Scripture witnesses to that.
You can deny the clear words of Scripture if you like. That's your business. But I prefer to believe what God's word says.
First one must believe. Faith is the outworking, or the activation of the belief. Faith is the 'works' of the belief and knowledge is the goal.
If I may offer an analogy:
Supposing I offered you ten dollars to mow my lawn and you trusted me to fulfill my promise to pay you upon completion. You believed I would pay you IF you mowed the lawn. That is a belief, whether it was activated or not.
If you chose to mow my lawn, that is the outworking, the activation, the works of your belief which would then qualify you to receive the ten dollars. In a very real sense, the activation of your belief is the work you do, the mowing of the lawn You are showing me your faith by your works.
When you receive the money, you now KNOW that your belief was true and your faith (works) was justified.
Isn't it so with the promises of God? To have the KNOWLEDGE of Jesus Christ and He who sent Him is eternal life. To have the knowledge of the FINISHER of our faith --the very one who authored it? That is the goal.
But first, belief in the promise. Then the work (faith) of preparing our heart and mind to receive Him. No easy task, but performable, according to the intensity of your desire to have His government on your shoulders.
Saul found it hard to kick against the pricks of the Gospel, but as a consequence he became infected with that belief -- a belief that was brought to fruition on the Road to Damascus.
Cheers.
Prove it
Prove it, that faith isn't the singular critical factor in being born again.