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These are my raw notes of Paul Washer’s second talk at the 2011 Christian Life Conference in Monroe, WI.

The Gospel, our children, and assurance of salvation – important for us parents as we raise our children

• The Gospel when dealing with children
  • What do we say to teach our children the Gospel
  • Some believe we should set the story forward in stories – but we need to deal with truth, the Holy Spirit illuminates the truth regardless of the age
  • We need to be concerned about souls, not the Four Spiritual Laws
  • We need to begin where the Gospel begins – Jesus died because of God’s justice, this is the beginning point, not our sin.
  • The greatest problem we have is that God is just
  • When our children understand who God is they can better understand who they are
    • Proverbs 17:15 – the Gospel from Proverbs
    • God can only justify the wicked if the debt is satisfied
    • We have a just God in Heaven – what is a just God to do with someone like me?
    • In order to save, God had to satisfy His justice – He had to pay the price – who can pay it? No one, except for the Judge, who carried our sin on Himself
• If we try to live a ridged, legalistic life and yet add the Gospel as just something we teach alongside manners, we miss the point – it has all got to be about the Gospel, all that we do, all that we teach
• Do your children see the joy of the Gospel in your life, on your face?
• It is not about the communication of rules, it is about the communication of life! The life we find in Jesus!
• It is against God’s law to be immoral? Absolutely! But, is it against God’s law to be without love and joy? Absolutely!
• We who are Reformed must be careful – we can quote the WCF, but do we seek order to the point that we look as a cemetery? Or do we tarry with the Lord in the night watch? Are we in the Word? Are we in prayer? Are we living the joy of the Lord?
• The Assurance of Salvation in dealing with children
  • Rev 3:20 is not a picture of salvation, it is Jesus knocking on the door of a church
  • Salvation does not start with “Do you want to go to heaven? It starts with repentance and faith
  • A parent should listen, and let God deal with a child
  • Ask your child if they see their sin – show them Scriptures on repentance – do they know the vileness of their sin?
  • Share with our children the promises of God
  • Bring them to Romans 10
  • Some parents would say, “You are so young, I have doubts about your salvation.” Likewise, it is dangerous to presume their salvation – the important thing is to disciple them, water the seed, watch them grow
  • If they do not have a desire for the things of God, we have reason for concern
  • How does a person know they are saved?
    • It is not the prayer they prayed at one time in their life
    • Address the intellect from John 3:16 – the one who believes in Him, so, do you believe that you know possess eternal life?
    • You say you believe, but what do you believe about Jesus?
      • The deity of Christ: that He is fully God and fully man
      • That he lived a
      • Substitutionary atonement – that He suffered in our place
      • The Resurrection of Jesus
      • Is Jesus “the” Savior or is Jesus “a” savior? The Christian life is to the exclusion of all other lives
  • Address the experience: Rom 5:5
    • The salvation of Jesus is not just an intellect
    • When a person is converted, it is not just a position, it is a real thing that happens – they have a heart of flesh instead of the heart of stone
    • How do we know the historicity of the Resurrection? It is not because we have learned 10 historical reasons for the resurrection – it is because of the work of the Holy Spirit in his life
    • Those who know Jesus really know the wind of the Spirit!
    • America is not Gospel hardened the preachers are Gospel ignorant
    • Points to consider for disciplining children
      • Take then into high truth
      • Preach the Gospel, and trust God to awaken them
      • Do not discourage them, but encourage them with the Word
      • Children are born radically depraved, just as us – and without the Spirit of God, the more they see of Jesus, the more they will hate
      • People talk about freedom all the time – but there is only one being who is free, and that is God – we do not make any free decisions, because we are all under some influences – we will all make decisions as aligned by our affections – and the only way for us to make decisions for God we must be recreated in the image of God, which is not our work, but the work of the Holy Spirit!
      • Practical steps to consider
        • What kind of home has Jesus made for me? What kind of a home am I trying to make for my children?
        • The greatest need in most Christian homes is a godly, Christ-like husband and father
        • Remember the power of winsome joy in the home!
        • In family worship, do not turn the time into a drudgery – Book Recommendation: Teach them Diligently by Lou Priolo – you must live this!

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