I’m a skeptic.
If you tell me something unlikely, chances are I’ll Google it – I can’t help myself. I want to know the how, when, why, and where. Once I find the evidence, then I believe.
This constant questioning has even caused tension in some of my closest relationships. (If you want to know more about my journey from skeptic to believer, read this.)
It’s for people like me that John wrote his Gospel.
Why John Wrote His Gospel
The Gospel of John is all about believing. John, an eyewitness to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection — and one of His twelve disciples — tells us exactly why he wrote it:
“These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31}
Throughout his Gospel, he gives powerful reasons why we can trust and believe in Jesus.
What Does It Mean to Believe?
Before we dive in, let’s define believe.
Dictionary.com puts it simply: “to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something…”
John wrote his Gospel so that we would have confidence in the truth, the existence, and the reliability of Jesus: who He is, what He said, and what He did.
Three Reasons to Believe
Let’s look at three key reasons we should believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
Believe So You Will Have Eternal Life
That’s the big one: living forever in Heaven with God. No more tears, death, crying, or pain (Revelation 21:4). All of this is possible for those who believe.
One of the most well-known Bible verses — and probably the first one many of us memorize — is John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 by alone tells us all we need to know. But John mentions eternal life again and again throughout his Gospel. Just before it, in John 3:14, he says, “that whoever believes in him [Jesus] may have eternal life.”
And John keeps going. He tells the story of a woman at the well who met Jesus and received a different kind of water than she came for —a living water. (You can read more about what we can learn from her story here.)
Jesus told her,
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14
Over and over, John reminds us: believe so that you may have eternal life — see John 5:24, 6:27, 6:40, 6:47, 6:51, 6:54, 11:25.
Believe So You Will Be God’s Child
When you receive Jesus, you are born again into God’s family. You gain the right to be called a child of God (John 1:11), and with this right comes all the benefits of having Him as your Father.
- You have access to God and His spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3, 7,8) and gifts (1 Corinthians 12).
- You have God’s protection (Psalm 91)
- You have God’s peace (John 16:33).
- You have God’s provision (Matthew 6:25-34)
When you become His child, He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in you, — a deposit guaranteeing your inheritance in heaven (Ephesians 1:14). HEAVEN, y’all.
But there is more! As children of God, we are the brothers and sisters of Christ (Hebrews 2:11, Romans 8:29, Mark 3:34). Jesus is my brother. Wow. I don’t know about you but having God as my Father and Jesus as my brother is reason enough to believe!
Believe So That You Will Have Life In His Name
This sounds a bit like the first reason, doesn’t it? Believe so that you may have eternal life. It is, but it is not. Life in His name isn’t just our future eternal life — it’s our life here and now!
The Greek word for life is zoe, which means not just physical and spiritual life but the absolute fullness of life — life genuine. Wow! Jesus came not only so I can spend my eternity in Heaven with Him, but so that I can have a full life right now on earth. I don’t have to wait for His peace, His protection, or His provision. All these things are available to me here and now! That is GOOD NEWS.
John gives us so many more reasons to believe. He says we should believe so we won’t be condemned (John 3:17), so that the Word abides in us (John 5:38), so that we will never thirst (John 7:38), so that we don’t die in our sins (John 8:24), so that we see the glory of God (John 11:40), so that we don’t remain in darkness (John 12:46), and so we can do even greater works than Jesus did (John 14:12).
See what I mean? John is so convincing — even to a skeptic like me. He was an eyewitness to Jesus and gives us proof after proof of why we should believe. For too long, my skepticism kept me from trusting the Gospel, but now when I need evidence, I turn to the living word of God. That’s enough for me. I BELIEVE.
👉 Want to go deeper? Join me in my free John 1 Deep Dive — let’s read this love letter together and see how it changes us, verse by verse. Sign up here!
PS: Don’t stop here. Keep reading the Gospel of John — and see for yourself why John wrote it: “That you may believe… and that by believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31)
More in This John 1 Deep Dive Series
Keep exploring the rich truths of John’s Gospel:
In the Beginning Was the Word — What John 1:1–3 Teaches About Jesus
The Word Became Flesh – John 1:14 and the Mystery of the Incarnation
- John the Baptist: The Voice in the Wilderness
Want to study John 1 with me? Join the free 30-Day Deep Dive here.
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