Offering a Secure Hope

For Parents to Ponder: Can we be perfectly sure our children's hearts truly believe?

In a word, no. Only God’s judgment if perfect and sure.

“My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:4-5)

In fact, as Pastor Ryan explained in his message “Remain,” God allows a bit of tension to exist between two key ideas: 1) We can trust fully in God’s promise that salvation comes through faith alone. 2) True faith always leads to righteous living. This tension is for our good. When we see that our lives do not match what we say we believe, it should prompt us to search our hearts.

After all, Jesus Himself warns us, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 7:21) The will of God is clear: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

For that reason, it is crucial that we not lead children to assume that they are saved or have the Spirit before they actually repent and believe. At the same time, when children do believe, it is important that they know the many promises God makes to those who believe. It is even more important that they continue to practice trusting God to keep those promises!

So, again, how do we know if our child truly believes?

In a way, it doesn’t matter. Believers and unbelievers alike are called to examine their lives and ask, “Does my life show any indication of spiritual life?” If the answer is no, we should repent and believe. If the answer is yes, we are to remain in our faith.

After all, the only proof of salvation recognized in Scripture is the presence of the Spirit in a person’s heart and the fruit His presence inevitably produces. After all, God judges the heart perfectly, and when He encounters true faith, He instantly makes good on His promise to send the Holy Spirit. This alone is proof that a person belongs to Christ. This alone guarantees that a person will enjoy all the benefits that come from that relationship. (More on this next week!)

"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:13-15)

Of course, I believe parents play a key role in nurturing young faith, just as the apostles did for the early churches. “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (I Corinthians 3:6)

So how do we help bring life to the hearts of our children? In the same way the apostles did with their spiritual children: prayerfully, expectantly and conditionally!

Prayerfully: only God can fill our children with spiritual wisdom

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven ...  For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding." (Colossians 1:3-5a; 9-10)

Expectantly: knowing God results in transformation

"And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:11-15)

Conditionally: all who are reconciled to God remain in their faith

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel." (Colossians 1:21-23)

This will not be easy, but the Spirit will empower us! “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” (verses 28-29)

I like that Paul was honest about how hard it is to train God’s people! It is easy to want to give up! Let’s pray for each other that instead, God’s Spirit will use us to draw our children (and us!) to remain in a relationship with our Lord, who loves us and who is glorified as we repent and believe–not just once, but every day!

Our Lesson: Going Home, p318

Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 14

Truth about God: Jesus is the living Son of God

Take Home Verse: John 20:31 

“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Belief Builder: God wants EVERYONE to believe and have life.

Talking Points: 

Kids often listen better when their hands are busy. Eye contact is a learned behavior that we teach children to do to show that they are listening. It isn’t actually necessary for listening, and in some cultures it is considered rude! Consider doing the following with your child AS you talk with them.

Life Before Your Child: 

Try to find some photos, be it in a photo album or on a computer, of you from before they were born. Show them to your child and talk about what your life was like before they came along:
- where did you live at various times in your life? Who were your friends?
- what did you want to be when you grew up? What jobs did you have?
- what made you want to become a parent? What changed about your life after your child arrived?

Talk about how silly it would be if they didn’t believe what you just told them. After all, you were there!
- would be any less true if they didn’t believe you?

Explain that reading the Bible is like sitting down with God and letting Him tell us what life was like before WE ALL were born. Get your Bible and read this week’s Take Home verse.
- everything in the Bible happened a LONG time ago.
- we believe it because it was written down by the people who WERE there.

Your Life Before Jesus: 

If possible, show your child a picture of what you looked like when you began to believe that Jesus was the living Son of God. If not, draw a picture of yourself. Invite your child to draw a picture of a day that was really important to them. As you draw (this can happen on a napkin or any scrap of paper, anywhere you find yourselves together with time to kill):
- Let your child know that you believe what the Bible says about Jesus.
- Tell them how you came to believe that Jesus was the living Son of God.
- Who told you about it? Where were you?
- What was hard for you to believe at first?
- What have you recently learned to believe about Jesus?
- What does your child believe about Jesus?
- What are some things that only the Son of God can do? (forgive sin being the most important for us!)
- Talk about how you believe that only Jesus can forgive sin. We have to believe that to live with Him in Heaven.