<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]It is not wise to assure someone that Chist died for their sins because it may not be true.</font><hr></blockquote><p><br><br>Susan,<br><br>Then it was unwise for the apostle Paul to tell the church at Corinth that Christ died for their sins (1 Corinthians 15). Paul was addressing the elect, but he was treating the visible church as such. Otherwise, he would have been speaking strictly in the abstract; after all, there was not a 100% guarantee that there were any true believers at Corinth, though he did say that Christ did for their sins. In other words, the apostle treated the members of the visible churches as those for whom Christ died.<br><br>I would imagine that you would tell someone that you thought was a believer that Christ died for his sins – even though it might not be true. If so, then your point would seem to be not so much that it is wrong to do so categorically, but that we should only do so when someone actually professes Christ, which brings us full circle. The evidence that a child is born of believing parents does not satisfy you with respect to your treating such a one as child whom Christ died for. I, on the other hand, would argue that the apostle Paul addressed the baptized community as saints and that we should do the same. Pragmatically speaking, there is evidence simply by virtue of the child being born within a Christian home. Notwithstanding, my view is not based upon what I feel with resepct to the subjective evidence, but upon the precedence that I believe Scripture records for us.<br><br>I must leave this discussion now.<br><br>Blessings,<br><br>Ron<br>