The
first step in living is to
come to life. For human life
this happens at birth; for
divine life at Baptism. But
for Baptism to bring us to
life we have to believe. That
is why Baptism is also called
"the Sacrament of Faith."
What is the fundamental act
of faith required for Baptism?
John concludes his Gospel
saying "these words are
written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Son of God, and that through
this belief you may have life
in his name." The first
step in coming to life is
to believe in Jesus as the
Savior sent from God.
To believe fully — and
practically — in Jesus
as Savior it is not enough
just to make an act of faith
in Jesus as the one who saved
us by dying for our sins.
Jesus is not just a lifeguard
who pulls us to shore when
we are drowning, to whom we
will be eternally grateful,
but whom we do not need anymore.
To really believe in Jesus
as Savior means to believe
that we need him to save us
from day to day, to save our
lives here on this earth from
veering off to destructiveness,
distortion, mediocrity and
meaninglessness. This requires
constant, ongo-ing interaction
with him.
Peter’s preaching about
Jesus was, "There is
no salvation through anyone
else, nor is there any other
name under heaven given to
the human race by which we
are to be saved" (Acts
4:12). We understand this
in a practical way when we
pass through an act of "life-giving
despair," realizing that
nothing can save us from the
destructive patterns of behavior
programmed into us by our
culture, from the distorted
attitudes and values, the
mixed-up priorities that we
inherit as part of our "cultural
conditioning" (and Original
Sin) except knowing Jesus
Christ, reflecting on his
teachings, taking on his mind,
converting to his values,
patterning our lives on the
example of his. This is what
it means to ac-cept Jesus
as the Savior, and only Savior,
of the world. This is what
it means to accept him as
our "personal Savior"
— it means to let his
Person be the one with whom
we interact in the formation
of our own persons, in the
continuing, lifelong process
of molding who we are.
God created us as "what"
we are: as human beings, men
and women. But by our free
choices we create ourselves
as "who" we are,
as persons. Every free response
to life determines the meaning
our names will have for all
eternity. To accept Jesus
as Savior means that we decide
to interact with him in everything
we do: in the formation of
our attitudes and values,
in the selection of our goals
and the means we will use
to achieve them, in every
free choice which shapes our
souls. This is the choice
to let his name be the name
which determines the content
and meaning of our own.
How do we do this? We do it
by giving Jesus an active
part in every area and activity
of our lives. We let him live
with us as Savior, work with
us as Savior, relax with us
as Savior. We give him an
active role in what we do
at home and on the job, in
our social life, school life,
professional activities. We
ask his help before everything
we do and while we are doing
it; and we thank him when
we are through. We keep ourselves
aware of his presence when
we are speaking, conscious
of his reactions. We bounce
all of our decisions off of
him. At home we speak to him
as a group and we let him
lead us in discussions of
his words, his example, the
challenges of his life. We
do the same in any group who
are believers like ourselves.
In any Christian gathering
we explicitly include him.
We don’t act as if we
did not know him, as if he
were not there. We make his
invisible presence visible
by the way it is reflected
in our words and actions.
We don’t join the silent
conspiracy to ignore him.
Jesus has breathed on us,
filled us with his Spirit,
sent us. He loves us, has
freed us from our sins, made
us into a kingdom. We need
to give him glory by letting
his power shine out in everything
we do.
