Anchor My Faith

Believes

Scripture: John 3:16

Today our lesson will cover the next word in our collection of eight words, the word believes. We are looking at the words which are contain in the famous verse “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV). What do we need to understand about believes?

First, one last comment on “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.” John 3:16 has two clear parts: what God does and the two characteristics of belief. How one believes or comes to belief is not included in this verse and is something we will look at in later lessons. Up to this point we have consider what God does. We will not look at the characteristics of believes.

Whoever believes implies, it results in a separation of people into two groups: those who believe and those who do not. Those who believe in Jesus will not be condemned and will have eternal life. Those who do not believe are already condemned and will perish.

To believe is to embrace something as true, but how do you determine if it is true? You consider its source. In our case it is Jesus who later claims to be the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). In our last lesson we determined that Jesus was the eternal word. To trust the truth in this case is to trust him to be whom he says he is and to do what he says.

In lesson H117 we noticed that “God gave” was equivalent to “God sent.” From John 1:11 – 12, we find that receive is equivalent to believe: “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (ESV). To believe in Jesus means we receive him and embrace him and what he says.

If believe means to receive, then what are we receiving? There are many verses we could look at to answer this, but let us look at just one. In John 6:35, “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst”’ (ESV). Food and drink are necessary for physical life and from this verse we see that Jesus is necessary for spiritual life. To receive him is to come to the source of life to receive what is needed for eternal life.

Prayer

Father, what treasure there is in the Word. It is indeed the source of life. As I come and feast upon him my soul is satisfied and my heart is filled with joy and happiness (Jeremiah 15:16). Lord, draw me more deeply into yourself that I would be prepared to enjoy eternity to its fullest.