does anyone believe...

[jesussaves]

...a three year old can get saved?

My grandaughter, who is only a couple months away from three, was asking me about Jesus a couple days ago. She wanted to know where He was. We were near the window so I pointed up to heaven and told her that He was way up past the clouds in heaven. Then I told her that He loved her and that she could go see Him there one day. She got so excited that she could get to see Jesus! She began to sing Jesus Loves Me in her little child voice that is such a blessing. She likes to pick up her tamborine and pound on it and sing Jesus Loves Me as she dances around the room sometimes. What a joy she is. Anyway, after we talked about Jesus being in heaven, I told her He could also live in her heart. Then I told her to just ask Jesus to come into her heart and He would live there too. So she says, "Jesus, come to my heart!" as she pounds on her chest. I nearly cried. She was so sincere. I know she does not know what salvation is all about yet, but do you believe one so little can experience salvation?

[amazingrace]

Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said ''suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me; for as such is the kingdom of heaven''

Only God knows the heart. At this point in her young life, she is capable of childlike like love. She loves her parents. She loves her grandparents. She loves Jesus. Whether she actually understands the concept of the sacrifice He made for her, is difficult to say. Most children of her tender years are unfamiliar with that kind of suffering, and have very little experience with death of any kind. What we can know, however, is that the love she has now needs to be nourished and encouraged, so that as she grows and matures this love will also grow and mature into saving faith.

[tsth]

Matthew 19:14  But Jesus said ''suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me; for as such is the kingdom of heaven''

Only God knows the heart.  At this point in her young life, she is capable of childlike like love.  She loves her parents.  She loves her grandparents.  She loves Jesus.  Whether she actually understands the concept of the sacrifice He made for her,  is difficult to say.  Most children of her tender years are unfamiliar with that kind of suffering, and have very little experience with death of any kind.  What we can know, however, is that the love she has now needs to be nourished and encouraged, so that as she grows and matures this love will also grow and mature into saving faith.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dear jesussaves,

I agree with the above, but just wanted to say also, that little children, have not walked through the "sin" that the adult has, so Christ and heaven just don't seem that distant in their hearts. Their capacity for love is truly wonderous. Having said that, we have to be sure that when we present the gospel, we understand that it can't be fully received until the concept of our sin state is fully understood. If a child is old enough to acknowledge their sinfulness and then they DO, then they can grasp the understanding of the price that Jesus paid for them. Without the concept of our "need" then the rest does not take root. Anyway, that is how you gauge whether or not one is old enough for salvation. They have to be able to fully grasp and encounter their own sin state.

Frankly I think that is much of the problem today with some professing to be Christian, who are really not............they never came to the point of repentance, true repentance. I know I didn't, until I was an adult. I went along thinking I was saved because of a prayer I prayed at 10, all along growing fully in my sinful lifestyle as I became an adult. It became too much, the Lord dealt with me, and I had to come to terms with my sin, and acknowledge that maybe I did say a prayer at 10, but my life NEVER went along with it. I came to TRUE salvation as an adult who was able to fully acknowledge my sinful state, and what a mess I was, and in need of my Lord and Savior. It was then that I "repented" of my sins, and asked Jesus to forgive me, because I TRULY didn't want to live like that anymore........ and I MEANT it! I then began the journey of a "new life"!!!

Praise the Lord!

(Sorry, didn't mean to get off topic, but just couldn't help it. )

In His Love,

Suzanne

[OneAccord]

My daughter is just like the little girl you described and there is no question in my mind that she is in Christ and has the Holy Spirit dwelling in her heart. His sheep hear His voice, the lambs too. My prayer for her would be that nothing would come along and quench that spirit in her, no one snuffs out the light. But remember also, that God is fully able to take care of His own.

Meanwhile, enjoy her pure and wonderful joy in the Lord!!!!! It's a beautiful thing! What a witness!!!!!

[Leonard]

Does a person get saved in their mind or in their soul. Is the spirit and soul of a person incapable of receiving the Gospel just because a physical organ called a brain cannot fully comprehend the Gospel?

We in the West seem to have deified the brain! Of course a 3 yr. old can believe the Gospel; that is a function of the inner man, not of the outer man.

[OneAccord]

"Lest ye become like little children ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven........"

I think our brains definitely get in the way of the Spirit. Can retarded people really be saved if they can't fully grasp their sin nature?????

The notion of this precious child not necessarily being saved because she can't fully grasp her sin nature is absurd. Salvation is a free gift from God, not based on how good we are at repenting.

[tsth]

You CANNOT leave out "repentance" as part of it. Lest the sacrifice on the cross is neglected.

Jesus said:

Repent! And believe!

Mark 6:12 So they went out and preached that people should repent.

Lu 13:3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Acts 17:30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,

We must have the foundation of repentance.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

You need to read my testimony above again, so that you might understand. Just because a child prays a prayer, does not mean that they are saved. You and I CANNOT determine the salvation of another, anymore than we can determine who is going to hell. We can only discern by the fruit born. We need to stop assuring those of salvation, who may not be saved!!! We are misleading them. I truly wish that someone would have told me the TRUTH about my state, sooner! Rather than assuring me of my salvation even though I was living like the devil. I bore NO FRUIT of a Christian. There was no obedience, and no belief. I just assumed that I was saved no matter what! I wasn't! I had to come to terms with my "SIN" and acknowledge it. That had not ever happened.

In His Love,

Suzanne

[Constant]

My neice is two years old almost and since she was in her mommy's womb, we read her the Children's Bible. My mom and my sister read it to her all the time and she is the one who usually brings them the book I am not sure if she understands things yet like that but it is great that she enjoys that biik

[Guest klynne]

Hello

I am new and couldn't resist sharing my children's story with Jesus Saves.

On my eldest daughter's third birthday, we bought her a Toddler's Bible which prompted a discussion about Jesus dying on the cross for our salvation and the promise of living with Him in heaven forever and all we had to do was believe it and invite Jesus to live in our hearts and He would help us to live like we should. She too was soooo excited and said she wanted Jesus to live in her heart so we prayed and she asked Jesus to save her. She led people to the Lord and shared Jesus with people and even got in trouble at school for sharing her faith. This was all from God because I never taught her to witness as I thought that would come later when she was older. When she was in public middle school she began to doubt and question things. She had been in private school and homeschooled before this. She was drawn to many of the foreign things public school has to offer and for about 6 months we had quite a battle with her and the enemy so my husband and I just prayed and prayed. There was no way that darkness and light could exist under the same roof. I told her that I believed that for all her younger years though she believed what we taught her about Jesus that she lived on our faith and in our protective world but it was time for her to seek Jesus for herself now that she was beginning the road to womanhood and entering the world and I knew God would meet her there, and I was not disappointed. Today, she is 15, in public High School and stronger than ever in the Lord and as God leads she boldly witnesses to other kids in her school how she came to her own faith in Christ and escaped the lure of that lifestyle of death and destruction that is so prevalent in our schools today.

We basically had the same experience with our two younger children now 8 and 9, and they too were just around three when they to decided they wanted to receive the gift of salvation that Jesus promised. My son was about three years old and while we were in a book store one day when he got up on the children's platform and began to preach that Jesus was Lord. I know I shouldn't have been, but I was shocked because I knew only God could have led him to do that. To this day he shares his faith to his classmates and friends. My youngest loves to watch her "God shows" every Saturday on TBN.

I believe it was the Holy Spirit that prompted the desire to know Jesus in all of my children and when I see how my daughter came through and finally overcame the vile temptations that middle school offered I am sure it was because she gave herself over to God when she was so young, and He was faithful to her and to us as parents to deliver her.

All praise, glory and honour to Jesus who is faithful.

[tsth]

Some of the responses on this thread, troubled me so greatly.

We do understand that repentance is necessary for salvation, don't we? Then why would we believe that OUR children are exempt from this part of the gospel? Repentance is ALWAYS the foundation for salvation, whether a child or adult. There were no stipulations in the Scriptures that said it was not meant for some. That some could be saved without first repenting? If we truly believe that, then we have lead our children down a very dangerous road. If we are telling our children that they are saved without repentance, then where is their submission to Christ as Lord, if they have not repented? They will grow to become stiff-necked, because you have told them "they are saved", when in fact, just like I WAS, they may be in rebellion to God, rather than surrendered to Christ, because they never came to a point of repentance.

In His Love,

Suzanne