Where is our faith?

One proponent of “faith alone” has said, “…He (God) will give you the gift of faith. Upon believing you are once and for all justified. You are once and for all secure in Jesus forever. The justified person…cannot apostatize.” Who is it that gets to determine when true faith has occurred? Is it when the elders examine a candidate to make profession of faith and are looking for evidence of that faith? So much seems to rest upon the individual.  That’s what I would call walking by sight and not faith (alone).

How about we take seriously our baptismal form which says that the Father adopts us for His children and heirs, that the Son washes us in His blood from all our sins thereby justifying us before God, that the Spirit dwells in us applying to us that justification. Is it too much to say that Christian baptism is of God? Is it too much of a stretch to say that God in baptism is bestowing unmerited favor upon the one baptized? If it is of God, why don’t we believe Him? Where is our faith?

The problem comes when we operate with a truncated version of the gospel. Baptism is a picture of the gospel. A gospel that is concerned first and foremost with the comfort of the evangelized fails to convey an accurate picture of baptism. Baptism as practiced today has no teeth. There is no down side to covenant breaking. In fact there is no such thing as covenant breaking. If a baptized person does not make profession of faith, he cannot be disciplined by excommunication because he never “communicated.”

When someone that was baptized “falls away” and does not repent, we say that his baptism was of no value to him that it was a false baptism. If we say, however, that his baptism (a legal pronouncement) will speak against him on the last day; why do we impose the ordeal of making profession of faith on our children? Why don’t we take our baptismal form seriously when it says that Christ incorporates us into the fellowship of His death and resurrection? Worse yet, why don’t we believe the Bible when it says that those who have been baptized into Christ “are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus;” “have put on Christ” that is, belong to Christ; and are “Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise?” This is from Galatians! I say again, “Where is our faith?”

Could it be that the shepherds who are to guard the flock of God have not discerned properly who belong to the flock? This is not an enviable position in which to be. “Faith alone” has become a hobbyhorse carrying us into uncharted territory away from the safe confines of God and His Word. I challenge all to take seriously the Bible. When the Bible speaks, we need to listen and believe.