Possessing Christ (LD 7; Romans 10:14-17)
Introduction
There's a phrase that can land in very different ways depending on who's saying it and what they mean: we belong to the Lord.
For some, that sounds like a threat. They hear a domineering God waiting to shame or diminish his people. Unfortunately, they are not hearing anything positive when we say, ‘We belong to the Lord!”
For others, it sounds like drudgery. It sounds like this is a life of straining to keep up with an impossible family name. This is the mindset that there is a mean God who is just waiting to shame you and destroy you.
But the catechism wants us to hear something radically different. We don't merely belong to Christ the way a servant belongs to a difficult master. We are called to take hold of Christ, to possess him by faith. We know that in doing so, we are possessed by him. He keeps us not out of contempt or to harm us. No, we belong to our savior, so we can enjoy our God. We are brought to a place of wholeness and restoration rather than tyranny because Christ paid the impossible debt.
The question that presses on every believer, then, is deeply personal: how do I know that this Christ, the one who redeems and mediates on my behalf, is my Christ?
Why Only Faith?
We might wonder why faith is so significant. Paul reminds us about the significance of believing in Christ. Paul's logic in Romans 10 is simple and urgent: no one will call on Christ if they do not believe; no one will believe if they have not heard; and no one will hear without someone sent to proclaim. Hearing the gospel is not a passive experience. In the Hebrew sense Paul has in mind, to hear is to respond. The hearing echoes the Shema of Israel (Dt. 6:4). When the gospel goes out, it is the voice of the Good Shepherd calling his sheep. And the sheep hear him. His sheep turn to him. His sheep rest in him and conform to him.
This is why the preaching of the Gospel is not incidental to Christian life but central to it. Faith is not conjured up by the sheer force of our sincerity. It comes through the word of Christ, proclaimed and received. We are not the originators of our own faith, but we are the grateful recipients of God’s gift of faith.
It is by faith that we receive Christ. It is in faith that we take hold of Christ and all his distinct blessings. We walk in faith, by the Spirit’s power, and we begin to conform to our Lord.
What is Faith?
The catechism's definition of faith in Question and Answer 21 teaches us that when we have faith, we have assurance of salvation. True faith, it says, is not mere intellectual knowledge. It is a sure knowledge. It is a deep, experiential knowing, in the Hebrew sense, not just a cognitive filing away of correct doctrine.
Faith is also a hearty trust that the promises of the gospel are our promises. If we believe the Gospel, then we say Amen to the Lord’s promises. As we say AMEN, we will order our lives in light of Christ’s promises.
Think of Abraham in Genesis 15. When God promises him protection, legacy, and redemption, Abraham says, "Amen.” That amen is not just an agreement that the proposition is logically sound, but it is bowing the knee. It is a life reoriented to our Lord. It is saying, You are my God, and I will walk in the confidence that you are.
And here the catechism offers something that should quiet our anxious hearts: assurance is of the essence of faith. This does not mean we will never doubt. It means that faith takes hold of Christ. To take hold of Christ by faith is to take hold of all his benefits: forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life. The Holy Spirit is not working a tentative, hedged hope in us. The Spirit is working in us the conviction that the Savior proclaimed in the Gospel is my Savior. The Spirit is giving us the strength and the power to persevere. As we have faith, we have the person of Christ.
What is Faith’s Content?
One of the more startling phrases in Romans 10 is Paul's reference to those who have not obeyed the gospel. We don't naturally speak of obeying the gospel or good news. But this language recovers something essential. The gospel is not merely information to be catalogued. It is a claim that demands a response. It is the same kind of response Abraham gave when he left Ur, when he climbed Moriah, when Hebrews 11 says he expected God to raise the dead.
This is not a back door into works-righteousness. Obedience here is not the ground of our standing before God or the power of our faith. It is the shape of a life that has genuinely said amen to the promises of Christ. The person who says, "I believe the gospel, but it doesn't need to change anything about how I live," should ask whether they have truly possessed Christ at all. When we believe we are saying Amen to God’s promises. We are trusting ourselves to his protection, his resurrection power, and ultimately the passage into heaven. This is a life-changing truth that is worked in us by the Holy Spirit.
True faith puts on the yoke of Christ. And Christ's yoke, he tells us, is easy. He is not a master who demeans. He is not a lord who requires the impossible. He is the one who bore the burden so we might carry it with him, and in him find rest. Abraham struggled, but the trajectory is keeping his eyes on his savior as he walked by Faith.
Conclusion
If you find yourself asking, Is this Christ really my Christ? Think about what you are asking. That question itself is a grace. An unbeliever does not lie awake wondering whether Christ is their Christ. The very ache of that question points toward faith already at work in you. Dark season? Struggling? Cling to your Lord, believe the resurrection life is in you, and walk forward in the confidence of Christ.
So the catechism's pastoral word is simply this: proceed. Realign. Come back to the promises. You are not merely one of God's employees, quietly tolerated. You are not a servant kept in an inferior place. You are a redeemed saint, purchased not to be shamed but to be made whole. See that you are the person you were created to be to dwell in the glorious fellowship of God. Do not turn away from Christ, but turn to him as you hear his voice through the Gospel call.