It’s a privilege to grow up in a Christian environment, and be taught the Word of God as a child. (2Ti 3:15) If that’s been our heritage, we should be grateful, yet not presume we’ve always been a child of God because of this.
We all start out dead to God (Ep 2:1), seeking our own way and will (Tit 3:3), blind in our ignorance, alienated from God’s life (Ep 4:18) and under His wrath. (Ep 2:3) We may not seem as bad as those from more broken backgrounds, but measuring sin as the world does is unwise at best: in our selfishness and pride we’ve all been an abomination to God. (Pr 16:5)
So, God says we must each be born again (Jn 3:7), born anew, each and every one of us; in order to enter Heaven, at some point we must be converted (Mt 18:3), regenerated, made alive. (Ep 2:5).
It isn’t that we must know the exact day and hour we came to Christ, any more than we’d know exactly when we were born physically if no one told us. But the significance of the new birth, requiring that we understand the basics of the gospel and trust God for eternal salvation, and the radical inward transformation that always accompanies this miracle of God (Jn 1:13), suggest we’ll know the general time period, and distinctly remember experiencing assurance of salvation as we began our faith journey. (1Th 1:5)
Thinking we’re Christians simply because our parents were, or because they had us baptized, is to ignore our need for personal salvation and regeneration. There’s no guarantee of heaven in any ritual, or in the faith of others (Ga 6:15): we must each strive to enter the kingdom (Lk 13:24), seeking God until we find Him for ourselves. (He 11:6)
We should each examine ourselves, whether we be in the faith, and prove our salvation (2Co 13:5), laying hold on eternal life (1Ti 6:12), and ensuring the evidences which accompany salvation appear in our own lives. (He 6:9)
I have a number of friends that beleive that their baptisms and “getting saved” from a childhood in the church is what they can confidently point to for assurance of their eternal safety. All while living relativley secular lives; pursuing and speaking as the world does.
This concerns me greatly. I wish to instruct in meekness but don’t always know how, so I just try to avoid agreeing with anything that I know is incorrect. I pray for them daily that God open their eyes and put a healthy fear of Him in their hearts. I pray for opportunities to be used by the Holy Spirit when the time comes to share the true gospel.
If you have any advice for handling people who beleive this way I would greatly appriciate it.
I just now saw this comment, Drake. Sorry for the delay.
Certainly, praying for others in this condition is a given. And if they might be open to instruction here, perhaps bringing up verses which speak of things that accompany salvation would be helpful. We cannot judge another’s soul, but we can encourage them to judge themselves.
No worries 🙂
Good advice. I’m spending more time getting more familiar with what the word says and affirms about these things. Being able to point at the Word is infinitely more valuable than arguing hearsay.
Thanks Tim!