“Didn’t he ever make a profession of faith in Christ as a child?” This question came in response to a request to pray for our wayward son —in particular, asking God to show mercy and save his soul. Since our son grew up in the church, the questioner assumed he experienced many opportunities as a young boy to hear the gospel. Surely, they thought, he responded to an invitation at some point as a young child. Unfortunately, he gave no evidence of a relationship with Jesus in his teenage or adult life.
I could not count the number of times we heard parents make statements about their children such as, “I take comfort from the fact that he made a profession of faith when he was five, so I know he is saved. But he has not walked with the Lord for three decades.” We have often conversed with parents whose offspring gives no present evidence of saving faith, yet they treat their grown child as though he were eternally secure, just temporarily estranged from God.
It is easy, though unhealthy, for a parent to cling to a false hope regarding their child’s eternal state. No parent wants to face
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