Born Again!--But are They?
(F. T. Wright)
This is one question with which believing parents around the world have become increasingly concerned. They believe the Child Salvation message without the least shadow of doubt, have recognized the vital necessity of their children being born again from their earliest moments, and have followed through the procedures outlined in the message. (Read again Chapter 11 and onwards in Child Salvation). They have endeavored to make certain that they themselves are definitely born again, that they are united, and that they have devoted much time to building the power of a living faith. Before the planned conception of their child, they have taken very much to heart the need to make deep and thorough preparation for the event. Upon realizing that a conception has taken place, they have knelt confessing the presence of the evil nature, the carnal mind, and have asked the Lord to remove this offspring of the devil's seed, from their freshly conceived infant. They have trusted that the Lord responded to their petition, and that therefore the evil presence was eradicated, leaving only a vacuum where it previously resided. They have then claimed the promise that the Lord would fill the empty place with the seed of Christ, yet, after all that, they wonder if in fact the child is born again.
There is nothing more certain than that the child is born again if the above steps have been adequately taken. If the conditions have been truly met; if true faith was properly exercised; and if the loving, concerned parents grasped and thus possessed the promises, they can be sure that the little one has been emptied of the carnal mind and blessed with the indwelling Presence of Christ.

The Difficulty of Knowing
But the difficulty for the parents is knowing whether they have in fact satisfied the conditions which must be met if they are to experience true success in saving their children from the wicked one! If they have not, then even though they have quite earnestly and sincerely taken the steps listed above, they can be sure that the child is not born again. It is this uncertainty on the part of the parents as to whether they have in fact fully met the conditions stipulated in the Scriptures, not any doubt about God doing His part, which causes them to suffer the torment of wondering whether the child is really born again. Quite rightly, they do not wish to bring up their children supposing that they are actually born again, when they are not, and then face the unbearable heartbreak of seeing their dearly beloved offspring reject Christ and His salvation when they reach the age of independence. The child salvation message as it rightly should, lifts our hopes so high that for our confident expectations to be met with failure will be a shattering experience. To make matters worse, there will never be another opportunity. By the time we discover that we have fallen short, the loss of our children's souls is almost a guarantee.

There Must be Some Way of Knowing!
Therefore, there must be some way by which we are to know with the utmost certainty that the little ones have been redeemed from Satan's to Christ's family.
Naturally, the parents look for a manifestation of character and of disposition which they believe should distinguish the child who is born again, but, a problem faced by the parents is that, for the nine months between conception and the birth, both the child and its behavior patterns are quite invisible, so that the parents cannot look in this direction for assurance that their little one is sanctified.
Even if they could, and in so doing found their baby sweet-tempered and mild-mannered, this would not constitute a completely safe and reliable witness, for some children can manifest a very beautiful disposition without being born again. Consider, for instance, the behavior of the youthful Jacob of whom it is written:
"Jacob, thoughtful, diligent, and care-taking, ever thinking more of the future than the present, was content to dwell at home, occupied in the care of the flocks and the tillage of the soil. His patient perseverance, thrift, and foresight were valued by the mother. His affections were deep and strong, and his gentle, unremitting attentions added far more to her happiness than did the boisterous and occasional kindnesses of Esau. To Rebekah, Jacob was the dearer son....
"Jacob had learned from his mother of the divine intimation that the birthright should fall to him, and he was filled with an unspeakable desire for the privileges it would confer. It was not the possession of his father's wealth that he craved; the spiritual birthright was the object of his longing. To commune with God as did righteous Abraham, to offer the sacrifice of atonement for his family, to be the progenitor of the chosen people and of the promised Messiah, and to inherit the immortal possessions embraced in the blessings of the covenant--here were the privileges and honors that kindled his most ardent desires. His mind was ever reaching forward to the future, and seeking to grasp its unseen blessings.
"With secret longing he listened to all that his father told concerning the spiritual birthright; he carefully treasured what he had learned from his mother. Day and night the subject occupied his thoughts, until it became the absorbing interest of his life." Patriarchs and Prophets, 177, 178.

Devoutly Religious But not Regenerate
There is no doubt but that Jacob was a deeply religious person whose predominant interest was in spiritual things. If you were asked on the basis of the above evidences alone if you thought he was born again at this time, you would almost certainly say that he was, but, surprising as it might seem, he was not. The very sentence after those quoted above confirms this:
"But while he thus esteemed eternal above temporal blessings, Jacob had not an experimental knowledge of the God whom he revered. His heart had not been renewed by divine grace."
So, the fact that your children are deeply religious, show a marked preference for spiritual things, and are sweet-tempered and mild-mannered, is no certain guarantee that they are truly born again, even though these are the very characteristics you would expect to find in a born again child. The problem lies in the fact that a child who is not born again can manifest many of the graces to be found in a little one whose heart has been renewed by divine grace.
Remember that the foolish virgins give every appearance of being wise virgins. "The class represented by the foolish virgins are not hypocrites. They have a regard for the truth, they have advocated the truth, they are attracted to those who believe the truth...." Christ's Object Lessons, 411.
To have a regard for the truth is to have a feeling of blended approval, appreciation, respect, liking, and affection for the truth. This is what you would expect to find only in a truly born again Christian, but here they are seen to be possessed by those who are destitute of this transformation--the foolish virgins.
To advocate the truth is to do all in your power to recommend, teach, and support it, while, to be attracted to those who believe the truth is to find a natural compatibility with the followers of the truth which they do not find with the worldlings. Therefore, they prefer the company of the wise virgins above that of the avowed rejecters of truth.
This description of the experience possessed by the foolish virgins, is very similar to the one given of the youthful Jacob. It sounds as though they are born again, but once again the sentences which follow plainly reveal that they have not attained to the status of born again Christians. "... but they have not yielded themselves to the Holy Spirit's working. They have not fallen upon the Rock, Christ Jesus, and permitted their old nature to be broken up."

No Need for Alarm
At this point some may feel alarmed by the thought that, if we cannot know by their behavior pattern whether our children are born again or not, how can we ever know? Must we wait anxiously for years to pass until our sons and daughters can testify for themselves that they are truly regenerate? It will then be found that if they have not acquired the gift of salvation from their earliest days, then it will be extremely difficult to make up the deficiency later on.
However, let none at this stage of our study become unduly concerned, for there is an absolutely certain way of knowing if the children are in fact renewed by the Holy Spirit through His implanting the seed of Christ within them. It is a far more reliable method than judging by their fruits.
This does not invalidate the assurance given by Christ that: "You will know them by their fruits." Matthew 7:16.
But, what has happened is that the devil has produced a masterful counterfeit of the real thing. Now, because he has counterfeited the evidences for a true Christian experience, to all appearances some of the children of the wicked one seem to manifest all the attributes of God's children without their being born again. This is very confusing just as the devil planned that it should be, but it does not mean that we have to be deceived. We are to know, both before they are born and after, whether they have received this blessing or not.

Consider the Fearful Consequences
Before we study into what that evidence is, let us consider the fearful consequences for those who know and believe the child salvation message, but fail to make absolutely certain that their children are in fact born again.
Let all be most earnestly warned that the children who are placed in the worst possible situation, who will emerge with the strongest spirit of rebellion, and whose hope of heaven has almost certainly been taken from them, are those born of parents who know and believe the child salvation message, but fail to see to it that their little ones are born again.
The reason for this should be obvious enough. Satan, who is terrified at the possibility of even one child being sanctified before it is even born, will do all in his power to discredit and therefore to render of none effect the child salvation message. He saw the incredible invincibility of Jeremiah, Daniel and the faithful three, John the Baptist, and Christ Himself, and he knows the fearful damage done to his cause and kingdom by those who have been born again from their earliest moments. He found these men to be unconquerable and he views with the greatest possible dread, the mere thought of facing such people in the final battle so soon to be fought.
Picture: The dark shadows or brightness of the future are determined by the direction given to the little child.
Satan's Top Priority
Therefore, he will make it his special work to prevent the parents from leading their as yet unborn to enter God's family. Parents must not be surprised to find the devil contesting their work every step of the way, day and night. They must be fully alert to the fearful fact that the devil absolutely regards the work of defeating the efforts of the mothers and the fathers as of top priority. He allocates the second place or lower to any and everything else. With fiendish fury and unrestrained intensity, he unceasingly labors to prevent the parents from fulfilling their sacred work of seeing to it that their children experience salvation from their earliest moments.
If only the young, inexperienced people upon whom rests the responsibility of parenthood today, would realize how serious the devil is in going about his evil work, they would never relax their guard for so much as an instant. They would continually watch unto prayer, and would be careful to ensure that their own walk with the Lord was ever fresh and alive. They would never rest satisfied until they knew for certain from the Lord that their little ones were truly born again, and they would faithfully see to it that both they and their children were sent to the school every day where God is the Teacher.
One reason that some parents do not grasp the urgency of the matter is because they have failed to realize that the unregenerate child belongs to another father than God, and has in him the very spirit of rebellion. Please pity the poor child, for it is not his fault. He was conceived that way, no matter how evil or good his physical parents might have been. But, even though the child is what he is through no fault of his own, he is just as much that kind of person as if he were that by his own choice.
I stress this point because we must avoid being victims of the delusion that, because the unregenerate child himself is not a rebel by his own choice, he is not under condemnation for what he is, and, furthermore, under those conditions, what he is has no effect upon him.
Please do not make so terrible a mistake, but come to grips with the awful fact that the child who has not received Christ's salvation, is under total condemnation for what he is, and that he is totally lost. It was by Adam's sin that death came upon all men. He was created righteous and remained so until he yielded to the tempter's persuasions, and, once he became polluted and enslaved by sin, he could only impart to his children that which he himself had become. Thus sin comes on each one of us as if we ourselves were the original sinners. This can only mean that from the moment of our conception until truly converted, we have in us the living, powerful, and deadly spirit of rebellion which nothing can eradicate and replace other than the saving ministry of Christ.
If there is any doubt in the minds of any concerning the operation of this law of heredity, let him carefully read Romans 5:12-21.

The Practical Implications
Now consider what this means in practical terms, and it is most important that every parent clearly understands this. Every unregenerate child has in himself the very spirit of disobedience and rebellion. It is otherwise called the carnal mind which is "... enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be." Romans 8:7.
Therefore, when you seek to teach the things of God to the child who is not born again, you are bringing that child's nature into confrontation with that with which it is at enmity, and to which it cannot be subject.
Many sincere and well intentioned parents become deluded into believing that, if they teach Bible stories to their children, have them memorize Scripture, ensure that they attend morning and evening worship, teach them to say their prayers, and take them to church each week, that truth will triumph and the children will grow up loving the Lord and will be saved when He comes again.
But what is really happening is this: Every time the child who is not born again comes in contact with the truth, the spirit of rebellion and of disobedience--which is unrighteousness--is stirred to active resistance. Nothing else can happen, for it is enmity against God, and cannot be subject to the law, which is righteousness. The exercise of these unholy powers which takes place every time an attempt is made to teach the child the way of life, does for them what exercise will always accomplish--it strengthens them.
Thus, while dedicated, born again, christian parents confidently feed spiritual truth to their unconverted children in the mistaken belief that their little ones are being readied for the kingdom, they are in fact strengthening the spirit of rebellion, disobedience, and unrighteousness with which the children are possessed. They are achieving the very opposite from what they desire and aim to achieve, and think they are accomplishing.
It is a situation which delights the legions of darkness, for Satan realizes the potential for his cause. The failure of parents who professedly have brought the new birth to their children, is a much more effective argument for the enemy than the failure of those who make no profession. Satan knows this, so, he gives special attention to this class of child so as to achieve the full development of the worst traits of character, and then presents this product of his work as an example of the child salvation message. Thus he discredits the message and leads many to reject it.
This is why so many children who have received what, in man's wisdom, is deemed to be the very best spiritual education that can be provided, are so quick to turn their backs not only upon the church, but on all religion as well, and so often manifest worse behavior patterns than the totally ungodly. The outcome of the supposedly best spiritual education, demonstrates that it is the worst kind possible.

The Thorn Bush and the Apple Tree
The principle of which we speak here is illustrated by the thorn bush. By its nature, it can only produce thorns. So, if, instead of rooting it out and replacing it, we lavish on it the same care and attention that is given to the apple tree close by, then it will become a bigger, stronger, thornier thorn bush. To both trees is supplied the same nourishment, irrigation, cultivation, protection, and pruning. The result will be two beautiful, vigorously growing, healthy trees--one an undesirable thorn bush cumbering the ground, the other a productive apple tree.
So it is with the children. You may lavish on the regenerate and on the unregenerate the same spiritual truths, but, be aware of the fact that you will but produce on the one hand a more rebellious and unregenerate one, but on the other hand, a child fit for the kingdom.
There are some who may object to these observations tendering as evidence to prove their point the fact that the children love to sing gospel choruses, memorize Scripture, listen to Bible stories, and even attend Sabbath School. Thus it is argued that the children, far from exhibiting a hostile response, show a willingness to participate in such spiritual exercises.
But, carefully consider the real facts of the case. There is a wide difference between presenting Bible truths to the children on the one hand, and telling exciting stories from Bible history on the other. There was a time before the message reached me that I was a teacher in the Adventist church, and I well remember how I and others strove to make the crossing of the Red Sea, the tumbling of the walls of Jericho, the death of Goliath, and other such events, as exciting, dramatic, and vivid as possible.
I ask myself today, "What difference is there between the way I told those Bible stories back then, and the dramas portrayed today on television which the children love to watch?" I can see no difference and long, long ago I ceased to be a "Christian story teller".
Children will attend Sabbath School more or less willingly if there are enough teaching aids to entertain them, enough competition to stimulate them, and enough activity to expend their energies. But, let those same children be placed in a class where the living truth of the gospel is presented unburied beneath a mass of entertainment trappings, and we would see a different picture indeed. Then, unless the children possessed the spirit of righteousness, and were properly trained in the ways of truth, we would see manifest the spirit of rebellion and disobedience. With such children as members, it would be impossible to even conduct a junior Sabbath School which taught righteousness.

Color In Books in Church Services
Even among those parents who believe in the child salvation message, difficulties are being experienced in occupying the minds of the children during any meeting when the little ones are with their parents, even though the children are deemed to be born again.
The juniors show no interest in the study being given, are bored, and become restless and fidgety. To overcome this problem, the parents bring with them a supply of reading material, colored pencils, and pictures to color in. What a distraction this causes as pencils rattle on the seat or the floor, and the sound of rustling paper fills the meeting house!
Now, admittedly, little children lack the capacity to understand deep spiritual truths, but they can be taught to sit still and listen so that they catch something from the presentation. The initiation into this discipline is made in the family worship period night and morning where the child learns that in the sacred time when the family meets with God, the attention is to be fixed on the exercise of the hour. If the born again child has any difficulty, then let the parents take the matter up with the great Problem-solver.
When does this training begin? It should begin before the child is born. Then the mother and the father must understand that the attitude in which they come to the worship period is being educated into the little one who has not yet seen the light of day. They will know that they must meet with God in the correct mental attitude. They will shut themselves in with the Lord, excluding the world with its problems, burdens, cares, and temptations, while focusing their entire attention on their communion with their heavenly Father. Thus no place will be given for boredom or a wandering, distracted mind. Rather, an active, lively interest and personal participation in the proceedings will be generated.
If the parents of the unborn find that they are not achieving these ideals, let them take their difficulties to the great Problem-solver who will certainly provide the solution. Be sure to pray aloud so that the child in the womb will be aware that a spiritual communion is in progress.
If the parents will ensure that they are successful in establishing the worship atmosphere as described above, the unborn child will be initiated into the ways of the Lord from its earliest moments and will enter the world already programmed to reverence the worship hour. From this correct beginning, it then rests with the parents to make certain that things continue to improve both in the home and in the church. Success will be marked by the disappearance of color in and picture books. Instead of spending their time reading and coloring in, the little ones will sit in reverential, attentive silence throughout the study period. They will be a joy to their parents, the admiration of the congregation, and approved of the Lord. 

But How Shall We Know
Having discerned the necessity of knowing for certain that the children whom the Lord has entrusted to our care are truly born again, the time has come to know how we can be sure that they are blessed with regeneration.
There is only one certain way of knowing, and that is by faith, but that is not quite so simple as it sounds. It means that we have received a communication from heaven confirming the fact that the child has been delivered from the presence of the enemy within. This will not have come in the form of an audible voice, or as a happy flight of feeling, but as a deep, unshakeable conviction that the miracle has taken place. To understand this better, consider the experience of the nobleman who came from Capernaum to Cana to request healing for his dying son. The story is told in John 4:46-54, and in The Desire of Ages, 196-200.
The father approached the Saviour on what to him was clearly a life and death mission. His son's illness had reached the terminal stage, and there was very little time left. He had tried every doctor he could find but they had all pronounced the case as being hopeless. "Physicians had given him up to die; but when the father heard of Jesus, he determined to seek help from Him." The Desire of Ages, 197.

A Life and Death Matter
It is vitally important that we see the parallel here. Our children are sentenced to eternal death, so that when we come to the Saviour asking for the new birth, we are as literally asking deliverance from death for them as was the nobleman for his beloved.
But, why are we so complacent about the threat to our children compared with the extreme concern of the father back there? Think about the matter. If your child falls sick with the very real possibility of dying, tremendous concern and anxiety are felt for him. Nothing that can be done or remedy which might be tried is left undone or untried. Drawn, worried faces watch anxiously over the fevered patient. Food is ignored; sleep is forgotten.
Compare this with how we feel about our children dying eternally. Ask yourself if you have agonized over them as just described until you were absolutely certain that they had been delivered from death! Oh, how necessary it is that we understand that our children's need to be born again is in fact a life and death matter! If they receive this blessing, eternal life is theirs provided they remain faithful. If they do not, then they are dead and will be food for the flames in the end. Their being born again is clearly the key to the entire matter. As the nobleman rested not until he had found life for his son, so should we rest not until we have found salvation for our sons and daughters. Let this be the most serious concern of our lives. Let us agonize day and night until we know that, young or old, our children have salvation.
Think of the anxiety which must have been felt for any absent firstborn as the midnight hour approached on the first passover night, and the incredible relief which must have flooded the household when the absent one returned before the moment of doom arrived! May our anxiety for our children match that of the Israelites that night!
When we come to understand the death threat hanging over our children until they are born again, and recognize that we have no more power to save them than did the distraught father from Capernaum, then we will have that sense of need which will lead us to "... lay hold on the promises of God's word and refuse to let go until Heaven hears." Prophets and Kings, 157.
Then will disappear that complacency with which we view our children's fate. No longer will we accept the idea, particularly in the cases of older children, that they have made their decision for the world and there is nothing more that can be done for them.

A Measure of Faith
That which led the man to seek Jesus for help was the measure of faith generated by the witness to him of those who had personally seen Jesus healing the sick, the blind, and the lame after He had driven the extortionists out of the temple courts. This constituted a good beginning, but as is mostly if not always the case, it was marred by the effect of long-standing misconceptions. In his mind there was established the usual idea that the possession of great power was always attended by pride, fine clothes, a retinue of servants, a bodyguard, and an air of great self-importance. The greater the power invested in the man, the more decided was the manifestation of these trappings of might.
So, before the nobleman met the Saviour, he had formed an expectation of what he would see, and of what the mighty Healer would do and how He would go about it. Therefore, "His faith faltered when he saw only a plainly dressed man, dusty and worn with travel." The Desire of Ages, 197.
The result was that he thought not in terms of any changes being necessary in him. It was the Healer in whom he saw the need for changes to be made. "He hoped that a father's prayers might awaken the sympathy of the Great Physician." The Desire of Ages, 197.
In other words, his thinking called for Christ to be changed from one with sleeping to awakened sympathies. He did not see nor understand that it was in himself that the changes needed to be made. That, he had to learn.
So, we too come to the Saviour with minds clouded by misconceptions. We look to God to answer our prayers in the way in which we think they should be answered, and then we wonder why they are not. We have a measure of faith, but it is too weak and misguided to penetrate to the Father.
Under these conditions we are not to suppose that, because we have once asked for the new birth to be given to our children, the prayer is necessarily answered. More likely than not we have asked for the right thing in the wrong way, and need to have some decided changes made in us before the Lord is enabled to answer our prayers. Like Jacob and Elijah, agonize for your children in prayer until you have the positive assurance from Heaven that your prayer is answered, and you know for yourself without the least shadow of a doubt that they are born again.

Your Son Lives
"The nobleman wanted to see the fulfillment of his prayer before he should believe; but he had to accept the word of Jesus that his request was heard and the blessing granted. This lesson we also have to learn." The Desire of Ages, 200.
With perfect accuracy Christ discerned where the deficiency lay in the nobleman's prayer. In words which were both priceless instruction, and a revelation of the divine power which was in Him, He told the man that he was prepared to believe only if he first saw his prayer answered.
Christ's message to the nobleman was not lost upon him. The clarity and power of the Saviour's words revealed Christ's infinite capacities to the importunate father who reached out and grasped that word for himself. "In an agony of supplication he cried, 'Sir, come down ere my child die.' His faith took hold upon Christ as did Jacob, when, wrestling with the Angel, he cried, 'I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.' Genesis 32:26." The Desire of Ages, 198.
As the barriers of unbelief were swept away, Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." John 4:50.
Physical healing is much more readily discerned than is spiritual healing. The pain disappears, the fever subsides, and a feeling of well-being replaces the discomfort and suffering which preceded the miracle. In the cases of the blind and the lame, the deliverances are very obvious and incontrovertible.
But the nobleman did not need to view these physical evidences of his son's healing to know that deliverance from death had come. He was so totally aware that his son had been fully restored to health that he did not trouble to hasten home that evening as he easily could have done. Instead, he arrived the next morning to be met by excited servants who were surprised to see that their master already knew the child was well again.

But How Did He Know?
No messenger had carried the glad tidings to him from Cana. It was by the word of the Lord spoken to him that he knew, the word by which he and we are to live. When he had received that word, believed it, and accepted it, he needed nothing else but that. What he saw when he came home only confirmed what he already knew by the word of Christ.
In other words, he was now blessed with the inner witness, of which Paul writes as follows: "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." Romans 8:16.
This was the experience of the nobleman. To him through Jesus Christ, the Spirit had witnessed that Christ was willing and able to restore his son, and that, upon the father's acceptance of that offer, He had actually done it. The Spirit's witness was borne in the words, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe," followed by the declaration, "Go your way; your son lives." John 4:48, 50.
But that witness would have told him nothing and been of no effect unless his own spirit within witnessed to the same truth. It is evident that this is so, for there were numerous people there that day whose interest was focused on the scene so intently as to miss nothing, and who heard the witness of the Holy Spirit as spoken by Christ, without their own spirit responding. Needless to say, none of those received either spiritual or physical healing that day.
What is our spirit with which the Holy Spirit witnesses? It is the living force of faith by which we know that what the Holy Spirit declares, is in fact so. Christ did not say to the nobleman that his son would live, but that he lives, or is living. The newly founded faith in the man grasped the reality of that witness, his own spirit thus witnessing that what the Holy Spirit said was already true, and thus he knew that his son was already delivered from death. Then he needed nothing more. It would not have mattered what physical, visible circumstances might have declared otherwise, he would still have believed the witness of the Spirit together with his own spirit that the boy was alive.

The Inner Witness Today
The principles by which the anguished father found peace and deliverance in Christ's time have not changed in the least. Today, in the cases of all those to whom the promises of God become living realities, it is not enough to have only the witness of the Spirit. In addition, there must be the witness of our own spirit to respond to and act upon the witness of the Holy Spirit. At the same time, let nothing weaken your awareness that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is essential, for by Him is implanted the word by which we are to live. Any faith other than that which springs from that word is fanaticism and will never lead us to salvation.
The witness of the Spirit is the word of God, for it is by the Spirit that God's truths are brought to us. These principles, promises, warnings, and instructions are known to us. But to this knowledge must be added our own witness, the spirit of a living faith so powerful that by it we will really know that we and our precious children are children of God.
It is by the power of importunate prayer that the inner witness is obtained. Let every parent who understands the critical necessity of making certain that their children are born again, pray until they have the inner assurance that their little ones have become regenerated. Pray until "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we" and our little ones "are children of God." Romans 8:16.
This is not a feeling but a conviction, an assurance, a knowledge which nothing can dim or shake. Reach out after God with the earnest cry: "I will not let You go unless You bless me." Genesis 32:26. Do not rest satisfied until you know your children are born again as certainly as did the nobleman from Capernaum know his son was healed.
