How Young is Too Young for Salvation?

One thing that I’ve both thought about myself and discussed with other people is how old someone has to be before they can be genuinely saved. The common argument against young children getting saved is that they couldn’t possibly understand what they’re doing. I want to start out by saying that in some situations, this is the case. But, does that mean we hold them back if they insist they’re ready? As with any spiritual issue, we need to turn to the Bible.

In Mark 10, we see that parents begin to bring their children to Jesus while He is teaching. His disciples immediately try to turn the children away, but Jesus tells them “Let the children come to Me.” The interesting thing here is Jesus wasn’t referring to 10-12 year olds. The Greek word for children that’s used here is one that’s used very rarely in Scripture, and it refers specifically to small children, probably being around four or five years old. Jesus never said to make sure they understood fully who He was and what He was doing before they were brought to Him. Instead, He rebukes His disciples for stopping them and calls them over to Him.

In II Timothy 3:15, Paul writes and commends Timothy for knowing the Scriptures since he was a child, saying that throughout his childhood he has “known the sacred writings.” The exact same word for children from the previous passage is used here, indicating that in the time Paul was referring, Timothy was the same age as the children mentioned in Mark 10. The key word here is “known.” Paul doesn’t say he’d heard the sacred writings. He doesn’t even say he’d read the sacred writings. He says he knew the sacred writings, showing that Timothy had at least a basic understanding of what they said. Not only that, but those writings would have been the Old Testament, which is much harder to understand than the life of Jesus found in the Gospels. If a child is able to read and understand the Old Testament at such a young age, how much more could he understand Jesus’ eternal gift to us?

We also see an instance in the Old Testament that demonstrates God’s desire for children to come to Him. In 1 Samuel, we see that Samuel was called by God three time before Eli finally was convinced that it was in fact God who was talking to him. It’s unclear how old Samuel was when this happened, but he was definitely young enough for Eli to not take him seriously.

Does this mean that a salvation experience with a child is legitimate every time? No. I had two supposed salvation experiences in my childhood, and neither one was real. However, this doesn’t mean that we cast aside children who think they’re ready. God can call anyone at any age. If true salvation is the issue at hand, is this the only age group we have to worry about in that area? Last time I checked, over 80% of supposed Christian teens are leaving the church once they graduate high school. That’s not even taking into account the salvation experiences in the adult community. As with any age group, there needs to be follow-up and nourishment. If we’re just bringing people to Christ and abandoning them, what good are we?

In summation, be careful when judging small children who are coming to Christ. Sure, it might not be for real, but why ruin it for the few that it would be real for? Whatever the case, it’ll be between them and God when they get older. In the meantime,all we can do is accept them and dedicate ourselves to discipling them. Let’s accept children into the body rather than turning them away.

Thanks for reading.

Putting One's Trust in Man

Note to the readers:

I understand that many of you who read this will know exactly who I am referring to. I ask that anyone who reads this and comments would refrain from using the church's name or the pastor's name. The purpose of this blog is not to slander, but to make a point that goes far beyond the situation I'm writing about. Please understand this.



"It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man." Psalm 118:8


A couple years back, a particular church in my area began causing some issues. While their teachings were mostly okay, the practices were nothing short of cult-like. Close friends of mine were sucked into it and soon after completely cut off contact once I refused to join them. I watched a family get torn apart when the same thing happened to their daughter. I watched people instantaneously stop talking to their best friends, and then immediately backstab them, many times going as far as to call them unsaved. All of this was at the hands of one man, who at the time was the head pastor. The members of this church revered him. I actually worked with several of these members, and all I heard them talk about was how amazing this particular pastor was. The entire church website was dedicated to him. He painted himself as someone with no real weakness or struggle, and spent his whole time calling out other people. Anyone who said anything against him was met with anger and hostility from all the church members, no matter how sensible the person was being. This had gone on until a few months ago.

Three months ago, the pastor was no longer being featured on the church website. A few months later, which was recently, a news report came on TV that told about the pastor being arrested on 15 counts of child molestation. He is currently in jail with no bond.


"For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body." James 3:2


If we elevate ourselves a hundred feet above everyone else, we eventually have to either climb down or fall. Nobody is perfect. This blog post puts me just as much out on the line as it does this pastor. The moment we start pretending that we're perfect is the moment we make ourselves God. There is nobody who is incapable of any evil. Just as Psalm had to tell us earlier, man is not worth trusting. People let you down. The moment you put your faith in a person is the moment you fail. Too many times I have relied on people apart from God. There is nothing but disappointment and heartache to come out of it. Let this recent story serve as an example. Never put your trust in man. Put your trust in God.

Colin

The Circles of Sin

Ever read Dante's Inferno? If you haven't, I should probably warn you that it's a little explicit. Basically, it's a perspective of what Hell might actually be like. It's divided into nine "circles" which are creatively referred to as The Nine Circles of Hell. Each sin carries a certain weight, and each person is judged in a greater or lesser way depending on the seriousness of their sin. Interesting concept, but is that really how it works? Is there any sin that separates someone from the pack?

I began reading the book of Romans today. Romans 1 is probably one of the most infamous passages in all of Scripture, simply because of how it refers to the sin of homosexuality. Pastors across the U.S. and abroad have pounded their pulpits with the passage, yelling against the homosexual community as if they were a bunch of animals.

...Disclaimer...

I am not endorsing homosexuality, nor am I stating that it's not a sin. I believe firmly that the Scripture indicates it being a sin that has corrupted one of the original foundations laid out at the beginning of time: marriage between one man and one woman. Please to not interpret this as me siding with homosexuality.

...End of Disclaimer...

The passage carried out as I remembered it after reading it so many times when needing to answer to homosexuality. Then, I noticed the following verses. More specifically, this is Romans 1:29-31. It begins to talk about the hearts of these people who up to this point all we know is they turned to homosexuality. Go ahead and read it for yourself. Does it say that they were filled with homosexuality? Wait, no?

Surprisingly, it says they were filled with covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossip, slander, hate toward God, insolence, haughtiness, boastfulness, disobedience to parents, foolishness and faithlessness. So wait, is this a passage about homosexuality of not? Nope. It's a passage about sin. Isn't it funny how it mentions a sin that we've come to put on such a high pedestal right along with disobedience, foolishness and deceit? What about slander? I was going to list gossip, but I realized that not enough people struggled with that.

If God doesn't see a difference in these sins, why do we? Even if we say we don't, we act like we do. Homosexuality aside, what about people who stubble with alcoholism and addiction? Don't we put them in the same kind of category? We do a great job at pointing fingers at other people, but run and hide if the finger ever points to us. Instead of acting perfect to an imperfect world, we need to come to them as people who are vulnerable, people with struggles, and people who above all need grace. I heard someone once say that evangelism is one beggar showing another where to find bread. Such a profound statement. We have the exact same problems. We just know where to find the Truth.

Now, the finger points at you. How are YOU living?