What Makes Us Lutheran? (Part 2)

In the last article, we looked at the biblical definition of faith and how this definition compares to other definitions. You can find that article here. This week we look at where faith comes from.

Where does faith come from? In the last article, we began to look at this question. Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” Faith comes from God.

We might naturally think faith comes from ourselves. After all, we are the ones who believe. God doesn’t believe for us. It’s natural to think of faith as a debate about unseen things. God presents his teachings in his Word. Other religions and philosophies of life present their teachings. It’s up to us to choose which one to believe. Just as we’re presented facts about other issues and left to decide for ourselves, so is our choice to believe. So goes the thinking.

This thinking doesn’t line up with Scripture. First, it doesn’t recognize that we are by nature “dead in sin” (Ephesians 2:1) and “hostile to God” and unable to submit to God (Romans 8:7). It doesn’t recognize that without the Holy Spirit, “no one can say Jesus is Lord” (1 Corinthians 12:3). By ourselves we are unable to believe. It must be “the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

Second, it doesn’t recognize that coming to faith is more than just a presentation of persuasive arguments and their acceptance. Paul says in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” The gospel of Jesus is more than the presentation of facts. It is the power of God to save. The gospel of Jesus does not just change minds. It changes hearts.

How does the Bible define the gospel? It is the good news that Jesus has saved the world from death and hell through his perfect life, innocent death, and resurrection from the grave. He has won the forgiveness of sins and brought life and salvation. Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:8, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel.” If Christ was raised from the dead, he must first have died. If he descended from David, he must have been born a human being like David. Lived. Died. Lives again. Romans 1:17 says, “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”

Where does faith come into play? Faith receives the work of Jesus’ Christ as one’s own. “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith” (Romans 3:25). If we consider that death is the sentence for a guilty verdict, what does it mean that Christ was raised from the dead? It means that God declared Jesus, “Not guilty.” And not only him, but also who receive his not guilty verdict by faith. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25). Justify means to declare “not guilty.”

So where does faith come from? It is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). How does God give us this gift? He gives it to us through the Means of Grace.

There are plenty of water towers around here. They store water for people to use in their homes. But that water does you no good if you can’t use it. So, there are pipes that connect your house to the water tower.

When you get off the plane, you have to collect your luggage. Most times, they don’t make you wait outside the plane to pick up your bags. You go to the luggage carousel and a conveyer belt brings your bags to you.

This is how the Means of Grace works. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection do you no good if they are not yours. So, God brings them to you.

What is the Means of Grace? Paul says in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Just as Paul says that the gospel is the power of God, so the Word of God that you hear or read creates and strengthens faith. The Means of Grace is the gospel in the written Word of God. The Word gives faith.

Peter says in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Peter says, “Gift,” and not, “Gifts.” The gift of the Holy Spirit everyone who is baptized receives is the gift of faith in Christ. Notice the connection he makes between baptism, Jesus, and the forgiveness of sins. So, the Means of Grace is also the gospel in the sacrament of Baptism. Baptism gives faith.

Jesus says in Matthew 26:26-28, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” Again, see the connection Jesus makes here between his body and blood with the bread and wine and the forgiveness of sins. So, the Means of Grace is also the gospel in the sacrament of Holy Communion. The Lord’s Supper gives faith.

In these three ways, God has promised to create and strengthen faith. Of course, God has not limited himself from creating faith in other ways. But he has limited us. These are the three avenues of God’s gift of faith he mentions in his Word—though truly only one, because there is only one gospel. Though the almighty God can certainly create faith in other ways, we have no promise that he will. Our only confidence is in the Means of Grace—the gospel in Word and sacrament—that it is the power of God that brings salvation to all who believe.

Why then are we tempted to look for other sources of faith? Some look to their earthly blessings. Others look to a mystical or life-changing experience. Some feel God moving in their heart when they look at nature. Others look to the love of Christians as a reason to believe.

As the hymn says, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” What happens if the earthly blessings run dry or never come? What happens if you never have a mystical or life-changing experience? God is the Creator of nature, of course, but does nature tell you what you need to know about the Creator’s love for undeserving sinners? Unfortunately, Christ-motivated love from Christians has many counterexamples of hatred and self-righteousness from Christians. In the same vein, a non-Christian can love as outwardly and as measurably as a Christian. None of these give full confidence by any means.

The confidence comes from God himself who promises that his power is present in the Means of Grace. It is through the gospel that we come to believe in Christ. It is through the gospel that our relationship with God is restored. It is through the gospel that we come to know God as a our Father who loves us in spite of our offenses against him.

When we receive this faith, then we can see God’s mighty hand in creation. Then we can better understand his hand working in our experience of life. Then we can see how every earthly blessing we receive “is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). Then we can see Christ’s love in others and in ourselves. These flow out of faith in the gospel of Jesus rather than into it.

We hold firmly to these wonderful promises of God. His Word and his sacraments will not fail us. We can rely completely on this Means of Grace because the one who’s given them never fails.