Bible Strands
John 6:29
Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus answers a crowd at the Sea of Galilee who have just asked what works they must do to accomplish God's will (John 6:28). He does not list; He points.
The words — τοῦτο (touto, "this") carries the verse: a singular demonstrative that collapses their plural "works" into one specific thing. The grammar is a declaration, not a suggestion.
The thread — The same singular demand recurs in Acts 16:31 ("Believe in the Lord Jesus"), John 3:36 (belief in the Son as the dividing line between life and wrath), and 1 John 3:23 (belief in the Son's name as "His commandment").
Why it lands — It refuses the premise of the question: there is no performance ladder to climb. The reader is asked to stop negotiating terms and place trust in one person.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Cross-references
- 1 John 3:23 And 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 16:31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”
- John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
- Hebrews 5:9 And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him
- 1 John 5:1 Everyone 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 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
- Romans 4:4 Now the wages of the worker are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation.
- John 5:39 You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,
- John 3:16 For 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.
- Romans 9:30 What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;