by Matthew C. Harrison
Faith. As many pop songs have declared about faith, you’ve got to have it. Such “faith” has often been described as being positive about life or that things will work out or that there is somehow a plan for me in the universe or some notion of “God.” It’s most often quite generic and vague.
Christian faith is very specific. Faith is above all a means of receiving Christ and His gifts. Faith is the hand that lays hold of Christ. Salvation according to the Bible and our Lutheran Confessions comes by grace (freely), through faith. This is so that it may be certain. If salvation depends upon some predisposition, some feeling, some act or work on my part, it is no longer by grace alone. Grace is God’s free gift. If eternal life is by God’s grace, it’s certain. It is before and outside of me.
The gift of life is indeed free, but it was extremely expensive. “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). This verse explicates the two natures of Christ. As a man like each of us, He has blood. As “God’s Son” that blood is unlike ours. It’s divine. “Pay careful attention … to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood” (Acts 20:28, emphasis added). The sacrificial blood of Jesus paid for the sins of the world. “In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). Faith receives this gift; faith holds to this gift; faith says, “Amen! I believe it! It’s mine.”
The New Testament really doesn’t use the idiom, “Let me share my faith with you.” Paul does note to Timothy, “You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness” (2 Tim. 3:10). I certainly wouldn’t call it wrong to say, “I want to share my faith with you.” But what exactly do we desire to share? Do I share that once I gave my life to Jesus, everything turned around and I have good health, wealth and prosperity? Do I mean that once I gave my heart to Jesus, I quit sinning and now I can disciple you into making the right choices so things go well?
Those ideas saturate our culture, confusing Law and Gospel. Rather, faith is its content. When I confess I have faith, I am confessing I have Jesus. When I say, “My faith helps me every day,” I’m saying, “My Jesus helps me every day.” When I say, “He had faith. He’s in heaven,” I’m saying, “He had Jesus. He’s in heaven.” Faith simply lays hold of Jesus and all His gifts. If I say, “Can I share my faith with you?” I mean: “I want to share Jesus with you.” The content of faith is not me and my work, but Jesus.
I do not have faith in my faith. I cry out with the father in Mark, “I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). I’m like the woman with the flow of blood: If I just grab hold of Jesus, I’ll be forgiven, healed. I seek Jesus. I want Jesus. I need Jesus. To seek Jesus, to want Jesus, is to have faith. I have faith in absolution; that is, “I believe that when the called ministers of Christ deal with [me] by His divine command, … this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself” (SC, Confession). I believe in Baptism. That is, as the apostle Peter states, “Baptism … now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21). That means me! I am buried with Christ “by baptism into death” (Rom. 6:4). His death and resurrection are mine by faith. I believe in Christ’s Word preached, read and proclaimed. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). I hold to Christ in His blessed Word: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). I believe in Christ’s body and blood for me. I receive it in my mouth, and my heart and soul, mind and body receive eternal forgiveness and life. Christian faith is its content: Jesus. Only Jesus.
— Pastor Matthew C. Harrison
This article originally appeared in the November 2026 print edition of The Lutheran Witness.
Cover image: LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford
