A Child’s Salvation – Part 1

This spring, I spent some moments remembering my spiritual “birthday”. It’s been a blessing to walk in faith with the Lord Jesus Christ for many years! I was a little child when I repented of my sin and put my trust in Jesus for what He did on the cross, taking sin’s punishment for me, and rising again to give me eternal life. He is my Saviour and my God!

Yes, I was a young preschooler. It’s true that I also don’t think all preschoolers grasp what salvation is. But I also think (and know) that it IS possible and that some indeed do.

Why?

Why can a child come to true saving faith? Because the Bible tells me so. And so does God’s Spirit when He comes in – the person him/herself can experience true assurance, hope, joy of God living within him/her at whatever age that new life begins! (e.g. John 3:16, John 5:24, 1 John 5:13-15, Romans 3:22; Romans 10:13, Romans 8:16)

This series of posts (I split them into parts for easier reading) are meant to help Christian parents and ministry workers with children to think about the faith of a child who comes to Christ.

I felt it was important to write about particular concerns or hesitancies that some might have if they hear of a child/young person’s faith and commitment now instead of waiting until they are “older”. This series is meant to offer background for why it is important to share the gospel with any child who wants to listen and why we should encourage each child who expresses a genuine desire and comfort in knowing Jesus personally for themselves!

Responses From Parents

One summer when I was involved with children’s ministry, I was thrilled to hear that one of the little guys who was in our camp program had come to my supervisor asking how to be saved. She had gone through the gospel with him and he had understood and prayed with her. How excited he was to tell his parents!

Sadly, though, his mom was angry because we thought that a four-year old could understand such a matter, that God could be leading him at such a young age. And angry at us because we dared to share the gospel with him instead of just telling him other Bible stories! I don’t doubt that she tried to squash his claim to now have Jesus living within him for she sincerely believed that he had experienced a false conversion and that it could mess him up for when he was “old enough” later.

When, as a little girl, I told my parents that Jesus had just forgiven my sins and was now living in my heart – that He was my Saviour (not just theirs), I remember my parents being gentle and encouraging. I do also remember that my mom was somewhat hesitant at first and so kept asking me periodically what I had remembered about that day when I knelt beside my bed with my sister (who is quite a bit older than I). What had I understood? What had Jesus done for me? What did I really believe? What had happened? (And rightly so – to check what a person, especially one who is really young, understands; and to watch for true “fruit” (which are the results of the Holy Spirit at work in a Christian’s life).)

But I was not scorned or ignored by my godly parents. They carried on, praying for and with me and teaching me more and more about God and His Word daily, as I grew in Him. They continued to bring me into various conversations and encouraged me in my walk with the Lord, as did my other family members and children’s ministry people at my church.

My camp ministry supervisor noticed a new children’s song around that time, and we decided as a team to learn it and teach it to other children who came that summer. The words went like this:

“I may be too little to drive a car,
Or get in a plane and travel far.
But I’m not too little to know that I have sinned,
And I’m not too little to let the Saviour in,
For if I believe and truly receive,
I’m not too little in my heart.”

(Written by “Anonymous”. I’d love to know who wrote this song! I remember the tune and I think there may have been a second verse as well. The year we learned it would have been around 1989.)

The Simplicity of the Gospel

Sometimes, adults can make the good news of God’s salvation so complex and detailed in theological doctrinal explanations that it discourages little ones (and even older people too) from understanding. It’s good for us to remind ourselves what the Bible actually says about the gospel message and also to remember the passages where children are mentioned. God’s plan for salvation remains simple enough that a child CAN understand.

God’s Spirit brings that understanding. It doesn’t take a scholar to learn it enough. It doesn’t take strength of body or speech either. In fact, that kind of wisdom and power can seemingly impede a person from trusting in Christ as his/her God and Saviour! (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

God’s Word (the Bible) tells us that God wants ALL to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9), that He draws ALL, gives light to EVERY person (i.e. “light” and “drawing” being a sufficient understanding, opportunity to trust Him – I don’t know all about how He does that but the Bible says so and thus I need to trust that He works in each person’s life). (John 1:9, 12:32)

In the Bible, children were invited to come to Jesus. In contrast, some adults were compelled – as if they seemed to need some sort of humbling or persuasion.

The faith of a little child simply trusts and can readily “get” the fact that people cannot save themselves or get rid of their own sin. An adult tries to come up with strategies to be in control or try to make themselves worthy enough to at least help God along with salvation by doing something.

But young children don’t often have that in mind.

They see His power in creation. They hear of His power in Bible stories. They can recognize Jesus as the only One Who can save them from sin’s punishment in hell and take them to His heavenly home instead. They can understand what it’s like to see something dirty and get something stained or that it become totally clean. This is part of their common experiences in life. They KNOW they need help on the big stuff! So something as important as eternity and wanting complete peace from God, they don’t as much look to themselves to settle that matter.

Little Children Can Believe in Jesus…

Here is a list that is mainly summarized from a CEF “Minimag No. 5, 2021” (see the current issue here) and a website by a family in children’s ministry.

Little children…

• can believe in Him (Words of Jesus) – “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin….” Matthew 18:6a NKJV (Someone has correctly remarked, “If Jesus said they can believe in Him, that’s good enough for me!”)
• can be believers (Titus 1:6)
• can, in childhood, understand Scripture for salvation (2 Timothy 3:15)
• can set their hope (trust) in God (Psalm 78:4-7)
• can hear the voice of God’s Spirit and respond to it (1 Samuel 3:10)
• can do what is right in the sight of the Lord (2 Chronicles 34:1-3)
• can talk to God Himself (no age limits mentioned in Scripture) about anything that concerns them
• would be included as one of the “whosoever/anyone” (e.g. John 3:16)
• can be “old enough” at the age of 3 years to know about dedicating their lives to serve the LORD and to “be faithful in consecrating themselves” to Him (i.e. asking Him to forgive their sins). (2 Chronicles 31:14-18, in context of chapters 30 & 31) (My point here is that the message of dedicating one’s life to the LORD does not need to wait until the child is grown up! I have read a piece of “Christian” advice in an educational philosophy for teaching preschoolers – that parents should teach only basic Bible stories and good behavior (aka character education) to little children but not present the gospel to them because they are “too little” to intellectually make a decision for salvation in Christ. I think that notion is refuted in the Bible both in this passage as well as the above other points. We’re to be faithful in telling God’s loving truth regardless of results of our telling.)

Re: Doubts

It is important to remember that if a child has doubts, it might not be an indicator that he or she has not experienced salvation yet. And doubts are no reason to tell them to wait until they are older to order to understand. The very fact that they express a doubt, shows that they are able to comprehend such a concern and thus able to comprehend their sense of need for the Saviour!

Of those who are saved, anyone – young or old – can have doubts, where they seek a full assurance of faith.

Sometimes doubts are a time of testing of one’s willingness or genuineness for what he or she has claimed to believe. This kind of doubt is also known as a “testing of faith”. (James 1:2-4, Deuteronomy 8:16, 13:3, 2 Corinthians 8:7-8 (1-15; cf. Exodus 16:4), 1 Peter 1:7).

Sometimes doubts can come as a result of not understanding as well what God’s Word teaches about salvation (e.g. being influenced by people who teach that salvation can be lost and regained lots of times or that only those who understand complexities of soteriology can understand enough to be saved). His divine will is always for someone to be saved! (2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:4, John 1:9, 12:32). Salvation is eternally secure in Christ (John 5:24, 10:28-29, Colossians 3:3). Prayerfully learn and be rooted in what the Bible says is true (Hebrews 4:14, 10:19-25, Revelation 3:11).

Other times doubts occur because someone who, through choosing wrong paths after being saved, have grieved and quenched the Holy Spirit in his or her life to the extent that they have become so out of fellowship with their Lord, that they have forgotten that their sins have been forgiven! This kind of doubt may also be known as “backsliding”, where one is filled with going their own ways, turning from humility, obedience, and/or commitment to living according to God’s directions (Proverbs 14:14, 2 Peter 1:8-9).

But, the remedy remains the same for the young as it does for the old, and for the “not sure” and the “sure not” – to trust Christ, and be assured of salvation based on the Word of God!

Think of the opposite of doubt – faith. Have faith in the right God (e.g. not yourself) and the right way (with repentance of sin you know about)). Stop doubting and believe.

Verses such as 1 John 5:13-14, Romans 10:13 are good to share with children such as when you ask them if they sincerely meant trusting in Christ as their Saviour from sin, if they asked God Himself to come into their life to change them and be with them forever. If you truly called on the Lord, then you can be sure that, according to the Word of God, He heard you and will do what you have asked.

Salvation is a gift that’s purchased by Christ, offered by grace, received by faith, and kept by God’s power.

The Importance of the Word of God

How or why can a child know how to be saved?

They get to know how the same way any of us can know how.

As mentioned above, we don’t have to complicate things.

God’s way is better than a traditional scholar’s way of ‘scrutinize child development, present knowledge, drill, test, graduate with a certificate’. Instead, His way remains simple and sufficient –

All that is necessary is the Word of God and the Spirit of God together making known to the individual of his or her need of the Saviour and that person responding back in faith!

Roles?

God’s Spirit looks after the aspect of bringing the person understanding (a.k.a. drawing a person to Himself. giving them understanding).

We are privileged to be God’s workers, together with Him (1 Cor. 3:9 KJV, 2 Cor. 5:17-6:1, 2:14, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8) and sent by Him, to spread the Word of God, the knowledge of Christ – to tell people what the Bible says. It’s like we’re sowing seed and God causes this kind of seed to grow in understanding within a person.

Salvation doesn’t need to take many years of doctrinal training for an adult to understand his/her need and respond to God, nor does it need to take many years for a child. Do not be afraid if the child is young but too young to grasp many of the big words or in-depth details yet. (You can read more about tips for counselling under the heading near the bottom about “False Versus True Conversions”.)

In the matter of presenting the gospel, our role as parents or children’s ministry leaders is to help each child whom we are teaching…

• to understand the truth of Who God is and what He has done for us
• to understand how they also can get to Heaven and spend eternity with God
• and to give them opportunity to respond to God’s invitation of eternal life.

Your role simply is to teach them the Word of God and encourage them to respond to the gospel in faith. It isn’t your role to make decisions for them – salvation is an individual matter between each one and God. (I write more about this point in part 2.) But it also isn’t our role to know their heart as to determine “if” they are “old enough” to hear the gospel message – God knows the heart, you don’t.

So, I say to Christian parents and ministry workers – entertaining stories, completing a certain amount of written doctrinal lesson fill-in blanks, training of good habits – these things are not actually necessary for a child to be saved, to understand salvation and begin a relationship with Jesus, to be assured of everlasting life! But that which IS critically important is that they hear the Word of God!

• Are you telling and explaining the Word of God to them in your conversations and in your lessons? Or are you ignoring the Bible’s gospel message until “they are older”?

• Are you tiring yourself with trying to “make the Bible relevant” so that the message is harder to see or obscured? Or are you resting in God’s goodness and actually telling the Bible’s message which is already relevant “to all generations”?

If you sow the Word of God, you can trust that He WILL use it and enable people to understand it. Keep sowing that kind of seed! (Luke 8:11)

Here are some verses to remember:

“Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heaves are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My word that goes out from My mouth: It shall not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”” Isaiah 55:6-11 (NIV’84)

“Through Him you believe in God, Who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God…For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God. For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the Word that was preached to you….Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it, you may grow up…” 1 Peter 1:21-2:2 (NIV’84)

“For their is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without a preacher [lit: a proclaimer of divine truth]? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news [gospel]!” So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:12-15, 17 (NIV’84, NKJV)

“For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13 NKJV

Examples of Individuals

Below are just a handful of examples of commitments to Christ before the age of 18. Perhaps some of my readers will find their own stories share some similar things (besides sharing in the same gospel) with these:

• Corrie ten Boom asked the Lord Jesus to forgive her sins and come into her life at the age of 5.
• Jim Elliot made a profession of salvation around the age of 6 years old.
• Elizabeth Elliot trusted in Christ around the age of 5 years old, followed by a definite commitment at age 12.
• Norman J. Clayton, author of hymns and choruses such as “Now I Belong to Jesus” and “My Hope is in the Lord”, gave his heart to Jesus at the age of 6.
• Robert Cottrill put his faith in Jesus Christ at the age of 7.
• Steve Green trusted Christ as his Saviour at the age of 8.
• Matthew Henry’s conversion to Christ took place before he was 11 year old.
• Mary Slessor as a child, before the age of 11 (ref. pages 11-12)
• Rudy Atwood accepted Christ as his personal Saviour around the age of 10 (spoken testimony)
• Philip Bliss did not remember a time when he did not love the Lord but he made his public confession of Christ at the age of 12.
• Philip Henry (Matthew Henry’s father) was saved at age 13 but, given his church culture, it wasn’t acknowledged until age 16.
• Amy Carmichael accepted Christ as her Saviour at the age of 13 or around age 15/16. (The difference could be in how some might interpret a first-time steps of personal faith versus reassurance or more complete understanding of the gospel.)
• Isaac Watts trusted the Lord Jesus as his own personal Saviour at the age of 15.
• Harry Ironside believed in Jesus as his personal Saviour, instead of just knowing about Him, at the age of 14.
• Frances Ridley Havergal knew God’s forgiveness and committed her life to Him at the age of 14.
• Billy Graham made his decision for Christ at the age of 16.
• Ruth Graham Bell (Billy Graham’s wife) personally understood salvation as a young child. She also may not have known the details of age/date.
• And while interesting to know about, these specifics are NOT important, despite that this list you’ve been reading gives ages in order to give examples that young lives can come to Jesus as their personal Saviour and Lord.

My story –

• For many years of my (Joy’s) own life, I did not know my “date of salvation” either. Of course I was curious to know that tidbit of info too, but what really mattered, was NOT the age and NOT the date. My mom used to say that she didn’t remember her “date” either (and that my grandpa, who had been orphaned, had to pick a birthdate for an immigration record but didn’t know exactly when he was born). But she knew she WAS born AND that she was born again! (Mom committed or recommitted her life to the Lord after a revival tent meeting service – it didn’t matter whether it was a first-time or a subsequent time – she knew God knew and that from then onwards, now she knew for sure too!) I say I “didn’t” know (past tense) the date when Jesus came into my life to save me. Below tells more of my testimony:
  • I can still remember things like that it was a school day because I had to wait until my sister came home to ask her my question about how to become a Christian. I don’t think there was snow on the ground, I clearly remember I was 3 years old, and that she read through one of the orange/black/white tracts from Child Evangelism Fellowship we had around our house to help her explain the gospel to me. I remember praying to the Lord with my sister and printing my name on the tract after I had been saved. (Note: I’m saved by faith, not because I printed my name on something or repeated a prayer meaninglessly. I know I meant what I said to Jesus.)
  • I vividly remember the change I experienced – I had been very afraid that Jesus would return before I was ready and I used to run out of the living room if certain stories from Children’s Bible Hour were being played on our record player because I wanted to ignore thinking about my sin and Jesus knowing all about me. (For a bit, I purposely skipped parts on the records instead, scratching some fairly badly.) In my thoughts, I knew that it wasn’t enough for my family to be Christians or for me to regularly attend a good church – I needed Jesus to be my own personal Saviour because hanging onto other Christians wouldn’t work at all. I wanted to have Jesus take away all my sins because He was the only One Who could since He had died and rose again for me. I wanted to truly belong to the Lord to have Him with me always. I wanted to follow Him. Since the time when He came into my life that day, God gave me His instant peace and assurance including that if Christ should come back in my lifetime or when I die, I would go to be with Him.
  • Many years later, just before my wedding, I was surprised to hear that my mom had been doing some spring cleaning and had found my sister’s old diary from that year. On March 26, Carolyn had written that “Today…I led my little sister to the Lord…”

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
Mark 10:13-16

ESV

False Versus True Conversion Experiences

(Part 2 deals with this major concern more. The Lord willing, that webpage will get finished and linked at the bottom of this page eventually. I am actually in the midst of writing a full book on this topic and this particular project is ongoing these months as I am enabled to work on it.)

Was the true gospel sincerely understood and accepted?

Here are a few notes from things I’ve gathered and/or taught about this:

About Praying for Salvation –

• True repentance and faith isn’t only a “feeling” (emotional experience) after saying a prayer. Yes, there is emotion because we’re people made with emotions. But a true conversion commitment is more than just emotion.

• Counselling and prayer can be done in a group setting. (There were children who came to Jesus together at the same time He taught that faith was individual. Mark 10:14-15)
  • However, it can be more special and remembered perhaps better if these conversations are with an individual child for this time…
    • so that a leader can ask questions to see how a child is understanding (because sometimes they don’t yet and need a clearer answer),
    • so that children are not just imitating their friends or feeling peer-pressure to raise their hands or repeat something to get something (but don’t understand anything other than that it sounds good and happy to do this), and
    • so that a leader can be an encouragement personally to the child. This could involve helping a child mark a Bible verse(s) that God has used to speak to them that day, writing down their response with a date on it, giving them a Bible or ideas for next steps to grow in their faith in God, and/or praying again to thank the Lord now for their new life in Christ. (Many Christians would also know this as the start of discipling a child to continue now to spiritually grow, as directed in Matthew 28:19-20.)

• If we lead a child(ren) in a prayer for a first time of realizing their need to come to Jesus (or if they just want to “make sure” because they aren’t sure if they have understood enough before), we should remember that it isn’t as much the prayer of how things are exactly said as it is the faith in the child’s heart as they reach out to take the hand of Jesus Who has been reaching out to them.

• Sometimes a child would like to express this in prayer without being led by a leader and this is fine too. One older girl I counselled at camp did so and part of her prayer was asking Jesus to please write her name down in the Book of Life He had up there so that she could go to heaven because she believed He had died for her sin.

• “Prayer or faith?” This might be asked if an older person has complicated the gospel message with comments such as, “You prayed and you say you’re a Christian. Don’t you know you’re saved by faith and there’s no verse that says people are saved by praying the ‘sinner’s prayer’.”
  • A child wouldn’t usually (and doesn’t need to) separate one word from the other. It is faith that saves but prayer remains our expression to God of trust in Him. We must trust in Jesus/have faith in Jesus for Who He is and what He has done for us in paying for our sins. A group of children were asked, “How can we trust in God?” And a child answered, “We can pray!” He understood! Children can easily understand that if we pray about things, that means we’re taking it to Jesus and letting Him look after that for us – we’re trusting Him.
  • A ‘sinner’s prayer’ is simply supposed to be a prayer from a person who sincerely recognizes he or she is a sinner before God and deserves to be punished for their sinfulness but is coming humbly to God to ask forgiveness/mercy because they believe/depend on Christ and what He accomplished on their behalf in His death, burial, and resurrection.
• “I prayed and accepted Jesus into my heart” (or similar expressions of receiving Christ as Saviour personally) – This statement also might questioned (or shot down) by an older person who has heard other “grown-ups” talk about their disgruntlement for using this phrase. It’s one that was somewhat decried back when I was a teen in children’s ministry and I recall going to my parents when I heard of it. (We sighed.) After that training, I know in my own ministry to children, I’ve hesitated using that phrase in teaching sometimes – not because the children wouldn’t understand it but rather because I didn’t want to cause potential issues with any adult who might not agree that it could be used.
  • This is an expression that fits with the meaning of Bible verses such as John 1:12 and Ephesians 3:17. We shouldn’t be afraid of using such expressions as long as the person understands how it relates to the truth of the Biblical gospel – and many children do grasp a correct meaning. But hearing this phrase unnecessarily being ‘picked-on’ by a grown-up later could cause them to doubt their salvation or hinder their Christian walk.
    • To accept means the same as to receive, to respond favourably such as to a gift or an invitation, to want, to desire a new change, etc.. If someone “accepts Jesus”, they can understand that He takes their sin as Saviour and now lives inside their innermost being as their Lord and King to obey and honor.
    • Again, let’s try not to complicate how to be saved and how a Christian might express their personal decision when they came to first know Jesus as their Saviour and Lord – when the Bible teaches us that a child-level of faith is explementary.

Remember the song I mentioned earlier?

“I may be too little to drive a car,
Or get in a plane and travel far.
But I’m not too little to know that I have sinned,
And I’m not too little to let the Saviour in,
For if I believe and truly receive,
I’m not too little in my heart.”

Consider these points when counselling ANY person about salvation –

1. Did the person only want to not want judgment for sin (e.g. hell) or did the person desire to get rid of sin itself (i.e. to not displease the Lord but instead really want to be and do all that God wants)?

Ask the person “why” he or she wants to come to Christ.

2. Did the person want to just get “fire insurance” and end up in heaven someday or does he/she really want a personal relationship to know Jesus Christ and to be close to Him always, including all throughout this life and into eternity?

For example, you might ask him or her does he or she want to be doing what God says, following Christ.

3. In other words, “what” has the person understood about Christ’s offer of salvation to him/her and “what” has been his/her genuine response to that offer? For example, has the person understood what these words mean…. ?

• sin
• wages of sin or punishment/consequence of wrongdoing
• death, life
• perish, hell, heaven
• God, Jesus
• saved/salvation
• eternity/eternal/everlasting/forever
• repent
• believe?

Ask – Have you done anything that God calls wrong? If the person doesn’t readily understand that, they need to take some time to realize that point before they can understand that they need a Saviour from sin.

• If the child admits to this point with understanding, continue on.
• But if the child does not admit his or her own sinfulness, let them think about this point until its grasped some time later. It might be soon. Pray for or with the child to ask God to help him or her understand.

Part 2 (link to be announced here)