his is a critical distinction on spiritual warfare.  Many speak this way, “I believe in God.”  In reality, this may mean only that they believe in a concept of a deity that they have created in their own image.  On the other hand, believing God looks like reading what God is saying and believing it.  

To pursue this a little further, imagine a person denying the reality of Jonah being in a fish for three days and still claiming to believe in God.  They explain Jonah as being a metaphor.  And yet, Jesus quotes the reality of Jonah being in a fish for three days and applies this to His own death and resurrection.  Jesus believes God; He doesn’t believe in God.

It is by belief that one is “saved” in the true biblical sense.  So, the difference between believing in God and believing God is actually the difference between life and death.