Luke 1:15b – “he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.”
Romans 10:9-10 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Ezekiel 18:30-32 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!”
Most Christians have heard the term “God has no grandchildren, only children.” We understand that to mean that every person must come individually to Christ to receive from Him eternal salvation. Most people know that John 3:16 tells us that God made a way through Jesus for mankind to be eternally united with Him. However lesser known is V18 that follows it “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” This verse clearly says that “whoever” believes in Jesus is not condemned but whoever does not believe is condemned. What this verse actually is saying is that without Jesus as one’s Savior and Lord, everyone is condemned and going to hell (Romans 3:23). It is only as the blood, the sacrifice of Jesus is applied to one’s life that one is plucked from the conveyor belt that leads to hell and set on the road that leads the opposite direction to heaven. As Romans 10:9-10 reveals, we must believe and assert with the deepest solemnity and passion that Jesus is Lord of all and that He has risen from death. We believe in this with faith to attain heaven, that is, eternal life with God. To be saved from the conveyor belt to hell, we must cry out to Jesus, and to Him only, for only He is the Savior, only His name will save (Acts 4:12). Family and Friends, this is what God Himself has proclaimed. This is not my thoughts and words. What use would thoughts that were only mine be? No, it is God, who in mercy and love has shown the way to Himself and who has through His Word and confirmed by His Spirit this Truth. God has also asserted that it is the responsibility of all individuals to make their own choice. All must choose either God, through Jesus, or all must choose to reject God by not accepting the work and person of Jesus, His Son. There is no middle ground. One cannot “sit-on-the-fence.” One cannot “lean-toward-God.” The fence is on the devil’s property line. Jesus said that all are either one hundred percent for Him, or one hundred percent against Him (Matthew 12:30). The above verses in Ezekiel 18:30-32 support that all must make their own choice and that is a grave, and eternal choice.
So we see that indeed God has only children and no grandchildren. The faith of Dad or Grandma saves no-one. One’s relationship with God is individual.
Though some believe in infant baptism, most protestant denominations believe that baptism is for the adult who understands that baptism is a believer’s statement to the world that the believer proclaims himself/herself as a servant to Jesus. Since an infant is not capable of comprehending what that means, the protestant will state that baptism should wait till the infant has grown to a level of understanding, whether as a child or as an adult. Considering the brevity required in this writing, please allow that simple statement to suffice for the purposes of this writing. Baptism is a choice to be obedient to what the Lord has called His followers to do (Matthew 28:19-20). Also, forgiveness of God through Jesus is a gift and therefore it is upon man to make the choice to either accept the gift or reject the gift. It is the decision of all, individuals that decides their eternity.
We also know that the Holy Spirit only lives within the believer (John 14:16-17). It is a sign from God, a guarantee that the believer belongs to God (Ephesians 1:13, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 2:18). 2 Corinthians 1:22 states that the Holy Spirit is a down payment, a beginning, of the fulfillment to all the promises that God has given to his children.
Being a Christian is an individual and conscious choice and only a believer has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Let us now consider Luke 1:15b. Since it is only purposefully that one becomes a Christian, and only a Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit, how it that John the Baptist had the Holy Spirit within since he was in the womb. He certainly did not have the reasoning ability in the womb to make that decision, yet in the womb he was set aside by God and given the Holy Spirit. Family, it is good for us to remember that God is God and no other is. We cannot understand how everything is and therefore cannot explain everything. Some things we know “are,” but do not know “how.” Those things, since we know the goodness and love of our God, since we know His innate qualities by the witness of His Word and His Spirit, we accept by faith. God is under no compulsion to explain all His ways, but we are commanded to live by faith.
Not as an indisputable fact, but offered as a thought, it would seem the answer can be found from Romans 8:29 and Romans 11:2. Who God foreknew, He predestined. Since God knows a man’s heart before his birth we know that before we are born God is already working on our behalf to prepare us for His kingdom. He is preparing us to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior and He is preparing us for ministry. It would seem that the answer to the Holy Spirit filling John while He was yet in his mother’s womb is that God was preparing John for his ministry. Really that is not so complicated. In fact, it is very wonderful. God knew us before the existence of the universe (Ephesians 1:4). He loved us before all of creation was created. He had a plan for our lives before we were conceived. A plan to bless us and prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11). He leads us that we would seek Him with all our heart and when we do, we would find Him (Jeremiah 29:12-13). Oh the riches of the wisdom of God! How great He is! He knows all and He is all-powerful. We are convinced that He by whom we exist (Colossians 1:16-17) is able to keep us in all ways (2 Timothy 1:12). Jesus has prepared us to be with Him forever, He has prepared a place for in His Father’s house, His eyes are on us and He loves us. Family, God has got a plan and He knows how to bring it about. We are safe. We are free and God continues to guide and enable us. God will bring us home! Yes, He is good and He loves us. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.