Pin the Tale on Jesus
I overheard a co-worker talking on the phone recently about assurance of salvation. “It’s not pin the tale on Jesus,” he said. So true! Salvation is not a blind-folded guessing game. Those of us who have trusted in Christ alone for salvation can have confidence in our salvation.
I overheard a co-worker talking on the phone recently about assurance of salvation. “It’s not pin the tale on Jesus,” he said. So true! Salvation is not a blind-folded guessing game. Those of us who have trusted in Christ alone for salvation can have confidence in our salvation.
The apostle John wrote his Gospel “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). But interestingly, assurance of salvation is one of the things that believers (particularly new believers) seem to struggle with the most.
What do you do if a child you know struggles with this? First things first, make sure that he or she has a clear understanding of the gospel. It might be that the child has never heard a clear explanation of the gospel before.
If the child understands the gospel, he might just need a little encouragement. John 5:24 can be a helpful verse, “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my messageand believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.”
Read the verse out loud with the child, and ask the following questions (these were adapted from the tract “May I Ask You a Question”):
- Did you “hear” God’s message?
- Did you “believe” what God said and trust Christ as your Savior?
- Does “has eternal life” mean later or right now?
- Does it say, “will not be condemned” or might not?
- Does it say “has crossed from death” or will cross?
Finally, say a prayer with the child thanking God for free gift of eternal life and ask Him to give the child confidence.
Sarah Bowler
Sarah is the author of Bathsheba’s Responsibility in Light of Narrative Analysis, contributor to Vindicating the Vixens, and contributing editor for The Evangelism Study Bible. Some of her previous ministry experiences have included teaching and mentoring of adults and children in a wide variety of settings. Her small claim to fame is that she has worked with children of every age range from birth through high school over the past 20 years. She and her husband Ben reside in Richardson, Texas with their four children.
One Comment
Lance Ponder
Salvation is a person
I've come to understand that Salvation is a person (Jesus Christ), not an event. It isn't something we accomplish or experience, at least not in the same sense as crossing the street or finding a good deli. To have Salvation is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ such that we trust in His forgiveness of our sins and the gift of eternal life and, like children, our heart leads us to do the best we can obey.