Brokenhearted Parents
(F. T. Wright)
Thousands upon uncounted thousands of religious parents have gone through the same bitter disappointment. They have given their children what they thought was the best possible Christian training by faithfully involving them in family worship morning and night, teaching them to memorize Scripture, taking them regularly to Sabbath school, sacrificing to keep them in church school, and, by stern discipline, teaching them the all-important lesson of obedience to their parents and to God. In their determination to ensure success in raising their children as living Christians, some fathers and mothers, at the cost of the father's career and at the expense of the comforts of life, have left the cities to dwell in rural settings in order to separate their little ones from worldly influences.
All this they have done to see their children saved, and, during the years while the youngsters were subject to their parents, in some instances at least, an acceptable pattern of behavior appeared to be developing. The parents felt reasonably confident that their offspring would grow up to walk in God's ways, and be a credit to them and their society.
Then the unthinkable happens. The young ones reach the age when they begin to feel the urge to assert their own independence, but, instead of deciding to continue with the lifestyle in which the parents have sought to establish them, they elect to throw in their lot with the world. They show no interest in any further Bible study, forget the sacred obligations of Sabbath-keeping, tithe-paying, and healthful living, and abandon themselves to the world's pleasures and sins. Many of them cheerfully take to liquor, nicotine, and hard drugs. The most horrifying thought to the parents is that the youth seem to thoroughly enjoy their new life and show no signs of being tortured by an accusing conscience.
With broken hearts the parents wonder what could possibly have gone wrong? They knew and really believed the wonderful promise: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6. They feel sure that they have been both diligent and correct in raising their children in the "way they should go", and that no real fault could be laid on them for this terrible outcome. They had believed, prayed, and worked with true dedication! "Why then has the promise failed," they tearfully ask? The inference here is that God is the one at fault, for He made the promise, and, as surely as they believe that they have satisfactorily fulfilled the conditions, they are confident that the failure cannot be laid on them. They feel that they really believed and acted upon the promise, and were very devoted to the correct training of their children. Therefore, they had a right to expect God to bless them with loving, obedient, and righteous children.
Picture: Teenage delinquency is a heartbreak to parents who have worked for years to bring up their children to fear God.
But it did not work out that way. Instead, the children turned away to follow after Satan. Finding this to be the outcome is an experience so disappointing, devastating, and shattering to some parents, that they abandon their faith altogether. The test was more than they could endure.
Others seek a solution by rewriting the Scriptures to read as follows: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will return to it." They find refuge in the thought that every young person has to pass over "Fool's Hill", that they have to "have their fling", that they must "learn the hard way", and cherish the hope that when this difficult period is over, they will settle down and live good, solid, Christian lives.
But the fallacy in this thinking is exposed by the hard facts of the case. How many of those children who depart from the ways of their parents' God when they come of age, ever return in their later years? There are very few at best; just enough perhaps to provide sufficient exceptions to make people feel justified in rewording the verse.
However, there is no unsoundness in the promise and it is a fatal mistake to tamper in any way with the message it contains. It declares that if a child is trained in the way he should go, then when he is old, he will not depart from that way. There is nothing in the text which assures us that the child may depart, but will return later.
What God has really promised is that if the parents train up the child in the way he should go, then for the rest of his life, he will not depart from it. God did not speak in terms of well trained children serving Him only in the eventide years after they have spent the best part of their existence drinking at the fountains of sin. God looks for a lifetime of service and nothing less than this will satisfy Him.
When God's children fail to realize the promises of God, they display a natural tendency to level the blame at God for the failure, when they should be prepared to acknowledge that they, not He, are the ones at fault even though the incorrect course was followed because of ignorance. When they fail to recognize where the fault lies, they are showing that they have more faith in themselves than they have in God. They will admit of course, that their efforts have not been perfect, but, because they did the best they knew, and because they believe their motives were above reproach, they expected the Lord to make up for their shortcomings by adding His divine merit to their best efforts. They are not prepared to accept the fact that men perish for lack of knowledge. (See Hosea 4:6.)
But, as is always the case, there is nothing wrong with the promise. It is the absolute truth that if a child is trained in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it. Parents can rest in the assurance of this.
The fact that no fault lies in either the promise or the God who made it, means that all those who failed to see the fulfillment of God's word despite their best efforts, must recognize that they did not actually bring up their children in the way that they should go. It is for this reason and none other, that they have lost them. It will be exceedingly difficult for the average parent to come to grips with the truth that the fault lies with them, but each must be prepared to believe that, even though they had the best of intentions and labored with all diligence, there was still a tragic ignorance of correct procedures in child training. Consequently, their offspring were deprived of the vital training which would have insured that they would grow up to walk in the ways of the Lord.
Because the true light on child salvation was not available to them when they raised their families, they cannot be blamed for this ignorance, but, let them not accumulate a burden of condemnation by an unwillingness to acknowledge that their unwitting ignorance robbed them of the conditions necessary to bring the fulfillment of the promise. They need to recognize that this is the reason why their children did not grow up to serve the Lord.
Picture: For millennia, men sought to fly, but without success until they learned and strictly applied the principles of flight. So too must parents learn and faithfully practice the principles of child salvation in order to succeed in raising their children in the way they should go.
Parents are training children to be obedient subjects of either the divine or the satanic kingdom, and thereby they are determining in which kingdom their children will retain membership when they come to the age when they must make their own decisions. It would be a tragedy if parents were to wittingly and deliberately choose to raise their children for membership in Satan's realm, but consider the even worse situation which results when parents actually train their children to number themselves with the devil, while blissfully believing that they are preparing them for a place in the divine government.
It therefore follows that it is of the utmost importance that parents be able to identify the essential differences between Jehovah's and Satan's systems of government, so they will know with positive certainty in which direction their efforts are being expended. This knowledge must be established from the very beginning of the training program. There is no room for error or confusion about this matter. Let every parent study the operating principles and procedures by which both kingdoms function so that they will be able to instantly recognize which they are serving. Then they can intelligently and successfully shun the wrong and follow the right. If this knowledge is not gained at the outset, then when the children reach the age at which they begin to assert their independence, the parents will certainly find themselves faced with serious problems which they will no longer be able to solve by asserting their authority. When, at this crucial time, the parents see their children abandoning the way of the Lord in favor of Satan's realm, they can then know that they have been preparing their children for the devil and not for the Lord. What a terrible awakening that will be. How we pray that young people entering into parenthood today, will regard their responsibilities with such seriousness, and value their opportunities so highly, that they will not rest until they know the way of the Lord in contrast to the ways of Satan.
The divine order is so opposite from the satanic, that, despite the fact that very few people do successfully identify each for what it is, it is a simple matter to do so. Although there are a number of distinguishing differences, parents need to consider only one to begin with in order to discover whether they are practicing the ways of God or the devil. Just ask the question: "Is obedience being extracted by the exercise of force, or is it the loving response of a sanctified and willing heart." If it is the former, it is satanic, but, if the latter, then it is of God.
The only kind of service God can accept is that which springs from a willing heart. He has no interest in a forced obedience. Service to Him must be the natural expression of an inward heart condition and an educated and intelligent appreciation of the fact that His ways are the only ways leading to life, health, and happiness. He wants His children to obey Him because they have no disposition within themselves to do otherwise. The following statements are quoted to confirm the truth that Jehovah governs without the use of arbitrary force.
"Since the service of love can alone be acceptable to God, the allegiance of His creatures must rest upon a conviction of His justice and benevolence." The Great Controversy, 498.
"The germ in the seed grows by the unfolding of the life-principle which God has implanted. Its development depends upon no human power. So it is with the kingdom of Christ. It is a new creation. Its principles of development are the opposite of those that rule the kingdoms of this world. Earthly governments prevail by physical force; they maintain their dominion by war; but the founder of the new kingdom is the Prince of Peace. The Holy Spirit represents worldly kingdoms under the symbol of fierce beasts of prey; but Christ is 'the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.' John 1:29. In His plan of government there is no employment of brute force to compel the conscience. The Jews looked for the kingdom of God to be established in the same way as the kingdoms of the world. To promote righteousness they resorted to external measures. They devised methods and plans. But Christ implants a principle. By implanting truth and righteousness, He counterworks error and sin." Christ's Object Lessons, 77.
Picture: The Bible likens this world's kingdoms to fierce beasts of prey.
"God could have destroyed Satan and his sympathizers as easily as one can cast a pebble to the earth; but He did not do this. Rebellion was not to be overcome by force. Compelling power is found only under Satan's government. The Lord's principles are not of this order. His authority rests upon goodness, mercy, and love; and the presentation of these principles is the means to be used. God's government is moral, and truth and love are to be the prevailing power." The Desire of Ages, 759.
"The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God's government; He desires only the service of love; and love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or authority." The Desire of Ages, 22.
The love from which true service to God and one's fellowmen springs is not merely a mental attitude or a deep emotion. It is the presence within the believer of God's nature. Nothing but His love, which in turn is His character and therefore His righteousness, can supply the indwelling spring for perfect behavior. This unchangeable love is not dependent on how the person possessing it is treated, for those within whom it is established love both friend and foe alike, even though fellowship with the latter is not possible.
It must be distinguished from human love, which is expressed only toward selected individuals who are expected to respond with appropriate love reactions. This love is manifested by those with evil hearts and is not adequate to safeguard a person's behavior under temptation.
A person cannot manifest God's love unless it is established within him, nor does he need any other compulsion to obey the divine statutes. This love is never found in the heart which has not been cleansed from hatred and pride. The two cannot dwell together.
As stated above, God cannot accept a forced obedience. The difference between this and willing obedience is well illustrated by the following simple facts.
In aircraft washrooms there is a sign which reads: "No Smoking". For a person who has no desire to smoke, and in whose mind a thorough education has built a very strong hatred for the polluting weed, that sign is quite unnecessary. This person will refrain from smoking not because the sign forbids it, but because of his hatred of the habit. It is not in him to smoke.
Another man enters who is a heavy smoker. He is reaching for his cigarettes when he sees the sign and is thus induced to refrain from smoking. It is the fear of punishment which makes him obey.
The result is that both he and the first person have refrained from smoking in the aircraft washroom, but for very different reasons. The first person did not smoke because it was not in him to do so, his mind was educated against it, and he understood that God's ways are those of health and happiness. The other man refrained only because the law compelled him to obey. While the first man can be relied upon never to smoke anywhere at any time, the other man can never be trusted to do likewise.
So God's way is not the way of force. "Compelling power is found only under Satan's government. The Lord's principles are not of this order. His authority rests upon goodness, mercy, and love; and the presentation of these principles is the means to be used. God's government is moral, and truth and love are to be the prevailing power." The Desire of Ages, 759.
So then, if compelling power is found only under Satan's government, it is never found under God's. This should bring home to every parent the startling truth that if, in their home kingdom, compelling power is used to enforce obedience, then, no matter how converted the parents might be, or how sincere in their determination to bring up their children in the fear of the Lord, or how satisfied they might feel that they are training their children correctly, they have established a satanic kingdom in their homes. This has to be so, for Satan's kingdom is the only one where these means are employed.
Picture: In God's kingdom, truth and love are to be the prevailing power.
Thus parents can know with positive certainty which kingdom rules in their household. There is no guesswork involved--no doubt, no uncertainty, no confusion. Each parent has only to ask the question: "Are my children obeying me because they fear the punishment which I am able to inflict through my possession of greater physical force than they have, or is their obedience but the expression of an indwelling disposition to practice righteousness? In other words, do they manifest the spirit of obedience or of disobedience?"
The answers to these questions will be easily found and will tell with unerring accuracy the nature of the home government under scrutiny. In asking and answering the questions though, care must be taken to ensure that the real issues are not obscured by what some would regard as balancing factors. Many are the homes in which rule by force is maintained, but where also the Bible is read, morning and evening worship are faithfully attended by every member of the family, the Sabbath is strictly kept, evil habits have been put away, worldly amusements have been shunned, and every appearance proclaims that this is a place where the angels love to abide. Surely such a home cannot be the site of a satanic kingdom!
Do not be deceived! Never forget that Satan is a master at donning sheep's clothing by which he makes it appear that his is the realm of light instead of being what it really is--the citadel of darkness. He also takes the greatest possible advantage of every situation, ever turning good into evil. He is very pleased when an extensive program of religious exercises gives the home the appearance of being a divine kingdom, but in which, because force is employed to establish parental authority, a satanic rulership has in fact been instituted. He is delighted to observe the parents at rest in the supposition that they are preparing souls for heaven through all their devoted exercises when they are really training their children to be loyal subjects of his.
There is no suggestion in this study that religious exercises in the home are of no value, for they are strongly called for in the Scriptures. Feeding on the living word, which is the bread and water of spiritual life, is an essential factor in developing a robust Christian faith and spiritual experience. What is being stressed is that these exercises are not what determine whether a home is a divine or a satanic kingdom. Which kingdom is ruling is determined by the structure of the government that is established in the home. The presence of government by force labels the home a kingdom of darkness, while the successful management of the home without the need to resort to the use of force, betokens a divine sovereignty.
It must be clearly understood that the establishment of rule by force by Christian parents does not mean that they themselves are Satan's children. They can both be deeply religious and truly born again and yet be heads in a satanic kingdom. This may sound like a contradiction, an impossibility, but it is not. On the contrary, it is a situation which is existent in all too many cases.
It is not a sin of the heart, but the product of ignorance of right principles.
Religious exercises in those all too numerous homes where satanic principles of rulership are practiced, no matter how sincerely and devotedly they are performed, really do more harm than good. In the child's receptive mind, this develops an association between the holy and the profane, and thus identifies the beautiful things of God with the evils of the devil.
All this leads to an inescapable conclusion--to the youth who has spent the first sixteen years growing up in a kingdom where he was compelled to obey whether he cared to or not, the kingdom of God is a foreign land to which he has never been introduced. None of his training has prepared him for it. Instead, his schooling has prepared him for the land of darkness and death. With that government and its procedures he is familiar and, in it, he will feel at home. But, as parents see their lovely children go out into the world, they feel that their offspring have abandoned the kingdom of God for the realm of the devil.
But they are mistaken!
How can a person leave where he has never been? May no parent charge their children with leaving God's kingdom unless it can be honestly proven that they were under the divine Sovereignty to start with. Of course, the promise is that, if they were raised up in God's kingdom and were faithfully trained in its principles and procedures, they would not be leaving anyway. It must not be overlooked that if a child is trained in the way he should go, the way of the Lord, he will not depart from it, so, if he is trained in the way he should not go, the way of the devil even though it be from a very religious home, when he is old, he is will not depart from it either.
Picture: When parents raise their children in a kingdom of force, they are not to be surprised when they renounce their parents' God and choose the world. Rather, they should expect it.
Therefore, no longer need parents be surprised when, after sixteen years of living under a satanic government, their youth choose the world. This is a totally predictable result. It is all that can be expected. It is the simple outworking of cause and effect.
No more need anyone question the truth of the promise: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6.
The simple fact is that the kingdom with which they have become familiar through the training methods practiced upon them, is the one they will seek out and with which they will identify when parental restraint is removed from them. The sooner this fact is recognized and acted upon, the sooner we shall see children being truly raised in the way they should go and thereafter forever, remaining in that way.
The satanic system of raising children by using compelling power, has had more than a fair chance to demonstrate itself. Admittedly, when used with great skill, these methods do produce better results of outward behavior than when applied inconsistently and capriciously, but even then they are still the devil's methods and do not produce children who walk in God's ways for time and eternity.
For thousands of years, in millions of homes, government by force has been the unquestioned, unchallenged method of raising children. It has been practiced by both Christian and nonChristian parents. In both cases the results have been the same--young people with little if any desire or disposition to serve the Most High. Should not the undesirable fruit of this corrupt system compellingly testify that another way must be found! Untiring search must be made until the procedures and principles which the Lord has provided and which will result in the children growing up to walk in the way they should go, are discovered and instituted! Must the present and future generations stumble blindly on, failing as their parents have, so that unnumbered millions of beautiful children are deprived of the physical, mental, and spiritual powers which are their lawful heritage! Must almost all of these precious souls be damned to eternal destruction when all of them could be saved unto eternal life! Let us arise and shake off a system which has proved itself a miserable failure! Let the Lord's perfect ways be adopted! Let there be forever banished from His kingdom in our homes, "...every carnal weapon, every instrument of coercion...." The Acts of the Apostles, 12.
Unfortunately today, it would be very difficult to find a family in which the children have been raised according to the divine principles. This is because a shroud of ignorance has so obscured the light on this subject that no one seems to have known of it. We have unwittingly perpetuated the system with which we have been familiar, not seeing any need to challenge or change it because we were ignorantly confident that there was nothing wrong with the system. The problem, it was felt, lay in the failure to apply the procedures with consistent skill and thoroughness. Until those misconceptions are corrected, and proper procedures instituted, it is certain that beautiful children will continue to be sacrificed to the enemy.
The days of ignorance are now passed and we know better. The time has come when we see that the entire system on which we have been depending is false and must be discarded in favor of God's way of doing things.
While it is very sad to see the fate of those for whom the light came too late, we can rejoice now in the prospects of seeing a wonderful army of children growing up to be pillars in the Lord's house. No longer will parents who faithfully apply the divine principles watch their youth turn their backs on all that is righteous, good, and true. A new day has begun, bringing with it every cause for rejoicing.
At this point, some might take the position that the principles of bringing up children without the use of force are totally discredited because of the unfortunate results experienced by those in the world who advocate these procedures. For instance, a noted supporter of child training without the use of force, found that all his children developed wild and lawless behavior patterns. Eventually, he became so distressed over the outcome of his teachings that he publicly renounced his earlier positions and strongly advocated the use of corporal punishment to ensure obedience.
To reject the message being presented here on the basis of the manifest failure experienced by those who, out in the world, advocate the non-use of force, is to presuppose that the two messages are in fact the same. If they were, then there would be no choice but to reject the system of child training which calls for the banishment of every instrument of coercion. But, while there is an apparent similarity, there is a vital factor not mentioned so far, that is completely absent from the world's way, but which makes God's way to be entirely successful.
If the counsels being set forth here are no different from the teachings advocated by those in the world who believe that a child should be given free expression and should never be forced to obey, then this study is valueless. The two messages share common ground only in respect to the need to remove all compelling power from the system, but there the similarity ends. The world overlooks the fact that, by virtue of Adam's sin in Eden and the sinful inheritance which is passed on to every one of his offspring, the spirit of disobedience, selfishness, and rebellion is embedded in the very nature of every child that is born into this sin-cursed world. That is the basic problem which has to be dealt with. God, recognizing the impossibility of righteousness coming from an evil nature, has made provision for the removal of this spirit of disobedience, selfishness, and rebellion, and its replacement with the actual spirit of obedience, selflessness, and loyalty. This is otherwise known as deliverance from the bondage of sin, the new birth, the initiation of Christ in you, the hope of glory, and spiritual conversion. All parents who would be successful in training their children for the divine kingdom, must not rest until they are sure that this transformation has taken place. Then and only then, does the child qualify to live in a kingdom from which every weapon of coercion has been banished, and to be trained in the principles of that realm.
With equal earnestness, let it be stressed that no child within whom the evil spirit remains, can be brought up in the kingdom of light. That would require the removal of external disciplinary forces which would be but the unreigning of his spirit of rebellion, selfishness, and disobedience. Those are evil enough when they are controlled and restrained, but they are so much worse when they are allowed to run free. That is nothing less than anarchy and ruin.
So, until the evil spirit is removed and replaced, it is necessary to control and subjugate the unruly child, but, even though its spirit of disobedience is controlled and subjugated, it is still there, and, when the child comes to the age when he can choose for himself, he will naturally seek out his own kind--the children of disobedience. A wolf may be kept in a cage separated from his species for years, but if another wolf appears, the caged animal will be filled with delight as he recognizes his own kind. Release the wolf and he will seek the company of other wolves. For the same reason, when children, in whom is the spirit of disobedience, are eventually released, they seek other children of disobedience, and it should not be surprising that they do.
The training of a child in the way he should go, involves firstly the eradication of the spirit of disobedience and the implanting of the spirit of obedience, after which, skilled training is necessary to develop the character in the right direction. When children are trained in this way, they are directed in the path that they should follow and when they are old, they do not depart from it. Parents who experience the guaranteed success that correct procedures bring, will know that God and His word are true.
Nobody has to be a brokenhearted parent. Let such be a thing of the past never to be repeated.
Picture: God Intends That Childhood Shall Be A Carefree and Happy Time Free From Stress and Destructive Care
Picture: No one needs to be a brokenhearted parent when their beautiful little ones grow into adolescence. Children can be trained in the way of the Lord so that when they are old they will not depart from it. 
Child Salvation does not Require an Immaculate Conception
(F. T. Wright)
In the editorial for the August 31 issue, it was noted that every time we teach that the believer in Jesus can be blessed with the eradication of the old sinful nature and implanted with the actual life of Jesus thus fulfilling the Scripture: "Christ in you, the hope of glory", the groundless charge is laid against us that we are teaching holy or immaculate flesh.
In like manner, since we now understand that this same wonderful transformation can be wrought in the freshly conceived child, the charge is leveled that we are teaching that the child has had an immaculate conception.
Obviously, if the message on child salvation teaches that an infant must have an immaculate conception in order to experience salvation and grow up as Christ did, it is papal error, will not in fact bring its professed blessings, and must be discarded for the deadly poison that it is. All that is needed to demonstrate that child salvation does not involve an immaculate conception is to compare the doctrine as taught by the Roman Catholic Church with the message we bear.
It needs to be stressed that we are not concerned with simply defending ourselves against an accusation. That is a pointless exercise, but it is of specific value to compare the living truth with the insidious error so as to remove all confusion as to what the real light actually is.
The papal position on the immaculate conception is not a doctrine of Christ, but a clever and persuasive counterfeit. It is a subtle attack on the real truth about our wonderful Saviour who, while He was upon earth as well as eternally thereafter, was both God and man, two Persons in one, the divine and the human. These two natures, though mysteriously blended, nevertheless remained distinct entities as it is written:
"Was the human nature of the Son of Mary changed into the divine nature of the Son of God? No; the two natures were mysteriously blended in one person--the man Christ Jesus. In Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. When Christ was crucified, it was His human nature that died. Deity did not sink and die; that would have been impossible." The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 5:1113.
If the two natures had not remained distinct entities, it would have been impossible for the human to die while the divine lived on. The ability to see that Christ did in fact have a sinless, unfallen, immortal, divine nature and, at the same time, a sinful, fallen, mortal, human nature, is the key to understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ and to detecting the deadly error contained in the papal doctrine of the immaculate conception.
Now, on the divine side, as the Son of God, He did have an immaculate conception. The divine nature which He received from His heavenly Father was sinless, immortal, and perfect. It was, in short, flawless, immaculate. Because it came from the eternal Father, it could not be anything else, for God could only give what He has--sinless, immaculate perfection. The law of heredity applies here as Jesus said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:6.
There are many texts in Scripture and statements in the Spirit of Prophecy that testify to the perfect sinlessness of the divine nature of Jesus. Testified John, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1. "And Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.'" Matthew 16:16.
To recognize and acknowledge that Christ is God, is to teach that He is sinless, holy, and immaculate, for God cannot be anything else.
Apart from modernists, skeptics, and unbelievers, no one seems to have any difficulty recognizing that Christ was God and that, on the divine side, He was sinless and immortal. Even the papal church understands this. There will be no need therefore to quote extensively to establish this point.
This brings us to the human nature of Christ and this is where the controversy arises. The truth is that Christ came tabernacled in the same sinful, mortal flesh and blood with which every human being is burdened and handicapped. He was born of a woman according to the laws of heredity. She could only give Him what she herself had. Therefore it was impossible for Him to have had an immaculate conception on the human side.
Picture: Christ had the same fallen, mortal, sinful flesh and blood as has every man, woman, and child.
This truth is established beyond all contradiction by the Lord through Paul: "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, [flesh and blood as the children] that through death He might destroy Him who had the power of death, that is, the devil." Hebrews 2:14.
We should have no difficulty understanding what kind of flesh the children have, for that is our flesh--we are the children. It is sinful, mortal, and far from immaculate. That is the same as Jesus took, for "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren...." Hebrews 2:17.
Now the immaculate conception as taught by the Roman Catholic Church denies that Christ came in the same sinful, fallen, mortal flesh and blood as the children, or that He was made in all things like His brethren. This doctrine as taught by the papacy, is not concerned with the divine nature of Christ as the Son of God, but with His human nature as the Son of man. Please keep that distinction well established in mind in order to avoid confusion on this vital question.
But, and this is an important part of papal theology, the papists do not teach that Christ was given the immaculate conception directly, but that it was given to His mother, so that Christ, by the laws of heredity, was guaranteed the same immaculate physical birth as she supposedly had. In order to confirm that we are correctly representing the Catholic Church's beliefs, reference will be made to one of her authoritative, representative writings.
"It is to be noted that the Immaculate Conception does not refer to the miraculous conception of Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mother without the intervention of a human father, as many non-Catholics imagine, but to the conception of Mary in the womb of her mother without the stain of original sin." The Faith of Millions, 509 by John A. O'Brien. Published by W. H. Allen & Co. Ltd., London, 1962.
This book is described on the inside of the cover as an "authoritative" work which bears "the imprimatur of the Catholic Church," and "As a summary of what the Catholic Church stands for, there is probably no better book for the general reader. At the same time, it is a book that can be recommended even to an authority on the subject."
John A. O'Brien shows unmistakably that the supposed immaculate conception of Mary purportedly delivered her from the fallen, sinful, mortal flesh and blood with which every other person since Adam is encumbered.
"The third prerogative of the Blessed Virgin is her Immaculate Conception. Not only was she free from the slightest strain of actual sin, but by a singular miracle of divine grace she was free also from original sin, with which all the other children of Adam are born into this world. It was eminently fitting that she who was destined to be the Mother of Christ, who was to give Him flesh of her flesh and blood of her blood, should be undefiled by even that slight shadow of Adam's fall. To her alone, among all the members of the race, was granted this singular immunity." The Faith of Millions, 508, 509.
It is made plain by this same author that the purpose for Mary's receiving this "singular immunity", was that Jesus Christ would therefore inherit from her a like exemption in His flesh and blood nature. Thus the Roman Catholic Church denies that Christ was burdened and handicapped with the same flesh and blood as the children or that He was made in all things like unto His brethren. Note the following assertions:
"When we say that Mary is the Mother of God, we assert implicitly two truths. First, that Jesus Christ, her Son, is true man; otherwise, Mary could not be His Mother. Second, that her Son, the Incarnate Word, is also true God; otherwise, Mary could not be the Mother of God. 'In other words we affirm,' as Cardinal Gibbons points out, 'that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word of God, who in His Divine nature is from all eternity begotten of the Father, consubstantial with Him, was in the fullness of time again begotten, by being born of the Virgin, thus taking to Himself, from her maternal womb, a human nature of the same substance with hers.'" The Faith of Millions, 507.
"In like manner, as far as the sublime mystery of the incarnation can be reflected in the natural order, the Blessed Virgin, under the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, by communicating to the Second Person of the Adorable Trinity, as mothers do, a true human nature of the same substance with her own, is thereby really and truly His Mother." The Faith of Millions, 508.
No one could ask for clearer statements on what the Roman Catholic doctrine of the immaculate conception teaches. It provides Mary, the human mother of Jesus, with total deliverance from any sinfulness whatsoever. Therefore, if this teaching were actually true, she was blessed with sinless, unfallen, immortal flesh and blood. This was so that, when Christ was born of her according to the laws of heredity, He could only receive of her what she was and had--sinless, immortal flesh and blood; "...a true human nature of the same substance with her own ...."
The only conclusion which can be drawn from these assertions is that Jesus Christ came to this earth with a sinless, immortal, divine nature tabernacled in sinless, immortal, human nature. It is the teaching that Christ had an immaculate conception on both the divine and the human sides, whereas the real truth is that He had an immaculate conception on only one side, namely, the divine.
Now that we know for certain what the Romanists teach in respect to the incarnation of Christ, let us examine the message on child salvation to see if it is the papal teaching of the immaculate conception or not.
The teaching on child salvation is not the papal error of the immaculate conception of the physical nature. We neither believe nor teach that anyone, at any time from his conception to his old age and death, can receive immaculate flesh and blood prior to his or her being taken to heaven. Thus the only human beings who at the present time have holy, immaculate, sinless, immortal flesh and blood are those such as Enoch, Moses, Elijah, and the resurrected ones who accompanied Jesus to His home on high. None of these were blessed with this endowment while they lived out their earthly probation. Only when the time came for their departure from this earth and admission into Paradise, did they experience this marvelous change. So it will be with the rest of those who will be changed to incorruption and immortality when the Life-giver shall return in the clouds of heaven.
"When human beings receive holy flesh, they will not remain on the earth, but will be taken to heaven. While sin is forgiven in this life, its results are not now wholly removed. It is at His coming that Christ is to 'change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.' Philippians 3:21 ...." Selected Messages 2:33.
"...while we cannot claim perfection of the flesh, we may have Christian perfection of the soul." Selected Messages 2:32.
"To those who have tried so hard to obtain by faith so-called holy flesh, I would say, You cannot obtain it. Not a soul of you has holy flesh now. No human being on the earth has holy flesh. It is an impossibility." Selected Messages 2:32.
Picture: It is good news that no one has to have sinless flesh in order to live a sinless life. All can live a sinless life in sinful flesh. 
In other words, an immaculate physical conception or change is an impossibility because the Lord has made no provision for it this side of the second advent.
Furthermore, there is no need for a person to have sinless flesh and blood in order to live a holy life. Jesus Christ, by living a sinless life in sinful flesh, has demonstrated that, provided a person has become a "partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust", 2 Peter 1:4, he can live the same sinless life in sinful flesh that Jesus did.
"The Saviour took upon Himself the infirmities of humanity and lived a sinless life, that men might have no fear that because of the weakness of human nature they could not overcome. Christ came to make us 'partakers of the divine nature,' and His life declares that humanity, combined with divinity, does not commit sin." The Ministry of Healing, 180.
In simple terms, the message on child salvation points out that there is no point when the child is too young to receive the blessing of the new birth. There is no difference between the conversion of an adult and a child. Neither of them are or can be delivered from sinful flesh in this life, and cannot therefore have an immaculate conception, but both must be delivered from the sin master, the devil, and both must be endowed with the implanted life of Christ Himself. Child salvation is the same preaching of the everlasting gospel as is adult salvation.
God does not have one way of redemption for the adults and another for the children. Nor do children have to grow to a certain age before they can be admitted into the family of God. This privilege is open to them from their earliest moments and, the earlier they experience the wonderful transformation called the new birth, the better it is for them. They can then develop without the debilitating effect of sin destroying them physically, mentally, and spiritually. Only the true gospel can save. The papacy does not have that gospel. Its error must be rejected in favor of God's truth.