Matthew 18:3

3. Be converted, and become as little children Conversion generally implies our being turned, by the influence of truth and the Divine Spirit, with the consenting act of our own will, from our course as sinners to the ways of religion. But here, perhaps, it more specially signifies the being brought to renounce the disposition to seek pre-eminence or power over our fellows, especially in the Church. This was now the besetting sin of the disciples, of which it was their momentous duty to repent, and, by the aid of divine grace, be turned or converted. In this work God does the converting; man does the repenting and the turning to the new course. Justification is simply the pardon of our sins through the merit of Christ. Thereby we are treated by God as if we were just, or innocent of sin past. Regeneration, or the being born again, is the bestowment of those new feelings of love to God and his cause, by which we become in heart and soul children of God; and we are thence adopted into his family. Sanctification is the power and disposition, more or less complete, to live free from sin, to overcome temptation, and to dwell in the uninterrupted enjoyment of God’s smile. Become as little children Our Lord selects a child at the age when conscious artifice and the desire of superiority are not yet developed, and the lesson was doubtless illustrated by the docility with which the child came. The feeling of dependence on the parent is as yet complete. It has no plans of ambition, no thought of being superior to another. Now grace must take our full-grown nature and lay these turbulent passions as completely at rest as in the bosom of that serene child.

Shall not enter the kingdom So far from keeping the keys of the kingdom of heaven you shall not enter it yourselves. Ye shall not enter that kingdom below, and by consequence shall fail of the kingdom above.