In this article she describes a powerful reality that has changed the orientation of her life: “[After I prayed] I knew that deep down something had changed. I knew that I wanted God more than my homosexuality.”

“I walk in freedom” is a powerful testimony to the liberating power of the Lord Jesus Christ and why our mainline emphases are so wrong headed at time.

In our attempts at compassion, we end up encouraging more and more abuse. Thankfully Christine Sneeringer writes to show us another path, a path of healing and hope in Jesus Christ the Lord we confess each Lord’s Day as we recite the Apostle’s Creed.

It is imperative that the doctrine of covenant succession be recovered in our churches. Its loss has deeply diminished the church’s appreciation of and wonder over the liberality and perfection of divine grace. ['It is precisely this which Satan is attempting in assailing infant baptism with such an army: that, once this testimony of God's grace is taken away from us, the promise which, through it, is put before our eyes may eventually vanish little by little. From this would grow up not only an impious ungratefulness toward God's mercy but a certain negligence about instructing our children in piety. For when we consider that immediately from birth God takes and acknowledges them as his children, we feel a strong stimulus to instruct them in an earnest fear of God and observance of the law.' Calvin, Institutes, IV, xvi, 32.] Further, the appropriation by faith of this divine promise and summons is the means appointed to furnish the church with generation after generation of great multitudes of Christian servants and soldiers who reach manhood and womanhood well taught, sturdy in faith, animated by love for God and man, sophisticated in the ways of the world and the Devil, polished in the manners of genuine Christian brotherhood, overshadowed by the specter of the Last Day, nerved to deny themselves and take up their cross so as to be counted worthy of greater exploits for Christ and Kingdom. Presently the church not only suffers a terrible shortage of such other­worldly and resolute Christians, superbly prepared for spiritual warfare, but, in fact, is hemorrhaging its children into the world. Christian evangelism will never make a decisive difference in our culture when it amounts merely to an effort to replace losses due to widespread desertion from our own camp. The gospel will always fail to command attention and carry conviction when large numbers of those who grow up under its influence are observed abandoning it for the world. Recovering our Presbyterian inheritance and inscribing the doctrine of covenant succession upon the heart of family and church must have a wonderfully solemnizing and galvanizing effect. It will set Christian parents seriously to work on the spiritual nurture of their children, equipping them and requiring them to live the life of covenant faith and duty to which their God and Savior called them at the headwaters of life. And, ever conscious of the greater effect of parental example, they will forsake the easy way, shamelessly and joyfully to live a life of devotion and obedience which adorns and ennobles the faith in the eyes of their children. This they will do, who embrace the Bible’s doctrine, lest the Lord on the Great Day should say to them: ‘You took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them to idols.’ ['They incur the guilt of an infamous robber or thief," as Bucer has gravely observed, de Regno Christi, lib. ii c. 9, "who are not at the greatest pains to bring up and form those they have consecrated by baptism to the Lord Christ, to the obedience of Christ. For by this neglect, as much as in them lies, they again rob God of the children they gave up to him, betray and enslave them to the devil."' Witsius, Economy of the Covenants, vol. II, p. 441.]

Related Link: Bringing The Gospel To Covenant Children

Editor’s NoteL This is an excerpt from her article Evangelism Starts At Home which is available in its entirety online at Modern Reformation. Evangelism and church renewal do start at home… by renewing ourselves and our families in God’s truth so we may as winsomely as possible see others encouraged to believe God’s Word and be transformed.

How does a biblical catechism help us to faithfully evangelize our children? First, a catechism provides an excellent dictionary of terms used in the Bible itself when the Bible presents the gospel message. One of the clearest presentations of the gospel found in Scripture is the third chapter of Romans. This passage, however, cannot be clearly understood without a grasp of the terms it uses. The twenty-third verse tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Well, what is sin? That is precisely the question asked in question 14 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. The answer: “Sin is disobeying or not conforming to God’s law in any way.”1 Surrounding question 14 are questions and answers that deal with how sin entered the world, how it was passed on to all humans from Adam, what its results and consequences are, and what is God’s reaction to it. All of these answers would assist greatly in helping a child to understand why sin is a problem that demands a solution. Romans 3 also tells us that we are justified as a gift, by God’s grace, and not by works of the law. Justification is one of the most important concepts of the gospel. Our children must understand what it means. Question 33 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks “What is justification?” then goes on to give an excellent answer. “Justification is the act of God’s free grace by which he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight. He does so only because he counts the righteousness of Christ as ours. Justification is received by faith alone.” Again, in Romans 3, we find that “faith in Jesus Christ” is necessary for justification. The catechism asks, “What is faith in Jesus Christ?” (Q. 86) The answer: “Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, by which we receive and rest on Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the gospel.” We could continue this exercise for quite some time, finding in the catechism clear, concise explanations of most of the terms used when the Bible presents the gospel. There is a series of questions explaining the nature of God, another explaining the process of redemption, yet another series explaining at length the nature and work of Christ-all key concepts that must be understood if the good news of the gospel is to be clearly grasped. “But isn’t it possible to have all that head knowledge as just so many intellectual facts?” someone might wonder. “Isn’t it the response of the heart that really matters?” Of course it is. A child (or an adult) could have an intellectual grasp of gospel truth and fail to respond to it. On the other hand, can anyone respond to truth he or she does not know? Our goal for our children should be that they clearly grasp the important truths of Scripture in order that they may then faithfully respond to them.

A second benefit of a good catechism as a tool in evangelizing children is the use the Holy Spirit can make of it in bringing conviction of sin. Children are just as self-righteous as the rest of us. They tend to believe that knowing the Ten Commandments is the same thing as keeping them. Children cheerfully rattle off “Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery,” confident that they are in fine shape with God since they have not done any of these things. In those sections where the catechisms discuss the Ten Commandments, they ask questions designed to get at the heart of each one. The resulting answers provide excellent expositions of the commandments, based on the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. These explanations of the commandments show us just how rigorous God’s holy standard is. They also show us how far short we fall. For example, the Heidelberg Catechism asks for a recital of the Ten Commandments, including the first one “You shall have no other gods before me.” It does not allow a child (or an adult!) to feel smug about how he or she has never bowed to a little statue. Instead, it goes on to ask what the Lord requires by that first commandment. Part of the answer is this: “That I sincerely acknowledge the only true God, trust him alone, look to him for every good thing humbly and patiently, love him, fear him, and honor him with all my heart. In short, that I give up anything rather than go against his will in any way.” Whew! That’s a high standard. But it’s God’s standard. Church children especially need to see that the standard is hopelessly high. They have not attained it, nor will they ever be able to. Only the person who has despaired of ever saving himself sees the need for a Savior. A diligent and careful study of the Ten Commandments as explained in the catechisms can be of great use for helping a child to see something of the sinfulness of his or her heart. Of course, this will prove helpful not just in evangelizing but in day-to-day parenting as well. A big part of parenting is correcting sinful behavior and training in godly behavior. If our children are learning the Ten Commandments in all their fullness, they know God’s standard and we can constantly point them back to it as we correct and train.

1 In writing this article, Mrs. Meade quoted from the Westminster Shorter Catechism in Modern English (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1986), as well as from the Heidelberg Catechism (Grand Rapids, MI: CRC Publications, 1988)

Read the entire article at Modern Reformation

Starr Meade is the author of Training Hearts Teaching Minds: Family Devotions Based on the Shorter Catechism