Does believing in Jesus mean just accepting that He lived, died, and rose again?
No. Believing in Jesus is not merely accepting the historical facts that He lived, died, and rose again. Such head knowledge is not true believing. Biblical believing comes from the heart, not the head; it is that central part of a person where God begins and finishes His work.
Les explains that people often believe the historical fact that Christ lived, died, and may even give a head-knowledge assent that He rose from the dead. But he emphasizes that this is not believing. Believing does not come from the head; it comes from the heart. The heart here is not the pumping organ that moves blood, but the central part of us that has relationship with the spirit world, and it is there that God must begin and finish His work. He also points to the stones placed in the pouch on the chest, not on the back or hips, because it was the love of Israel next to the heart, showing that the Bible speaks of the heart in the chest area. So believing includes trusting, not just mental agreement with facts.