S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

"Do you believe in Jesus?" seems like a strange question. It sounds like the same question as "Do you believe in Santa Claus?" or "Do you believe in aliens?" But the question "Do you believe in Jes...

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October 28 2013 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

John Appelt Supporter

John 3:16, 6:47 and Acts 16:31 state that one must believe in Jesus to be saved and to have eternal life. Believing in Jesus is accepting Him by faith on the basis of who He is, what He has done, and what He has promised. 

The people in the land of Israel were expecting the Messiah, predicted in the Old Testament. When John (the baptizer) announced Jesus as the Lamb of God, John 1:36-37, the disciples were convinced He was the Messiah, John 1:41, 45, 47-49. Compare John 6:69. 

When Jesus went through Samaria, John 4:25-42, He told the woman at the well that He could give her water which if she drank, she would never thirst. He unmasked her life and later revealed He was the Messiah. She, and the Samaritans of Sychar who heard Him, were persuaded that He was the Messiah. They believed on Him. 

In John 9:35-38, the man healed of his blindness from birth was met by Jesus and believed on Him because of what He said. 

One of the mistakes people make about believing in Jesus is to see two different kinds of belief. It is illustrated as “head belief,” as knowing about something, and “heart belief,” as actually putting trust in it. The fact is, either one believes or does not. The commonly cited Romans 10:9-10 is not about belief for salvation but confession or calling on Christ for help, and publicly identifying with Christ after salvation. Paul already discussed salvation or justification, as he called it, in Romans 3-5. 

In reality, belief is an instantaneous one-step act pictured as “receiving” Jesus the Word and the Light, John 1:12, “looking” in faith, John 3:14-18, 36, Numbers 21:8, “drinking” water to never thirst again, John 4:13, “eating” the bread of life that will satisfy hunger, John 6:36, 40, 47, 50-51, and “hearing” His voice, John 10:27-28.

In the book of John, the miracles or signs Jesus did were to convince the people who He was, so they could have eternal life, John 20:30-31. The disciples believed in Jesus when they witnessed Him turning water into wine, John 2:6-11, 23, 3:2. The other signs had the same effect, John 4:53, 6:2, 14, 7:31, 10:41, 11:25-27, 42-43, 12:17-18. There are a multitude of reasons to believe on Jesus. The greatest sign was Jesus dying on the cross and rising again, as He predicted John 12:33, 18:32. In John 8:24, 28-29, Jesus spoke of the cross so that people believing in Him will not die in their sins, John 8:24, 28-29. Many were convinced, John 8:30. Jesus spoke of the drawing power of the cross to Himself, John 12:32.

Believing in Jesus is an act of faith of accepting who He is and that He promises eternal life. It is a personal faith in a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the One sent from the Father in heaven, the Lamb of God who loved us and gave Himself for us, Ephesians 5:2.

November 07 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report