wonderful works" (Mat 7:22) - Deeds of compassion as judgment criterion: "I was hungred and ye gave me meat" (Mat 25:35) - The "work of God" = believing: "This is the work of God, that ye believe" (Jhn 6:29) - NOTE: Jesus never uses the phrase "works of the law" (erga nomou)
Paul (Epistles): - "Works of the law" (erga nomou) — a technical phrase: Rom 3:20, 3:28, 9:32; Gal 2:16, 3:2, 3:5, 3:10 - Works contrasted with grace: "Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph 2:9) - Works as debt-system: "to him that worketh is the reward reckoned... of debt" (Rom 4:4) - Positive works as fruit of grace: "created in Christ Jesus unto good works" (Eph 2:10) - Works of the flesh (negative): "the works of the flesh are manifest" (Gal 5:19)
Critical observation: Paul uses ergon in TWO distinct senses: 1. "Works of the law" (erga nomou) = the negative category he excludes from justification 2. "Good works" (erga agatha) = the positive category he affirms as the fruit of salvation
G3551 nomos (law)¶
Definition: From nemo (to parcel out); law (through the idea of prescriptive usage); the Pentateuch, the Gospel, or fig. a principle.
KJV translations: "law" (179x), "of the law" (18x)
Usage by Author¶
Jesus (Gospels): - Torah as permanent authoritative instruction: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law... but to fulfil" (Mat 5:17) - Torah as ethical guide: "all the law and the prophets" hang on love commands (Mat 22:40) - The "weightier matters of the law" = judgment, mercy, faith (Mat 23:23)
Paul (Epistles): - Law as holy: "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Rom 7:12) - Law as revealer of sin: "by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom 3:20) - Law established by faith: "we establish the law" (Rom 3:31) - Law as custodian/schoolmaster: "the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ" (Gal 3:24) - "Works of the law" as excluded from justification: "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified" (Rom 3:20)
G1344 dikaioo (to justify)¶
Definition: From G1342 (dikaios); to render just or innocent; to show or regard as just.
KJV translations: "justified" (7x), "is justified" (4x), "be justified" (3x), "are justified" (2x), "justify" (2x), "free" (1x), "justifier" (1x)
Usage by Author¶
Jesus (Gospels): - Not frequently used by Jesus directly - The publican "went down to his house justified" (Luk 18:14) — justified by humility/repentance - "By thy words thou shalt be justified" (Mat 12:37)
Paul (Epistles): - Central forensic term: "justified by faith" (Rom 3:28, 5:1, Gal 2:16, 3:24) - Justified freely by grace: "Being justified freely by his grace" (Rom 3:24) - Not justified by works of law: "by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Gal 2:16)
Key Phrase: "erga nomou" (works of the law)¶
This exact phrase occurs ONLY in Paul's writings in the NT: - Romans 3:20, 3:28 - Romans 9:32 - Galatians 2:16 (3x in one verse) - Galatians 3:2, 3:5, 3:10
Jesus NEVER uses this phrase. His vocabulary for obedience includes: - "doeth the will of my Father" (Mat 7:21) — poieo + thelema - "doeth them" (his sayings) (Mat 7:24) — poieo + logos - "keep the commandments" (Mat 19:17) — tereo + entole - Deeds of compassion (Mat 25:35-36) — specific acts
This vocabulary difference is a textual fact both positions must accept.
NT Parallel Data (from find_nt_parallels.py)¶
Verses containing all 4 key terms (G4102 + G2041 + G3551 + G1344): - Rom 3:28, Gal 2:16
Verses containing 3 of 4: - Rom 3:20, 3:27, 9:32, Gal 3:2, 3:5, 3:11, 3:24
All are Pauline. The 4-word cluster does not appear in the Gospels.
concept_context.py Results Summary¶
Romans 3:28 (Paul) --scope author¶
Concepts detected: RIGHTEOUSNESS (G1344), FAITH (G4102), LAW (G3551) Paul's same-author network: Gal 2:16, 3:11, 3:24, Rom 10:4, 4:13, 1:17
Galatians 2:16 (Paul) --scope author¶
Concepts detected: RIGHTEOUSNESS (G1344), LAW (G3551), FAITH (G4102), MESSIAH (G5547), FLESH (G4561) Same-author network: Rom 10:4, 3:20, 3:22, 3:28, 4:13, 5:1
Ephesians 2:8 (Paul) --scope author¶
Concepts detected: GRACE (G5485), SALVATION (G4982), FAITH (G4102) Same-author network: Tit 1:4, 1 Cor 1:21, 15:2, 1 Thess 5:8
Matthew 7:21 (Jesus) --scope author¶
Concepts detected: WORD (G3004), KINGDOM (G932) NOTE: pistis/ergon/nomos NOT detected in this verse — Jesus uses different vocabulary
Matthew 25:34 (Jesus) --scope author¶
Concepts detected: KINGDOM (G932), KING (G935), BLESSING (G2127), INHERITANCE (G2816) NOTE: The judgment-by-deeds passage uses none of Paul's justification vocabulary
John 6:28-29 (Jesus)¶
No theological concepts detected by tool — but textually, Jesus redefines "the work of God" as believing (pisteuo G4100), directly linking ergon to pistis