CHAPTER XIII

Our Affirmation of Faith

INTRODUCTION

Persons who have studied the topics discussed thus far should have a clearer understanding of what Presbyterians believe. This series of studies has not treated every part of the Presbyterian Standards, but has lifted out for scrutiny at least most of the major doctrines taught in these standards. The interpretation which has been given may not satisfy each person at every point, but it should have encouraged readers to re-examine the Standards for themselves. The important questions that must be answered now are these: where do we go from here? What use shall we make of the information received and the doctrines understood?

This closing chapter will appeal for a demonstration of faith by action. As James says: “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.” (James 2:18b.) Let us examine a few of the ways that we may show our faith in these things by our daily living. Here are some ways we may declare our faith:

A. IN THE SCRIPTURES BY DILIGENT STUDY

Presbyterians claim with other Protestant bodies that the Bible is their rule of faith and life. But how shall they know what this rule is unless they learn to use it?

Suppose for a moment that a carpenter wished to build a house. Suppose that he had a carpenter’s rule and square. But suppose he cut his timbers and tried to put them together without measuring and marking them properly with his rule and square. What kind of house would he build? How many of you would want to buy such a house? Obviously very few. The same is true of those who would be building Christian lives. It is not enough to possess a Bible as the rule of faith and life. Christians must use it properly. They must study diligently by the best methods to demonstrate that they are approved by God. Only so will they be able to hold a straight course in God’s word of truth. (See II Tim 2:15.)

One of the features of the work we strive to do together is to develop earnest and intelligent students of the Bible. This is not an end in itself, but a means toward letting the Bible and its redemptive message come to life in the experience of believers. We propose to restore the Bible to the laity of the church by helping them to learn better how to use it. Let all who believe in the Bible as the rule of faith and life demonstrate that faith by reverent, regular, diligent study. And let that study issue in the building of a mature life through the guidance and power of the Spirit of God.

B. IN GOD BY FAITH AND OBEDIENCE

A recent survey reports that ninety-nine per cent of the people in America believe in some kind of Supreme Being. But this does not mean that they really believe in the Hebrew-Christian God, for at least half of them have little or no part in the worship and work of synagogue and church. They may believe that such a God exists, but do not believe always that they are bound to such a God by faith and obedience.

As has been indicated earlier in these studies, the God in whom Presbyterians believe does demand faith and obedience. It is of little moment to declare, “I believe in a sovereign God” unless we are also willing to affirm, “He is and shall be Lord of my life.” This is the crucial test of faith. Jesus Himself said, “Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 7:21.)

To declare our faith in God is therefore to commit ourselves to discover, to do and to keep on doing the will of the Father Day by day. What is God’s will in my social life? What is God’s will in my home life? What is God’s will in my church life? What is God’s will in my business life? These are the questions that must be answered reverently and purposefully if we are to declare our faith in God. To say we believe in God and then to live as though He were neither sovereign nor important is to make the same hollow mockery of faith that the Pharisees did in Jesus’ day. Our Lord’s severest woes were pronounced upon them. What would He say to us? Let us declare our faith in God by our obedience to His revealed will in Jesus Christ our Lord.

C. IN CHRIST BY CLAIMING SALVATION

The twentieth century has been marked by many efforts to define the nature of Jesus Christ. Some have written with all the skill they could muster to prove that He was only a great and saintly man. They insist that the difference between Jesus and others is that He was more sensitive to God than others are. Some Jewish scholars have attempted to prove that Jesus was a Jewish prophet, but no more. Others have sought to do Him credit by insisting upon His deity even at the expense of His humanity. Even Presbyterians have sometimes been carried out of their way with these winds of doctrine. To a greater or lesser degree we have done everything with Christ in the twentieth century except commit ourselves to Him.

Presbyterians believe that God offers salvation in Christ, but they find it harder to take salvation so that it will become God’s gift. It is only an offer until it is taken and used for the purpose for which the Gospel was intended. Here is a man, for instance, who would like to be saved, but he simply cannot bring his intellectual pride to the point of taking salvation by faith. Or here is another who is not living faithfully with his wife. He would like to do it, but old habits have him involved in relationships that he cannot leave alone. Salvation means taking all such relationships to Christ in genuine repentance and taking Christ into all the relationships that one continues.

Here again is a woman who has fought for her measure of security by driving her husband in business. Then he becomes ill and she has to face the possibility of reducing the family income to half its former amount. She may easily lose her faith in God because of the terrible thing that she thinks has happened to her. In such a case pride over losing the social position gained through economic success may keep her from committing herself and her husband anew to God in Christ. And she may miss the salvation of her soul because of the things that have claimed so much of her life.

What our world needs more than anything else is a demonstration of the power of Jesus Christ to work out salvation in a human life. This demonstration of power comes through taking His grace and using it with the problems we face. To declare our faith is to take the salvation He offers, to work out our salvation with constant fear and much trembling, being fully conscious all the while that God is working within us to will and accomplish His good pleasure. (See Phil 2:12,13.) God works through our cooperative effort to make us witnesses of His power. Let Presbyterians declare their faith in Christ by taking and using the power of God unto salvation.

D. IN THE CHURCH BY REALIZING ITS MISSION

Too many Presbyterians have come to look upon their church as a field rather than a force. It is a field for winning converts to Christ and for making Christians more mature in Christ. But the purpose of such endeavor is to train and provide a working force for Christ. For it is well demonstrated in history that unless the church is constantly overcoming the world, the world will constantly be degenerating the church. The church has no alternative but to carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ into all the world. These are its marching orders. It cannot abide in the tents of inactivity and expect the battle of the Lord to be won.

Nor can the church achieve its mission by enlisting in its regular worship and service less than half of its members. Who really believes in the church and seldom if ever engages in its regular activities? How seriously do we take the mission of the church when it takes at least twenty-five church members to win one convert a year? Have we not drifted into an idea that the church is an organization for our convenience and enjoyment rather than a fellowship with a worldwide mission?

A wild duck once flew down into a barnyard and wintered there on the good food which was provided. In the spring he heard the call of his mates overhead on their migration northward, and rose to meet them in the air. But his wings were flabby and his weight was burdensome. Soon he came back to the barnyard, flying about in it to prove that he could have flown with his mates if he wanted to. But the next time they passed overhead he remembered his former failure and refused to try it. In due time he was on a platter in the kitchen.

This is a parable of the church. It was made to proclaim the Christian Gospel just as the wild duck was made to fly. When it becomes self-satisfied, it loses its power to march and in due time it is overcome by other forces in the world. Let all who believe in the church declare that faith by helping it to perform its important mission.

E. IN THE HOME BY MAKING IT MORE CHRISTIAN

During the last two decades the church has rediscovered the home. But it has not yet completed the task of enlisting the home in the redemptive work of God in the world. Many years of taking responsibility from the home and of showing limited concern for the home have created a spiritual vacuum in many homes and have left a gap between the church and the home. Yet because of the time spent there and because of the effectiveness of parental example, the home holds an overwhelming edge on the church as a means of Christian nurture. Since the church is made up of members from the homes of the congregation, it is as strong as the homes which make it up.

It is quite obvious that to make homes more Christian is to make churches more effective. Changing the home must begin at home. This change comes about when parents agree to do something about it and follow up their purpose with constructive action. We can affirm our faith by living it day by day. Fascist and nazi and communist movements make the state the center of a child’s interest and activity. Christianity centers its emphasis on the home as an ally of the church. If we surrender the home by default, we will invite some pagan way of life to take it over. If we make it a powerful force for Christ, we will declare our faith that the Christian home, like the home from which our Lord came, is God’s appointed center of Christian nurture and growth.

F. IN SOCIETY BY PRACTICING OUR GOSPEL

The plea of our world is for a religion that will work. And it is for a religion that will work where working people live. Communism is made to work in areas where it is feared. It is ruthless and efficient. We believe that we have something much better than communism. But we must make it work voluntarily or it will not work at all. The Roman Catholic Church, following a pattern of organization similar to that used in totalitarian states, brings pressure from the top to make certain of its principles work. Presbyterianism is democratic in that it seeks to have the will of the church express itself voluntarily through the activities of its members. But unless Presbyterianism has a religion that can be made to work, it becomes discounted among those who might be won for Christ.

The Presbyterian Church does not have a neat social program for the world. It does have a social conscience. This conscience must find expression in business, in politics, in race relations, in labor and management relations, and in every other relation in which Presbyterians live. It must be a keen and sensitive conscience. It must be a Christian conscience. It must be an educated conscience. It must be a conscience which dares to lay hold on the redemptive power of God in Jesus Christ. It must never limit the power of this Gospel to a few small areas of life, but must take Christ into every area and relationship in life. Only so will religion be made to work. Only so will we declare our faith in the power of Christ to transform our society through transformed individuals in society.

G. IN THE FUTURE BY LIVING ETERNALLY IN TIME

Some Christians face eternity as though it were less important than time. The things of the earth seem to them so important that the things of heaven are matters only of whim or convenience. They have missed the very essence of eternal life. For eternal life is not something which begins after death, but something which begins when a believer is born anew in the Kingdom of God. From that time forward he has the life of God within him. This life must be permitted to grow to maturity through the means God has appointed. But it is eternal.

This means that everything the Christian does each day should have some significance for eternity. The smile to the conductor on the street car, the reply to the letter that rubs the wrong way, the zest with which the business conference is approached, the faithfulness with which the daily service is rendered, all have an eternal significance. They are like pebbles dropped in a lake which forms a series of ever widening ripples moving outward. The writing of these lines has an eternal significance because it is done in the name of Christ for the glory of God and the service of believers.

Nearly two thousand years ago the Son of God prayed in a garden and died on a cross. The third day He rose again from the dead. These events occurred on specific days in specific years. But they started a series of redemptive waves that have reached to the shores of our own lives and hearts. They had a significance for eternity. So also do our acts of service in His name. Because His life is within, everything you do is eternal. Make it worthy of Christ throughout eternity.