The confession of faith of the new converts

Here are some points worthy of attention regarding the new converts who make profession of piety or who join the church.

The new converts should immediately ask to be admitted to an evangelical church. By "immediately" I mean they should do it at the first opportunity. They should not wait. If from the beginning of their Christian life they are waiting, it is very likely that they will always wait, and will never achieve much. If when they were under the conviction of sin, they were taught to wait before giving themselves to Christ, or if, after their conversion, they were taught to wait before testifying publicly, by entering the church, that they have given themselves to God, it is likely that their life will be hesitant and stumbling. The first thing to teach them is this: Never wait when God has shown you your homework !

The conscience of the new converts must not be embarrassed by too much scrutiny on doctrines. It seems to be expected that they will be immediately aware of the particular doctrinal conceptions of each church, and may answer all the difficult theoretical questions. The result is that they are troubled, and give their assent to what they do not understand. Their conscience is embarrassed and therefore weakened. To leave them out of the church until they know about the whole doctrine system is to fail. Certain essential doctrines of Christianity are part of the experience of every true convert. They will testify to it, if they are questioned by appealing to what they know, and not so as to confuse and confuse them. Questions must be asked in a way that tells them what they know from experience, not what they have learned in theory, before or since their conversion.

It's not a school exam that you do ; you want to know if there has been a change of heart in them, if they know by experience the power of the great truths of Christianity in their own souls.

Jeremy Sourdril