From the Principal's Desk
Dear Parents,
When a husband and wife become parents, they share many concerns for the new life they bring into the world. They have health concerns, safety concerns, educational concerns, friendship concerns, financial concerns. But the greatest concern that any truly saved parent has for his children centers on their salvation. It is not that health, safety, education, and finances have zero bearing in life; but if a person epitomizes these areas and dies without Christ, he loses everything, and in the greatest, most horrific way! This is why Jesus said in Mark 8:36: “For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Parents have a deep responsibility to teach their children the way of salvation, which includes giving scriptural discipline for sin and worshiping in a Bible-believing and-practicing church. Additionally, in this article, I will focus on three things parents must do to lead their children to Christ: 1) know that God wants your children to be saved, 2) teach them the Word of God, and 3) teach them the Word of God faithfully.
A primary motivation for leading your children to receive Jesus Christ comes from knowing that your children can come to Christ (cf. Matthew 19:14). They can be saved. Some doctrinal positions state that only certain people can be saved, and too bad for all the rest. While I believe in the doctrine of election (cf. Ephesians 1:4), I believe in it the way the Bible teaches it; and that is, yes, God knows who will be saved, and He elects, but He also gives man a choice. The reasons why people do not get saved are because they love their sin, they do not see their need, and they refuse to submit to their divine Master. But this is not God’s doing. God works in every man’s life to be saved, because He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). Paul wrote about God in I Timothy 2:4: “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The last chapter in the Bible summarizes God’s working and man’s responsibility: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). The Spirit beckons and true churches, filled with believers, also urge; but the unbeliever must see his need and thirst for salvation. If he does and is willing, he can come. But he must see his need, and he must surrender his will. Most people won’t do these things and be saved, but they could. Furthermore, your children can be saved because God wants a godly line of believers to spread through the generations. The prophet Malachi wrote: “And did not he make one [in marriage]? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed” (Malachi 2:15). The Lord wants families to pass down the faith to the next generation. For all of these reasons, and more, we must believe that our children can be saved. But, we must lead them to salvation.
We lead our children to salvation by teaching them the Word of God. The Bible says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). James says that we are begotten by the Word of truth (James 1:18). Parents have a responsibility to teach their children the Word of God (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). This is how it was for Timothy, the missionary companion of Paul. Exhorting him to continue, Paul reminded Timothy of his spiritual background: “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 knew the Bible. His mother and grandmother had taught him (II Timothy 1:5), and he was keenly aware of what it said. That first-hand, personal knowledge of God’s Word worked toward his making the right decision about salvation and placing his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach your children the Word by teaching them Bible stories, which create the foundation for the rest of what Scripture says. Teach them Bible doctrine. Teach them about the Trinity, about Creation, about man’s sinfulness and Christ’s righteousness, about His substitutionary death on the cross, about our need to believe on Christ alone and how works cannot save us, neither can we lose our salvation. Teach them the gospel. Go over it carefully, go over it slowly, and go over it repeatedly.
Third, make teaching God’s Word a pattern. Paul told Timothy that he had known the holy scriptures from a child, literally, from a babe. Timothy heard the Bible and its saving message from day 1. It is presumptuous to think that our children will “automatically” come to Christ without our interaction with them on the matter. The church is key and the Christian school is a great tool, but they are no substitute for what moms and dads should do at home. Not only do you have ongoing opportunity to teach God’s Word at home, but your children see through your example the importance and urgency of being saved. Talk about salvation and the Bible in your daily life. Talk about it in the car, when you are doing chores together, when you sit down to eat. You should also talk about salvation when you administer a spanking. In that setting you can relate their sinfulness to their need of salvation. Finally, in teaching the gospel as a pattern, you must hold up the standard of salvation to your child’s life. Many children make professions of faith in their younger years, but they fail to display the fruit of salvation. Their lives do not show a love for God, a habitual practice of righteousness, or an independent desire for the things of God. They don’t love the Bible. They do love fun, they love fitting in, and they love the material things the world offers. In evaluating their salvation, we cannot fall back onto a decision they made, their baptism, or the fact that they go to church. We must hold up the tests of I John—do you pass the tests of true faith? We must be honest. If they do, great. If they do not, then we have to talk to them as though they are not saved.
The Lord wants our children to be saved. But we have a responsibility to train then up in the way they should go. Know that the Lord wants your children to be saved, take the initiative to teach them the Word of God, and do so faithfully. All of these things will work toward their salvation.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sutton
Dear Parents,
When a husband and wife become parents, they share many concerns for the new life they bring into the world. They have health concerns, safety concerns, educational concerns, friendship concerns, financial concerns. But the greatest concern that any truly saved parent has for his children centers on their salvation. It is not that health, safety, education, and finances have zero bearing in life; but if a person epitomizes these areas and dies without Christ, he loses everything, and in the greatest, most horrific way! This is why Jesus said in Mark 8:36: “For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Parents have a deep responsibility to teach their children the way of salvation, which includes giving scriptural discipline for sin and worshiping in a Bible-believing and-practicing church. Additionally, in this article, I will focus on three things parents must do to lead their children to Christ: 1) know that God wants your children to be saved, 2) teach them the Word of God, and 3) teach them the Word of God faithfully.
A primary motivation for leading your children to receive Jesus Christ comes from knowing that your children can come to Christ (cf. Matthew 19:14). They can be saved. Some doctrinal positions state that only certain people can be saved, and too bad for all the rest. While I believe in the doctrine of election (cf. Ephesians 1:4), I believe in it the way the Bible teaches it; and that is, yes, God knows who will be saved, and He elects, but He also gives man a choice. The reasons why people do not get saved are because they love their sin, they do not see their need, and they refuse to submit to their divine Master. But this is not God’s doing. God works in every man’s life to be saved, because He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). Paul wrote about God in I Timothy 2:4: “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The last chapter in the Bible summarizes God’s working and man’s responsibility: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). The Spirit beckons and true churches, filled with believers, also urge; but the unbeliever must see his need and thirst for salvation. If he does and is willing, he can come. But he must see his need, and he must surrender his will. Most people won’t do these things and be saved, but they could. Furthermore, your children can be saved because God wants a godly line of believers to spread through the generations. The prophet Malachi wrote: “And did not he make one [in marriage]? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed” (Malachi 2:15). The Lord wants families to pass down the faith to the next generation. For all of these reasons, and more, we must believe that our children can be saved. But, we must lead them to salvation.
We lead our children to salvation by teaching them the Word of God. The Bible says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). James says that we are begotten by the Word of truth (James 1:18). Parents have a responsibility to teach their children the Word of God (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). This is how it was for Timothy, the missionary companion of Paul. Exhorting him to continue, Paul reminded Timothy of his spiritual background: “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 knew the Bible. His mother and grandmother had taught him (II Timothy 1:5), and he was keenly aware of what it said. That first-hand, personal knowledge of God’s Word worked toward his making the right decision about salvation and placing his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach your children the Word by teaching them Bible stories, which create the foundation for the rest of what Scripture says. Teach them Bible doctrine. Teach them about the Trinity, about Creation, about man’s sinfulness and Christ’s righteousness, about His substitutionary death on the cross, about our need to believe on Christ alone and how works cannot save us, neither can we lose our salvation. Teach them the gospel. Go over it carefully, go over it slowly, and go over it repeatedly.
Third, make teaching God’s Word a pattern. Paul told Timothy that he had known the holy scriptures from a child, literally, from a babe. Timothy heard the Bible and its saving message from day 1. It is presumptuous to think that our children will “automatically” come to Christ without our interaction with them on the matter. The church is key and the Christian school is a great tool, but they are no substitute for what moms and dads should do at home. Not only do you have ongoing opportunity to teach God’s Word at home, but your children see through your example the importance and urgency of being saved. Talk about salvation and the Bible in your daily life. Talk about it in the car, when you are doing chores together, when you sit down to eat. You should also talk about salvation when you administer a spanking. In that setting you can relate their sinfulness to their need of salvation. Finally, in teaching the gospel as a pattern, you must hold up the standard of salvation to your child’s life. Many children make professions of faith in their younger years, but they fail to display the fruit of salvation. Their lives do not show a love for God, a habitual practice of righteousness, or an independent desire for the things of God. They don’t love the Bible. They do love fun, they love fitting in, and they love the material things the world offers. In evaluating their salvation, we cannot fall back onto a decision they made, their baptism, or the fact that they go to church. We must hold up the tests of I John—do you pass the tests of true faith? We must be honest. If they do, great. If they do not, then we have to talk to them as though they are not saved.
The Lord wants our children to be saved. But we have a responsibility to train then up in the way they should go. Know that the Lord wants your children to be saved, take the initiative to teach them the Word of God, and do so faithfully. All of these things will work toward their salvation.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sutton