So I know a woman. She goes to church, bible study, and will openly talk about the Bible with me. She gets visibly excited over scripture and, if something doesn't make sense to her, she'll talk about it. It's fun for me, maybe because it's safe with her. But the one thing that frustrates me is that she doesn't call herself a Christian...she's a Lutheran. She is learning the Truth, but it's being clouded by rituals and religion.
The latest discussion I had with her was regarding baptism. Her pastor was very upset because there was a couple at the church who lost a baby (I think she said stillborn), and he thought the baby was baptised...but it wasn't. That got my friend thinking, because she had a miscarriage and that baby was never baptised. She is so confused right now, because in her church they baptise babies to make sure they get into heaven. We discussed salvation, and I talked about what is taught at our church - that children have a dedication service where the parents make a pledge to raise their child to know the Lord. When that child is old enough to make a decision to accept Christ, then the child can choose to be baptised. She tried bringing it back to salvation again...and I tried to just stick to Scripture and reminded her that we are saved through faith, not by what we do. We talked about having faith like a child...and I asked her if a baby can have faith, or choose to follow Christ until it is old enough to understand? Unfortunately we got interrupted in our discussion...so I think for now she still has a lot of questions, and I don't think her church is going to help her understand God's Word on this. (If you want to, go back and read Romans 10.)
The reason I'm writing about this is because in our reading today Paul talks about the same thing. In verses 2-6, the idea of "confidence in the flesh" is the same problem my friend is having. She is so caught up in what her church does as being what makes them believers. SO many people get this backwards...getting confused by thinking (or being taught) that what we do is a prerequisite to faith....when in reality, what we do is a result of our faith!! She has so much confidence in the rituals of her church, but is neglecting what God has to say about this.
Do not be fooled. Salvation only comes through faith in Christ.
Interesting... I know Eric's family was (probably still is) concerned that we didn't baptize either child as well for the same reasons. I do the same thing to those that don't understand it. I try to explain that we believe that you have to make that decision on your own when you understand and believe, other people's actions will not get you into heaven. jf
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