What Does It Mean To Believe In God?

Understanding Belief, Understanding God: What Does It Mean To Believe In God?

This is another one of those popular questions that is out there in ‘the corridors of the ether’. It is a good question but the asker should realise that the answer has profound implications. The simple answer is that if a person truly believes in God, then he or she has to take God for real along with everything He says to us through His Son Jesus and through His Word, the Bible. That is a life-changing decision.

Let’s step back a little and ask two subsidiary questions – what is ‘belief’ and then, what or who is God?

Belief In A Chair

Unless you believe or trust that a chair will hold you if you sit down on it, you would be unwise to do so. You probably don’t consider the laws of physics each time.  The safety of sitting on a chair is governed by several fundamental laws of physics, especially those related to forces, stability, and material strength. These principles ensure that the chair supports your weight without tipping, collapsing, or causing injury.  Here are just two of those laws to make the point:

Newton’s Laws of Motion

•          First Law (Inertia): Your body remains at rest once seated unless acted upon by an external force. The chair must resist movement to keep you stable.

•          Third Law (Action-Reaction): When you sit, you exert a downward force on the chair. The chair must exert an equal and opposite upward force (normal force) to support you.

Other aspects such as equilibrium, stability, material science, friction, torque and leverage also apply!

Practicality And Experience

Unless a chair looks rickety, people just sit on one because they have seen others do it and they know from experience that it will hold them. Experience of previous good outcomes reinforces belief such that it becomes ‘second nature’ and no further deep assessment is required.

Belief then is when you are willing to put your whole weight, reputation and safety on something you hold true.

What Or Who Is God?

When we come to assess the identity of someone or something, we need evidence or reliable witnesses to make a sound judgement. So a person will first make their claim to identity but then to prove it, there are usually the two further steps of documentary evidence and of trustworthy testimony. We see this applied when going abroad, you are required to show your passport for proof of identity. Then again, in a Court of Law, only reliable witnesses are allowed to give testimony. How do we apply these principles to deciding if we can trust God?

God Makes His Claim in Person

Moses meets God in the desert but doesn’t know Who He is, so he asks, ‘What is Your Name?’ Here is His answer:

‘Then God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am” [These Hebrew words are related to the name Yahweh, usually translated “Lord,” and suggest that God eternally lives and is always with His people]. When you go to the people of Israel, tell them, ‘I Am sent me to you.’”

Exodus 3:14 (Expanded Bible)

There are four words of introduction right at the start of the Bible: ‘In the beginning God’ – Genesis 1: 1. The word for ‘God’ here is ‘Elohim’ meaning Deity (in its plural form signposting us to His Son Jesus and to the Holy Spirit). There are various names and titles used when referring to God in the Bible, but the simple word ‘God’ covers them all.

The Written Document

Christians believe the Bible is the Word of God based on its internal claims, historical evidence, fulfilled prophecy, and transformative power.

Internal Claims – The Bible repeatedly asserts it is God’s Word. For example, 2 Timothy 3:16 says, ‘All Scripture is God-breathed…’ and 2 Peter 1:21 affirms that prophets ‘spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit’.  Over 3,800 times, phrases like ‘Thus says the Lord’ appear, indicating divine authorship.

Unity Across Time and Authors – Written over 1,500 years through more than 40 people from diverse backgrounds (kings, fishermen, prophets), the Bible maintains a consistent message of redemption and God’s character.  Despite cultural and historical differences, its theological coherence is unmatched among ancient texts.

Fulfilled Prophecy – The Bible contains hundreds of prophecies, many fulfilled with remarkable specificity—such as the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus (e.g., Isaiah 53, Micah 5:2). Historical fulfilments, like the fall of Babylon (Isaiah 13) and the destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 21:6), bolster its credibility.

Historical and Archaeological Support – Archaeological discoveries (e.g., Dead Sea Scrolls, Hittite cities, Pool of Bethesda) have confirmed many biblical details once thought legendary. The Bible’s historical accuracy in names, places, and customs continues to be affirmed by scholars and digs.

Manuscript Evidence – The Bible is the best-preserved ancient document in existence, with over 5,800 Greek New Testament manuscripts and thousands more in other languages.  This abundance allows scholars to reconstruct the original text with high confidence.

Other Testimony And Evidence

Billions of people now and through the centuries testify to the Bible’s life-changing impact in bringing hope, healing and purpose. Its moral and spiritual teachings have shaped laws, ethics, and cultures worldwide.  The survival and influence of the Bible continues despite persecution, bans, and criticism – it remains the most widely read, translated, and distributed book in history.

Jesus

Sent by God to bring the good news of salvation, Jesus makes this declaration to Phillip: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

This claim is endorsed by the writer of Hebrews: ‘The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word’ (Hebrews 1:3)

Putting It All Together

When you put belief and God together, you come to a crossroad that leads to the realm of spiritual meaning. If you choose to believe in God, it means that you have to consider the Bible as His Word and take the claims of Jesus very seriously.

Peter had to do this for himself just as each one of us has to. When Jesus asked Peter, who do people say that I am? After three years of seeing Him do miracles, hearing His teaching and evaluating His ‘whole life example’, Peter declares Him to be the Son of God. Following the crucifixion, Peter and the other disciples had given up hope until they met the risen Jesus. They had found the tomb empty and were mystified – still fearful, they were hiding in a locked first storey room. What happened? Jesus appeared to them in that locked room, they saw Him eat broiled fish, speak to 500 people and ascend in front of them into the heavens.

The consequences of that impacted him and also us today. Peter and the disciples stopped hiding away and began preaching about Jesus again, enduring beatings, imprisonment and even ultimate death.

What does it mean for a person today who truly believes in God?

Simply put, there are six things that they will want to do:

1. Find out more about Him by reading the Bible, especially the New Testament as it was the most recently written
2. Accept the gift of His Son Jesus as a personal Saviour giving forgiveness for sin through the cross (John 3:16)
3. Follow Jesus in life and faith being willing to tell others (sharing stories)
4. Meet with fellow believers – being part of a Christian church community
5. Live with unshakeable hope as a child of God (1 John 3:1) – this gives you a lasting and secure sense of identity
6. Have no fear of life after death but accept a confidence in a continuing life with God

It means gaining everything to believe in God as billions of people have done and do. To have no belief in God means you have to work out a world view and religion of your own, with no Saviour for the worst parts of your life and no future hope beyond the flames of the crematorium or the cold grasp of decomposition awaiting in the grave.

The early church developed a Creed which Christians today still hold precious as eternal God-given truths.

Here it is:

The Apostles’ Creed

Here’s a song as you think about this: ‘I believe’ performed by Phil Wickham:

Further reading: https://connect4life.org.uk/uncategorised/should-we-read-the-bible-literally-or-contextually/

If this is new to you and you find yourself at the crossroads of faith, explore this link: https://connect4life.org.uk/unconnected/