Except Ye Become As Little Children by Bill Harper
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, AND BECOME AS LITTLE CHILDREN, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself AS THIS LITTLE CHILD, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
- Matthew 18:2-4 KJV
Even though we are all, as The Bible says, " conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity " ( Psalm 51:5 ) in our mothers' womb and so are born into this world with an inherent carnal sin nature which we have from Adam and Eve who were the first parents, there is a certain innocence about all children until they reach the age of accountability. At that stage in their lives they begin to be able to choose between good and evil. That innocence is lost the first time that they willingly choose to do wrong and are thus led into sin.
To be converted means to turn away from your sins, or to depart from evil, and turn to God. It means to reverse the course of your life, to go back in the other direction and begin choosing the good again. I believe that we only have the power to do this after we are born again spiritually by the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ by the hearing of the Word of God; and thus become once again as children in God's sight. As such we begin our new lives as newborn babies in Christ. As little babies must mature and grow into adulthood so must we grow spiritually in Christ. As a toddler must learn to walk so we must also learn to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Though we still have the old carnal sin nature inherent in our flesh, we will begin to get victory over sin in our lives and be able to choose good over evil by the power of God working in us. If we be Christ's, then as far as God is concerned we are already innocent in His sight.
AS NEWBORN BABES, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
- 1 Peter 2:2-3 KJV
As for humility, that is required of God before we can even be saved. After hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ we first come to an awarness that we have sinned in transgressing God's law. At that point we then must humble ourselves before God and confess that we are sinners in need of salvation which can we only receive by the grace of God ( unmerited favor ), through faith in Jesus Christ. When we believe on the Name of Jesus we will be converted, we will come to repentance or a change of mind about the way that we have been living. We will have a desire to depart from evil and to live for God. Humility before God is the first step toward salvation and a spiritual rebirth but it is a stumblingblock to proud sinners. Their refusal to humble themselves under the Hand of Almighty God, to receive Christ as their Savior and thus be born again by the Holy Spirit is what will keep them out of the Kingdom of God.
It is much easier to talk to children about Jesus than it is to many adults. Why is that? It is because their hearts are not yet hardened by sin through years of disobedience to God and because kids by nature are generally more trusting. Their minds have not yet been subverted by the false wisdom of this world which is in opposition to wisdom of God and turns them away from God as they get older. To become once again as a little child who is fit to enter the Kingdom of God you must first be willing to listen to the Word of God. Your stoney heart must be broken in pieces by God whose Word is like a hammer so that you might become broken before God in humility. You must once again find the childlike faith that you once had as a child and place that faith in Jesus Christ that you may be born again and once again become as a little child in God's sight.
I write unto you, LITTLE CHILDREN, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
- 1 John 2:12 KJV
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