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.