Faith is a personal matter. God has given to each individual free will and a mind of his own, so that each may choose where to put his faith. The result of such freedom is that some men wisely place their faith in God Himself, while others unwisely place it in some other person, group of persons, or system of belief. But every man chooses for himself, because faith is a personal matter.

Joshua said to the warriors of Israel, “Choose you this day whom you will serve” (). It was their choice. Joshua could not choose for the people collectively. He could model for them a wise choice—“as for me and my house”—but he could not choose for them. They had to choose. God or gods. Jehovah or Baal. The Lord or Dagon. The God of Abraham or the gods of Mesopotamia. It was their choice. It was their responsibility. Because faith is a personal matter.

Philip said to the eunuch who desired to be baptized of him, “If you believe with all your heart, you may” (). Philip’s faith no matter how strong could not save the Ethiopian. The collective faith of the 3000 immersed on Pentecost could not do it. Only the confession of the treasurer, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,” could make his baptism permissible and effective for the remission of sins. Why? Because faith is a personal matter.

Because faith is a personal matter, this Saturday, July 1st, beginning at 10 AM, we are conducting a series of summer studies for young people entitled, Why I Believe. We need to equip our young people with reasons to make wise choices about where they place their faith. We need to show them that faith in Creation, in the Bible, and in the Resurrection is reasonable. We need to give them answers to the questions of the skeptic, and the ridicule of the scoffer. Not so that their answers can be our answers, nor their parents’ answers, nor the preachers’ answers, nor the position of the Church of Christ. We want their answers to be their answers. We want their faith to be their faith, their reasons to be their reasons, so that they can tell their teachers, their neighbors, their peers, yea the world, Why I Believe. Why? Because faith is a personal matter. It’s between them and God, else it’s not really faith, not really their own.