I have wanted for awhile to post Bethel’s testimony (given by permission) as a part of our childhood conversation series. Now, Bethel had a harder time with her testimony than David. She is 18 months younger, and places her salvation testimony about two years ago (when she was about 5 years old). This is consistent with my observations about when she started saying “I AM saved, Mom” and I just smiled at her. On the other hand it was about that time when she very seriously began wanting to learn to read, “so I can read the Bible” she said. I had never said this to her, although I had told David this during school time. She literally learned to read by reading the Bible at night.

Part of the challenge was that her story was inconsistent. In bed, at a table, in Texas, in NewMexico, and so on. I wasn’t sure if she was making up a memory, or if she was confused, or if I needed to scrap the whole conversion and tell her she had to get saved again. I ended up taking about two weeks of conversations to get the result we ended up with. I didn’t want her to feel like she was being interrogated or disbelieved. I didn’t want my interest in her response to influence any doubts or confusion she may have had (i.e., mom wouldn’t like it if I couldn’t remember when I was saved). So every few days, I’d pull her to the couch (when the other two were in another room) and say, Let’s work on your testimony. Tell me again when you remember.

I asked a lot of questions. At first, she said that she got saved in Texas. That surprised and alarmed me, because I had no idea what time she had in her mind, and I do remember when she started saying she was saved in New Mexico, and when she demonstrated a marked interest in spiritual things. I asked her if she could remember where she was when she decided to trust Christ as her Savior. I asked her what house it was, and other similar details in order to tug at any memories that she hadn’t thought of. I finally understood that the Texas part of her conversion story was referring primarily to a conversation we had (that I did remember) about needing to get saved over and over. I had been pretty sure she was at a point where she once thought she was saved, but was concerned that she didn’t know any more. I felt guilty for not taking her seriously earlier, and I was working on helping her make her calling sure.

She had talked a little bit about not telling anyone that she had been saved, which was why I brought Up Romans 10:9-10. With the heart man believes, and with the mouth we confess. It’s why I believe that even though a child might “believe” all his cognitively aware life, there should be a point where he deliberately confesses faith and trust in Christ. That is the “moment” of his salvation practically speaking. In any case, that conversation was encouraging to her, but she wasn’t inclined to make a new decision at that point. I told her that if she had trusted Christ, that her faith should be that God always does what he has promised. If you have believed in your heart and confessed with your heart, then what does the Bible say about you? Resting on what Christ has done (instead of worrying about my age or memory or words) is powerful. I didn’t realize that the time that it solidified her decision in her mind.

That was several months ago, after David made a profession of faith, but before I started working on writing down what they were saying about their salvation. As best I can tell, she believes she was saved in New Mexico, but wasn’t sure she was saved until our conversation in Texas. As we wrote out details, I asked her to put them in the right order. That helped me stay out of her memories better, I think. She wanted the verses at the end. Time will tell how God’s Word and the Holy Spirit will work in her heart. She quickly and confidently gives Romans 10:9-10 when she is asked how she knows she is saved.

Like with David, I’m struck by how valuable writing down her version of her testimony has been. Although her testimony is different in many ways from David’s, writing it out gave me a great platform to talk about it with her in a non-threatening or coercive way. Here is her story.

Before I was saved, I used to be afraid of thunderstorms. Now I’m not. I remember being disobedient tons of times.

I got saved in New Mexico when I was five. When I was on my bed, I asked Jesus to save me.  I didn’t understand that Jesus saved me because I didn’t know Romans 10:9-10.

In Texas, I thought I wasn’t saved. I started talking with my mom about being saved. Mom helped me find verses in the Bible that helped me. I asked my mom how to be saved, and mom said, “You only need to be saved once.” That means if you ask the Lord Jesus to save you, you don’t have to do it again. Because God made a promise, and he never forgets it.

I know he saved me because Romans 10:9-10 says That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in him that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

To be saved means to trust in Jesus to save from your sins.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16 means that if you believe in Jesus, you will be his son or daughter.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

 

Are they really saved?

When I started talking with the children about their testimonies, I discovered that all three had a similar misunderstanding about salvation.

I asked them about asking God’s forgiveness for sin, and at different occasions, they all seemed to think that since God forgave them in salvation, they didn’t need to ask God to forgive them any more, ever again. Basically, in their mind, asking for forgiveness was equal to asking God to save them. I think because we wanted them to understand that they don’t have to get saved multiple times, we might have inadvertently communicated that you don’t pray about sin ever again after salvation. It’s also possible that they’ve heard in church discussions about people who profess salvation but continue in sin. We don’t want to encourage false professions, but it’s possible that we’re confusing children who are particularly sensitive to sin in their own lives, and are troubled by their own consciences.

That’s humbling! And a little scary. I asked myself, Does that mean they weren’t saved? Do we see anything in the Bible about saved people who had some misunderstandings about salvation? Certainly! The first chapter of Galatians is instructive. First Peter and First John also address some questions and misunderstandings about salvation. So then, I can trust the Holy Spirit with my children’s salvation, and continue to teach. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.

So as we teach them about sanctification, we learn more about it ourselves. We talked spent some time one morning talking about first John (If we say we have no sin, the truth is not in us). We agreed that this book was written to believers, and fellowship with God was important. Something that helped them understand was discussing the relationship between a father and child. When you first ask God to forgive your sins and save you, he does forgive your sins, but he also makes you part of his family, you become a child of God. When you sin after that, you don’t stop being God’s child, any more than sinning against mom makes her not your mom. What changes when we sin after salvation is our fellowship. I asked them if they have ever hidden from mom and dad when they sinned. They all have. It’s a good picture of how fellowship is broken. They don’t want to get too close to mom and dad, because they’ve done wrong. They don’t want their sin exposed. Likewise, when we sin agains God after we’re saved, we don’t fellowship with him until we make it right and ask forgiveness. And God promises to do that!

If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship on with another.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

(I John 1)

I think they understood. The discussion is helpful for us adults as we wrestle with sanctification and salvation, too. Fun conversations ensue all around.

I mentioned that all three of our children have in the last several months made professions of faith. I recently interviewed them and typed their responses. They have given me permission to post their testimonies.

Here is David’s. My words are in brackets and italics.

[David didn’t know where to start. I suggested he tell me about before he was saved.]

At first I kept on ignoring my mom and dad. I changed the subject when they asked me “Do you want to be saved?”

[Yeah? You changed the subject? Why?]

I changed the subject because I didn’t want to talk about it.

[Why did you not want to talk about salvation? Were you afraid, or not understand, or something else? ]

I didn’t want to get saved until I understood EVERYTHING about salvation. I didn’t understand why people got baptized. I didn’t know if we needed to read the Bible every day.

[I knew that he spent a good deal of time worried because he didn’t understand all the details of salvation. That’s part of his personality. I was surprised that he brought it up, though. I asked if there were other reasons. He couldn’t think of any. I asked about friends. [Last year he had said friends was a reason for putting off salvation. Now, he didn’t seem to think friends had anything to do with it, so I dropped that. Then I asked him what caused him to change his mind about salvation.]

One day while we were all eating lunch, my sister said, “I’ve been afraid to say it, but if David’s not saved then he’s going to go to hell.” Soon after that, I was afraid at night. I thought “What if Jesus appeared any minute. I might go to hell.” So I asked Jesus to save me, but I did not tell my mom.

[I remembered this conversation, but I didn’t think it had any effect on David. He didn’t say anything about it until now.]

One day my mom asked me if I wasn’t saved or just afraid to say it. I said I was just afraid to say it.

[I asked him if he could tell any difference in his thoughts or actions since he became saved.]

I like reading the Bible more now. Before, I only read the Bible at church. Now, I like to read it more often. I like to read the verses around the ones I highlight. I like Psalms and Proverbs a lot.

I have been wanting to talk about the verses about salvation more. I’m not afraid of talking about salvation anymore. I like talking about the Bible more at the table. When I was not saved, I wasn’t listening to my teacher all that well, but when I was saved I listened better.

[This started a conversation. I pointed out that all of his teachers have repeatedly told me that he is a good listener and participates in class. This has been true all of his life. He grinned and acknowledged that they didn’t always know when he wasn’t paying attention. For some reason, this still cracks me up.]

P.s. My teachers cannot tell the difference. [I told him to add something about this– it seemed significant to him.]

[I asked him what verses helped him to understand salvation.]

Romans 6:23 says The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Acts 16:31 says Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

My teacher taught me that God will forgive every sin even before it has happened. He talked about how he got saved. He got saved as a teenager, and he also said that it’s harder to be saved when you are an adult. I don’t understand that yet.

[This was also a new comment. He mentioned his teacher giving his testimony before, but not the other things. These things seemed important to David, even though I’m still not sure he can articulate why they made a difference to him. I think these things all were part of what God used to help him want to be saved.

One time I was asking my mom, “You have to be good to get saved.” She said, “No. You have to believe on the Lord Jesus.”

[“Believe on Jesus” feels a little slippery to me. I think every child in a Christian home believes in Jesus from his earliest memories. I tried to tease this out by asking What does it mean to believe on Jesus?]

Believe on the Lord Jesus means to know that he can save you. He can change your heart to follow him and not Satan or my own way. I wanted Jesus to change my heart.

The End.

 

From David’s responses, I think a large part of his reluctance to get saved was simply that he was putting off something he knew he needed to do. “I can do it later.” God used several things to convince him that he shouldn’t wait. I have also noticed that, because he is now willing to talk about salvation more, his understanding has increased. The exercise of writing down his testimony was helpful for him. I’m praying that he will continue to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

After we wrote his testimony and sent it to his extended family, I felt a little uneasy. I could see gaps in understanding. I could see how my own imprecise vocabulary wasn’t helpful. Was I leading him astray? Did I push too hard?  God used Colossians 2:6 to comfort me:

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and build up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

I can trust God. I am still encouraging our children to pursue God, to draw near to him. I can rest in the assurance that he will draw near to them, too.