Suffer The Little Children....

Jesus welcomed the little ones, wanted them to come to Him, and blessed them, while the disciples had no time for them and thought Jesus was too busy to be bothered. He said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, [in NIV: "do not hinder them"] for such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:14). Jesus rebuked them and told them that to such belong the kingdom of God. He also said that he who humbles himself like a little child shall be greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Are children the enemies of God? Yes and No. James 4:4 says that he who is a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Children are born in sin, of course. "In sin did my mother conceive me," says Psalm 51:5. The Minnesota Crime Commission issued a report saying that little children are born to be criminals and if they are not civilized by the parents will grow up delinquent. The grace of God covers all children till the age of accountability (I don't want to get into an extensive proof of this doctrine here because most believers accept this) and children are to be welcomed into the church body and its fellowship, and not to be treated as outsiders. There will be no children in hell, and God loves all children and wants to bless them. If you make one of them stumble you will be better off with a millstone around your neck and cast into the sea. They have angels that always behold the face of God and take care of them.

Yes, children sin but they have not learned to discern good and evil and are innocent to a certain extent. Technically all unbelievers are children of Satan but children can be converted to Christ--the way of salvation is so simple even they can comprehend it. God can and sometimes does speak to us through the children, just like St. Augustine claimed happened to him. We were all enemies of God before salvation and the miracle is that God loved us in that while we were His enemies He sent Son to die for us. 

It is true that infants are completely self-centered and their world revolves around them, and it is the job of the parent to civilize them and bring them up in the training and nurture of the Lord ("Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it," says Proverbs 22:6, ESV). Responsible parents stand in loco Dei or in the place of God to teach concepts of authority, respect, and obedience.

Though children may have not accepted Christ yet, God is working on them and it is the job of the parents to teach them the truth and way of salvation. We should never treat them as if they are enemies of God--that is the logical outcome of believing they are. Only God knows and sees who His elect are and we are not to judge people prematurely or before the time. The wheat and chaff look similar when growing together and it is not the task of believers to separate them because they could be wrong.

"But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:14, KJV). Jesus welcomed children with open arms and blessed them when his disciples thought to rebuke them that He had no time in a day when children were of little worth in a man's world. The kingdom of God belongs to them in the sense of being grandfathered in to be included in God's blessings until they reach the age of accountability and know good from evil (per Isaiah 7:16). We are to consider them in and treat them that way. Children have the faith of their parents and haven't really developed a personal relationship with Christ--they are just beginning to know Him through those who teach and their family members. You must have faith in Christ alone and that means not in Christ plus your parents or plus family ties--where would that faith be if the family fails. Children can even be confirmed in the faith and not be saved, just having gone through the motions and memorized the Dance of the Pious.

Children can comprehend a great deal of spiritual truth and be enlightened, and even taste of the heavenly gift, and share in the Holy Spirit per Hebrews 6 (but these matters do not prove salvation), and love of Bible stories or preaching without coming to a complete spiritual apprehension--which is pending their decision to follow Christ and deny themselves. Even having the ability to discuss Bible doctrine or knowing one's way around Scripture is no proof of salvation. They are incapable of making a decision to take up a cross at such an early age and their faith isn't confirmed until it is tested by God as if by fire, because it is more valuable than silver or gold. The gospel message must be presented clearly enough to be rejected, but not an easy-believism, which undermines it. You aren't saved until you get convicted, realize you are lost and are converted through saving faith and genuine repentance, and most children cannot adequately articulate how they met Jesus and it transformed their life--for giving public testimony of Jesus is part of salvation ("For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved," says Romans 10:10, ESV).

Just liking church, doing church, or loving Jesus (you aren't saved by loving Jesus or your idea of Him) and so forth are not salvation--they are responding to their own world as they know it, and would love Buddha or Confucius if they were Asian--our emotional experiences can be duplicated in other religions. Children are very impressionable and can be influenced even to be suicide bombers at that age of innocence. The point is that we should bring them up in the training and nurture of the Lord and in the fear of God and God promises that our efforts of teaching them will bear fruit some day. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it," (cf. Prov. 22:6). This refers to exposure to the admonition of the Lord.

Don't be so quick to believe a superficial testimony of a child who is incapable of discerning true spiritual truth. What happens is that they have their parents faith and haven't developed their own until they get out on their own and in the real world and get tested. Just because Parents stand in loco Dei or in the place of God and represent His authority as authority figures don't mean they can lord it over them without biblical sanction. Children owe their parents due respect and affection just the same. In my estimation, it is next to impossible to "save" your children, however, you can lead them in the way of truth--and commend them to God and the Word of truth. They are just the first lesson of relationship that the children are exposed to and must pass this test to go on to know the Lord.

All you can hope is that your labor was not in vain and God will take care of them, as you submit to His nurture and providence. We instill truth in them as seeds that God will cause to grow and germinate someday unto salvation. We are to treat all children as if they belong to the kingdom, and woe unto him that causes one of these to stumble in whatever faith he has. But I believe that there comes a time to leave the bosom of the family, and they call it that because it's a sheltered environment, and then you must prove your faith is genuine and not just second-hand. Jesus said we must be willing to renounce our family ties and allegiance to all other loyalties, and even love Him more than father or mother. Remember, Christianity is not a way of life, but a vital, vibrant, and growing first-hand and personal relationship with the living God and Savior. And it is no easy step to leave the hearth and cut the umbilical cord to find one's true identity in God without the aid of the familiar domicile. Soli Deo Gloria!

Be Perfect As Your Father In Heaven Is Perfect

 Jesus exhorts us to be perfect in many ways and in different connotations, denotations, and meanings. Obviously, no one is perfect but God, so that can not be what He meant.  There are different interpretations of what "perfect" means, such as complete and mature or without fault or blemish or flaw.   The elder is to above blame for instance.  Pelagius was a heretic that debated St. Augustine and insisted that since God commands perfection, it must be possible, and taught what was known as sinless perfectionism.  This is now called "entire sanctification" or perfectionism. It is said by Catholics that saints and the Pope have attained this level of holiness.  We are to bear with each other's faults. Eph. 4:2

But God admonishes us not to think of ourselves as holier than thou (cf. Isaiah 65:5). What is commonly understand by the standards of achievement for the believer is that perfection is the standard, but direction or effort is the test.  Let me give you an example from the Old Testament.  After Israel had received the Law, they told God, "We will do all that is written..." They should have realized that no one can keep the Law but God and should have begged for mercy and grace. Christianity is not a rule book or to-do list or list of dos and don'ts. It is a relationship and Paul even claimed, "not to have laid hold of it yet." Phil. 3:12

Do I need to point out verses that say we cannot attain sinless perfection:  1 John 1:10 says if we claim to be without sin, we make Him a liar and the truth is not in us.  Eccl. 7:20 says "Surely there is not a man on earth who does what is right and doesn't sin." and Proverbs 20:9 says "Who can say, 'I have kept my heart pure, I am clean and without sin?'" Psalm 119:96 says there is a limit to all perfection. The point is that we are not saved by performance, but by faith alone and the Law was not given to be a way of salvation, but to measure us.  It was given to show no man can keep it!  "It is indeed the straightedge of the Law that show us how crooked we really are." Romans 3:20    

If we keep the whole Law and offend in one point, we are guilty of breaking it all.   What I'm saying is that no one keeps the Law without fault except Jesus and we all fall short and to try to put yourself under it makes you obliged to the whole of it.  We cannot attain to God's standards until we reach glory and no longer have the old sin nature or sin virus we inherited from Adam. We not only have broken one of the laws but the whole of the Law and cannot keep it! We all fall short of God's glory. Justification means that God reckons us as just, not that we are just. He calls us just in His eyes; we are both sinners and just at the same time (cf. Gal. 2:17).  God no longer counts our sins against us! (cf. 2 Cor. 5:19). Christianity is not about "Do!" but "Done!"  It is a done deal.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Musings On Faith...

 What are some meditations regarding the common faith?

It began at salvation, flourishes in time, and is completed and fulfilled in glory! Only in a world where faith is difficult can it be possible; there can be no easy-believism or easy faith; it might be easy to believe but hardly worth it. Faith comes by the gift of God: “It is the work of God that you believe….” (cf. John 6:29). It comes by virtue of hearing and by hearing of the Word of God—preaching per Romans 10:17 (and we are to grow in our faith and go from faith to faith ever increasing in glory per 2 Cor. 3:18 and Romans 1:16–17). Remember the servant who said to Jesus: “I believe, help thou mine unbelief.” Meager faith in a big God is better than big faith in a small or limited God.

Some people think they have faith without a doubt, but that would be knowledge, not faith. We all live in a doubt-certitude continuum. There are degrees of certitude but God requires us all to take a leap of faith, not into the dark but into the light. Faith is trusting in what you have good reason to believe and knowledge isn’t always certain. It isn’t then a matter of how much you believe but how thorough your repentance that may be the issue! Faith and repentance go hand in hand and there can be no genuine repentance without saving faith! (Acts 20:21).

Faith is only measured by obedience, not ecstasies or experiences. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Nazi martyr, said, “Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes.” You cannot walk in the glow of some epiphany or glorious experience or encounter with God. “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” Isaiah 7:9. We do not walk into some perpetual religious high or remain on Cloud Nine as believers but our faith must be tested as if by fire. Thus, you should say that faith isn’t now much we believe but how well we obey; God doesn’t want our achievements but our obedience! In sum, you might say, “It’s not how big your faith, but how big your God.” (Don’t put Him in a box and limit Him.)  Soli Deo Gloria!