Children Desiring God Conference – Friday Morning – April 27, 2007
We got started with another wonderful time of corporate worship.
Pastor Craig Sturm introduced Wayne Grudem with a series of photos from Dr. Grudem’s childhood. Here are a couple of the personal interest tidbits I picked up: Dr. Grudem enjoyed monopoly and snowball fights. He read science fiction and collected coins. He enjoyed every subject and did well in every class except art (I can relate). Wayne took piano lessons, but did not enjoy practicing. However, he did enjoy singing hymns on his piano bench. He enjoyed reading his King James Bible every night, a habit he learned from his parents.
Title: Teaching the Richness of the Entire Gospel from Election to Glorification
[This message will be given in two parts over the two morning sessions.]
Wayne noted that we can conceive of the word “gospel” either narrowly or broadly. Narrowly, the gospel is “Trust Jesus Christ to forgive your sins. He died in your place. Trust Him.” Broadly, the gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ – which is what the whole Bible is about.
Wayne is going to work from a definition of gospel that is somewhere in between this narrow and broad definition. He defined the gospel as “the good news about our salvation and all its amazing blessings.”
Wayne’s assumption is that children can understand at some level far beyond what we generally expect of them.
For example, Deuteronomy 6:6 assumes that we should be able to teach children the book of Deuteronomy. And if we can teach Deuteronomy, then we can teach quite a bit.
For example, the Trinity. We can teach kids that God is three persons and one God. At a simple level, they can grasp this, even though they cannot see how it all works.
Wayne recalled reading his King James Version Bible as a child and not understanding all of it. But he definitely understood some things. He’d pray to God throughout the day, and enjoyed singing hymns to God, even before he prayed to receive Christ at the age of 12.
The point is that children can understand much more than we usually expect they can.
For his two messages, Dr. Grudem will be closely following the outline of chapters 32-42 in his Systematic Theology.
Here are those chapter titles:
Chapter 32 – Election
Chapter 33 – Gospel Call
Chapter 34 – Regeneration
Chapter 35 – Faith and repentance
Chapter 36 – Justification
Chapter 37 – Adoption
Chapter 38 – Sanctification
Chapter 40 – Perseverance
Chapter 41 – Death and intermediate state
Chapter 42 – Glorification
[Chapter 39 is on the empowering of the Holy Spirit, and (Wayne explained), an “interlude in this series of chapters on what is sometimes called the order of salvation”. It was therefore not covered in these messages.]
Although the book was written for adults, Dr. Grudem is using these messages to emphasize how to teach these great truths to kids. Accordingly, Wayne referred to these ten headings as ten “gifts” which children can understand and embrace as good gifts from a heavenly Father.
Wayne mentioned that he taught 4th grade Sunday school from 1967-1969 at Park Street Church in Boston. His other form of experience comes from parenting (together with his wife Margaret) three sons who are now 33, 30, and 27 years old.
I. ELECTION
Election is an act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in them, but only because of his sovereign good pleasure.
Children can understand choosing. They have experiences of being chosen for a team, or a play. So we can tell them “God chose you to be a part of his team, his family.”
Being chosen could engender pride, unless we also teach kids that it was not a result of anything that they did. (Eph. 1:4-6, I Thes. 1:4-5)
“Well, when did he choose us, Daddy?” A child may ask. “Before the foundation of the world” would be the reply. “But when did we know He chose us?” “When we repented and believed.”
Wayne recognizes that there are misunderstandings or abuses of the doctrine of predestination. Nevertheless, since it is in the Bible, we should teach it. We should not avoid it just because there is a possibility of misunderstanding.
So how does the New Testament present election?
1. As a comfort (Rom. 8:28-30)
God’s predestining love is the basis upon which we can know that God is working all things for our good.
2. As a reason to praise God (Eph. 1:5-6)in
Children will instinctively understand this. What could be more natural than to thank God for choosing us?
3. As an encouragement to evangelism (II Tim. 2:10)
Paul had been beaten, persecuted, and driven from town to town. He said he endured all things for the sake of the elect, so that the people that God had chosen would come to know Him.
“So, did God choose my friend Sally, Daddy?”
“Well, I don’t know, let’s invite her to church, let’s tell her about Jesus, and if she receives him, then yes, we’ll know that God chose her.”
And if she doesn’t, we don’t know. Because God might still call her to Himself later.
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Wayne moved on to misunderstandings of the doctrine of election, but (rightly, I think) noted that these misunderstandings are not as instinctive with children as they are with adults.
Potential Misunderstandings of Election
1. Does this mean it doesn’t matter if I trust Christ or not?
In response, Wayne suggests simply asking the child: “Sally, do you think it matters?” And she will likely reply, “Yes.” And then simply affirm her accurate intuition.
2. Does this mean I didn’t have a choice?
Here again, Wayne suggests simply asking the child, “Well, Johnny, do you think you had a choice?”
“Yes, Daddy, I think that I did.” And a parent or teacher can affirm a child’s accurate intuition. “You really did have a choice as to whether you wanted to trust and follow Jesus or not.”
A simple, clear answer is usually enough.
3. That’s not fair!
How can God choose some, but not all?
This is an opportunity for helping children to see that everybody is sinful:
“Bill, is everyone sinful in their hearts?”
“Yes, Daddy, they are.”
“Well, if everybody is sinful in their hearts, what would be really fair for God to do?”
You can inform the child of what God did with angels – namely, save none of them.
“Well then, what about saving you, Billy?”
Billy would probably have a greater understanding of grace as a result of this conversation. It is grace on God’s part to save one person. How much more grace to save 10? Or 100? And we can tell children that God has saved a number of people that no man can count. “Isn’t that amazing grace, Billy?”
4. What about reprobation?
Are there some people whom God did not choose?
Our attitude here is so important. We must always teach the doctrine of reprobation with a sense of sadness. But yet we must teach what the Bible says. (Jude 4)
“Are there some people that God didn’t choose, Daddy?”
“Well, yes, and it is very sad.”
Now here a child may claim that they know such a person – for example, a bully at school. But that, too, is a teaching opportunity. “We don’t know if Bruce the bully is not chosen. Would you like to invite him to church? Let’s find out how he responds to Jesus. Do you remember the Apostle Paul, Billy, he was a very wicked and mean person before God saved him.”
So we should affirm that we cannot know that someone is not chosen, but we can find out if somebody is chosen (if we see them respond to the gospel in faith).
Nevertheless, we should affirm for kids that there are people who will become increasingly evil. And they will ultimately receive condemnation in hell. Children can know about hell, and have a healthy fear of it. Children have a God-given sense of justice, and when they realize that God is going to punish all evil, it satisfies that sense of justice.
“And, Johnny, the fact that God will not save everyone will also serve as an occasion for us to magnify God’s grace.” (Rom. 9, Matt. 11:25-26) Reprobation teaches a reverent submission to the will of God accompanied with sorrow, since that too is God’s heart. (Ezek. 33:11) Kids can understand this on some level. And this can increase their understanding of God’s goodness and justice.
II. THE GOSPEL CALL
Effective calling is an act of God the Father, speaking through the human proclamation of the gospel, in which he summons people to himself in such a way that they respond in saving faith.
The gospel call is specifically an invitation to come to know Jesus. And it is effective. (Rom. 8:30)
The Elements of the Gospel Call
1. Explain the facts concerning salvation
a. All people have sinned (Rom 3:23)
b. The penalty for sin is death (Rom 6:23)
c. Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for our sins (Rom 5:8)
But we must not stop with this….
2. Invitation to respond to Christ personally in repentance and faith.
John 1:11 — “to all who did receive him”
Matt 11:28-30 — “come to Me”
3. A promise of forgiveness and eternal life. (John 3:16)
III. REGENERATION
1. Regeneration is totally a work of God. (I Pet 1:3; 1:23)
Before we can trust in Jesus, God has to make us able to respond. By the means of His word, God the Holy Spirit changes us to make us willing to come to Him.
2. The exact nature of regeneration is mysterious to us. (John 3:8; Eph. 2:1-5)
3. In this sense of “regeneration,” it comes prior to saving faith. (John 3:5, Acts 16:14)
4. Genuine regeneration will bring results in life (after repentance and faith). (I John 3:9)
In the example of Bruce the bully, it would mean that he’d stop swearing and beating up kids. Not perfection in this life, but a changed nature.
IV. CONVERSION
Conversion is our willing response to the gospel call in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation.
1. True saving faith includes knowledge, approval, and personal trust.
A. It is very important that children understand that knowledge alone is insufficient. (James 2:19)
B. Knowledge and approval are not enough. (John 3:2; Acts 26:27-28)
Kids understand trusting someone. This is trusting Jesus for your eternal destiny, for everything.
C. I must decide to depend on Jesus to save me personally. (John 3:16; John 6:37)
Wayne noted that the Greek word for “believe” carries the idea of trust, and of putting trust into someone or something. Other verses also discuss personal trust and commitment of life (John 1:12; Matt 11:28; Matt 16:24; 19:21).
Kids need to understand that they should come as they are, and not try to clean themselves up or in any way contribute to their salvation.
D. Faith should increase as our knowledge increases.
The world’s lie is that faith is opposed to knowledge. “If you don’t know something, just have faith.” But biblical faith is not wishful thinking; it is trusting something rock-solid. So faith is not the opposite of knowledge; the two go hand in hand.
2. Faith and repentance must come together.
Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ. (Acts 20:21; Heb 6:1)
Other biblical examples are Peter crying out “depart from me, for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8) and the tax collector of Luke 18 who went home justified.
It is important that we include repentance with faith, lest kids fail to see that they must turn from sin. We must avoid the tragedy of: “I asked Jesus into my heart over and over again, but it never worked.” People like this were probably never taught that they needed to turn from sin to come to Jesus. We must turn away from sin and toward Jesus.
The Bible often summarizes the gospel message with the word “repentance.” (Acts 2:37-38; Acts 17:30)
3. Both faith and repentance continue throughout life.
We start the relationship once, but we continue to repent/believe throughout our life.
Wayne then spoke briefly on the question of is it OK to say to kids, “Ask Jesus to come into your heart.” He noted that while this can capture a biblical concept (Gal 2:20), it is probably not the most complete or most helpful picture. Other passages command us to come to Jesus. Jesus remains distinct from us. We speak to Him, trust Him, and obey Him.
Kids should ask Jesus to change their hearts. The language of “make me the kind of person you want me to be” is included in many simple prayers for kids, and this is a biblical request. Kids should want the Lord to cleanse and rule their hearts.
V. JUSTIFICATION
Justification is an instantaneous legal act of God in which he (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, and (2) declares us to be righteous in his sight.
1. Justification includes a legal declaration by God. (Rom. 4:5; 8:1; 3:21-22)
This point means God forgives our sins. Kids understand forgiveness – it is familiar to them. They know they often need forgiveness, particularly from their parents and siblings. But forgiveness with God is different: In addition to canceling our debt of sin (past, present and future), God credits our account with the record of Christ’s perfect life.
2. God declares us to be just in his sight.
He declares that we have been made positively righteous (Isa. 61:10; Rom. 3:21-22)
How can God do this?
3. God can declare us to be just because he imputes Christ’s righteousness to us. (Rom. 5:19; I Cor. 1:30; Phil. 3:9)
Wayne suggested an illustration as a means to simply convey to children the concept of imputation. A boy, Elliot, outgrows his bicycle. One day his father takes both Elliot and his younger brother to the garage. He says to Elliot, the older brother, “You no longer need this bicycle, right?” Elliot nods his head. The father then says to Oliver, the younger boy, “Would you like the bike?” Oliver nods his head eagerly. The father then declares the bicycle to be Oliver’s. He thinks of it as belonging to Oliver and transfers it to Oliver. And he’s the father, so he can do that.
4. Justification comes to us entirely by God’s grace, not on account of any merit. (Rom. 3:23-24)
It is the opposite of doing something for ourselves. It is totally of grace.
5. God justifies us through our faith in Christ.