Believe.

Day 2 of the 90 Day New Testament Challenge. Reading from John 3 through John 6, one common message arises: believe.

Check it out.

In John 3:16-18, we find Jesus speaking with Nicodemus. After Nicodemus clearly fails to understand what Jesus has to say to him regarding being born again, Jesus says:

¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

At the end of John 3, we find John the Baptist teaching his disciples, testifying that Jesus is the Son of God. He clearly reiterates the teaching of Jesus:

³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.

In John 4, we find Samaritans coming to belief, following Jesus’s interaction with the woman at the well:

³⁹Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.

⁴¹And because of his words many more became believers.

Later in John 4, we find Jesus admonishing the royal official at Cana who has come to him pleading for healing for his son:

⁴⁸“Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

After Jesus heals the officials son, we find belief embraced:

⁵³Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and all his household believed.

We see belief in the invalid healed at the pool in Jerusalem (John 5:1-15). We see Jesus sharing with the Jews residing in Jerusalem that the must believe in him for salvation (John 5:16-47). And we see Jesus sharing hard teachings regarding belief with the masses following him after the feeding of the five thousand (John 6).

Believe.

If the Scriptures are a reliable source of information for answering the most basic questions of faith we humans have, we’re faced with a critical question that provides the answer to our ultimate outcome.

What do you believe about Jesus?