I’m not sure where it all began, my faith. Was it in the womb, or even before? Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;“
Through other people’s prayers?
Genesis 18:22/33 “And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?…And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
James 5:14–16 “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
Was it before the foundation of the earth? Ephesians 1:4–5 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,”
Romans 9:11–16 “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Or was it when I wondered about my own self-existence as a child? Psalm 8:4 “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
Matthew 16:26 “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Was Faith caused by the Gospel?
Was it when the Gospel was preached to me? Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
1 Corinthians 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”
Romans 10:13–17 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?…So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Or was it an accumulation of all the above? Acts 16:14 “Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.”
1 Corinthians 3:6–7 “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”
I do remember as a child when I realised my parents didn’t know everything, and in that moment, the world became a much bigger place. That’s when I started questioning my own self-existence.
Christian Prayer
By that age, I had already pondered the existence of God, albeit mildly. My mother told me that she was given a necklace with a cross on it by the owners of a sweet shop that she went by often. I mention that because she was a young (teenage) mother when she was pregnant with me, and being pregnant so young was obviously looked down upon, even more so in the 1970s. It’s fair to assume that the sweet shop couple were most likely Christians who prayed for me and my mother while I was in the womb.
I can’t remember exactly how old I was when I came to the conclusion that there must be a God. Though I firmly believe now that God was already drawing me to Himself, as He gives the general call to all people.
John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.
Seeking God?
I recall, as a teenager, buying a book on different religions. I remember that I was seeking out God. Little did I know then that, really, this was His ongoing expression of His beneficent love to me, working on my heart to draw me to Himself.
Psalm 145:9 “The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.”
There was no question at that point of whether or not I believed in a Creator God; I did. Creation gently screams for all to hear, “The Great I AM, Glory, Glory, Glory to the Great I AM.” I am unable to believe otherwise, even if I wanted to, and to my shame and demise, there have been times in my life when I have wanted to. After reading the book on various religions, I came to the conclusion that the ‘Christian God’ made the most sense.
That is a short summary of the start of my faith in the Lord Jesus. Though I could mention my Grandmother, who I was most fond of, was Roman Catholic, and my mother, on a rare occasion, made mention of God. Is it possible that my Grandmother’s and mother’s faith had more influence on me than I think, possibly.
Baptism
However, I have left out what I believe could be of paramount importance concerning the beginning of my faith, and that is the fact that I was baptised as an infant.
How much impact did that have on me as an infant? Arguably, none since many who are baptised as infants do not go on to make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, which is necessary for salvation. However, I can’t stop thinking it has some merit.
I was going to discuss infant baptism here, but I do not want to cause confusion. Instead, I will point to 1 Corinthians 7:14 , which tells us that the child of a believing parent is considered Holy by the Lord.
Will such children be required to make their own profession of faith at some point for salvation? 100% Yes, it is paramount. So long as they have the mental capacity to do so.
Should that child then receive believers’ Baptism when they make said profession? I am unsure; I will leave that to the conviction of the believer.
What I do know is that there is no person with perfect theology, myself included. I only propose to glorify God and seek unity. So, how do I seek unity on such a controversial subject? First, I suggest being open to listening to one another. I encourage people to lean towards believers’ Baptism with an unrestricted limitation on the age for a confession of faith and baptism. Although I personally favour infant baptism as a sign of the promise of salvation.
Be Biblical
Adding extra measures for having faith in our Lord Jesus, such as age or maturity, does not align with a literal reading of scripture, whether looking at Jesus’ teaching, Peter’s, or Paul’s.
Mark 10:13–16 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
And here, Paul includes children as church members;
Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
I have been reading on infant baptism, and it has made for some absolutely fascinating reading. It is certainly useful to read teaching material other than the bible and listen to various teachers. However, most of our reading time should be spent in the Word itself. Yes, we should be mindful of being ‘pulled from pillar to post’ on various topics. How do we avoid that? Read and study the Bible for ourselves, and pray.
Nonetheless, I believe as we mature spiritually, we will inevitably change position on doctrine, and that’s okay, so long as it is biblical truth. I highly recommend listening to sermons from RC Sproul, John McArthur, Sinclair Ferguson, Paul Washer, Ligon Duncan, and Voddie Baucham.
Thank you for reading, here is a link to the Gospel.
