One of the most important responsibilities of every Christian is the responsibility of praying for the salvation of the lost. It is an important responsibility, but also a difficult one, and especially so when we have labored in prayer for years or decades without seeing that person come to faith. It can begin to feel futile or even crazy to keep doing the same thing while hoping for a different result.
We can look to many sources for hope and reassurance. Obviously, we should look first to the character of God who loves to save the lost. But I think it is also helpful to look within, to honestly assess ourselves and conclude that if God can save us, he can save anyone, for there is nothing in us that provided even the least spiritual predisposition over the one we are praying for. We had no head start and no inclination toward God. We were in the same state as the person we are praying for. We were every bit as lost and helpless until God broke through and saved us. And if he saved us, surely he can save them.
If you were raised in a Christian home, baptized within a week or two of your birth, and catechized from your youngest days, how much closer were you to salvation than the person who was raised in a pagan home, knows nothing of baptism, and has never even heard of a catechism? Or if your parents were fastidious about family devotions, took you to church every Sunday, and were dutiful in telling you about the necessity of putting your faith in Christ Jesus and being baptized, how much nearer were you to repentance and faith than the person who knew none of this?
You were zero percent closer. Why? Because you were spiritually dead. Your state prior to your salvation was the state of deadness, and deadness knows no degrees. There is no such thing as almost dead, barely dead, dead but inclined toward life, or a little bit less dead than the other guy. Dead is dead. And only God can bring resurrection.
This is not to downplay the value of being raised in a Christian atmosphere or to discount the fact that God ordinarily does save the children of his children. There are blessings that come to those who are told about God and advantages that come to those who are raised in an atmosphere in which the gospel is honored. But there is nothing that predisposes a soul to faith in Christ. There is no gene or seed of righteousness that can be passed from Christian parents to their children. Children may be inclined toward the traits or features of their parents, but not their faith. Each of us is a son of Adam until we are saved to be a son of God, which means each of us is born in that state of spiritual deadness. And dead means dead, even to the children of the living.
Dead means dead, even to the children of the living.
When God surveyed humanity, he did not see some who were elevated a little bit higher than the others because of their birth and reach out to them. He did not see some who were bestowed the glimmer of life or the inclination toward it through their parents. No, he saw none who are righteous—not even one. And yet he saved many of them. He saved you and he saved me.
That being the case, we have proof within ourselves that God has the power to bring the dead to life. We have proof within ourselves that God can give us life where there is otherwise only death. We have proof within ourselves that those who are utterly dead and inclined only to destruction can be lovingly forgiven, restored, and set on the path to righteousness. We have proof within ourselves that the God who loves to save has the power to save. And if he can save us, he can most certainly save anyone.
