Children and Repentance

Is there one gospel for adults and a different one for children? If there is, I don’t see anything written about it in the Bible. The fact is that Jesus said, “Let the little children come unto me.” He didn’t authorize us to change the terms for people coming to him.

Before any person can be saved, certain criteria must be met. That person must be old enough to understand the gospel. He or she must understand sin and realize that he or she needs forgiveness. And the person must repent of his or her sin and believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died to take the punishment for the sins of his people. It’s not so hard. But I find that many people these days tend to leave out the repentance part.

What the Bible Says About Repentance

Acts 3:19  Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

Matthew 4:17
From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Matthew 11:20
Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.

Mark 6:12
They went out and preached that people should repent.
Mark 6:11

Luke 5:32
“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Luke 13:3
“I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Luke 15:10
“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Acts 2:38
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

After reading these verses, can you honestly say that all a child has to do to become a Christian is repeat a prayer? In order to lead someone to salvation, it may take more than a couple of minutes. You may have to invest some time teaching and plowing up that ground for the gospel seeds. It is a good thing for us all to consider the Lord's word to those who lead children astray:

“But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”  Matthew 18:6,

God is not Santa! He requires certain things, and it is not up to us to rewrite these requirements to fit in with our cultural preferences.

What does repent mean? Repent means to change your mind about something. When we repent of sin, we don't feel the same about it as we used to. Sin makes us uncomfortable and it bothers us when we have it in our lives. Living a lifestyle of repentence means that we repent, or turn away from the things that God shows us are wrong day by day. Children, like everyone else, need to know that part of becoming a  Christian is repenting of sin.