Christ's Doctrine of Faith: A Study of "Believing" in John's Gospel (John 7:38)

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The fortieth occurrence of faith in the Gospel of John is in chapter 7 verse 38. In it, the Lord Jesus Christ says: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (KJV). So, as always, what is the context of this passage and what can we learn about faith in Christ from it?

First, we will consider the context. Right after many of the people believe on Jesus, wondering out loud if the Messiah would do more miracles than Jesus when He would come, the Pharisees hear them murmuring this. The Pharisees and the chief priests then send officers to take Jesus. The Lord says to them that it is yet a little time while He is with them, and then He will go to the One who sent Him. He continues by saying that they will seek Him and not find Him, because they cannot go where He is. This results in the Jews wondering among themselves where Jesus will go, if He will go to a place where they cannot find Him. They ask themselves if He will go to the dispersed among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles. They also wonder about His saying that they will seek Him and not find Him and cannot go where He is. Then, in the feast’s last day, which we are told is the great day of the feast, Jesus stands and cries, declaring that if any man thirsts, he should come to him and drink. Christ elaborates by then stating that the one who believes on Him, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This is the context of John 7:38!

Second, we will now consider facts about believing in Christ that we can glean from John 7:38. In this passage, we will accomplish this by looking at the parallel between what Christ says in verse 37 and 38. In verse 37, the Lord speaks in pure metaphor, while, in verse 38, He combines literal and metaphorical language. So, let’s look! In verse 37, Jesus says that, if any one thirsts, he must come to Him and drink. So, the Lord Jesus Christ is calling people to Himself. He describes their lack of Him as thirst. That He uses thirst as a metaphor to describe the human need for Him vividly shows us just what this need is like. While hunger signifies desire for food, thirst means longing for drink. As I remember hearing in one of my science classes, one can go for a long period of time without food. However, one will perish in just a couple of days or so without water. So, Christ is to the soul (inner man) what water is to the body. [1] However, while these words show what coming to Jesus is like and the kind of need He fulfills when the soul comes to Him, it is nevertheless metaphorical language. So, what is it, in literal language, to come to Christ and drink from Him? The God-Man answers that for us in verse 38: to believe in Him. And this belief results not only in the satisfaction of the believer, but the blessing that the believer enjoys spills out to others. I get this idea from the metaphorical expression at the end of verse 38 that says out of his [the believer’s] belly, there shall flow rivers of living water. This is what we can learn about trust in Christ from John 7:38!

[1] I remember hearing this same idea (except, I think, with Christ signified as food instead of water) from one or multiple (I think multiple) sources, which I cannot name at the moment.