"We have to believe first, so we can receive."

I saw a quote on my Facebook from one of my friends which read, "We do not believe in order to be born again; we are born again in order that we may believe." My wife told me that this is something Calvinists believe. I do not know who they are, but I find that this quote does not make sense. It sounds strong and meaningful, but I feel there is a lie behind it. So, I wrote this blog addressing this issue. I came up with five steps for the whole process of salvation that might help us to understand how it functions.
Step 1:
God provided beliefs for free as a gift (grace) (beliefs = set of rules or attributes). Without the content or beliefs, there will be nothing to believe. As human beings, when we believe something, we act upon that belief. We can either believe the right thing or the wrong thing, but we always believe something. It is something we cannot ignore. It’s an integral part of life.

Step 2:
We receive beliefs from God through hearing, listening, seeing, and feeling. For example:

People have to read about the beliefs or hear them. People who witnessed miracles were exposed to the right beliefs. People who experienced miracles were exposed to the beliefs.

Matthew 21:22 says, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Acts 16:31 says, "They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household'."

Believing will lead us to a place where we can use our faith to receive it. So God provided the way out (beliefs) for free, which we call grace. It goes like this:

Ephesians 2:8 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works."

And faith is already given to us all in equal measure because everyone needs it to live this life.

Romans 12:3 says, "For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith."

God has given faith in equal measure to everyone. It's like oxygen, we all need it to live day-to-day life because we all believe in certain things and act upon those beliefs daily. Therefore, everyone has faith in them because everyone is capable of acting upon what they believe. But we should also know that faith and work coexist. Faith is dead or doesn't exist if we do not act upon our beliefs (works).

James 2:17 says, "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

So, faith is acting upon what we believe. All of our actions are an expression of what we believe. Until we act upon what we believe, faith is of no use. Without work, there is no faith. Without faith, there will be no work. So, how do we actually confirm a seat in heaven? By acting upon the beliefs that God provided under his grace through Christ, and we receive it by faith through our works. What work must be done in this occasion then?

Romans 10:9-10 says, "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."

Declaring with our mouth, "Jesus is Lord," is our work. You might question, how can our confession alone be enough to save us? Is it that simple? It is not the confession alone; it is a combination of believing in our heart, which leads us to confess. Always remember, everything came into existence by God through his speaking (confessing). Now you know how to get saved to go to heaven. So, you cannot be born again without believing first.