You have asked if the mere declaration of faith by a
newcomer suffices to recognize him as a Bahá'í, and whether living the Bahá'í
life should not be regarded as the basis of admission into the Faith. You
should bear in mind that the signature on a card, in the sense that it
represents a record of the date of the declaration and data about the
declarant, is to satisfy administrative requirements enabling the enrollment of
the new believer in the community. The deeper implication of the act of
declaration of faith are between the individual and God. Shoghi Effendi has
made several statements on this important subject, and we have been asked to
share with you the following two excerpts from letters written on his behalf to
individual believers:“There is a difference between character and faith; it is often hard to accept this fact and put up with it, but the fact that a person may believe in and love the Cause -- even being ready to die for it -- and yet not have a good personal character or possess traits at variance with the teachings. We try to change, to let the Power of God help recreate us make us true Bahá'ís in deed as well as in belief. But the process is slow, sometimes it never happens because the individual does not try hard enough. But these things cause us suffering and are a test to us in our fellow-believers, most especially if we love them and have been their teacher!”
“The process of becoming a Bahá'ís necessarily slow and gradual. The essential is not that the beginner should have a full and detailed knowledge of the Cause, a thing which is obviously impossible in the vast majority of cases, but that he should, by act of his own will, be willing to uphold and follow the truth guidance set forth in the Teachings, and thus open his heart and mind to the reality of the Manifestation."
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 7 June, 1974, to an individual believer; Bahá'í News of India, p. 2, July/August, 1974; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)