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"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6
The third step toward salvation is to believing. What must we believe? First, we must believe that Jesus Christ, who lived on this erth nearly two thousand years ago, is the Son of the omnipotent and living God. After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist,the voice of God spoke from a cloud and said, "This is My beloved Son: hear Him." (Mark 9:9) God almighty declared that Jesus was indeed His Son. We believe this is so by believing God's Word.
Secondly, we believe the death suffered by Jesus was to pay for our sins. He did not die a meaningless death. The death He suffered was to pay the penalty of sin for all mankind.
We must believe Jesus is not dead, but rose from the grave by the power of God. The same power which raised Christ from the dead is the same power which keeps men and women from living sinful lives. Believing on the resurrection of Christ is most important because this is where we obtain our hope of eternal life. We no longer have to fear death or what is beyond it because God's power overcame it when Jesus was resurrected. The wages of sin is death, but we do not have to reap the wages of sin because the resurrection power of God can keep us from sin.
Finally, we must believe salvation is ours for the asking. If we ask Jesus to forgive us and live in our hearts (seek Him), He will reward us (save us) accordingly.
Acceptance of Jesus' death for our sins must occur before we can reap the benefits of God's resurrection power and have hope of eternal life. God does not and never has condemned anyone to eternal death. Failure to believe and accept Jesus Christ and His death for our sins condemns an individual.
"He who believes in Him (Jesus Christ) is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John 3:18
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