TRAINING YOUR CHILDREN TO TURN OUT RIGHT
I believe
one problem in many Christian homes is that the children have made professions
of faith, but have never actually been born again. ... A child who has a
divinely created new nature within his or her heart will be spiritually
sympathetic to being trained in righteousness. ... Therefore, it is of utmost
importance that we carefully instruct and couch our children about salvation.
...
I have known of many young people who] professed to be saved in their
childhood; but in reality, they were never born again. They went through the
motions and walked an aisle. They learned the language, but they were never
regenerated. ...
As a boy of five, I had gone (or been taken) forward in an evangelistic
meeting. I do not know who the preacher was. I do not remember what the sermon
was about. In fact, as I recall, I slept through much of the service. I have
absolutely no recollection of who prayed with me or how I was dealt with in the
prayer room. ... After that meeting, I was coached to tell others that I had
gotten saved. Therefore, over the next fifteen years, if someone asked me if I
was saved, I would reply, 'Oh yes. I was saved when I was five years old.' Now,
I believe that five-year-old children can be saved, but I do not believe that I
was saved then. If it had not been for faithful parents who continued to pray
for me over those years, I may not have been genuinely converted when I was in
Bible college. I believe in my case and in many
others, there was a lack of conviction about sin and its consequences in both
heart and mind. It is a crucial prerequisite to the new birth. ...
In Bible college, I was searching spiritually. I went
to a spiritual leader and told him of my heart's confusion. He dismissed my
concern and told me I was just seeking assurance of my salvation. Well, as it
turned out, what I really was seeking was salvation. ... If your children come
to you and tell you they are not sure that they are saved, treat it as though
they have never made any profession of faith. You do not know their hearts;
only God does. Beware of saying, 'Oh, honey, you took care of that a long time
ago. Don't you remember?' It may be that the Holy Ghost is dealing in his
heart. Do not assume that because he has gone through the motions that he is
born again. ...
[Saving] faith includes repentance. Repentance is not doing anything. It is not
a deed, act, work, or rite. Rather, it is a change of the direction of one's
heart. It basically means an attitude of the heart in turning from sin and self
and turning to God. That's what
As a young man in my junior year at
I had absolutely no interest in the things of God. I only went to church
because my dad was the pastor, and I had to go. I could not have cared less
about the Bible. Things like witnessing and having a testimony were about as
alien to me as living in
I lay there on my bed that morning in November 1966. As I mulled all of this over in my mind, I knew that I had no
recollection of conviction when I went forward as a boy. I reflected over the
fact that there had never been any change in my life spiritually that I could
remember. I knew the sinfulness of my heart as a 20-year-old college student,
and I considered the lack of interest in the things of God in my life.
Slowly that November morning, the Holy Spirit convicted me of the fact that I
had never really been saved. I had gone through the motions of it as a small
boy and had professed salvation all those years. For the first time in my life
it was dawning on me that I was not saved, and for someone who had assumed to
be saved for the past 15 years, it came as quite some shock. ... As I thought about
the situation, it suddenly dawned upon me, 'If I am not saved, then I am on my
way to hell.' I had never in my entire life given any serious consideration to
that fact. It kind of shook me up. ... I realized that I was dealing with a
serious matter. After wrestling spiritually with the conviction of the Holy
Spirit for some time, I knew I had to settle the matter. I knelt beside my bed
and prayed, 'Dear Lord, I know I am a sinner. I really don't know what happened
when I was five years old. But I don't think I really was saved then. Oh Lord,
please save me and cleanse me of my sins and give me eternal life.'
There were no bolts of lightning or thunder claps, but a peace swept across my
soul. I knew I had settled the matter. There no longer was any doubt. I had
trusted
Very soon thereafter, my life began to make some radical changes. Even as a student in a Christian college, my interest in serving
the Lord had been somewhere between little and none. Witnessing and soul
winning were alien to me. Not only did I not know how; I did not care.
Now I suddenly became burdened for the guy I worked with at a TV repair shop in
town. Within six weeks of making peace with
Something had happened to me. I had been born again (Training Your Children to
Turn out Right, 1995, pp 156-167).
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