Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott  For those Baptists who teach their unsaved kids to pray in Christ's name, how does this make sense?
From the Larger Catechism:
Q. 180. What is it to pray in the name of Christ?
A. To pray in the name of Christ is, in obedience to his command, and in confidence on his promises, to ask mercy for his sake; not by bare mentioning of his name, but by drawing our encouragement to pray, and our boldness, strength, and hope of acceptance in prayer, from Christ and his mediation.
Can an unsaved heathen really expect to draw on the mediatorial work of Christ, something reserved only for the elect? Praying in Christ's name is reserved only for the saved. |
God is not required to hear the heathen but I prayed as a heathen and I am sure God heard me. He rains upon the just and unjust it says. As I said in my first post I encourage every person to call upon God in the name of Christ. And I believe God even heals pagans. He does good to those who are his enemies even. Why wouldn't a heathen be able to be heard by God?
Who was the guy who dipped seven times and was healed?
One more thing. Is the unregenerate unconverted spouse considered a Christian along with their children just because one parent is a converted Christian? Are they a saint? I don't think so. Holy has a different connotation in the context of 1 Cor. 7:14 as I noted in the Baptism thread Pilgrim started.