The Unshakeable Rock

The Unshakeable Rock: God’s Faithfulness Expressed
Through the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions

​Just in time for Christmas, Barna just dropped research revealing a disturbing 25-year decline in core Christian commitments, most notably a 20-point drop in the importance of religious faith, which presents a sober reality for the Church in America. The fact that Practicing Christians have fallen from 46 per cent to 24 per cent of the adult population naturally raises concerns about the future of the faith. However, for Christians, and specifically for Lutherans whose theology is anchored in the Solas of the Reformation (Faith Alone; Grace Alone; Christ Alone), this moment of human unfaithfulness is not a signal of the Christian faith’s demise, but a stark opportunity to re-emphasize the foundational truth: God’s faithfulness is utterly independent of human commitment.

Our assurance is not in the shifting percentages of human zeal, but in the unchangeable character of our Lord, Christ Jesus.

The Biblical Foundation: God Cannot Deny Himself
The most potent response to the anxiety caused by declining religious commitment is a return to the absolute steadfastness of God, as revealed in Holy Scripture.

The Apostle Paul directly addresses the problem of human unfaithfulness nullifying God’s promises in his letter to the Romans: “For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true and every man a liar...” (Romans 3:3-4). This passage serves as a theological firewall against despair. The Barna data shows that people are becoming unfaithful (down 20 points on the importance of faith), but the biblical answer is immediate and absolute: this lack of faith cannot and does not diminish God’s faithfulness.

The prophet Jeremiah, witnessing the collapse of the Kingdom of Judah, clung to this very truth, giving us the enduring confession: “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). This faithfulness is not dependent on the religious fervor of the people, but on God's own covenant love, which “fail not.”
Ultimately, the New Testament confirms that God’s commitment to His people is bound to His own nature: “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). This is the theological rock upon which the Church stands. When the visible marks of conviction, like church attendance and evangelism priority, wane, the invisible and eternal reality of God’s faithfulness remains steadfast. Furthermore, Paul assures us, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).

The Confessional Anchor: The Value of the Means of Grace
For Lutherans, this biblical truth is perfectly crystallized in the Confessions of the Book of Concord. The Augsburg Confession and Luther’s Catechisms direct our focus away from the strength of our faith and toward the efficacy of the Means of Grace, which are the visible, tangible acts by which the faithful God creates and sustains faith.

Baptism as God’s Work
In response to the theological errors of the time, the Lutheran Confessions stress that Baptism is a divine work, not a human one. The Augsburg Confession states that Baptism is “necessary to salvation, and that through Baptism is offered the grace of God”. It is the sacrament of reception into Christ Jesus’ community, which is the Church.

Luther’s Large Catechism emphasizes that “faith does not create baptism but receives it. Baptism creates and forms faith”. This is paramount. The decline in the percentage of Christians who strongly agree that faith is important or who attend church monthly is a failure of human will, but God’s promise, sealed in our Baptism, remains forever. The promise of salvation is applied through this command of Christ, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them…”(Matthew 28:19). When a baptized person struggles with commitment, they are to daily repent and return to their baptism as the rock of personal certitude.

The Lord’s Prayer and God’s Unhindered Will
In a world where Christian influence seems to be “declining,” we are reminded in Luther’s Small Catechism concerning the Lord’s Prayer that the ultimate will of God “is done even without our prayer”. In the Third Petition, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we pray not to make God's will happen, but that “it may be done among us also.”

This happens, Luther explains, “When God breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh”. The decline in evangelism and the importance of faith is precisely the result of the evil will of the devil, the world, and the flesh. Our prayer is a confident petition that God will defeat these forces and “strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die.” Our hope is that God, who is faithful, will continue to work His will despite our culture’s waning conviction.

Christ Jesus’ True Presence and Assurance in Holy Communion
The Lutheran Confessions, particularly in the Book of Concord, elevate the Sacrament of the Altar (Holy Communion) not merely as a symbolic ritual but as a vital Means of Grace, that is, the very Gospel delivered in a visible form. This Sacrament addresses the anxieties caused by declining commitment by redirecting our focus from ourselves to Christ’s objective work.

The core of Christian faith is that in the Lord's Supper, Christ Jesus is the True Presence. The Small Catechism asks, “What is the Sacrament of the Altar?” and answers that it is “the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink.”

The Apology of the Augsburg Confession teaches that the benefit of the Sacrament is “the forgiveness of sins, which is imparted to us by Christ in this ordinance”. What this means is that the true body and blood of Christ are truly present and instituted so that sure and certain forgiveness is found in the Lord’s Supper. This is paramount. The Sacrament is not a reward for the faithful; it is a gift for the unfaithful, a visible promise applied to the individual. In a generation that struggles to maintain conviction (as shown by the decline in the “importance of religious faith”), the Supper offers a physical, concrete assurance that Christ Jesus’ atonement is real and for them.

Strengthening Faith Against Doubt
The Barna data indicate that fewer Christians are orienting their lives around their beliefs. The Sacrament is Christ Jesus' provision for strengthening those who are spiritually weak. Luther’s explanation of the Sacrament emphasizes its power to deliver assurance against the attacks of the world and the devil, which cause Christians to doubt. While there is nothing sinful about doubt, we do not want to remain in this state, as it leads people into despair and unbelief. Comfort is found in the man who confessed with tears to Christ Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24), and Jesus did not reject him but lovingly came to his aid in his distress. 

Lutheran doctrine explicitly rejects any teaching that would make the benefit of the Sacrament dependent on a person’s level of faith or worthiness, stating that its worthiness rests on the “all-sufficient obedience of Christ... and the true, essential presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Holy Supper” (Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration). This objective reality means that even the Christian who struggles to strongly agree that their faith is important receives the full benefit of forgiveness and strength when they receive Christ Jesus’ body and blood in/with/under the bread and wine.

A Call to Intentional Discipleship
The Barna report presents a nuanced picture, noting hopeful signs of spiritual openness, especially among younger adults. An “Interest in Jesus is rising”, and church attendance has seen a “modest rebound. “This tension—spiritual curiosity coexisting with low conviction—is a profound opportunity.
As Daniel Copeland, Barna’s Vice President of Research, states, the question before church leaders is whether they simply want more people in church or desire people and the world to be transformed. Church leaders are rightly called to “recommit to intentional discipleship” to help people move from mere curiosity to genuine conviction, from Christian in name only to fully engaged, deeply devoted disciples of Christ Jesus. We do this not by manufacturing human commitment, but by pointing people back to the objective reality of the Gospel.

The findings are a reminder that the Church’s mission remains the same: to be the means or vehicle through which God’s faithful promises are delivered. We are not watching the end of God’s plan, but a societal “reset” that demands a clearer, bolder proclamation of Law and Gospel. Our God is faithful; He will not fail. As the writer of Hebrews exhorts us, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).

Amen!
 
​For more information about The AALC please go to: TAALC.org.

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