Being raised in evangelical christianity, most of the kids I grew up with went through the same rite of passage in the “church.” At a young age, children would often be emotionally coaxed into making some public declaration of belief in the Son of God (most in christianity don’t even know His name, and call Him by a false name christianity invented–jesus).
The children who made such a statement of belief would often go through some class about what it means to be baptized in water, and then, the audience in the “church” would be thoroughly joyful as each child is dunked in a pool of water, and declared a “born again christian.”
Here’s the problem with that scenario—IT IS ALL FALSE! It is a counterfeit of salvation, regardless what age a person is who prays a prayer, makes a decision, professes belief, “accepts Christ,” or any of the multitude of euphemisms christianity uses for its counterfeit of true salvation. And, water baptism was a physical foreshadow under the law. The real substance is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (something man cannot decide or declare).
Since the Holy Spirit led me out of christianity over a decade ago now, I have devoted much of my time and energy to sharing the Spirit’s truths with others who are lost in christianity, just as I was. That is my purpose confirmed to me by the Holy Spirit, and He is the one who compels me to expose false teachings and correct them with His truths.
My specific purpose is to teach the Father’s traditions (that christianity abolished and still rejects), and the true doctrines of salvation (which are portrayed in the Father’s traditions).
Often, because the truths of the Holy Spirit are virtually unknown to most in christianity, I will be hit with accusations of “making the Gospel too complicated to understand,” and I am told that the Gospel is “easy enough for a child to understand.”
Oh really? If that’s the case, then most of the scriptures should be abolished, because the depth of doctrine contained in the scriptures about salvation is anything but “light reading” written for casual readers to fully comprehend. Actually, the spiritual meanings of the scriptures are not fully grasped by ANYONE apart from the instruction of the Holy Spirit, regardless of how scholarly the reader is.
Most children can be guided into saying just about anything, regardless of its truth.
The whole construct of christianity’s counterfeit of salvation notwithstanding, the notion of literal children being justified before the Father, simply because they go through some pre-ordained formula devised by folks who, themselves, are lost in a counterfeit of the true faith, is wholly unsupported by truth.
Children are spiritually covered (or not covered) by their parents—the authority over them in their household. As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 7:14, the one who has the seal of the Holy Spirit provides a spiritual covering for his household (whether it is the father or the mother). A child will be led to spiritual adoption when he is no longer under the covering of his parents.
While some might find that to be unfair, Yah the Father knew exactly who would be His people before the creation of our universe. While all humans are His creations, most are NOT His children (John 1:12, Matthew 7:14, Luke 13:24). Children become spiritually independent when they leave their parents’ authority, and become personally responsible for belief apart from their parents.
Often, those in christianity attempt to use Messiah’s statements about physical children in an erroneous way that misses the fact that He was using physical children as a metaphor for Yah’s children, which is a spiritual construct, not a physical one.
So, when some in christianity state that the “Gospel is simple enough for a child to understand,” they’re not speaking of the true Gospel, which is foundationally tied to the doctrines revealed in the Passover and other feasts, but a cheap counterfeit of it that is nothing more than an emotional decision to join a human club that christianity calls the “church” (Circe, ancient goddess daughter of the sun god, who is Baal).
There is usually a literal price that must be paid when someone repents of unbelief (which is to believe, the only repentance necessary to be able to receive salvation), for those who stand for the true Gospel of Yahoshua will often suffer many consequences for doing so—mocking, ridicule, condemnation, and commonly, separation from, and loss of, relationships with family and friends. The apostles were chased from town to town because of those who desired to kill them for the truths of the Holy Spirit they preached.
Why would anyone think that anything is different now? People HATE being shown their beliefs are false, and because of human pride and arrogance, most will fight vehemently to prove their false beliefs are true rather than repent of those false beliefs and embrace what is spiritually true. They will often lash out against the messengers of truth as being crazy, or members of a demonic cult, just as the Pharisees accused Messiah Yahoshua of being demon possessed.
The suffering associated with enduring in belief during a time of testing, or temptation (a prerequisite for receiving salvation), is not something the Father normally places on physical children. No, true belief in Messiah Yahoshua is an adult choice, a choice that one knows will come with danger, whether merely relational, or actually physical.
As Paul wrote to Timothy: “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us (2 Timothy 2:12). Paul presented a binary construct. One either endures through the suffering of Christ, or Christ will deny him before His Father. The trying of one’s belief is what will result in being made righteous before the Father, if one endures in belief until he receives the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The Greek word translated as “suffer” there also means “endure.” What was Messiah Yahoshua’s greatest suffering? It was foretold in Isaiah 53:3, “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
So, the path TO salvation, which starts with identifying with the Passover sacrifice of the Perfect Lamb of Yah (repentance from unbelief, which is to believe) includes enduring, or suffering, for belief in Messiah Yahoshua. And, that will often mean being despised and rejected by people, suffering the contempt of those whom we have loved.
That is not something Yah places on young children, who live under the covering of their parents (or lack thereof). It is an adult decision to accept the hatred that will come with believing in Messiah Yahoshua and confessing Him before others. It is a decision that normally will not be made until one is at least a young adult.
Anytime someone touts a salvation that is “easy enough for a child to understand,” it is a pretty safe bet that person doesn’t actually understand salvation at all, and has been deceived by a counterfeit of it that was invented by the pagans who ultimately codified christianity by stripping everything they considered “Jewey” out of the faith (which exposes that they didn’t understand what Paul taught about who the true Jew is in Romans 2:29—it has nothing whatsoever to do with race, bloodline, or geographic residence).
If you are one who claims to have “gotten saved” as a young child, it’s time to examine what it actually means to be redeemed, and to realize that you very possibly have not been. If you think water baptism was part of your salvation, then you are deceived. Water baptism was an ordinance under the law, and was only a representation of something that is completely spiritual—the pouring out of the Holy Spirit onto the believer.
Believe in Messiah Yahoshua (His name means “Yah’s salvation), and then ENDURE in belief, which usually entails at least some loss of earthly relationships. Those sufferings are the trying of one’s faith—the endurance (patience) that James 1 speaks of.
Those who endure to the end of the testing of their belief SHALL BE SAVED (future tense). And, once someone has been truly redeemed, he will be told, directly and personally, that he has been adopted as a child of Yah (Romans 8:16, Acts 2:17). Man cannot declare himself to be saved. Only the Holy Spirit can declare a person’s adoption by the Father.
If you think you are saved just because you made a decision, prayed a prayer, or changed your lifestyle, THIS is your WARNING! Those things are not salvation. Those are human works to be a member of a human club.
Only those who have received the confirmation of the Holy Spirit (which is not a feeling, nor is it something that is read) are children of Yah. Everyone else has a different father, and he is known as “the father of lies.”
For more information: Is Salvation Hard to Receive?