Trinity Baptist Church

Quite often a church member will tell me that their child has been asking questions about faith in Christ and the matter of salvation.  The fact that a child asks some questions does not mean that they are ready to receive Christ, but it certainly does mean that they have some questions they need answered.

There is a process that takes place in the life of an individual of any age, in the matter of conversion to faith in Christ.  First, the Holy Spirit must raise and awareness of one’s sinful condition, a condition that separates that individual from relationship with God.  That is not to say that the person is a terrible person.  He may in fact be quite nice and have high moral ethics, but all people who are converted must first come to the awareness of their need to be converted.  It is through the hearing of God’s word, the Bible, that the Holy Spirit enlightens an individual to his spiritual need.  Next, through the understanding of what God has revealed in the Bible, the Holy Spirit enlightens the individual to his insufficiency to save himself, but to the sufficiency of God to save him, through the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross.  Finally, the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life to an individual by enabling him to believe that the gospel is for him.

So, when children ask questions about the matter of salvation, the starting place in counseling with them, is to try and determine what they understand about their sin.  Many children have no real concept of their personal sin, therefore, cannot be truly converted until they do.  If they do have what the Bible calls “godly sorrow,” or conviction of their sin, then they need to understand the message of the gospel.  The gospel is not complicated, and it doesn’t need to made complicated, but it does need to be understood.  No one can really believe what they don’t know.  If the child understands and believes that Jesus died as payment for the sin of sinners, and he knows he is in that category, he will be fully ready to turn his heart to God.  It is at this point that we need to be careful, because while prayer is the tool that the Holy Spirit often uses to solidify one’s initial confidence that peace has been made with God, we are not saved by praying, but by believing.  Evenso, our praying brings a sense of confidence into our experience, and praying is always in season.

If my child asked me questions about salvation, I would talk with about sin and the gospel, and I would then encourage him to turn to God, now, through faith in Christ.  I would encourage him to pray and ask God to save him.  But, I would want him to understand that his salvation was not just based on far a prayer, but on the grace of God.

I have a friend, who is a pastor in another state, and he has a forty year old son, who is unsaved.  My friend told me that he deeply regrets not taking a more active role in attempting to lead his son to faith in Christ, but that he always just assumed that he would come to faith.  Many times, people just need a good head-on confrontation about the matter.  When people join the church where I pastor, by transfer of church letter from another church, I always ask them if they know for sure that they are saved?  I’ve had numerous people over the years come back a few weeks later and say, “I told you I knew I was saved, but I’ve never had anybody just come out and ask me like that, and I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m really not saved.”  Children’s hearts are far more open to the gospel than are adults.  In any congregation, you can ask for a show of hands from people who were saved before becoming adults, and most of the people will raise their hands.

What would it profit a man (or a woman) to gain the whole world and lose his own children!?!