Featured How does your Church deal with Child professions of Faith?

There is just too much "Easy Believism" rampant in todays world to take it on face value that a child has interacted with the Holy Spirit....not without testing & proving it factual, most certainly. Ive had first hand experience with parents influencing a child and Ive seen Pastors, Elders, Deacons & other family members influence a child. Their intentions are often noble however none of this matters to the direct interaction to the Holy Spirit. Therefore testing the prospective new convert is critical.

That is the point at which you start, and you can go on and test in terms of the teaching of the first Epistle of John. As you do so you will get a better assurance, an assurance which will save people from a kind of 'believism', or an opinion that just says that it believes and accepts all this without bothering to question. But I am personally concerned to go on to a further source of assurance, which is the one that any Christian desires and covets above everything else. That is the testimony of direct witness of the Spirit Himself to the fact that they have gone through that direct intervention, and are now children of God because of it. So I will emphasize, Romans 8:15 and 16; and also of Galatians 2:20: 'The Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me', etc.

That says a bit as to how I would question and catechize and cross-examine anyone telling me they are Born Again. Also, after discussing this with many experienced Baptist Pastors, one should always draw a distinction between the way in which you question and catechize young members, new members, and the way in which you catechize older members. This should be emphasized as a main point of distinction - that you do not expect as much light and clarity and certainty from the young convert as you do from the older ones. However there are exceptions to that rule & there are some exceptional and clearly spiritually gifted young people that sometimes surprises.....God will not be contained in any box or any creatures limited mind...thats clearly intellectualism.

There is a point when I was recently converted that I, in a sense, mourned over my sins. I was, at 53 YO persuaded by the holy spirit that my primary sin was of Non-belief. Once I realized my carnality, I was ashamed. It was that "Uh huh moment" when I had to face up to the errors of my actions, the shame of my arrogance & greed and the utter horror of having insulted who had given me so much.....and for that realization, I wept. Does a child ever comprehend this? Thats part of what Ive been asking myself lately.

All in all, I would feel much more confident in allowing the child to grow up to the age where they can better comprehend the consequences of sin (and perhaps even recognizing by first hand experience with sin) the devastation of ones sinful actions, so they would have a strong gratitude for the gift of salvation.

 

Thank you. Regardless of what the self appointed fruit inspectors here have to say, my trust is fully in the Lord. They can have their mystical numerology, formulas, church tradition, etc, I'll stand firm on God's Word.

 

I can see valid points on both sides of this issue. One thing that continues to impress me is the statement of Jesus that we must become as little children, not that little children must become as adults, to enter into His kingdom.

 

My wife and i have just gotten back from town, but on the way to town we were listening to a grown woman giving her testimony on radio about her conversion at five years old and she too like many on here was talking about the sermon on hell that scared her to death and she made a profession. When my wife and i first were married we went to a non denom church for about nine months because i grew up with the pasture. Hell was one of his favorite subjects he preached on and the Romans road was his road map for winning the young converts and his favorite song was, I want to be a soul winner for Jesus. He was actually the first person in my part of the country that promoted a easy believism type salvation. He started out as an evangalist and did quit well and then he built a church and became a pasture also. I would say 90% or above of his conversts were little children. This was in the nineteen sixties and seventies. My wife and i begain to go over the young converts names under this guy which now are older adults. You probably won't believe this but of the many we know of, not any of them go to chuch any more or even claim to be christians. You may think that i am against little children coming to Christ. I am not againsts, but i am concerned because if they don't really get saved they get decieved or they just quit and will never go back to church.

 

Unfortunately, that has been my experience as well. This is why I bow to Scripture.... We must ‘test all things’ (Ephesians 4:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:21).

 

His death provided the means/basis for God to forgive all who come to christ to receive it, but if they do not come, they will remain in their sins, under the wrath of God!

I am NOT referring to children here who have not yet reached the point where Giod would hold them to be personally accountible, for i hold to them being under garce until that point, but mainly to adults here!