What is "Believe"?

Churchgoers love to quote John 3:16 which states, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Most people would assume the word “believeth” in this scripture simply means acknowledge, or accept as true, but that assumption would be incorrect. Instead, it means something much deeper.

The Greek word from which “believeth” has been interpreted is “pisteuo,” the root word of which is “peitho” with the meanings “to suffer one’s self to be persuaded” and “to listen to, obey, yield to, comply with.” So, anyone who chooses to believe in Jesus for the sake of their salvation must heed and apply everything He ever said about the kingdom of God and eternal life. The emphasis is on regarding and then obeying Jesus’ instructions. This is clearly pointed out in Hebrews 5:9, which states that “being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.”

Given the above, you can see how dangerous it is to base your salvation on just one verse – or even a handful of verses – from the Bible. Rather, it’s imperative to consider the fullness of the message Jesus proclaimed, and we’ll get to that very soon.