Grace Evangelical Society

P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202
  • About
    • Home
    • Beliefs
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • Resources
    • Grace in Focus Blog
    • Grace in Focus International Blogs
    • Grace in Focus Radio
    • Grace in Focus Magazine
    • Free eBooks
    • Journal of the GES
    • Book Reviews
    • Partners in Grace Newsletter
    • Audio Messages
    • Videos
    • Email Subscription
    • Online Tracts
  • Store
    • Main Page
    • On Sale
    • Return Policy
    • Your Cart
    • Your Account
  • Events
  • Seminary
    • Seminary Info
    • GES Seminary Curriculum
    • GES Seminary Faculty
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Free Grace Church and Bible Study Tracker
    • Free Grace Jobs
    • Ministry Links
  • Donate
    • One Time Donation
    • Monthly Donation
    • Your Account
  • Search
Home
→
Blog
→
Contradictions in a Family Catechism

Contradictions in a Family Catechism

February 10, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Bevins, catechism

I’ve been reading Winfield Bevins’s Grow at Home: A Beginner’s Guide to Family Discipleship. It is a simple introduction to every parent’s responsibility to teach his or her children about Jesus. The book (or booklet) contained little new information for me, but it might be helpful to a family thinking about this issue for the first time.

The fourth chapter, “Teaching Children Truths through Catechism,” contains a simple “Family Catechism” to use with your kids (pp. 47-52). For the most part, the catechism is clear, and I agree with much of it. But when it comes to teaching about salvation, it gets fuzzy. Bevins does not consistently emphasize faith as the sole condition of being born again.

For example, questions 15, 25, and 35 emphasize faith or believing:

15. Q. What are we saved from?
A. We are saved from sin and death by grace through faith in God.

25. Q. What does the Holy Spirit do in our life?
A. The Holy Spirit baptizes every believer into the body of Christ and bestows upon us spiritual gifts.

35. Q. What is our duty to God?
A. Our duty is to believe and trust in God.

However, in other questions, the condition of salvation changes:

17. Q. What must we do to be saved?
A. We must repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

No mention of faith here. Now there are two conditions: repentance plus acceptance. But what does that mean? Is acceptance a synonym for faith? What does it mean to repent? Bevins defines repentance in the next question:

18. Q. What does it mean to repent?
A. To repent means to turn from our sin to God in order to live a new life of obedience to Christ.

If repentance means turning from sin to living “a new life of obedience to Christ,” then isn’t Bevins teaching salvation by “a new life of obedience” plus “acceptance”? That would be works salvation.

However, maybe living that new life is the result of repentance and not the act of repentance itself. In which case, the condition of salvation would be “turning from sin to God” plus “acceptance.” But there’s still a problem—Bevins is not clear that the only condition to be born again is to believe in Jesus.

Repentance is very important, no question about it. And Bevins is right that repentance involves turning from sin to God. But repentance is not a co-condition with faith to have everlasting life (see Bob’s book Turn and Live). The only condition is to believe in Jesus for the eternal salvation He promises.

In question 21 Bevins writes:

21. Q. What do we mean by everlasting life?
A. We will live with God forever.

But here is what he says about assurance:

22. Q. What is our assurance as Christians?
A. Our assurance as Christians is that nothing, not even death, shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That’s true. Believers can be assured of God’s love. But what Bevins does not say, but should, is that believers are assured of living with God forever (i.e., having everlasting life). Why? Because of Jesus’ own promise to the believer, namely, that believers “have” everlasting life (John 3:16, 36; 5:24; 6:47). And the only condition to have everlasting life is to believe, believe, believe. One act of faith is all it takes to live with God forever.

Bevins does not make that clear in his Family Catechism. I wish he did. You should definitely make that clear when you’re catechizing your kids.

Subscribe by Email

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
Shawn_L

by Shawn Lazar

Shawn Lazar (BTh, McGill; MA, VU Amsterdam) was the Editor of Grace in Focus magazine and Director of Publications for Grace Evangelical Society from May 2012 through June 2022. He and his wife Abby have three children. He has written several books including: Beyond Doubt: How to Be Sure of Your Salvation and Chosen to Serve: Why Divine Election Is to Service, Not to Eternal Life.

If you wish to ask a question about a given blog, email us your question at ges@faithalone.org.

Recently Added

June 16, 2025

Are Angels Spirit Beings Without True Physical Bodies?

It is quite common in Christianity to refer to angels as spirit beings. That is probably because of verses like Heb 1:7 “Who makes His...
June 16, 2025

How Could the Apostles Be So Blessed and Yet Suffer So Much?

Welcome to the Grace in Focus podcast. Today, Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr are talking about a seeming paradox. Why were the apostles promised blessings...
June 13, 2025

When Do the Beast and the False Prophet Get Judged? (Revelation 20:10)

The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will...

Grace in Focus Radio

All Episodes

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Listen on YouTube

Grace In Focus Magazine

Grace In Focus is sent to subscribers in the United States free of charge.

Subscribe for Free

The primary source of Grace Evangelical Society's funding is through charitable contributions. GES uses all contributions and proceeds from the sales of our resources to further the gospel of grace in the United States and abroad.

Donate

Grace Evangelical Society

(940) 270-8827 / ges@faithalone.org

4851 S I-35E Suite 203, Corinth, TX 76210
P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram