It may seem that the doctrine of salvation is more complex than it needs to be. What ever happened to having faith like a child? Scripture has much to say about salvation, and Jesus made many key statements about salvation, one of which concerns childlike faith.
When you read these passages (Mark 10:14, Matt. 18:2) what you will find is that Jesus is not refferring to simplicity. He is not saying that we must come to Christ with the mind or capacity to understand as a child. He is saying the we must come relationaly to him as children. In the Matt. account he addresses humiliy directly and says that we must be converted (turn, change) and become like children, humbling ourselves. In the Mark passage the account is given concerning the difficulty of wealth in relationship to saving faith. The disciples ask Jesus, “Then who can be saved?(10:26)” Then Jesus replies, “With people it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.”
So what is Jesus trying to say? He is obviously not saying that salvation is a snap, as easy as 1,2,3. No, left to ourselves salvation is impossible! This is why it is so important, as believers, to give people a God-centered gospel. The call is to repent, turn to Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, believe on His name. But what is going on in the spirit of those who do turn and repent is so much more than a simple prayer…God is at calling, regenerating, and applying all the wonderful benefits of the atonement.
The gospel is beautifully complex, yet oh so simply possible with God!
