Question
Is there anywhere in the scriptures that uses the term “believer” and it means something other than someone who has been obedient to God’s word? More specifically “believer” meaning someone who has been baptized?
Answer
Keith Sharp
Thanks for your good question about the scriptural use of the term “believer.” The term “believer” is used in the singular in 2 Corinthians 6:15 and in the plural in Acts 5:14; 1 Timothy 4:12; and 1 Timothy 6:2 in the New King James Version. The word translates the Greek term “pistos,” which is found 69 times in the New Testament and used in various ways. The primary meaning of the word “pistos” is “trustworthy, faithful, dependable” (W.F. Arndt and F.W. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. 670). The term “believers” is found in the New American Standard Version in Acts 5:14; 10:45; 1 Thessalonians 1:7; 2:10; 1 Timothy 4:10; 6:2; and 1 Peter 1:21. The singular “believer” is found in Acts 16:1; 2 Corinthians 6:15; Galatians 3:9; and 1 Timothy 5:16. Galatians 3:9 is a reference to Abraham, who obviously was not baptized, because he lived and died many centuries before baptism was commanded, but most certainly was an obedient believer (Hebrews 11:8). Acts 5:14 seems to be the key passage. “And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.” Believers are added to the Lord. But one gets into Christ through baptism (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27). This harmonizes with the fact that the jailor in Philippi and his household are not said to have believed until they were baptized (Acts 16:34). As far as I can tell, in the New Testament age the term “believers” consistently refers to baptized believers, and in fact is used as a synonym for “Christians,” as Arndt and Gingrich note (page 671).
