How Do I Believe into Jesus Christ?

“That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life” – John 3:15

Have you ever asked yourself how you can have a personal relationship with God?  The answer is simple.  Believe into Jesus Christ, His Son.

Does such a expression–“believe into Jesus Christ”–sound strange to you? It does to most of us, because that’s not the common understanding. But that’s exactly what the Bible says.

So in this post we’ll first consider what it means to “believe into Jesus Christ” according to the Bible. Then we’ll go on to present how you can believe into Him right now.

To believe Christ is to acknowledge that He is true and real.

You might asking, “What’s the difference between believing Him and believing into Him?”

Believing Christ is to believe that He is true and real. In John 6:30, the religionists of His day said to Jesus, “What sign will You do that we may see and believe You? What work will You do?”

They were challenging Jesus to do some miracle—like sending bread down from heaven—in order to prove to them that He was God’s sent one. With them it was a matter of whether or not they would believe that something was true or genuine. It was simply a matter of whether they would acknowledge a fact.

This is similar to Albert Einstein’s biographical statement that he accepted the historical existence of Jesus. Einstein could not deny the vibrant account of Jesus in the gospels, that confirmed to him that Jesus was a real human being. But this did not mean that Einstein ever believed into Christ.

To believe into Jesus Christ is to receive Him and be united with Him as one.

However, when Jesus spoke the famous words of John 3:16 to Nicodemus, telling him how to be born anew, He did not tell him to “believe Him.”  Rather He said,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.”

This is what God is calling all men to do today. He does not merely want you to believe that Jesus is a real historical figure, even one that did miraculous works of power. Rather God invites you to believe into Jesus Christ, His Son, so that you can enter into a spiritual union with Him by faith.

Footnote 2 on John 3:16 in the Recovery Version says,

Believing into the Lord is not the same as believing Him (6:30). To believe Him is to believe that He is true and real, but to believe into Him is to receive Him and be united with Him as one. The former is to acknowledge a fact objectively; the latter is to receive a life subjectively.

How to believe into Jesus Christ

We can believe into Jesus Christ because God has made Him “enterable.” For Christ to be enterable for our union with Him, He first had to become a genuine man. John 1:14 says,

“The Word [Jesus Christ] became flesh and tabernacled among us…”

Then 1 Corinthians 15:45 goes on to say that after passing through His crucifixion and resurrection, Christ became a life-giving Spirit. This verse says,

“…the last Adam [Jesus Christ] became a life-giving Spirit.”

By these two “becames,” Christ has become both “enterable” and receivable. As the life-giving Spirit, He is now as available to us as the air that we breathe. We can easily enter into Him and receive Him into us by believing into His name.

First Corinthians 12:3b says,

“No one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit.”

By simply confessing with your mouth from deep within, “Jesus is Lord! Lord Jesus, I believe into You!”—you enter into Him and receive Him into you as the life-giving Spirit. You’re in His Spirit, and He is in your spirit. You are joined to Him in an spiritual union of life in which you’re born of God to be a child of God!

Grasp the opportunity to believe into Jesus Christ right now by praying,

“Lord Jesus, thank you for becoming a man to die on the cross for my sins. Praise you, that after three days You rose from the grave and became the life-giving Spirit. Praise you, that now as the Spirit, You’re available to me like the air—both enterable and receivable.  Lord Jesus, I believe into You and I receive You as my Savior and life. Thank you that now I’m in You and You’re in me. I’m born of God to be a child of God. Amen.”

If you’ve been helped to believe into Jesus Christ to experience a personal relationship with God, please share your joy in a comment.

References and Further Reading:

• This post was inspired by John 3:16, footnote 2 in the Holy Bible, Recovery Version.
• Here is a short video titled, “Who is Jesus?” that will show you how you can believe into Christ and receive Him into you.
• You may also enjoy reading this related post  The Difference Between “Believing In” and “Believing Into” Jesus in John 3:16 on the Bibles for America blog.
• Photo Credit: hotblack (Morguefile.com)