Choosing to Believe?

Infrequently, I disagree with Charles Stanley. When I do, it is undoubtedly the contrast between the Baptist perspective, in which I was raised, and the Lutheran perspective to which I have come over the years. Today's In Touch devotional was an excellent example.

Choosing to Believe

Read | John 3:1-21

Faith isn't something we can lay claim to because we were born to believing parents or have citizenship in a Christian country. Nor can we attain it by attending or even teaching Sunday school, though I've often heard such incorrect assertions. Instead, the following should be true of genuine believers.

A clear understanding of the gospel is essential for a person to believe and receive the good news of Jesus Christ. His death on the cross was the only sacrifice required to remove our sins. God offers His grace as a gift to anyone who will receive it.

A definite decision at a particular point in time serves as a sort of landmark of the heart and mind. People do not just slip into Christianity; faith in Jesus must be chosen. Believers are those who have made a deliberate decision to trust the Lord and follow in His ways.

A blessed assurance follows the clear-cut decision so that believers can be certain of their salvation. God wants confident, assured children (1 John 5:13).

A visible symbol of what happens when someone receives the Savior--namely, baptism--illustrates dying to one's old ways and rising to new life in Christ Jesus. Believers are to take this step as a public way of identifying with Him (Matt. 28:19).

A man or woman of faith chooses to surrender to Christ, embraces the Word of God, and lives fully for the Lord. True believers no longer muddle through the practices of religion out of habit, but instead worship and rejoice in a vibrant personal relationship with the Lord.

Copyright 2012 In Touch Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. www.intouch.org. In Touch grants permission to print for personal use only.

Here we go - my version!!
First, read Ephesians 2:8-9, like Martin Luther did.
Concentrate on these words: 

"Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. 

Baptists ask for a public affirmation of faith and an (optional) demonstration through baptism. In some cases, the baptism is not optional. Lutherans point to one baptism for salvation. Me, I am an engineer, very binary, very logical. When I finally quit over-analyzing all of this stuff, I realized it is EXACTLY as my Bible says:

1. God had the idea and did it to us; we don't play the major role. Questionably do we play a role at all. So, someone talking about when they were saved is not demonstrating that they are and probably does not realize that they were saved when God turned His back on His Son for that awful time at Calvary.
2. We do not make nor do we save ourselves. It is completely God doing it, a gift, freely given and, by us, MUST BE freely excepted - no strings, no conditions.
3. Thank you, Steven Curtis Chapman, for these words: I know there's a God who knows my name and a Son who died to take the blame; I believe Jesus is comin' back; promises are promises and Facts are Facts." 

All of this is dependent only on the individual knowledge of what is going on. In general works, not even specific is necessary. That is how and why salvation reaches even those who have not had the blessing of hearing or reading The Word, but have come to these realizations through their observation of the world and God's nature.


Then comes FAITH. Boy, do I have fun talking about faith. Faith happens regardless of, despite what we do or think. Once the Holy Spirit finds you, it's all over. Faith formation is His, not yours.


More on that later.