You are trying to make things unnecessarily complicated. Faith is BOTH the act of believing God and Christ, as well as the ultimate hope of being perfected, and in the presence of God and Christ.
What does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Does it not mean to believe that everything revealed about Him in the New Testament is true, and that His finished work of redemption is sufficient for our salvation?
That is not merely a hope but the total acceptance of a FACT. And the true response to this fact is repentance.
Saul -- the persecutor of Christians -- met Christ on the road to Damascus. That was a
fact. Which to Paul also meant the
fact that He was the risen Jesus of Nazareth, and therefor both Lord and Christ. So when Paul heard Jesus speaking to him, how did he respond? With perfect surrender.
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
Paul was trembling because he had done Christ and Christians grievous wrong, and was expecting to receive his just deserts. He was astonished that Jesus of Nazareth would even approach him and offer grace and mercy to him. But his total surrender was in his words (which acknowledged the Lordship of Christ). Paul was literally blinded by the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and later on he would receive back his sight.
So faith is primarily based on FACTS, and the hope is in the promise of eternal life and perfection with Christ. The Gospel consists of facts: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and rose again for our justification according to the Scriptures. But unless we repent on believe this, we cannot be saved