By Bob Wilkin
In a November 20, 2024 blog on believing in Jesus for something, I mentioned that some Free Grace people say that that is not necessary. All one needs to do to be born again is believe in Him. But what does believing in Jesus mean if it doesn’t mean believing in Him for the life He promises?
I’ve read various explanations of what “He who believes in Me” means. Here are the ones I can recall:
- Believing that He died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead.
- Believing that God the Father sent Him.
- Believing that Jesus Christ is my Savior (for now).
- Believing that Jesus is the second member of the Trinity.
- Believing that I have a relationship with God (for now).
The issue I have with those five explanations is that there isn’t a single verse in the Bible explaining that believing in Him is synonymous with any of those beliefs.
Jesus’ disciples did not believe that He died on the cross for their sins and that He rose from the dead until a few years after they were born again. That can’t be what He meant by believing in Him in John 3:16.
Indeed, Jesus often said that the Father sent Him (e.g., John 5:24), but He never said that believing that fact is equivalent to believing in Him.
Jesus is the world’s Savior (John 4:42). He made all savable. But He never said or implied that believing in Him means that He is my Savior only for now.
He is the second member of the Trinity. But nowhere did He equate belief in His deity with believing in Him.
The word relationship does not occur in the Gospel of John or in the NT. Believing that you have a relationship with Jesus is not synonymous with believing in Him.
To believe in Him is equivalent to believing that He is the Christ, the Son of God.i We know that by comparing John 3:16 with John 11:25-27 and John 20:31. Based on John 11:25-27, to believe that He is the Christ, the Son of God is to believe in Him concerning His guarantee of future glorification and irrevocable everlasting life to all who believe in Him for that.
Let me give some modern examples.
Do you believe in Donald Trump? I’m not asking if you believe that he exists, is President, is married with children, etc. I am asking whether you believe in his promise to make America great again. Are you convinced that he will deliver on that promise?
If I asked if you believe in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), I’d be asking if you were convinced that it will deliver on its promise of prosperity for the Chinese people.
To believe in someone is to believe that he will deliver on his promise(s).
If you remove the promise, then believing in someone is meaningless. Kamala Harris believes many things about Donald Trump. But she does not believe in him.
Richard Dawkins calls himself “a cultural Christian.” He is an agnostic who loves hymns and Christmas carols. But he does not believe in Jesus.
To believe in Jesus is to believe in Him for what He promises, everlasting life. Beware of separating the promise from the Person. To be born again, one must be convinced that He faithfully fulfills His promise of everlasting life that can never be lost to all who simply believe in Him.
Keep grace in focus.
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Bob Wilkin is Executive Director of Grace Evangelical Society. He and Sharon live in Highland Village, TX. He has racewalked twelve marathons.
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i Believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God does not mean that I’m convinced He is the Anointed One or that He is the second member of the Trinity. As Martha makes clear (John 11:27), believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God is believing that He guarantees everlasting life that cannot be lost to all who believe in Him for that (John 11:25-26).
