- To begin with, we don't want to overlook
the possibility that it could be persistent sin,
unrepentant sin, in a person's life.
God does not tend to flood with assurance
those who are in a part of their life
they know they're living like an unbeliever.
That by persistent sin, that in that part of their life,
they're actually living like an unbeliever,
so God does not tend to flood with assurance
that a person is a believer when they're in that situation.
But, on the flip side of that as it relates to sin,
when someone is converted,
they're indwelled by the Holy Spirit
and the Holy Spirit brings his holy nature with him.
And so, the new believer has a new sensitivity to sin
that they didn't have before.
They are aware of things in their lives
that are contrary to the will of God,
that are sin that they didn't see as sin before
or they saw just as minor problems
but they didn't see as sin against God
and so, actually, in one sense,
that's one of the marks of assurance
that you do have that new awareness
that something is sin and that bothers you
and there's a sensitivity you didn't have before.
So, that's actually a good thing
but a person, even though they have stopped
many of the sins that were in their life
before they became a Christian,
now they have a greater sensitivity
so even small things bother them in ways that didn't before.
So, it may be that new awareness to sin,
where they say, "You know, when I first came to Jesus,
"I felt so new and so clean.
"Now I'm just so aware of the great amount
"of sin in my life, so maybe I'm not a Christian at all."
In fact, that can be a very good sign.
Another reason is that people
will compare themselves with other Christians
and especially, again, if they're new in the faith
and they kind of think, "Am I doing it right?"
And, "How am I doing as a Christian?
"Am I growing?"
And they look at others and say,
"Wow, they're so far beyond where I am.
"I'm not where this person is,
"so maybe I'm not a Christian at all."
A fourth reason may simply be related
to the spiritual immaturity of the person.
Again, if they're a new believer,
they haven't grown that much yet,
or they may have been a Christian for some time
but their lack of maturity, their lack of growth,
contributes to their doubts
because, well, they don't know the Bible,
perhaps, as well as they should.
They haven't grown, in terms of a knowledge of God,
as they ought to and so, this lack of biblical truth,
a lack of the awareness of the things
the Bible says will strengthen our assurance,
the immaturity in those areas may make them
more susceptible to doubts about their salvation.
And a fifth reason I would mention may sound a little odd
but I really think it's true.
It's been an issue in my own life,
in that those who are truly converted as children
sometimes struggle with assurance
more than those who are converted later in life.
Now, I think perhaps a larger problem,
a more frequent problem, is a person who
makes a profession of faith as a child
and they weren't converted.
But, I'm speaking of someone who I believe, like myself,
I was converted, I believe, at nine years of age.
I was raised in the church.
I mean, I was taken to church Sunday morning,
Sunday night, Wednesday night,
nine months before I was born,
so I never knew anything but growing up in a church
and in a home where the Bible was believed and taught.
And if that's your experience
and you come to Christ in that context,
then you continue to live in that,
you may become an older teen, let's say,
or maybe a young adult, and say, "I've only known one thing.
"I've only known a Christian experience.
"I wasn't saved 'til I was nine
"but I mean, the whole ethos of my life
"was raised in a local church and around the Bible.
"That's all I've ever known.
"I've only know one thing.
"Is it the real thing?"
In other words, I don't have a stark contrast.
I wasn't a hardened criminal before I was saved at age nine.
And so, a person who is converted later in life,
who has a real memory of years of darkness
and then suddenly the light comes on
and now their life has totally transformed,
they can look back and say, "Wow, I know.
"Maybe I'm not all I ought to be
"but I'm certainly not what I used to be."
And, so, they see a clear distinction
and that's when I came to Christ,
there's no question about that.
But if you've been converted as a child,
you've only known one thing,
you sometimes wonder is it the real thing
because I don't have a comparison there.
So, without that, a person who's genuinely a Christian
may struggle with whether or not
they were converted when they were a child
and those doubts may persist for a long time.
Let's be reminded of course,
that children can genuinely be saved.
We don't know, there is no timeline,
the Bible doesn't give us that you have to be this age
or that age or such an age you can't believe.
It's not required that we be adults
to understand the gospel.
The gospel's a simple message and a child can believe that
and I'm confident that at age nine, that God did save me.
So, we want to affirm that.
We want affirm the fact it's a good thing
that those early years were spent serving Christ.
I sometimes talk with people who say,
"I wasted so much of my life.
"I wish instead of being converted as an adult,
"even though it was a dramatic change
"and I don't doubt it, I look back and think,
"oh that I had a Christian background in my childhood."
So, that's a positive thing we want to remember
that those who were saved when they were children
don't have years away from God.
So, it's a good thing that
this person professed faith in Christ
and we want to affirm that children can be saved.
There are many who say they're Christians as children
and it turns out that they probably were not
but yet, we want to affirm that many who were converted,
were converted, indeed, when they were children.
And I think I was.
The president of our seminary, Dr. Mohler, are the same way
and so many of my colleagues
and so many people I've pastored over the years
were genuinely converted as children.
I have baptized, myself, many who are children
who I'm convinced really knew the Lord.
What do you do though, if you're in that situation
and you're still struggling with assurance of salvation
and whether or not you are saved
and so, we'll talk about how to deal with those doubts
in the next episode.
- [Narrator] Thanks for watching Honest Answers.
Don't forget to subscribe.
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