That question came up last night in my Zoom class on soteriology.

We often say that there are three elements in the message of everlasting life: 1) Believing 2) in Jesus Christ 3) for everlasting life. We sometimes use John 4:10 to show that Jesus required that we believe in Him, the Giver, for the gift of God, everlasting life (John 4:14).

One of the participants last night wondered if those are two conditions. Do we need to first believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and then second believe in His promise of everlasting life?

All belief is propositional. You cannot believe a non-proposition.

For example, if I asked, “Do you believe in Joe Biden?” your response would be, “Believe in him for what?”

President Biden made many promises when he was running for office. He has made many more since being in office. It is probable that no one believes all his promises. So, the question needs to be specific.

If I asked, “Do you believe Joe Biden’s promise that his policies are good for our economy?” you know whether you believe or do not believe that promise. You would not think that you were being asked to believe two things. To believe a promise that a person makes, you must be convinced that he will keep his promise.

Jesus’ proposition, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47), is either true or false. I either believe in Him, or I do not.

That is one proposition, not two. If I believe that proposition, I know I have everlasting life.

But any promise has two aspects: the promise itself and the trustworthiness of the person making it. To believe any promise, I must understand what is being promised, and I must be convinced that the person making the promise is dependable.

Let me give you some examples of people who believe in Jesus but do not believe in His promise of everlasting life.

John believes in Jesus for good health. He is convinced that Jesus promises good health to all who believe that by His stripes we are healed. He does not believe in eternal security. He considers that to be a doctrine of the devil to mislead people.

Jasmine believes in Jesus for peace of mind. She is convinced that Jesus promises freedom from anxiety to all who believe in Him. She does not believe in His promise of everlasting life because she’s convinced that assurance apart from works would result in a licentious lifestyle.

Jerry believes in Jesus for financial prosperity. He is convinced that Jesus wants all His followers to be rich and that He promises riches to all who believe in Him for them. He does not believe his eternal destiny is set, however. He is persuaded that Jesus requires faithfulness on his part in order for him to retain his salvation.

Although John Piper believes that perseverance in faith and good works is required in order to receive what he calls final salvation, he nonetheless recognizes that a person must believe in Jesus for the right promise. In his book The Future of Justification: A Response to N. T. Wright, he writes:

But there is a misleading ambiguity in Wright’s statement that we are saved not by believing in justification by faith but by believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection. The ambiguity is that it leaves undefined what we believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection for [italics his]. It is not saving faith to believe in Jesus merely for prosperity or health or a better marriage… [emphasis added].

The summons “Believe the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection” has no content that is yet clearly good news [italics his]. Not until the gospel preacher tells the listener what Jesus offers him personally and freely does this proclamation have the quality of good news (Piper, The Future of Justification, pp. 85-86).

We must believe in Jesus for something, and it must be the right something. That something is everlasting life that can never be lost (John 3:16).