The work of God is that we believe in Jesus, whom He sent (John 6:29). Believing in Jesus is far more than accepting that He died for the forgiveness of sins. It means believing what He said for our instruction and what He lived as an example, which entails following Him, imitating Him, obeying Him, and becoming more like Him every day. Belief is therefore proven by conformity to God's Word, not by religious tradition. Faiths that claim the Bible yet keep traditions that contradict its plain teaching, such as calling a man Holy Father against Jesus' command in Matthew 23:9, exalt human ideas above God. This is idolatry and humanism, the mark of false religion, which mixes godly teaching with human self-righteousness, as in eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. True believers follow the Bible as God's Instruction Book and measure every new idea against the God-breathed Word (II Peter 1:19-21). No one has God's truth perfectly, but sincere seeking of revealed truth differs vastly from blatant disregard of Scripture. Those who worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:23) are the ones who really believe. Each person must examine whether he is in the faith (II Corinthians 13:5), asking whether he truly believes Christ or merely continues in inherited traditions out of laziness, contentment, or fear.

Believing God is indispensable, for without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). It is more than academic agreement; it is confidence in God's trustworthiness and promises that moves a person to obedience, prayer, study, and love. It rests on a foundation of proof that God exists (law, life, creation, design, fulfilled prophecy, answered prayer) and that the Bible is His Word, shown by fulfilled prophecies. Jesus' parable of the two builders shows that hearing without doing leaves a person on sand, and the fall is great. Christ Himself modeled belief by learning obedience through suffering, and the work of God is to believe in the One He sent (John 6:28-29). Because end-time trials will shake everything, and the question remains whether the Son of Man will find faith on the earth, belief must be guarded. Ingratitude, letting down in prayer and study, and association with false teachers erode it. Israel's unbelief in the wilderness and the branches broken off in Romans 11 show that relationship with God fails without trust. Those who believe are counted righteous like Abraham, called friends of God, not put to shame, not condemned, given eternal life, and brought out of darkness. When fear and unbelief rise, as with the father who cried, "Help my unbelief," a person can seek counsel, examine the cause, and change attitude. Faith grows chiefly by studying God's Word and power.

God measures faith by obedience, not by feelings, emotions, or words. Abraham proved his faith by obeying when he did not withhold Isaac, and God's blessings followed because he obeyed His voice. The popular idea that belief alone secures salvation overlooks what New Testament belief means. The Greek pisteuo stands in contrast to disobedience in I Peter 2:7, so belief leads to obedience and disbelief leads to disobedience. The Greek apeitheo shows the same link: translators render it both "do not obey" and "do not believe," treating disbelief and disobedience as synonymous. James agrees that faith works together with works and is made perfect by them, and that faith without actions is dead like a body without breath. Believing is therefore not merely a feeling but a deep commitment to God evidenced by obedience. Emphasizing belief while excluding obedience leaves it a hollow shell with no life or saving power. Obedience does not itself save, as Romans 4:1-8 shows, but it is the evidence of the right kind of belief that does save. Wherever "believe" appears in the New Testament, it should be read as "believe and obey," so that John 3:16 promises everlasting life to those who believe in Christ and obey, the doers rather than the mere hearers. Our level of obedience is the test that measures the state of our faith.