What does it mean to believe?

The question is asked, “What does it take to be saved? What exactly is the definition of ‘believe’ in the New Testament? Is it just the mental acknowledgment that Jesus Christ is Lord and God? That He is the Messiah ? Do I just need to intellectually acknowledge that and have therefore fulfilled the requirement of "believe"?

As with all such questions, there is only one place we need to look. What saith the Scriptures? Lets start in the book of John. The disciples were speaking to Jesus and they asked Him a question.

Joh 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

So foremost, we must believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. If it is good enough for Christ, then it is good enough h for me. But just in case, how about Paul:

Act 16:30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Act 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

According to the Scriptures, the only thing required for salvation is belief. That leads us to our next question, what exactly does it mean to believe? You are probably thinking, “don’t you already know?” Everyone thinks they know, unfortunately many are wrong, and the consequences are eternal. “What about what Jesus says to many on that day, depart from me, I never knew you?” Here is that passage:

Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity

Apparently there are different types of belief. Look at the verses above. These people, who are being told that they were never actually known by Jesus, had a certain level of belief. These people believed enough to do works in His Name. They also cast out devils in the Name of Christ. But their belief did not save them. “But didn’t the other passages say that all one had to do to be saved was believe?” Yes they did. So what gives? What is the difference from one type of believing to another? Lets look at a verse that may give us a little clarification:

Joh 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Notice the parallel construction. Often Scripture is written this way to help make a point more clear. Look at it this way:

he that cometh to me shall never hunger
he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

So our first point of clarification for Biblical belief is this: To truly believe is to come to Jesus for something. That something is the forgiveness of sins:

Act 10:43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

You may be thinking, “But doesn’t everyone who believes in Jesus know they are a sinner?” The Pharisee’s for instance did not think that they needed a Savior. They were very comfortable with their outward religious observances. That is why Jesus called them “whitewashed tombs.” They were clean outwardly, but they were unclean inwardly. They believed they were already righteous, because of their outward observance of the Law of Moses. They even accused Jesus of being a sinner because He associated Himself with sinners:

Mar 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Jesus was playing on their own self-righteousness. Of course, we know that they were not actually righteous. Jesus can’t save us if we don’t first believe that we need saving. Oh sure, we can all read the Bible and understand from a theological perspective that we are all sinners, but it is more than that. Jesus came to save sinners, and unless the Law has done its’ work in showing us our need, we cannot truly come to Christ.

Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

So the law convicts us and shows us our need. Without the law first doing its’ work, we cannot come to Jesus in true faith. That is how we get false converts. Someone says a little prayer and everyone rejoices as if they have been Born Again, and 2 months later they are gone and no one hears from them again. There was no true sense of need. Those people never come face to face with how richly and deeply they deserve hell, and therefore place very little value on Christs’ work for them.

So the law has convicted us, now what? Does that mean that we are saved? Not at all. We must come to Jesus.

So believing is understanding we have a problem, and coming to Christ in faith and believing that He paid the price we cannot. Sometimes, people believe in Jesus, but for various reasons do not come to Jesus. Some come, but have never had a need. There are various reasons for this.

Some people think they can save themselves (self-righteous):

(Rom 10:3) For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

This takes on many forms. Sometimes it is an inner pride, deep seated based on one’s standards of righteousness that fall short of God. Often, a person will be convicted by sin and be driven to religion. One of man’s greatest instincts is to work for things they receive. Salvation is no different. Religion offers the convicted soul a place to ‘work off’ their sins, or to simply earn enough Grace to be worthy of salvation. Christianity is full of these institutions, and the devil will show you the way.

Some would rather have the praise of men than of God:

Joh 12:42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
Joh 12:43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

They wake up in their sin one day and realize they are in debt to their Creator. They see the Cross and know it offers their only cure, but their fear of what their friends might think is of greater importance than being reconciled to God. They fear what it might mean to their career, their popularity, their position in society. They fear what their mother will think, will they be cast out of the family, shunned, or in some parts of the world, treated as an enemy and killed. Jesus said, ‘He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.’ Matt 10:37

So no, a simple prayer is not sufficient to save us. We must come to Him, we must believe we are sinners, and we must realize that there is nothing we can do to save our selves. We must love Jesus more than our position in society, more than our desire to be liked. We must rest in Him, in His Righteousness. That is the only way.

Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: