Matt 18:1-7
- 1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
6“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
7Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!
Mark 10:13-15
- 13And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”
Rick, you could look at it the other way.
Having children I realise that they're quite willing to embrace God.
It actually kind of seems second nature to them as soon as they start thinking about where they came from.
I'm raising them also with a correct understanding of Christ and God. Some day I know, perhaps in their later adolescence, that they'll be faced with a decision of their own.
BUT, faith really isn't complicated. My kids have it, especially my daughter, perhaps even more-so than I do.
And yet, they know drastically little really and have little comprehension of what it all means.
However, if what Christ says is true, then their faith is what I should have.
They may even "try to be good" and the like, thinking that'll get them points.
But, such misunderstandings don't I think remove their honest faith.
Kenny once had the faith. Perhaps he too had the faith of a child.
I'm sure that child is still in there somewhere, because being a child was an important element of Kenny's life like it is us all.
And yet, maybe, somewhere along the way someone or people caused the Kenny child to stumble and fall away.
I'm not blame shifting, since we all bear responsibility as adults for our decisions, but nonetheless, I'm getting to a question which is...
Could not Kenny be saved on account of his child-like faith that is still a part of who he is?
We are complicated as people, and I dare say barely really know ourselves or even what we believe.
We are so full of contradictions.
Although Ken consciously denies Christ right now, perhaps when all the chaff is burnt away there is actually that child buried beneath all of what life has thrown his way.
That child, who did have a faith in Christ and believed, which for some reason or another become dimmed and torn away.
Who is to really say? Only Christ knows.
There are two options as I see matters.
1) Kenny did not have the right kind of faith.
2) Kenny did have a child-like faith.
And if OSAS is correct, then Kenny will be born into a new imperishable body when resurrected.
But if OSAS is not correct, then who Kenny is now may hold greater weight than that child part of him.
In any case, I cannot rule out that Kenny does not
still belong to Christ.
There are signs to me that he does (e.g., his being pulled here and remaining), and signs to be that he does not (e.g., his current conscious resistance to Christ).
So I cannot say whether or not Kenny did/didn't have faith in Christ and is as such saved/not saved.
At the end of the day I pray that the child is still there who trusts in Christ however small.
I also pray that he rediscovers and finds some peace
in this life with Christ.
So I will lay the facts of the matter out and let him decide.
There is no need to protect our inability to understand how someone can have faith and then walk away.
At the end of the day I see theological motivations like OSAS versus falling away, being vomited out of God's mouth/insulting the Holy Spirit and all that other theological baggage.
But, more important in situations like this is the person, understanding and open dialogue rather than protecting our theology --
not that you're necessarily doing this,
but it is a hard (and sad) pill for me to swallow that someone actually did believe and walked away, such that I too want to try a justify through a "
no true scotsman" or similar.