Faith In & Of Jesus

Everytime we baptize and confirm someone we ask them this question:

Do you turn to Jesus Christ

and accept him as your Lord and Savior,

trusting in his grace and love?

In response the person to be baptized/confirmed responds by saying I do.

In these two simple words we express our faith in Jesus, the faith that unites us as Christians and the faith that joins us to Christ, forever. This faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, as Christ (the Messiah), and as God incarnate, is what sets us apart from other people. Many people of various religions and no religion consider Jesus to be a wise teacher, a prophet, and even God’s Messiah, but Christians alone acknowledge him as uniquely and fully God and fully human, the only Savior. It is our faith in Jesus that grounds us in our religion and makes us distinct from those of other religions and no religion. 

But our faith is not just IN Jesus, it is also OF Jesus. Because of our faith in Jesus we are called to follow him and be his disciples, which means we are called to adopt the faith of Jesus. We acknowledge this in the next question asked during baptism and confirmation: 

Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple,

obeying his Word and showing his love?

To which we hope the individual will respond by saying: I will, with God’s help.

By answering this question in the affirmative we acknowledge our call to take on the faith of Jesus. This faith acknowledges and worships one God and loves God with the whole of one’s heart, strength, soul, and mind. This faith loves neighbors as one’s self, this faith puts love as the highest value and virtue in life. 

Our life as Christians is very much a life built on faith, both faith IN and faith OF Jesus. 

May God renew our faith, through the grace of the Holy Spirit.

-Pastor Brian