Believing God

Believing God

John 3:16 famously says that whoever believes in Jesus has everlasting life. Then in verse 36 of the same chapter we read that whoever believes on Jesus has everlasting life. In John 5:24 we find that whoever believes on the One who sent Jesus has everlasting life. John 12:44 says that one who believes on Jesus does not believe on Him, but on the One who sent Him. Elsewhere we read that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

So, which is it?

Are we to believe in Jesus,
believe on Jesus,
believe on the One who sent Jesus, or
believe God?

The difficulty we may face when considering the answer to this question has to do with the human propensity to rely on knowledge.

If we say we believe in Christ, it can be easy to confuse that with understanding that He was an actual human person who once walked the earth. We can believe that He existed, lived, taught, and died, and yet fail to gain everlasting life.

If we say we believe on Christ, things are perhaps less clear. The idea of believing on something, or in this case on someone, is fuzzy at best.

Things get even more foggy when we consider the idea of believing on the One who sent Jesus—God the Father.

Paul says something in 2 Corinthians 11:3 that I find lend clarity to puzzles like this. In that verse he talks about “the simplicity that is in Christ.”

Believing in, believing on, and believing God are all the same. John 8:24 says that believing that Jesus is “he” is required.

We are to believe that Jesus is who He says He is.
We are to believe that Jesus alone is able to give us righteousness.
We are to believe that Jesus is our only hope of forgiveness and reconciliation to God.

We are simply to believe God.