It's July, and your 6 year old son, Johnny, invited one of his previous year kindergarden friends, Billy to VBS. It really helps out Billy's parents, they don't have to send him to child care this week, so they happily accepted. On the final day, Friday, following a fun week full of activities and delicious snacks as well as a well produced video highlighting the potential fiery punishment of Hell and the gold streets and rewards of Heaven, Billy is asked about whether he wants to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior and spend the rest of eternity with him, the loving shepherd. While eating his goldfish, Billy quickly says yes, excited and ready to pray with the teacher and his friend Johnny. They say the prayer, look up, and Billy as well as Johnny and teacher are all very happy and exciting, but now it's sad. The week is over and 1st grade is only a month away. A few weeks later you hear that Billy is moving to another city and you live the rest of your schooling career without ever seeing him again, but in college, you hear a rumor that a freshman, named Billy, with the same last name as the Billy you once knew, murdered seven people at a local mall and will be put on death row. You wonder...is Billy still a Christian? Is he going to Heaven?
The biggest problem with the question isn't actually the question itself. The true issue is whether Billy ever was truly saved or not. The problem is that in the Bible, we don't see the "sinner's prayer" anywhere in scripture. Salvation was not a prayer, it was dedicating your life and fully and truly believing that Christ is your Lord. That's what we have to consider. Many people would see this question and directly go to, "well I guess you can lose your salvation, because that guy obviously isn't saved?" But we have to examine whether Billy actually dedicated his life to Christ. We have to look at his life, and his life showed no signs of faith, no change in action, and no thought of God after that one day. No one can truly judge the heart, especially of a young kid, but God is the final judge, and he can truly see where the heart is.
The biggest problem with the question isn't actually the question itself. The true issue is whether Billy ever was truly saved or not. The problem is that in the Bible, we don't see the "sinner's prayer" anywhere in scripture. Salvation was not a prayer, it was dedicating your life and fully and truly believing that Christ is your Lord. That's what we have to consider. Many people would see this question and directly go to, "well I guess you can lose your salvation, because that guy obviously isn't saved?" But we have to examine whether Billy actually dedicated his life to Christ. We have to look at his life, and his life showed no signs of faith, no change in action, and no thought of God after that one day. No one can truly judge the heart, especially of a young kid, but God is the final judge, and he can truly see where the heart is.