From the Principal’s Desk
Dear Parents,
One of the major things we do at Bethel Christian Academy is to teach children the gospel. When students come to Bethel, they come with varying degrees of understanding of the gospel. Our goal is to consistently layer the understanding of salvation so that over the course of time they do understand and then place their faith in Jesus Christ.
This is exactly the approach Paul said took place with Timothy in his childhood: “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:15). Timothy’s mother and grandmother were believers, although his father was not. Nevertheless, these key ladies in Timothy’s life faithfully taught him the Bible, even from a very young child (likely starting when he was an infant or a toddler). Timothy started off not knowing the Bible, but he grew in his understanding of the Word as it was carefully and accurately explained to him. The careful teaching of the Word of God gives us understanding of salvation. But understanding is not enough.
The word wise means to develop understanding in a proficient way. The understanding in our text is in regards to salvation. When a person understands, he must then place his faith in Jesus Christ alone to be saved. Knowledge and understanding of the Bible are not salvation, but knowledge and understanding are essential for salvation. A person must comprehend with a measure of proficiency the Jesus he is believing in and the sin he is turning from in order to be saved.
No one born saved and no one is born with understanding of salvation. The Bible way of salvation must be correctly taught and carefully explained. But again, knowledge of the right way does not equal salvation. Understanding, coupled with belief and repentance, does result in salvation.
Let me give you an example of what this looks like with children. Children are born as sinners, needing to be saved. They lack understanding of salvation, and they have not believed in Jesus Christ nor repented of their sin. Saying a prayer to be saved without understanding salvation is to make a false profession. In the same way, understanding salvation, praying, but refusing to believe or repent also results in a false profession. To press a child to pray for salvation apart from his understanding and apart from his desire to turn from his way of sin is to do great harm to him spiritually, and in some cases irreparable harm.
As children are taught the Bible and the understanding is layered, they begin to grasp the gospel until they have sufficient and proficient understanding. At that point, the burden of responsibility is on them to place their faith in Jesus Christ alone and to turn from their way of sin to serve Him as their Lord. However, having understanding without faith and repentance is still to be unsaved.
It happens the same way with adults. For instance, say a person believes one can lose his salvation; therefore, he must constantly obey the Bible to stay saved. In such a case, the person does not understand Bible salvation since the Bible teaches eternal security by grace through faith in Christ. He is trusting in his works. The person has not believed neither has he repented. He is unsaved. Let’s say that the same person comes to understand that the Bible does teach eternal security. That newfound understanding does not now make him saved. He still must believe and repent.
To sum it all up, to be saved, a person must first understand the gospel, and then second, he must believe on Jesus Christ, repenting of his sinful way. Then and only then is he saved.
In Christ,
Pastor Sutton
Dear Parents,
One of the major things we do at Bethel Christian Academy is to teach children the gospel. When students come to Bethel, they come with varying degrees of understanding of the gospel. Our goal is to consistently layer the understanding of salvation so that over the course of time they do understand and then place their faith in Jesus Christ.
This is exactly the approach Paul said took place with Timothy in his childhood: “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:15). Timothy’s mother and grandmother were believers, although his father was not. Nevertheless, these key ladies in Timothy’s life faithfully taught him the Bible, even from a very young child (likely starting when he was an infant or a toddler). Timothy started off not knowing the Bible, but he grew in his understanding of the Word as it was carefully and accurately explained to him. The careful teaching of the Word of God gives us understanding of salvation. But understanding is not enough.
The word wise means to develop understanding in a proficient way. The understanding in our text is in regards to salvation. When a person understands, he must then place his faith in Jesus Christ alone to be saved. Knowledge and understanding of the Bible are not salvation, but knowledge and understanding are essential for salvation. A person must comprehend with a measure of proficiency the Jesus he is believing in and the sin he is turning from in order to be saved.
No one born saved and no one is born with understanding of salvation. The Bible way of salvation must be correctly taught and carefully explained. But again, knowledge of the right way does not equal salvation. Understanding, coupled with belief and repentance, does result in salvation.
Let me give you an example of what this looks like with children. Children are born as sinners, needing to be saved. They lack understanding of salvation, and they have not believed in Jesus Christ nor repented of their sin. Saying a prayer to be saved without understanding salvation is to make a false profession. In the same way, understanding salvation, praying, but refusing to believe or repent also results in a false profession. To press a child to pray for salvation apart from his understanding and apart from his desire to turn from his way of sin is to do great harm to him spiritually, and in some cases irreparable harm.
As children are taught the Bible and the understanding is layered, they begin to grasp the gospel until they have sufficient and proficient understanding. At that point, the burden of responsibility is on them to place their faith in Jesus Christ alone and to turn from their way of sin to serve Him as their Lord. However, having understanding without faith and repentance is still to be unsaved.
It happens the same way with adults. For instance, say a person believes one can lose his salvation; therefore, he must constantly obey the Bible to stay saved. In such a case, the person does not understand Bible salvation since the Bible teaches eternal security by grace through faith in Christ. He is trusting in his works. The person has not believed neither has he repented. He is unsaved. Let’s say that the same person comes to understand that the Bible does teach eternal security. That newfound understanding does not now make him saved. He still must believe and repent.
To sum it all up, to be saved, a person must first understand the gospel, and then second, he must believe on Jesus Christ, repenting of his sinful way. Then and only then is he saved.
In Christ,
Pastor Sutton