What is the Meaning of “Believing in Jesus?”

What is the Meaning of “Believing in Jesus?”
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Welcome to the Grace in Focus radio / podcast. Kathryn Wright and Ken Yates are answering a question from a listener who wants to know what is “Believing in Jesus?” What does it mean to believe in anything? Is it any different to believe in Jesus? Can you decide what you believe or do not believe? Kathryn and Ken will offer clarity on this phrase and the word “believe” - Please listen!
Believe, Believing, Jesus, Convinced, Persuaded, Life, John 20:20-31, John 11:25-26, John 5:24, John 6:40-41, John 3:16, John 1:12, Ephesians 2:8-9, Faith
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[@montebeard6232]

Love your videos !

[@karinecarde1254]

Only believe that He is who He said He is and that what He did on the cross was enough for your salvation! It's so simple, like the faith of a little child 😊

[@soljos1190]

Belief in Him FOR His doubtless Guarantee of Endless Everlasting Life alone regenerates forever (John 3:16 & Ephesians 2:8-9) . Jesus and His regenerated Disciples never made His attributes/works He performed (DBR) the Object and Content of one's faith whereby one is irreversibly born again .

[@2Chronicles714_]

What about conversion? It's a result of repentance through faith which is required for Salvation. It's the only way sins are forgiven. Matthew 18:1-5 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3And said, Verily I say unto you, EXCEPT YE BE CONVERTED, and become as little children, YE SHALL NOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN . 4 WHOSOEVER THEREFORE SHALL HUMBLE HIMSELF as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. Mark 4:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should BE CONVERTED, AND THEIR SINS SHOULD BE FORGIVEN THEM. Acts 3:19 REPENT YE THEREFORE AND BE CONVERTED, that your SINS MAY BE BLOTTED OUT, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

[@timgrady4630]

​@@soljos1190 Amen .

[@2Chronicles714_]

​@@soljos1190 John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:8-9 are not for regeneration.

[@inChristLife]

Romans 4:20-22 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness."

[@timgrady4630]

Being convinced/persuaded that He is telling the truth when He Guarantees endless Everlasting Life simply by faith in Him FOR it , is Biblical faith : John 1:12-13,3:1-18,4:1-39,5:24,6:28-47,11:23-27,20:31 ; 1 Timothy 1:16 ; 1 John 5:1,10-13 ; Acts 16:31 ; Galatians 2:16,3:26 . Faith in anything other than the Christ (Jesus) for His doubtless Guarantee cannot regenerate . It is instead faith in one's Perseverance in Performance (works) that is as impossible to achieve as it is contradictory to every single Evangelistic/Everlasting Life/endless Justification before God passage in the Bible : Ephesians 2:8-9 ; Romans 3:20-5:11,11:6,29 ; Titus 3:5 ; Philippians 3:9 & the book of Galatians remain the insurmountable Barrier to all working for a Free and Never Deserving Gift attempts . Rendering all such self righteouness blatantly Absurd to the uttermost .

[@2Chronicles714_]

Grace obtained from repentance through faith first followed by works. Study God's word rather than rely man's teaching.

[@minorsingingairhead]

You CAN decide to put your faith in Jesus.

[@michaelparsons7474]

How does one decide that he is convinced that Jesus's promise of everlasting life is true?

[@2Chronicles714_]

​@@michaelparsons7474 Where does Jesus say you must be convinced of my existence? Did He ever say being convinced will cause sins to be forgiven ? Mark 2 :5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Where does Jesus say being convinced will save you? Luke 7:50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

[@michaelparsons7474]

​@2Chronicles714_ where did I say that a person must be convinced of Jesus's existence? I asked, "How does one decide that he is convinced that Jesus's promise of everlasting life is true?" When you misread, you misunderstand.

[@2Chronicles714_]

​@@michaelparsons7474 Where does Jesus say you must be convinced of my promise for everlasting life to be saved? Why didn't Jesus tell us to preach You must be convinced of My promise of everlasting life to recieve forgiveness of sins to recieve everlasting life with God? Why did Jesus tell true repentant believers to go into all believers to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins instead of what you have been taught?

[@DannyLoyd]

John 3:20 " For every one who does evil hates the light.....But he who does what is true comes to the light...... He who does not OBEY the Son shall not see life..." John 11:26 " whoever lives and believes in me shall never die" Luke 6:46 " Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Every one who come to me and hears these words AND DOES THEM...." John 14:23 " If a man loves me, he WILL KEEP MY WORD, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me DOES NOT KEEP MY WORDS..." Romans 1:5 " to bring about the obedience of faith..." Romans 6:16 " Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as OBEDIENT SLAVES, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin which leads to death, OR OF OBEDIENCE....." Romans 16:26 " to bring about the obedience of faith" 1 John 4:9 " God sent his only Son into the world, so that we MIGHT LIVE THROUGH HIM". 1 John 2:17 " He who does the WILL OF GOD ABIDES FOREVER". 1John 2:4 " He who says, " I know him" but disobey his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him; BUT WHOEVER KEEPS HIS WORD, in him truly love for God is perfected" 1John 1:7 " Walk in the light, as he is in the light.....and the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin......if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins"... This is what it means to BELIEVE IN JESUS!!!!!

[@timgrady4630]

When you sin are you : "24/7/365" ...for a Lifetime..."walking in the Light ; Obeying His Commandments ; making Him "Lord of your life ; "Keeping His Word" ? When you sin , do you Lose/Forfeit Temporary/ Conditional/ Probationary life , or Everlasting Life ?

[@DannyLoyd]

@@timgrady4630 You didn't answer......again. So, Tim, answer the scriptures above

[@DannyLoyd]

btw, we become children of God by faith when we are baptized into Christ, when we PUT CHRIST ON, Gal 3:26-27

[@viewer6634]

Doesn't say "Water Baptism" there in English , Greek , or Swahili .

[@timgrady4630]

In actual Fact , one Never becomes born again with His Free and Never Deserving Gift of endless Everlasting Life - in this Lifetime - on your 5 Part Performance Contract till death to earn , merit , DESERVE...the Free and Never Deserving Gift . So , any mention of "becoming a child of God" remains as incoherent as it is contradictory to John 3:16 & Ephesians 2:8-9 . All attempts to make sense out of Working for a Free Gift remain forever elusive to anyone truly invested in the pursuit of Objective Truth .

[@2Chronicles714_]

​@viewer6634 Of course we are to follow repentance with water baptism. However those who are too self righteous to humble themselves and repent, water baptism would be meaningless.

[@DannyLoyd]

@@viewer6634 In Acts 2:38 it says to " Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins", and we see this is water baptism by reading Acts 10:47-48 where Peter said " Can any man forbid water for baptizing these people......and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus. It also says in Acts 2:41,47 that when they received the word and were baptized they were added to the saved, is that becoming a child of God being added to the saved? Next is Col 2:12 it says " You were buried with Jesus in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the WORKING OF GOD....God made ALIVE TOGETHER WITH HIM, HAVING FORGIVEN US ALL OUR TRESPASSES". So in Acts 2 baptism in the name of Jesus was for the forgiveness of sins and so is the baptism in Col 2 where we see when we are baptized God makes us alive and forgives our sins, water baptism. Same with Romans 6:3 " Do you not know that all of us who have been BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST JESUS were baptized into his death......might walk in newness of life.....our old self was crucified with Jesus so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin.......but now that you have been freed from sin .....the end you get is ETERNAL LIFE" . So, like Acts 2:38, Col 2, Romans 6 your sins are forgiven when you are baptized into Christ, which is water baptism. Now notice Gal 3:27 " For as many of you as were BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST...", it is the same as Romans 6:3 " BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST JESUS" which is water baptism!!!! That is in ENGLISH!!!! When you study the bible, you may want to look at ALL OF WHAT THE SCRIPTURE SAYS, not what you want it to say. And btw, you have unsaved believers in Acts 2:37 and now when you read Eph 2, ask yourself when are you MADE ALIVE? v1 and v5? Col 2 says God made you ALIVE WHEN YOU WERE BAPTIZED. So, Gal 3:26-27 " We are all sons of God through faith, for we have been baptized into Christ, we put on Christ", water baptism.

[@Liminalplace1]

Good talk. If what you say is correct why add the component "believe what Jesus said, or promises" (as in the promise of everlasting life) ? The way I read John 3:14-16 (context) is that Jesus was lifted up (the Christ -event/death etc) was so those who were believers would not perish but have eternal life. The believing in Jesus didn't involve believing his death or resurrection as it had not occurred yet and neither Nicodemus or the disciples understood it yet. BUT they believed. But Martha said she believed "you are the Messiah, the son of God, the one who is to come into the world". Note she doesn't say. "that you gave me everlasting life or anything like that. That is too advanced. Believing in him is just in reference to who Jesus is . Many scholars argue that the Greek Pistis isn't equivalent to our English word "believe",(for example John 2:24) your case is valid but it needs to be proved by context use of the word, which I think you do in part . A good takk

[@jonathancruz1764]

I hope this gets responded to. I have very similar objections/questions

[@2Chronicles714_]

GES is in error because they use John 3:16 as the message of salvation (Putting the cart in front of the horse) rather than its a beautiful promise for those who continue in the faith until the end will indeed have everlasting life with God.

[@GESvids]

*Do You Believe in Santa? Jesus?* October 31, 2023 by Mike Lii faithalone.org/grace-in-focus-articles/do-you-believe-in-santa-jesus/ During this time of year, children are often asked, “Do you believe in Santa?” It is interesting to note that when it comes to answering this question, people have nowhere near the level of confusion or over-analysis that they have about answering the question: “Do you believe in Jesus?” Most interpret the question, “Do you believe in Santa?” to mean, “Do you believe Santa exists?” or, “Do you believe Santa will bring gifts to children who have been good?” Most are simply satisfied that a child’s answer of “Yes” or “No” accurately reflects what the child believes about Santa. There are no follow-up questions, such as: “Do you really believe in Santa?” “Is this a heart-faith in Santa versus a head-faith or mere intellectual-assent to Santa?” “Have you decided for Santa?” “Have you surrendered your life to Santa?” “Have you given your life to Santa?” It is unfortunate that patently nonsensical questions about a children’s fantasy are thought to reveal theological insight when applied to the question, “Do you believe in Jesus?” The nature of the faith or belief in Santa is the same as the nature of the faith or belief in Jesus. In both instances, the faith or belief is a conviction that some proposition or promise is true. The key difference isn’t in the nature of the faith or belief, but in the person in whom one has faith or belief. One person is pure fiction and fantasy; the other Person is a true historical figure who proved His promises and the truth of His guarantees by dying on the cross and rising from the grave. Everyone understands that the question, “Do you believe in Santa?” must be a shortened form of a question involving a proposition about Santa. The expression, “I believe in Santa,” makes no sense devoid of something about Santa that is believed. The expression “believe in Santa” must be an abbreviated version of some larger proposition that is believed about Santa, such as his existence or his promise to bring presents to good children. Similarly, one cannot believe in Jesus absent a specific proposition to believe about Jesus. A question that clearly addresses this is: “According to the Gospel of John, what is the proposition to be believed concerning Jesus?” The Apostle John uses the verb believe almost 100 times in his Gospel. The most common use (thirty-one times) explicitly references believing in Jesus for eternal life or the concept of everlasting life-a life that can never be lost; a life with Jesus in a wonderful place forever.1 For example, John 3:16 explicitly references eternal life: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Although the term everlasting life is not used in John 14:1-2, the concept of everlasting life is present in the passage: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Less than ten occurrences of believe in John’s Gospel explicitly refer to something other than believing in Jesus for eternal life.2 For example, the nobleman in John 4:50 believed Jesus’ word that his son would recover from his sickness: Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. Another example is the Jews in John 9:18, who did not believe that Jesus healed a man born blind: But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. Sixty-four uses of the term believe in the Gospel of John are not explicit about the content of the belief. These occurrences are most commonly expressed as “believe in Him,”3 “believe in His name,”4 “believe in Me,”5 and “believe Me.”6 It is important to ask, “In these occurrences, what is the content or proposition that is being believed?” Among those who diminish the stated purpose of John’s Gospel-evangelism-these statements about believing in Jesus are frequently taken out of context in order to advance the position that eternal life is the result of believing some truth about Jesus that is not specifically related to eternal life. According to this view, eternal life is not part of the content or focus of belief. However, each use of the word believe in John’s Gospel, whether specifically related to eternal life or not, must be understood not only in its immediate context but also within the context of the entire Gospel, especially regarding John’s stated purpose. If the proposed content does not fit both the immediate context and the overall purpose of the Gospel of John, then such proposed content must be rejected. The purpose of John’s Gospel is stated in 20:30-31: And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His Name. The purpose of John’s book is that the reader or listener “may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.” What does “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” mean? We are given its meaning in John 11:25-27. Jesus says to Martha: “I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” Notice that Jesus tells Martha that He is the Resurrection and the Life, that every believer in Him will live even if he dies, and that every believer who lives will never die spiritually.7 In other words, Jesus tells Martha that He guarantees and gives eternal life to everyone who believes in Him for eternal life. Jesus then asks Martha, “Do you believe this?” He is asking, “Do you believe what I just stated?” Notice Martha’s response in John 11:27: “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” Martha responds affirmatively to Jesus’ question and instead of repeating what Jesus has just stated, Martha responds that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of God.” Martha has just equated the title “the Christ, the Son of God” with Jesus’ statement about eternal life. Martha’s response can, therefore, be understood to mean: “Yes, Lord, I believe that You (the Christ, the Son of God) guarantee and give eternal life to everyone who believes in You for eternal life.” Since the purpose of the Gospel of John is to direct the reader to believe that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of God,” this is the same as directing the reader to believe that Jesus is the One who gives eternal life to everyone who believes in Him for eternal life. Whenever John uses the word believe without specifying the content of such belief, it makes no sense to pick something from the immediate context as the content to be believed and then state that eternal life results from believing that content. For example, one may argue that “His disciples believed in Him” in John 2:11 refers to their belief that Jesus changed water into wine and that anyone who believes Jesus changed water into wine receives eternal life as a byproduct, whether they know it or not. But the only interpretation of 2:11’s “His disciples believed in Him,” which is consistent with John 3:16 and John 20:30-31, is that because they had just seen Jesus change water into wine, His disciples believed that He gives eternal life to everyone who believes in Him. In the same way, when John’s Gospel does not specifically state the content of belief, we can understand the expressions “believe in Him,” “believe in His name,” “believe in Me,” and “believe Me,” as shorthand for believing that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” the One who gives eternal life to every believer in Him. The nature and quality of believing in Santa and believing in Jesus are similar. Both terms reflect a belief in some proposition regarding the object of belief. In both instances, belief is understood as a persuasion or conviction that some proposition is true. It makes no sense to believe in Santa or to believe in Jesus without specifying the content of what is believed. However, the difference between believing in Santa versus believing in Jesus is vast-not because of a difference in the level of belief, but because of the difference between the objects of belief. Believing in Santa for gifts at Christmas is futile because Santa is fictitious and therefore powerless. On the other hand, believing in Jesus for eternal life is believing in the One who created the heavens and the earth, who willingly sacrificed Himself on the cross for every single human being, and who triumphantly rose from the grave. Faith in Jesus for eternal life never fails because we have Jesus’ own word on it. Jesus has promised: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47).

[@GESvids]

Footnotes for "Do You Believe in Santa? Jesus?" 1 See John 3:15-16, 18, 36; 4:42; 5:24, 38-40; 6:35-36, 40, 47, 69; 7:31; 9:35-38; 10:24-28, 36-38; 11:25-27; 12:47; 14:1-2; 20:31. 2 See John 2:22, 23; 4:21, 50; 5:46-47; 9:18. 3 See John 2:11; 4:39; 6:29; 7:5, 39, 48; 8:30; 10:42; 11:45, 48; 12:37, 42. 4 See John 1:12; 2:23; 3:18; 20:31. 5 See John 7:38; 12:44, 46; 14:12; 16:9; 17:20. 6 See John 5:46; 8:46; 10:38. 7 We know He is not talking about physical death because, in the previous verse, He referred to believers who die physically. In v 25, the Lord explains that at “the resurrection,” He will resurrect believers into His kingdom. In v 26, He explains that as “the life,” He gives everlasting life that cannot be lost to living people who believe in Him for that life.

[@Liminalplace1]

@@GESvids the reasoning in that is sound and makes sense. Im not sure commentators equated the term "Christ, the Son of God" as the one who gives eternal life, there is a great deal of recent scholarship on what "Christ" means.

[@aussierob7177]

Self-explanatory.

[@robertperez679]

The problem with this topic is...So many Pastors want to make believe/faith some type of complicated process which it is NOT! The Bible itself defines what faith that saves is... Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. The verses above are right from the Bible...Faith is just taking God at His word...It is simply a mental process by which you are convinced something is true...It is so simple a child can do it...But Oh No! the false prophets and false teachers & educated elites...want to add to the simplicity & take away the beauty of childlike Faith...They will say well let me see your works & I will tell you if your faith is real, or your faith is spurious faith (false/fake) there is NO SUCH THING...how very foolish and evil to try qualifying faith...you either have it at that moment or you don't. When you go to sit in a chair if you trust the chair will hold you up you sit on it...There see how simple...you just exercised your faith...It is just that simple!

[@2Chronicles714_]

Paul actually says show evidence of your repentance by your works.

[@soljos1190]

​@@2Chronicles714_ Except that Paul actually Never said that with respect to being born again with Endless Everlasting Life and therefore imputed with His PERFECT righteousness as the Free and Never Deserving Gift : Romans 4:1-8 ; Ephesians 2:8-9 ; Romans 3:20-5:11 , 11:6,29 ; Titus 3:5 ; Philippians 3:9 ; book of Galatians . Your 5 Part Performance Contract till death to earn Grace while working for a Free and Never Deserving Gift of endless Everlasting Life, is unrivaled as an incoherent and impossible proposition .

[@2Chronicles714_]

The teaching that we must be convinced to believe in Jesus is simply not found in scripture. That's not what faith is. Thomas was only convinced by seeing the nail holes in our Lord's hands to believe He had risen from the dead. John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Im convinced that Ken and Katherine are real people because Ive seen them on video, that doesn’t mean I have faith in them. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Noah could have said I have faith alone. I won't do works so I'm good with God. Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. Of course, if Noah would've said I'm convinced that God is real, but never displayed, his faith with evidence by his works, his family would have died in the flood, ending mankind. Paul echos what James says in Acts 26:20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. Show evidence of your repentance which is the consequence of faith by your works/conduct/lifestyle.

[@BruceMilnes-v9b]

Ye must be born again,only you and God know if you’ve had this supernatural rebirth,either you’ve had it or you havnt,the wind blows where it will,he runs not.

[@soljos1190]

@2Chronicles714_ You're an abject example of Prideful arrogance under cover of Christian terminology . Your behavioral performance (works) till death is your Object of faith . Not His doubtless Guarantee of Endless Everlasting Life as a Free and Never Deserving Gift . You reject His Free and Never Deserving Gift as a present and endless possession . So , you're identical to the unregenerate Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23) who provided the Template for all such self righteouness, that disbelieves in the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world , fully Propitiating for all sins ever committed . You don't believe He finished it all , but instead your Perseverance in Performance (works) - that you CANNOT POSSIBLY KNOW IS GOOD ENOUGH - will atone for your own sins that He somehow wasn't able to pull off ... Utter blasphemous self Idolatry under cover of a Holier than Thou religiosity . Is there a more contemptible position available this side of eternity ?

[@2Chronicles714_]

​@@soljos1190 Jesus calls those like who who have too much pride to humble yourself acknowledge you're a guilty sinner and repent of your sinfulled life self righteous. Luke5:32 I did not come to call the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to repent], but sinners to repentance [to change their old way of thinking, to turn from sin and to seek God and His righteousness].” Matthew 9:13 and learn what this [Scripture] means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION [for those in distress], AND NOT [animal] SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call [to repentance] the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to change], but sinners [those who recognize the sin and actively seek forgiveness].” Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard this, He said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but [only] those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners [who recognize their sin and humbly seek forgiveness]