According to biblical theology a genuine decision to believe in Jesus in order to be saved must have as its fundamental component the commitment of one’s future to Him. Paul described the conversion of the Thessalonians as a turning from idols to serve the living God (1 Thess. 1:9). People always serve what gives the best hope for the future. Thus to believe in Jesus means being persuaded that only Jesus has the love, power, and wisdom to guide one toward a fulfilled future. This persuasion results in a strong desire to carefully follow His instructions found in the Bible. And such a desire will mean a turning away–repentance–from idols one has been serving in the delusional thinking that money, or sex, or prestige offers the best promise for one’s future.

This commitment of one’s future to Jesus is possible only on the basis of confidence that He, through His death on the cross for one’s sins in serving idols, has placated God’s anger at the insult of preferring idols to Him. Then according to John 6:35 the proof that one is believing in Jesus is not hungering and thirsting, or positively, that one has rest in the confidence that Jesus, who is God, will always be ministering wisely to one’s needs and using His omnipotence in overcoming all evil things that bode future misery.