Luke 18:15-17
Let us observe, for one thing, in this passage, how ignorantly people are apt to treat children, in the matter of their souls. We read that there were some who “brought their infants to Jesus that He would touch them: but when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them.” They thought most probably that it was mere waste of their Master’s time, and that infants could derive no benefit from being brought to Christ. They drew from our Lord a solemn rebuke. We read that “Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not.”
The ignorance of the disciples does not stand alone. On few subjects, perhaps, shall we find such strange opinions in the churches, as on the subject of the souls of children. Some think that children ought to be baptized, as a matter of course, and that if they die unbaptized they cannot be saved. Others think that children ought not to be baptized, but can give no satisfactory reason why they think so.–Some think that all children are regenerate by virtue of their baptism. Others seem to think that children are incapable of receiving any grace, and that they ought not to be enrolled in the Church until they are grown up.–Some think that children are naturally innocent, and would do no wickedness unless they learned it from others. Others think that it is no use to expect them to be converted when young, and that they must be treated as unbelievers until they come to years of discretion.–All these opinions appear to be errors, in one direction or another. All are to be deprecated, for all lead to many painful mistakes.