Except You Become A Child

There is no room in the kingdom of God for anyone but children. The arrogant, self-sufficient, highly confident, self-righteous, unteachable, self-made, and determined go-it-alone crowd need not apply. Jesus said it well and fully beyond argument. "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." (Mark 10:15) Multitudes have turned from the straight way at this altar and either found another Gospel or turned from the faith completely. This is the dividing point for eternal salvation. Our highly intellectual world has devised many systems of doctrines to placate the unbending flesh, and only eternity will reveal the hopelessness of it all.

"Never man spake like this man." (John 7:46b) The words of the Son of God were divine truth that cannot fail. The only man or woman who can approach the cross are those who agree and accept the helplessness of all flesh to save. As long as we hold one glimmer of thought that our goodness, worth, and works can have one ounce of bearing on our salvation, there will be no salvation. The fallen nature of all flesh demands that we approach the Father in total assurance that Jesus’ Blood alone redeems from sin. There is nothing to add, and any effort to do so renders all hope in vain. "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." (Psalm 34:18) This is the great office of the Holy Spirit to convict the unsaved sinner so that he declares himself utterly lost unless and until he puts absolute trust in Jesus Christ.

A great word in the Bible that has been miserably misunderstood is the word, "Believe." It has been reduced to a form of the intellect with a little bit of heart. The true definition of "believe" is abandonment to the all-consuming merits of the bleeding Savior on the cruel cross. "Believing on the Son of God" is the idea of a man seeking goodly treasures, who, when he discovered that one treasure, sold all that he had and bought it. When a person "believes" in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is confessing that all values and joys of life are found only in Him. It is a radical surrender to Him, completely forsaking of all except as it is now pleasing to Him. Like a child, we cling to nothing else but Him alone; and all other aspects of life are weighed in the balance of His will and purpose. When the Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house," (Acts 16:31) this is what our Father means.

It is so easy to be religious on the surface and unchanged in the heart. That is why Jesus Christ made this startling pronouncement. ". Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." (Mark 10:15) There are dear souls reading this Salty Saints that have been religious all their lives, but never truly born again. You can judge that by great truth from the Lord. Is He Lord of all or is He just one of your many interests? Did you bring your own agenda and plans into your religious commitment or did you abandon everything to become totally dependent on Him? Do you seek His will before you make one solitary plan? A disciple of Jesus Christ is not his own, he has been bought with a price. He has a plan for your life that has been created for you on the highest possible level. Our Great God is building His kingdom on this earth and for all eternity, and He wants you in His plans.

Now, we understand why a newborn believer is instructed, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." (I Peter 2:2) This strikes our self-sufficient generation as hard and demeaning. Why would the Lord demand that I become as a "child" and then call me a "babe" in need of "growing"? We all are born sinners, and we do not have any capacity to make spiritual choices. We do not have any Biblical values to bring into the Christian walk and life. Every saint must begin as a spiritual infant receiving Christ as a child and then beginning the wonderful walk that starts at ground zero growing into a mature saint representing Jesus Christ in a hostile environment. You will never be sorry that you humbled yourself and started on the journey of your spiritual life. It’s a "trip!"