Are Children Safe?

The Issues Surrounding a Child’s Profession of Faith

Bill Shannon

INTRODUCTION:
I have been involved in Children’s Ministries in one capacity or another for the last twenty years.
I have seen numerous children go through the ministry having professed faith in Christ, maybe
even shown some evidences of true salvation and repentance but 20 years later never darken the
door of a church or claim to know Him as their Savior.

There was one young lady a few years ago who was caught by her parents in some serious
immorality and once confronted by her parents she still claimed to be a Christian. Add to that the
number of children in our Sunday schools or AWANA clubs that claim Christ but when they get
older either don’t remember or don’t want to remember. Some parents try to remind them of their
profession in the hopes of their children desiring the things of God.

Therefore if children are giving themselves to the Savior as young ones what happens when they
get older? Do they loose their salvation? Are they just “backslidden” Christians? Did they ever
get saved? What does it mean for a child to desire the things of God one day and in the years to
follow never have any desire for the things of God? Another question that needs to be answered is
whether the gospel is any different for the children? Is the gospel any different for the child?
What do they need to know in order to be saved? Hopefully these and other questions will be
answered here today.

While this discussion concerns mainly a child’s profession of faith and it’s implications to folks
within your congregation it never excludes your responsibility as a grandfather, father, uncle or
brother for the children God places under your influence.

I. Children and understanding the gospel

A. Obstacles

1. Development Inability—Children are not able to understand abstractly.

They have a naivety in their thinking that is expressed in the choices
they make toward foolishness. The Scriptures tell us of the need to
drive out this foolishness from a child. Proverbs 22:15 “Foolishness is
bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline will remove it far
from him.” Children are naïve and the Book of Proverbs makes it clear
that the study of and application of that book will help children to
become wise and grow out of their foolishness Proverbs 1:1-4.

2. Intellectual Inability—As a matter of fact in child development the

brain is not fully developed until the age of seven or eight and even
then abstract thought does not develop until the age of twelve or
thirteen. Therefore one of the most difficult responsibilities is teaching
the truth of God’s word to children who cannot fully understand all
that is being said to them. Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians 13:11
“When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child,
reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish

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 things.” Children are immature in their speaking, thinking and
reasoning. Paul gives a warning later in this same letter for the church
about their thinking. 1 Cor. 14:20 “Brethren, do not be children in your
thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.” Dennis
Gundersen in his little book called “Your child’s profession of Faith”
said, “We realize that children lack maturity of mind to properly
understand the choice they say they want to make.
3. How can we know for sure that our child has come to saving faith in
Jesus Christ? As I mentioned earlier I can give you example after
example of kids from good families who have professed faith in Jesus
Christ and could even articulate an accurate Biblically sound
understanding. Yet those same children have absolutely nothing to do
with God or the church today. (Illustration) We really cannot be sure of
a child’s profession of faith. They so desire to please their parents,
teachers, youth group leaders and sometimes even their friends that
they make a profession. I remember when zealous seminary student
who came to me one Monday morning to tell me how this ten year old
had given his life to Jesus Christ the night before in our Discovery
Ministry. I made it a point to follow up with the young man that week
and asked him what happened on Sunday evening. He told me that the
game time was really “cool.” I asked specifically what transpired
between he and this enthusiastic seminary student. “Oh yea we had a
really cool talk.” I asked about what and he told me he couldn’t
remember. Yet another incident among thousands that a leader desires
so much to see children come to Christ they unfortunately count them
in the kingdom when the King hasn’t declared them in the kingdom.
4. Oversimplification of the gospel can cause problems. Since a child’s
comprehension is less developed than an adult’s the temptation for the
parent is to oversimplify the message and therefore obliterate that
which is necessary for their comprehension.
5. A profession of faith does not equate with a true confession of faith.
The solicitation of a response from children occurs often and is not
profitable for a good presentation of truth to children. The sinner’s
prayer is often coerced out of the child because the parent or children’s
worker has such a desire for the child’s salvation. Parents and
children’s workers should be faithful to present the truth of God’s
Word not neglecting any aspect of the gospel just because they are
children.
6. Don’t assume a profession is regeneration. Just because a child
responds positively to the gospel does not mean they have saving faith
(illustrate 400). One can never assume the profession of faith as
reflecting the genuine work of God. Children desire to please parents
and teachers or because of peer pressure or because parent pressure
them to respond positively. Charles Spurgeon said that 60 percent of
his church was not saved. These were adult church going folks who in
Spurgeon’s estimation did not know the reality of true faith in Jesus
Christ.
7. Don’t assure a child of salvation. Often parent seek to give their child a
verbal assurance of their salvation. As a consequence the church is
filled with teenagers and adults whose hearts are devoid of real love for
Christ, but who think they are genuine Christians because of something

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 they did as children. (Christian High School.) This assurance is better
left up to the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:15-16). The church today is cluttered
with many folks who truly do not know the Savior only a remembrance
of what mom or dad told them they did.

II. Some difficulties in evangelizing children

How are we to present the gospel of truth? How do we know what will be effective to
save the child? John MacArthur said in Faith Works–The Gospel According to the
Apostles, “Twentieth century Christianity has tended to take a minimalist approach to
the gospel. Unfortunately, the legitimate desire to express the heart of the gospel
clearly has given way to a less wholesome endeavor. It is a campaign to distill the
essentials of the message to the barest possible terms. The glorious gospel of Christ
which Paul called “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom.
1:16) includes all the truth about Christ. But American evangelicalism tends to regard
the gospel as a “plan of salvation.”

The gospel has become cheapened by the modern approached today evangelism. All
that a person has to do is walk an aisle, raise a hand or just show up at church once in
a while. You know the people I am speaking of, you have met them, and they believe
they are Christians because they once gave assent to Jesus Christ.

A. The character of the gospel–The gospel in not about a plan but about a
person. It is not a formula that must be prescribed to sinners in a set of tapes.
It does not call for a mere decision of the mind, but a surrender of the heart,
mind, and will–the whole person–the Jesus Christ.
1. Teach them about God’s holiness–God is holy and you are not.
Children need to develop a “fear of the Lord.” “The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10, Job 28:28;
Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 15:33; Micah 6:9). God loves you and will save
you from hell no matter whose plan you chose for your life (Ill.
of Conference Speaker). The remedy for such thinking is the
biblical truth of God’s holiness. God is utterly holy, and His law
therefore demands perfect holiness: “I am the Lord your God.
Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am
holy. . . You shall be holy for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44-45). “You
will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a
jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins”
(Josh. 24:19). “There is no one holy like the Lord, indeed, there
is no one besides Thee, nor is there any rock like our God” (1
Sam. 2:2). “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy
God?” (1 Sam. 6:20). God requires holiness “You shall be holy,
for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). “Without [holiness] no one will see
the Lord” (Heb. 12:14).
2. Show them their sin. Gospel means “good news.” What makes it
truly good news is not that heaven is free, but that God’s Son has
conquered sin. Sadly, it has become stylish to present the gospel
as something other than a remedy for sin. “Salvation” is offered
as an escape from punishment, God’s plan for a wonderful life, a
means of fulfillment, an answer to life's problems, and a promise
of free forgiveness. All those things are true, but they are by-

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 products of redemption, not the main issue. And when sin is left
unaddressed, such promises of divine blessings cheapen the
message. Sin makes the sinner worthy of death, James 1:15
“Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when
sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” Romans 6:23 “For the
wages of sin is death.”

We would all agree that sinners can do nothing to earn salvation

“Romans 3:20 “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be
justified in His sight…”

3. Children must understand who Jesus Christ is and what He did

for them. The gospel is good news about who Jesus Christ is and
what He has done for sinners. There are a few things that are
basic to the gospel and therefore necessary to be understood for
someone who is a true believer.

a. Jesus is eternally God–John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was

the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things
came into being through Him, and apart from Him
nothing came into being that has come into being.” John
1:14, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,
and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from
the Father, full of grace and truth.” Col. 2:9, “For in Him
all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form”
b. Jesus is Lord of all–Phil. 2:9-11, “For this reason also,
God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name
which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on
earth and under the earth, and t hat every tongue will
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.”
c. Jesus Christ became man–Phil. 2:6-7, “who although He
existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with
God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking
the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the
likeness of men.”
d. Jesus is utterly pure and sinless–1 Peter 2:22, “Who
committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His
mouth.” 1 John 3:5, “You know that He appeared in
order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.”
e. Jesus Christ became a sacrifice for our sins–2 Cor. 5:21,
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him.” Titus 2:14
f. Jesus shed His blood as an atonement for sin–Eph. 1:7-8,
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of
His grace which He lavished upon us.”

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 g. Jesus dies on the cross to provide a way of salvation for
sinners–1 Peter 2: 24, “He Himself bore our sins in His
body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” Col.
1:20
h. Jesus Christ rose from the grave and triumphed over sin
Romans 1:4 “who was declared the Son of God with
power by the resurrection from the dead…” 1 Cor. 15:3-
4.

4. Children must hear what God demands of them

a. Repentance–Repentant faith is the requirement. It is not
merely a decision to trust Jesus for eternal life but a
wholesale forsaking of everything else they are to trust
in Him. Repentance is a turning away from sin and
embracing Jesus Christ in trust and obedience. Luke
9:23; John 12:26

5. Advise them to count the cost of following Jesus Christ.

(Illustration about the army). “If anyone comes to Me, and does
not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and
brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My
disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after
Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants
to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to
see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid
a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to
ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able
to finish.’ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in
battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is
strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one
coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the
other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks terms of
peace. So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does
not give up all his own possessions” (Luke 14:26-33).

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not
come to bring peace, but a sword. “For I came to set a man
against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies
will be the members of his household. He who loves father or
mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son
or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does
not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me”
(Matt.10: 34-38).

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III. What we can do if our children profess faith in Jesus Christ
1. Encourage them–encourage every sign of faith and use every
opportunity to teach them about Jesus Christ and His gospel.
2. Correct them–correct their behavior always pointing them to the need
for the saving work of Jesus Christ on their behalf.
3. Teach them–point them to the need of a Christ-centered life. They need
to live a life of integrity. They need to make church life part of who
they are and how they act.