Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
- KJV Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
- NKJV Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
- NASB Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
- NLT Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus answers that the work of God is to believe in the one He has sent. He makes faith in Christ, not human striving, the heart of true obedience.
Overview
Jesus reduces all the 'works of God' to a single thing: believing in Him. This does not deny that faith produces obedience, but it grounds everything in trusting Christ. The verse anchors the gospel truth that salvation comes by faith in the Son, the gift of God rather than human achievement (cf. Eph. 2:8-9).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Jn 3:23And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us.
- Acts 16:31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”
- John 3:36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
- Heb 5:9And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him
- 1 Jn 5:1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him.
- Mark 16:16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
- John 5:39You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,
- Rom 4:4–5Now the wages of the worker are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation.
- Rom 9:30–31What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
- Ps 2:12Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
- John 3:16–18For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- Rom 10:3–4Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
- Matt 17:5While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
- Deut 18:18–19I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
- Acts 22:14–16Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear His voice.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 6:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.