Stucco,

My following remarks, although using your quote, are meant to address this discussion as a whole and not specific to your comment. [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/grin.gif" alt="grin" title="grin[/img]
In reply to:
[color:"blue"]"The kingdom of God belongs to such as these" -- these were little ones He was speaking of and little ones who die in infancy or early childhood, (or even in a state of retardation) would certainly be considered "such as these". Again, these particular little ones aren't being blessed by Jesus because they are inherently innocent but they are being blessed by Jesus because Jesus has chosen to bless them, and that is the key to any ones salvation, (God choosing to bless).

Paul_S brought up a very salient point when he most wisely considered the CONTEXT of the passage in question; i.e., Matt 19:13-15. What I would like to do is to delve into the exegesis of this text to see if it does, in fact, teach the salvation of little children based upon they being children. I think, going back to Paul's comments which rightly narrowed down the breadth of this incident to the children of those who had some interest in Christ, perhaps salvifically, perhaps not, but a certain interest nonetheless. The issue is, IMHO, does the language/grammar of the text support what some are contending, i.e., that children and/or narrowly, children of believers are given salvation because they are children and/or children of believers?

Matthew 19:13-15 (ASV) "Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should lay his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for to [of] such belongeth the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence."
1) that he should lay his hands on them, and pray: What exactly was it that these people were wanting from Jesus for their children? If one should say that it was salvation, then it is incumbent upon them that it be established that the laying on of hands and prayer was the established practice for bestowing salvation upon children. I am of the opinion that there is no such precedent to be found in the O.T. where God either instructed Israel to do such or certain leaders took upon themselves to establish the practice. So, what exactly is the significance of the laying on of hands and prayer in regard to children? 2) for to [of] such belongeth the kingdom of heaven. This is an interesting portion of the text due to the different ways which the translators have rendered it, as I have indicated by emphasizing, to [of]. The word found in the Greek text is toioutos which can be understood to mean, depending upon the context, "truly this, i.e. of this sort (to denote character or individuality):--like, such (an one). [Strong: 5108] Other Greek lexicons concur with this meaning. This being the case, it would appear that the text should be rendered, of such type as these, which would be further confirmed by a collolary text where Jesus had earlier spoken to His disciples that to enter the kingdom of God, one needs to be first converted and then become as little children. Thus, I would agree with those commentators who interpret this to mean that for one to be saved, he must become as those children whom Christ blessed in the text being discussed. To expand on this a bit, we ask what does it mean to become as a little child? Some of the answer might be that one must be dependent, helpless, trusting and open. I think all of these traits are legitimate and would come under the rubric of "denying oneself". (cf. Matt 16:24 Notice this too was spoken by Jesus previous to this event) Thus, these little children who were brought to Christ are paradigmatic in that as they are in their fleshly state so must those who desire salvation become in their spiritual state. Lastly, on this point, if the kingdom belongs to these children, what of adults? 3) And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence. Again, it must be determined what the significance is in regard to this laying on of hands. If one is to posit that it equates to salvation, then this presents several questions and difficulties.
    [*]If the laying on of hands and a blessing by Jesus be needed for children to be saved, how are children saved since the resurrection? Unless one is willing to subscribe to some sacerdotal system, no man has the power nor authority to grant salvation to himself, never mind another.[*]Is this event to be taken as a universal precedent? If so, then it certainly is something foreign to all that preceded it. For in the O.T. there were millions of infants and children, who with their unbelieving parents; covenant members I might point out, who perished by the direct judgment of God against them. Thus, from the historical record of Israel we can see that being a "covenant member", even having the sign of the covenant cut into one's flesh, is no guarantee of being in God's favor; i.e., salvation. Secondly, the Jews living during the time of Christ were at one time covenant children, yet were adamant in their rejection of Him. Thirdly, we know from our own experience, that there are many "covenant children" who grow up and who exhibit no signs of spiritual life; some even denying Christianity itself. Thus, if these little children are believed to have been saved at this place, then one would have to admit that a child can apostate from the faith and lose their salvation. (This sounds remniscent of what Shepherd, the Monroe 4, N.T. Wright, et al are teaching! [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/rolleyes.gif" alt="rolleyes" title="rolleyes[/img] )[*]Is there any inference to be seen in this passage that it includes infants who die in infancy? If not, where is the warrant to extract from the text a doctrine which teaches that infants who die in infancy have been regenerated and saved by the blood of Christ? I believe that the WCF X:III speaks correctly when it says that elect infants dying in infancy are regenerated . . . etc. But, they the Confession doesn't refer to this passage for support.[/LIST]So, my conclusion is that there is much that has been imposed upon this text by those who hold to a presupposition that infants and particularly small children are regenerated and saved by virtue of their physical age which has no warrant whatsoever.

    In His Grace,

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simul iustus et peccator

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