Salvation belongs to the Lord (Jonah 2:9). Thus God saves a person irrespective of age. The biblical perspective of children should be upheld so that we will not make the same mistake as any typical non-believing parent with regard to a child’s "incompetence" to receive Christ as his or her Lord and Saviour.

Children may appear like cherubs but in reality none of them are sinless. Romans 3:23 declares the universal truth that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." The word "all" encompasses all mankind—including children. Children are therefore like adults, desperately in need of the gospel of salvation. Without Christ, children, left to themselves, will choose evil and turn away from God. Children are therefore born with a sinful nature. The sin of Adam was imputed to all individuals (Romans 5:12). David acknowledged this fact when he wrote in Psalm 51:5, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Children are sinners under God’s condemnation. Therefore it is urgent that they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Their eternal souls are at stake, to live for ever either in heaven or in hell. There is a great responsibility borne by parents and teachers to see them evangelized. Every child is precious to our Lord. A child can be saved. He is never too young to understand the gospel. God’s effectual calling will convince him of his sin and enlighten his mind to the knowledge of Christ. When the disciples prevented the parents from bringing their children to Jesus, He rebuked the disciples and encouraged the children to come to Him – suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God (Mark 10:14.) Jesus saw the children’s need. He knew that He could meet their need, and hence invited them to Himself for eternal salvation. Since Jesus saw the importance of reaching out to children, we must likewise see this importance of evangelizing the young.

Once a young child is won to the Lord, he has a lifetime of service for the Lord ahead of him. After a gospel rally, an evangelist was asked by his wife how many people have accepted the Lord. His reply, "Three and a half." The wife thought it was three adults and one child. But the response was "No, it was three children and one adult. For the children have their whole lives before them, the adult only has a half a life left."

Children are more easily reached than adults. Many adults are overwhelmed with their busy schedule. Coupled along with hardened hearts and self-centredness, this makes them difficult to reach. But this is not so with children. They are easily taught, and their un-prejudiced minds are more receptive to biblical truths. Having less social and personal restraints, they respond more easily.

At what age does a child respond to the gospel? Salvation is of the Lord and it is the work of the Holy Spirit that determines this. It is not uncommon to find Sunday School material that teaches preschool children to "love Jesus." The same material for primary school aged children tells them that they must trust in Jesus. This distinction of loving and trusting Jesus at various ages is doctrinally misleading. Children are saved the same way as adults. No one is saved by loving Jesus without trusting in Him as his Saviour.

Children mature at varying rates and the ability to comprehend spiritual matters occurs at different points of their lives. However, many have understood salvation by grace through faith at a very early age. The Bible clearly teaches that children can have faith. In Matthew 18:6, But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

An adequate and consistent gospel message must be presented to young children. Therefore when a child responds, it is not because he has developed a certain capacity to respond, but because of the work of the Holy Spirit in his life.

Therefore we must be able to present the great truths of the gospel, including redemption, reconciliation and propitiation—terms that present the finished work of Christ—at the child’s level. We must be prepared to convey the glorious realities of justification, forgiveness, regeneration, and sanctification. Hence to do an excellent job with children, we may need an even more thorough knowledge of the Bible than would be needed in some ministries with young people or adults, and the ability to present it within the child’s level of understanding.

Do not role play the Holy Spirit. We may fall into the error of forcing a response from a child that pleases us and unwittingly usurp the role of the Holy Spirit’s convicting work. Sometimes when we ask a child whether he believes in Jesus and he says No, we get edgy and force him to give an affirmative reply. Salvation is of the Lord. One may plant and another may water the seed but it is God that gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:7-9). We must heed Jesus’ warning in Matthew 18 – to cause a little one to stumble is a serious offence (v.6). Pushing a child into a false profession can be considered an act of stumbling.

Do not ask close ended questions. Close ended questions are leading questions that imply answers of either yes or no. Examples are "You know that by trusting Jesus you will be saved, don’t you?" "You know that Jesus died for your sins, don’t you?" A child’s affirmative response to such questions might be due to his desiring to please the adult or his trying to follow the crowd out of a sense of need to belong, rather than true spiritual readiness.

Do not overemphasize fear. Fear is a powerful and uncomfortable emotion (1 John 4:18). It may be more harmful than helpful to overdo the element of fear when ministering to children. Fear wrongly used can cause us to run ahead of the Holy Spirit and precipitate a false profession. We cannot shake children fearfully over the flames of hell. Of course, the judgment of hell needs to be taught, but it must not be so unduly overemphasized that we literally browbeat them into terror. One reason why so many children go into a period of spiritual stagnation in their teens is the fact that they were frightened into jumping on a "fire escape" rather than being warmly attracted to the Person of Christ. Therefore we need to let the child see his own sinful condition and that only Jesus can meet his need.

Do not create false issues. False issues include matters such as raising one’s hand, kneeling, coming forward, talking to an adult, and any number of things that might be imposed upon a child arbitrarily. None of these are necessary for salvation, but we can unwittingly make these issues important in the mind of a child and precipitate some type of shallow response.

Do not leave the issue of the child’s personal response indefinite. Although we are cautious not to force a profession, we are not to negate the urgency of the response from the child.

Do not fabricate a prayer. It is common for one to pray the sinner’s prayer with the child but if the child is carefully instructed and the Holy Spirit has done His work then one would just need to tell the child that he needs to speak to Jesus to tell Him of his need and desire for salvation.

Do not tell the child he is saved—let the Word of God do that! When a child receives Christ as his Saviour, do not respond and say, "Now, you are saved!" We should point him to the Word of God and let God’s Word reaffirm his salvation. We can point him to Acts 16:31 or John 10:28.

Do not use tangible rewards in reaching out to a child. Many gifts like candies and stationeries are given to children who raise their hands to profess Christ. One mission school actually allowed a child to leave school early on a particular day if he receives Christ after a gospel service. Linking salvation to tangible rewards is tantamount to sowing of the gospel seed on the wayside, stony or thorny ground (Matthew 13:19ff).

Do facilitate the conviction of the Spirit. He will convict the non-believing children of sin, righteousness and judgment. The gospel should be presented to children in the light of the necessary work of the Spirit in conviction. However diligence is needed to ensure that the language in evangelism is simple and according to the child’s level. Theological or biblical words like sin, repent, faith, grace, eternal life, died for our sins, and forgiveness should not be taken for granted but explained plainly. The underlying motive and universal language which a child understands is love. When you share with a class of children or an individual child, your non-verbal language must say, "I love you." Your looks, actions, attitudes and words must radiate love from the Lord.

Do draw out the child by finding out how much he understands or misunderstands in regard to the gospel, and ascertain his readiness to receive Christ. Ask the child to explain the way of salvation. Listen to his answers discerningly so as to detect whether he fully understood the salvation message. Do stick to the gospel even when sidetracked by the child with his questions. Keep to the essential issue of the child’s need for God’s forgiveness and saving grace.

Do stress the urgency of salvation, without manipulation of the child’s emotions. The child must be aware that the promise of another tomorrow is not in our hands.

Do use the Word of God. If at all possible, open the Bible, look at it, read from it, have the child read a portion, and in other obvious ways convey the fact that the message that was presented comes from the Word of God. It is important for children to associate the message with written Scripture. Remember, God’s Word will be around and available to them long after you have left. It is His Word that God has promised to bless (Isaiah 55:10-11), and not necessarily with illustrations, cleverness or cute expressions.

Do encourage the child to pray. Saving faith has its object in the Person of Jesus Christ. He is a living Saviour and the child needs to understand that salvation comes through Christ and not the parents or teacher. We must get out of the way and make sure that Christ is the focal point of our message and method.

Do inquire about and review what the child did and said in receiving Christ. This is not unduly prying into a child’s private life but rather expressing interest in the child and making sure the expression of faith was biblical.