Is there a Bible passage or verse about believing in God?

Answer 1

There are lots of verses about this. The Biblical idea of believing in God is not merely a factual acknowledgment of his existence, but rather a transforming faith that impacts one's lifestyle. Belief in God the Father also requires belief in Jesus, who is also God (The Bible describes a Triune God, that is, one God made up of three persons--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) such that you cannot have one without the other.

John 1:12-13 "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

John 3:16-19 "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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever 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."

John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."

John 14:11-12a "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing."

Acts 16:31b "...'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved...'"

Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

1 Corinthians 15:1-5 "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve."

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast."

James 2:19-20 "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder...faith without deeds is useless"

(verses are quoted from the New International Version of the Bible)

Answer 2

People throw the word "believe" around a lot these days... and very few [if any] bother to define what it is that they are believing.

The dictionary defines "believe" as: "accepting that someone is telling the truth."

"Synonyms: trust, have faith in, have confidence in."

The first scripture that came to mind to answer this question, was a passage that tells us that Jesus doesn't trust men. Men who "believed on Him!":

"...many people saw the miraculous signs He was doing and believed in His name. But Jesus would not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man." (John 2:23-25 NIV)

In fact... in John 8: verse 30 to the end of the chapter... a group of Jews who "believed" in Jesus tried to kill Him before they were done with their conversation.

"I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill Me, because you have no room for My Word." (verse 37 NIV)

The Bible, of course, comes from the direction of "believing" God, as opposed to "believing" in men. Of this, Paul says:

"...I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the One you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough." (II Cor.11:3-4 NIV)

The Bible warns God's servants to be wary of men. To measure what men say against what God's Word says. The question, then, referring to the Bible, discovers that men should be ascertaining, first, what they believe about God... whether or not it's according to His Word -- and then measure the beliefs of others against that.

"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the councils and flog you in their synagogues [churches]." (Matt.10:16-17 NIV)

Paul's warning is still valid, today. Many modern professing Christian folks will easily "believe" in others who come to them merely acknowledging "Jesus' name"... without delving into what they "believe" about Him. Whether or not their beliefs comply with scripture. But, then, most modern professing Christians don't study God's Word, to know what the Bible says, either.

Biblically speaking... Jesus' distrust of men should be a sound passage by which to approach one's "belief in others."

He loves us... and He died for us: but until we "prove" ourselves to Him... repent and learn to entrust ourselves to Him -- He can't entrust Himself to us.