Must Covenant Children Have a Conversion Experience?

This is not an ivory-tower question for me. Misty and I have three children, ages 13, 10 and 4. They were all baptized in good Presbyterian fashion in their infancy and Misty and I have raised them and treated them as Christians, as members of the household of faith. But the question arises, Is it not necessary for them to be converted? Doesn't the Bible insistently and repeatedly command "all people everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30)? See also Isa 55:6-7; Ezek 33:11; Mark 1:15; Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 2:38; 3:19 -- to list only a few of the many verses that use terms for "turning" from sin, "repentance," and so on. Indeed, repentance is said to "lead to life" (Acts 11:18) and "to salvation" (2 Cor 7:10), which suggests that conversion is vital, perhaps even necessary for salvation.

Yet, on the other hand, the Bible also makes clear that covenant children are to be treated as saved, as members of the body of Christ. For example, Paul addresses the children of the church at Ephesus, right alongside the husbands and wives, masters and slaves, as those who can be exhorted to respond to the imperatives of the gospel in light of union with Christ: "children obey your parents in the Lord" (Eph 6:1).  

So which is it? Do covenant children need to have a conversion experience or are they to be treated as those who already enjoy salvation?

Part of the solution is to make a distinction between regeneration and conversion. Regeneration is God's secret operation, at the subconscious level, by which he gives the elect a new heart that is capable of repenting of sin and exercising faith in Christ. Conversion, to use Berkhof's definition, is

"that act of God whereby He causes the regenerated sinner, in his conscious life, to turn to Him in repentance and faith" (p. 483). "The principle of the new life implanted in regeneration passes into the conscious life in conversion" (p. 491).

If we accept this distinction between regeneration and conversion, it leads to a number of important but often overlooked implications:

First, regeneration is prior to conversion, and conversion follows regeneration. Thus, it is possible for a child to be regenerated in the womb, and to experience conversion or the evidence of conversion, namely, conscious repentance and faith, at a later date.

Second, regeneration is absolutely necessary for salvation, but conversion is not. Berkhof writes, perhaps somewhat suprisingly:

"The Bible speaks in absolute terms of the necessity of regeneration; not so of the necessity of conversion. It tells us plainly that, 'Except a man be born again (anew, or, from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God,' John 3:3, but does not speak of the need of conversion in the same general way, which allows of no exceptions ... The expressed or implied exhortations to turn about, found in Scripture, come only to those to whom they are addressed and do not necessarily mean that every one must pass through a conscious conversion, in order to be saved" (pp. 490-91). 

Why is conversion not spoken of in Scripture as being absolutely necessary like regeneration? Perhaps one reason is because ...

"those who die in infancy must be regenerated, in order to be saved, but cannot very well experience conversion, a conscious turning from sin unto God" (p. 491). 

Third, if regeneration is at the subconscious level and then passes into the conscious life in conversion, i.e., in the form of conscious turning from sin and trusting in Christ, then it is best to treat covenant children as regenerated and then to expect that they will experience growing evidence of conversion, that is, repentance and faith, as they mature.

Fourth, regeneration is a one-time, instantaneous, sovereign act of God, whereby the heart is changed from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh, but conversion can be experienced repeatedly throughout life as the fruit of regeneration. For example, Jesus said of Peter, "I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:32 ESV). See also the exhortations to the seven churches of Asia (Rev 2:5, 16, 21-22; 3:3, 19). Indeed, the Christian life is one of continual repentance and putting death our sinful deeds and desires by the Spirit in union with Christ in his death and resurrection (Rom 6:11-14; 8:13; Gal 5:24; Col 3:5).

It is unreasonable to expect covenant children to have one definite conversion experience, as is more common among those converted in adulthood. It is more likely that our covenant children will experience a series of critical stages in their Christian growth where their regeneration manifests itself in moments of more or less stronger awareness of their sinfulness, a desire to turn from sin to God, and a sense of coming to Christ in faith. A crisis conversion

"can hardly be looked for ... in the lives of those who, like John the Baptist and Timothy, served the Lord from early youth. At the same time, conversion is necessary in the case of all adults in the sense that its elements, namely, repentance and faith must be present in their lives. This means that they must in some form experience the essence of conversion" (p. 491).

In other words, the consequence or fruit of regeneration, namely, repentance and faith, must be present. 

My two older children sometimes ask me when they were regenerated and converted. I tell them that I don't know for sure, but I suspect they were regenerated when they were in their mommy's womb or in infancy, and that we have both seen and hope to see growing evidence of their regeneration in the form of further increases of repentance and faith as they get older.

[All quotes from L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology (4th ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991).]

Comments

[Charles McNinch]

Curious: one issue your post doesn't directly address--are we to assume that all "covenant" children are "regenerate"? This gets confusing to me. Please help.

[Lee]

Charles: It is better to say that we should "treat" all covenant children as regenerated until proven otherwise. If they grow to adulthood without ever making a public profession of faith or if they lack a credible profession of faith, then they should be subject to church discipline and potentially be excommunicated if necessary. But until that happens, we should treat them the same way we treat adult members of the church in good standing, as fellow Christians and members of the household of God. Just as adult members of covenant community could be unregenerate and tares mixed in with the wheat, so with our covenant children. But just as we cannot read the heart but must treat anyone with a credible profession of faith as a fellow believer, so with our covenant children. God has made promises to save us and our covenant children, to convey his grace from one generation to the next in the ordinary use of the means of grace and covenant nurture. Therefore, we should believe those promises, and part of believing them is to treat our children as "in" rather than "out" and from that position of being "in" to nurture them in the faith in the expectation that they will grow up into a mature faith.

[Keith]

"My two older children sometimes ask me when they were regenerated and converted."
The very fact that they would ask such a question is a profound testimony and encouragement.

[Charles McNinch]

That's exactly how I would answer the question! And yet... critiquing myself in this answer, it doesn't really answer the question--or tries to answer it both ways. No we can't assume all covenant children are "regenerate" (or elected) because the tares are mixed in with the wheat, but yes we must assume they are regenerate because God promises to save them. Maybe it's just a place where systematic theology fails us and leaves us a tension we have to live with.

[Lee]

Maybe the trouble is with the word "assume." Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary lists 6 meanings for "assumption," and under meaning five, they subdivide betwen a) the supposition that something is true and b) a fact or statement (as a proposition, axiom, postulate, or notion) taken for granted. Perhaps that is the distinction in this case. We can suppose that they are regenerate, but we cannot presuppose it. We can treat them as regenerate, based on the promises of God that he ordinarily will save our children in the due use of the means of grace and covenant nurture, but we do not lay it down as a fact taken for granted, especially since the promises of God are conditional on covenant nurture and are not an absolute guarantee but a general pattern that does admit of exceptions.

[TulipGirl]

Gregory Baus linked to your sermon series "And the God of thy Seed" (scroll down: http://honest2blog.blogspot.com/2007/02/sin-shall-have-no-dominion-how-does.html ), which I listened to several months ago. Much of what you taught there aligned with how my understanding about children and the Covenant has started to gel (the bits and pieces of Covenant theology and Berkhof and scripture and such that have been floating around in my mind...)

Do you have resources that you recommend that focus specifically on children and parents in the covenant? Or, perhaps do you have your outline/notes that you'd be willing to share?

Thanks!

[Lee]

Charles Hodge's review of Bushnell's Christian Nurture is helpful. You can find it on Google books (starting on p. 303): http://books.google.com/books?id=4cZCAAAAIAAJ&lpg=PA336&ots=-6nFYArmX1&dq=charles%20hodge%20review%20bushnell%20covenant%20nurture&pg=PA303#v=onepage&q&f=false

Once you've read Hodge and been warned about the weaknesses in Bushnell's theology, you can even read Bushnell himself with profit as long as you are discerning. http://books.google.com/books?id=C9TaShjLB5gC&dq=bushnell%20christian%20nurture&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false