An excited teenager proudly held up her new driver's license for all to see. Smiling, she looked at her dad as she said, "have faith in me." To have faith in his daughter would involve dropping the keys into her hand.
God commanded Noah to build an ark because He was sending a flood. For Noah to have faith in God, he would need to cut down trees and build that ark.
At the age of seventy-five, Abram was told by God to leave his country and his father's house to go to a land God would show him. For Abram to exhibit faith, he would need to pack his bags and start walking down the road.
Although he was elderly and had no son of his own, God promised Abram that his descendants would be like the stars of the heavens. For Abram to have faith in God, he was required to believe God's promise.
Key Observations:
1) How faith is expressed differs from one context to another.2) How people have been called to exhibit faith in God changes from one situation to another.
3) Whether someone possesses faith in someone or something is determined by how that situation calls for a person to respond.
4) In order to have faith in an unconditional promise, a person only has to believe. To possess faith in someone who issues a command or in a situation where activity is demanded, faith requires obedient action.
Having died for our sins and then been raised to life, Jesus cries out through the gospel, "have faith in me." How are we called to trust in Jesus that we might be saved and become members of God's family?
The biblical answer is determined by hearing the story, not by what I think it means to have faith in Jesus. Whether through the genre of letter, narrative (Acts) or Gospel, the New Testament message is consistent.
"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus for as many of you as were immersed into Christ have been clothed with Christ." Galatians 3:26-27"But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being immersed, men and women alike." Acts 8:12
"So then, those who had received his word were immersed; and there were added that day about three thousand souls." Acts 2:41
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19
To be saved by faith in Jesus, everyone tells someone to do something. What matters to God is whether someone has trusted in Jesus in the manner the gospel has called us.
The question of whether baptism is essential for salvation hinges upon whether the gospel calls us to trust in Jesus by being baptized. Accordingly, since this faith is essential for salvation, so too is the prescribed faith response of being baptized in order that we might enter into a life of trusting in Jesus.
Barry Newton, Copyright © 2004
Other Articles Which Might Be of Interest:
A Child of God by FaithSaved by Faith: Everyone Tells You To Do Something to be Saved
Using A Napkin To Tell The Story of the Gospel
What About the Thief on the Cross?