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. (John 3:16) One of the most quoted verses in the Bible.

Do we truly understand what "believeth in him" means? We must believe in the Son, "in Christ", who is the Son. Believing is not simply a mental assent, as in "I believe that Christ is Jesus and He is the Son of God" or "I believe that Christ died for my sins". Believing "in Christ" is not only believing that He is indeed the Son of God... it is also believing in what He did for us... it is believing in ALL of what He said... it is believing in ALL of His words... it is believing (trusting) in Him for the way of salvation.

Jesus clearly said, "And if any man hear my words, and believe not... the same shall judge him in the last day." (see John 12:47-48) Obviously Jesus wants us to hear His words and believe them, which is part of "believing in Him". So, we should know that "believing in him" is not simply saying that we believe that He exists.

The Greek word for "believe" is "pisteuo", which is translated today in most Bible translations as "believe" or "believeth"… now let's consider the definition for the word "pisteuo"...

Strong's Definition:
--to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), that is, credit;
--by implication to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well being to Christ):
--believe (-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.

Thayer’s Definition:
--to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in, of the thing believed, to credit, have confidence
--in a moral or religious reference, used in the NT of the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative and law of soul, to trust in Jesus or God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing something: saving faith
--to entrust a thing to one, i.e. his fidelity, to be entrusted with a thing

"Pisteuo" means "to have faith in, commit, to trust, to be persuaded of, place confidence in, and to trust in Jesus or God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing something: saving faith".

So to "pisteuo eis autos" (Greek), or "believe in Him" (English), per our translation of what John wrote in John 3:16, means that we should put our faith in Him, commit to Him, believe what He said, and that we should trust in Him to help us obtain salvation. Clearly it is more than simply saying that we believe. This is why it is so very important that we study God's Word and learn what words mean. If we truly study we can learn that the word was not really "believe" but rather "pisteuo" and it was translated by men into the English language as "believe". The word "pisteuo" has much more meaning than simply to "believe" as what we think of it in today's society. We should understand that John, the writer of the Gospel of John, did not use the word "believe"... this was not his word, but rather our word... it was the word uninspired men decided to use to translate John’s word, or God's inspired word.

We should even carry the thought of our English word "believe" to a level of "trust" as well. If you believe me, what does that mean? It means you trust I am telling you the truth, right? So... if you believe in Christ or "believeth in Him", as John wrote, you would be "trusting in Him"…, you would believe that He is telling you the truth. Clearly we should see that this is not merely a mental assent to the existence of Christ.

Many people have long thought that John 3:16 meant simply to believe that Christ exists and you can be saved. This is absolutely not what the Bible teaches, and it is one reason why so many will follow the broad path to destruction. Let me give you another example... Jesus said in Luke 13:3 that “unless you repent you will surely perish”... now do you believe Him? Do you believe in Jesus, in what He said? Do you "believeth in Him", as John wrote? Now surely we can understand the difference in "believing that He exists" and "believing in Him"? Again... believing in Him is indeed believing He exists, PLUS it includes: believing in what He did, believing in what He said, believing in what He taught, and trusting in Him for the way of salvation.

It is important that we “study (be diligent)” to show ourselves “approved unto God” and be able to “rightly divide the truth” of God’s Word. (see 2 Timothy 2:15)

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In Christ,
brother Sonnie