Believe in God? Believe in His Son!

"Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." (1 Peter 1: 21)

Through Jesus Christ, we come to believe in God the Father, that He is on our side, that He not only wants the best for us, but that through His Son, the first-born from the dead, we can become also sons of God (John 1: 12)

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." (John 14: 1)

and

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)

James took his readers to task because a mental assent alone is not enough:

"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." (James 2: 19)

"That there is one God" -- yes, everyone believes that there is a God, even atheists who have the inner witness, no matter how much they may deny it (Romans 1: 19)

It is not enough to believe in God, but to believe in Jesus Christ, that He was sent to take away our sins:

"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1: 29)

and

"And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin." (1 John 3: 5)

In fact, Jesus became sin that we might receive His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5: 21)

By believing in His Son, we become children of God and heirs to all He possesses (Romans 8: 15-17)