Let us make sure that conversions professed are coversions possessed.

Mark Dever wrote yesterday on the Together For The Gospel blog a post entitled, “Should Evangelists Question Professions of Faith?” His post is intended for evangelists and preachers, but since every parent is an evangelist and preacher in their own home, there may be something here that we can learn from this. An excerpt:

“But if evangelists [parents] want to see lost sinners [their children] saved, and if evangelists [parents] know that we sinners can deceive ourselves, then it’s not surprising that we [parents] want to try to make sure (with all appropriate qualifications about our limitedness) that conversions professed are conversions possessed.”

See what he’s getting at here? Sin is deceptive, and it is possible that sin may deceive us (or our kids) by persuading us (and them) that they are converted when they are not through shows of outward behavior without genuine heart change. How can we know for sure? Dever quotes the great George Whitfield’s perspective on the parable of the soils:

“There are so many stony ground hearers, who receive the Word with joy, that I have determined to suspend my judgment till I know the tree by its fruits. I cannot believe they are converts until I see fruit brought back; it will never do a sincere soul any harm.”

Some parents may hear this and think it callous, uncaring. Are we just supposed to ignore professions of faith in our kids? Withhold encouragement? Deny them comfort and assurance of salvation? No, that isn’t what Whitefield or Dever are saying. Dever provides some steps to take:

“What should we do? Encourage the new believer in all things good. Remind them of the gospel. After some appropriate time (which would vary much from case to case) they should be baptized and join a church. They should regularly hear the preaching of the Word, commune, fellowship, pray and obey the Word. They should be building relationships in order to do that. And they should be told to hope in Christ alone for their salvation. Our desire is to find every professor getting safely home to heaven.”

Read the whole article here.

Categories: Thursday Thoughts For Parents, five15 blog