The Salvation of Infants

Good morning.

Today we're studying lesson eight in our study of hamartiology.

To begin with, before we actually get started in this lesson, I'm gonna direct your attention to the back of our handout, kind of show you where we've been, because this is all leading up to today's lesson. We started off in lesson one with the nature of sin. And in the nature of sin, we discussed how sin is basically a stab at the very character of God. It's a willful assertion of yourself and of your rights over God's right, and God's due. Then we looked at lesson number two, the universality of sin, that everybody is a sinner. There's no one without sin. Go all over the world and people have the same sin nature because we all descended from one pair, Adam and Eve.

Lesson number three, we looked at the fall of man, and we discussed Adam and Eve in detail, and how they were created upright, they were created holy, but yet they chose sin. And in doing so, not only did they fall, but all their progeny fell with them. Lesson number four, we looked at original sin. And that was the original sin of Adam and Eve, and how every single person since then has been born with a crooked nature, a nature that shares, ratifies the rebellion of Adam and Eve. Lesson number five, Caleb taught us on depravity. Depravity is simply the notion or the idea that sin corrupts every single part of our being. It corrupts our will, it corrupts our affections, it corrupts even our mind and our ability to understand things. Lesson number six was guilt. And we talked about how because we're all born depraved, we are guilty beings, and guilt is our desert of punishment from the Lord. Week seven, we looked at penalty. And this was our last lesson, and how every sinner has the due reward of God's justice, because they've offended God's holy justice, that penalty must come. And we talked about how penalty is at least in two parts. You have death, physical death, which is the separation of the body from the soul that came about because of sin. And then spiritual death, the second death, which is the separation of the soul from God.

Today, we're looking at lesson number eight, the salvation of infants. And this naturally follows here when we study theology.

Oftentimes, the salvation of infants is not talked about whatsoever in theology. It's often ignored and not taught very well or very often from our churches. Perhaps you've heard, for example, some would say, "Well, you know, a baby can't express faith, and we're saved by faith, so therefore, all babies are going to go to an eternity in hell." That's a horrible thing. That does not align with Scripture at all. Likewise, perhaps you've heard that, well, infants are saved if they've been baptized. Well, baptism does not impart grace to a child, nor does it impart grace to an adult. As we'll discuss when we discuss ecclesiology, baptism is just a symbol of us being united to Christ, of our faith union with Christ, that we've already placed our trust in Him and turned to Him as our Savior and Lord. Then our salvation is symbolized by baptism. Some would go a little bit in a variation of that, and they'd say, "Well, it is salvation by baptism, but not because of the outward rite, but because of the outward rite." And so that signifies that we believe it's entrance into the community of God, and these are our precious covenant children, and therefore, because we have faith, our faith is salvific for them as well, and that's not true as well. So what we're gonna be looking at today is what the Scripture has to say about the salvation of infants. So I'm gonna cut to the point right here in case you don't make it to the end of this lesson.

The moment an infant dies, he or she is safe in the arms of Jesus Christ. We're gonna be looking at what Scripture has to say about that today. Let's look on our handout.

Bible point number one.

When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, our common human nature was corrupted. Depravity, guilt, and penalty came to all humanity. Every human being is now born in a sinful state. Infants are therefore born depraved and need salvation.

Let me reread that.

Every human being is now born in a sinful state. Infants are therefore born depraved and need salvation. We discussed this when we discussed depravity a few weeks ago, that depravity corrupts every part of us. And we read Psalm 51:5, the great confession of David after he had sinned with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah, he confesses to the Lord, he says, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me." He wasn't saying that his mother was a sinner in his birth, he's saying that he inherited this depravity. He inherited this sinful nature from birth. Because sin is not just an act, it's not just an attitude, but it's a condition. It's a condition that we are born into, that's what we mean by original sin.

Matthew 19:14, "But Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.'"

When Jesus says, "Don't forbid them from coming to Me," everywhere in Scripture, where He speaks of people coming to Christ, it's speaking of a sinner coming to the one who has made sacrifice for their sins. It's a sinner coming to their Savior. Even little ones need Christ's salvation. Because again, they have this inherent depravity, that they are partakers of original sin, going back to Adam and Eve.

Flip over on the back.

Romans 3:10 through 12 speaks about this. It says, "As it is written," it's quoting from the Old Testament here, "There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside, they have all together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no, not one." It's pretty inclusive, is it not? Everybody.

Romans 5:19 says, "For as by one man's disobedience," speaking of Adam, "many were made sinners." So also, "by one Man's," capital, speaking of Christ, "one Man's obedience, many will be made righteous." We're only made righteous in Christ Jesus, even infants. Okay?

Application is this for number one. Are you seeking to make disciples of kids?

In your family, chances are you have some children somewhere in your family, whether they're a niece, or a nephew, or grandchildren. If you don't have any that are in your immediate family, perhaps you have some within your realm of influence, maybe your neighbor's kids that are in your life, perhaps those young ones who are here at church. You know you have a part in discipling them? You have a part in pointing them to Christ, showing them how to live a godly life, and how to live a life of faith. We need to ask ourselves, are we involved in discipling kids? Because part of being a disciple is to show them their need for the Savior, right? You can't have a disciple without first having a convert, and then from a convert they become a disciple, a Christ follower.

Bible point number two, infants and children are recognized in Scripture as having not yet personally sinned against God.

Yes, they have a depraved nature, they are sinners by nature of their union with Adam through what we would call original sin. They are born in a state of sin, they are born in a state of rebellion against God, that's the state of all humanity, but yet they have not yet personally sinned against God. Look at Romans 9:11, it says the children, not yet being born, not having done any good or evil. This was speaking of the children within the womb there, a baby inside the mother's womb hasn't had opportunity to ratify their sin nature, right? They haven't had an opportunity to do good or evil yet at that point.

Flip over on the back. 1 Corinthians 14:20, Paul writes, he says, "Brothers, do not be children in your thinking, but be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature." The first part of that verse, he says, "Don't be childlike in your thinking." The last part says, "But in your thinking be mature." Sandwiched in between there though, he says, "But be infants in evil." Why would he encourage you to be an infant in evil?

Is an infant capable of doing evil in his mother's womb? No. Is a newborn baby capable of doing evil? No, they don't have that capacity yet. So he says, "As an infant, that's how you should know evil." In other words, not being capable of doing it, not having evil works that follow you. Okay?

Flip back over on the front.

The application is this, when we sin against God, confess your sin.

Even though babies are born with a sinful nature, they have not yet committed that sin, but as grownups, we can't lie to ourselves, we are sinners, right? If you say you have no sin in you, you're a liar is what the Bible says, right? So when we become aware of our sins, we need to confess it. That's part of repentance and faith, right? Turning from our sins and turning to Christ. So don't go around saying, "Hey, I haven't personally sinned." You have. If you are old enough to understand my words, trust me, you are a sinner and you have ratified what Adam and Eve did.

Bible point number three, children are referred to in Scripture as innocent. Children are referred to in Scripture as innocent.

Now, if I say that I am innocent, does that make any difference in the world if I claim to be innocent?

No. Doesn't everybody, or not everybody, but a lot of people who stand before a judge or they're convicted of a crime say, "I'm innocent."

(Audience member speaks off mic.)

Exactly, everyone in prison is innocent. But if God says that you're innocent, you better heed. You better listen and you better not argue, right?

Jeremiah 2:36, the prophet is abrading Israel for their sin and part of their sin is that they have murdered their innocents. They have offered their children to Moloch. And look what he says here in Jeremiah 2:36, "Also on your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the poor innocents."

It's for children that were offered up to pagan idols, and God calls them innocents. He says they're innocent. They had not yet done right or wrong.

Flip over on the back.

We see this later on in Jeremiah, the same book, chapter 19:4 through 6. He says, "Because they have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, or the king of Judah have known and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents."

Part of the offering to Moloch was — Moloch was, we've talked before, he was a brazen altar, if you can think of a figurine with arms and they would fill this brass cauldron with hot coals and sticks so his arms would be smoldering and they'd put their infants on the arms of Moloch. They literally cooked them to death and they did this so they could have good crops, hopefully that year, and good material wealth. And so God says that they have murdered or have stained themselves with the blood of the innocents. "They have also built the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command nor speak, nor did it come into My mind. Therefore, behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "that this place will no more be called Topheth or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter."

God was gonna judge them because they were guilty of shedding the blood of innocents. So God calls these babies innocent. How dare we call them anything else?

The application is this for number three. Do you see infants and children as God does? When you see children, do you see them as precious innocents created in the image of God?

Unfortunately, our society is less and less taking that view of children. Our society, to a huge degree today, is sexualizing young children.

It's wicked and sick to see what goes on. They even have filters for girls to make themselves look younger. And that attracts, of course, the worst pedophiles, the worst predators that you can imagine. God forbid that we should ever, ever take advantage of or harm the innocence of children.

Bible point number four.

Infants and children are described in Scripture as having no personal knowledge of good and evil. Not only are they referred to as innocents by God, but they are said to have no knowledge of good or evil.

Do you remember when the children of Israel were born out of Egypt, out of bondage, out of slavery, and into what was hopefully to be the promised land? While Moses was up on top of the mountain, what did the children do? When we say the children, we're talking about the whole nation of Israel. They arose and played, and they weren't playing tic-tac-toe. They were engaged in gross sexual immorality and paganism, and as they proved to be stiff-necked, and as they forgot God and they erected an altar to Baal, who's a pagan Canaanite god, you know the history of Israel.

God says you're not going to go into the promised land. This generation is going to die in the wilderness. When they sent the ten spies into the promised land, two of them came back, Caleb and Joshua, with a great report, but ten of them came back saying, "There are giants in the land." Yes, it's a land flowing with milk and honey and giant clusters of grapes, but they're giants in the land, fortified cities. We're not going to make it.

And because of their testimony, their lack of faith, God says, "You're going to die in this wilderness, everybody but Joshua and Caleb and your children." Look what he says here in Deuteronomy, in this context, Deuteronomy 1:39, "Moreover, your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims." They were afraid, "Oh, if we go into the promised land, the giants will eat our children. They're going to kill our children, who today have no knowledge of good and evil." He's saying, "Your children today have no knowledge of good and evil. They don't even understand the concepts, much less have any practical knowledge."

Remember when Eve ate of the apple? What did God say? She's become like one of us, to know good and evil. She should have known it just as theoretical, as something to hate, as something to despise, as something to forever stand against and to obey the Lord, but instead she willingly partook of it and she engaged in it. These are children today who have no knowledge of good and evil. "They shall go in there, to them I will give it, and they shall possess it." They would have the rewards of the promised land, because these kids had no knowledge of good or evil.

The application for number four, how should we teach our kids morality?

If young infants, young children, don't have a knowledge of good or evil, who's going to teach them what they should think about good or evil?

It is our responsibility, the responsibility of families, the responsibility of the church to do so. And what should be the basis of that knowledge? What should we use in teaching them? Should we plug them in to Phil or Oprah or some talk show on TV or some influencer on the internet?

Amen, God's holy Word, right? What does the Bible say? You should take these things and teach them to your children when you sit down, when you rise up, right? Wherever you go and wherever you are, all throughout your life, you're training your kids in morality, teaching them the difference between good and evil.

Bible point number five, infants and children are said in Scripture to be unable to discern or understand spiritual things. Infants and children are said to be unable to discern or understand spiritual things.

Jonah 4:11, if you remember, this is a story where Jonah ran from God because God had told him to prophesy against Nineveh and to call Nineveh to repentance. Of course, he can't run from God and the great fish swallowed him up and he was in the belly of that fish for three days and then finally he cried out to the Lord and God had the fish spit him up on the shore and he did. He went finally and he preached to Nineveh and we find that Jonah went up on top of the hill to watch what would happen, to see if they would repent or God would destroy them. And of course, we know that he was disappointed when they did repent because he wanted to see the destruction of them. He didn't like the people of Nineveh.

And while he was on top of that hill, God, in the course of just a very short period of time, raised up from the ground a gourd to provide him shade and he liked that. Then God took away that shade and all of a sudden, Jonah's disposition changed. He began to resent the day that he was born because his physical comforts were taken away. In verse 11, as Jonah says, it's right for me to complain that you've taken away this gourd, God. He's having a little pity party.

Jonah 4:11, God says, "And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock?" So there may be some wicked people in Nineveh, but the livestock are innocent and there's 120,000 people there who can't discern between their right or their left hand. This is speaking of infants, of children. It could also be speaking, I think, of people who have mental impairments.

People who, though they are adult in age and in body, not in mind. These are people who do not have the ability to discern between their right hand or their left hand.

In Isaiah 7:16, God kind of repeats this in a different context. People say this is talking about food because of the prior verse. Don't have time to exegete this properly, but just trust me, it's not. You can read for yourself in 7:16. He says, "For before the child shall know to refuse evil, or choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings." Saying, this child, before he's even able to know and choose between good and wrong, your kingdom's gonna fall. Great calamity is gonna come upon this land.

Now, he might say, well, how old? When would a kid arise and gain that understanding of knowing the difference between his right hand and his left hand? It's different with each kid. Let God be God with that, right? You be faithful to instruct them. You be faithful to preach the gospel to them. You be faithful to disciple them. There's no magic age. Some kids grasp it very early. Some kids, it seems like they can't put their right hand or left hand together for quite some time in their life, right? So just trust the Lord with that.

The application for number five, does this mean that church is unnecessary? If children can't discern between their right hand and their left hand, they can't understand and discern spiritual things, why even bring them to church?

(Audience response.)

Exactly.

If they're not learning about right and wrong, they're not learning about spiritual things here, they're gonna be learning it somewhere. They're gonna be learning it in the classroom. What's that?

(Audience member speaks.)

Learning it on the internet with their phone, which is a pocket tutorial device, right? Showing them all kinds of wickedness and evil twenty-four-seven, right? And what does the Bible say? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Where are they gonna hear the word of God but at church, right?

Bible point number six, children are declared in Scripture to be held not responsible for their parents' sins. Children are declared in Scripture to be held not responsible for their parents' sins. We talked about this a few weeks ago when we did the study on guilt, right? That you're guilty for the sins that you have committed, not the sins of somebody else. Deuteronomy 24:16 says, "Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers. A person shall be put to death for his own sin." You are responsible for the deeds that you do, right? Not responsible for the deeds of another.

Flip over on the back.

Now some people get a little bit confused because when you read the ten commandments, you get to Exodus 20:4 through 6, it's on the upper right-hand corner of your handout. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, and you shall not bow down to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation to those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands to those who love Me and keep My commandments." Some people read that really quick and they figure, well, hey, right here, it's saying that the sins of the fathers will be visited on the third and fourth generation.

If you read it carefully, it's not saying they'll be punished for their sins, but they would actually have the pollution and they would have the spiritual damage caused by their parents' sins. If you are a drunkard, if you are a blasphemer and you raise your children in that environment, if you're a philanderer and you raise your children in that environment, what are the chances of them becoming a philanderer? What are the chances of them becoming a drunkard? What are the chances of them becoming a blasphemer? But if the children don't hate God, as it says here, to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but they love God, they turn to God, they're not held responsible for their parents' sins. They may still suffer the pollution. There's a lot of kids today that suffer greatly for their parents' sins. They live in broken homes. Maybe they don't have a mom, maybe they don't have a dad because the other one ran off with somebody. Maybe their dad's a deadbeat and so they can't afford their lunch money. Maybe they have no place to call home and they just couch surf, going from one family member to another family member. No place to rest, no place to plant their feet, no place to grow in Christ. The sins of the fathers are damaging to the children, but the children are not bearing the guilt of their father's sins.

Ezekiel 18:20 also says this, "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself."

The application is this, do you dismiss kids because of their parents? Do you ever say to yourself, well, that kid's a lost cause, look at his dad, he's gonna grow up to be just like his dad. Do you ever hear that? Have you ever said that? What if you say there's no hope for that boy? His parents are Muslim.

He's never gonna come to Christ. They are antithetical to Christ. They say that Jesus was not the divine Son of God. There's no hope for that boy.

Is that true?

Amen. There's never reason to give up on any child because of their parents, no matter how bad their parents are or no matter how antichrist their parents may be.

Bible point number seven, as certain and great as is the guilt of original sin, no human soul is eternally condemned solely for his inherited nature. In other words, I'm not denying, Scripture does not deny that such a thing as inherited guilt or original sin exists, because everybody — that was our very first point, right? — infants are therefore born depraved and need salvation.

But no human soul is eternally condemned solely for this inherited nature.

At the final judgment, personal conduct is the test of our character.

When you stand before the great white throne judgment, when you stand before Christ, he's not going to ask, hey, you're an Adam, guilty as charged, out of here.

He's going to examine your works, right? Isn't that what we're judged by, our works, and then compared to the perfect work of Christ? Romans 2:6, who will render to each one according to his deeds, right? Not according to his inherited depravity, but He'll render to each one according to his deeds. That theme is repeated all throughout the New Testament. I could give you half a dozen Scripture references, one after another that talk about how we are responsible for the works that we do in the flesh.

Flip over on the back.

Revelation 20:12 through 13, this is the Apocalypse of John. "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works," not according to their inherited depravity, but "according to their works, the things that they had done themselves personally, by the things which were written in the books." They were being compared to the perfect righteousness of Christ. "The sea gave up the dead who were in it, death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one according to his works." It tells you twice through that same passage. It's trying to make a point. You are responsible for your works. That is the basis of judgment. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that you're judged for your inherited depravity. Nowhere does it say in Scripture that you are judged for your original sin. You are guilty, but the basis of our judgment is our works.

Look at the end of that verse where it says that they were judged according to their works, as written in the books. You talking about the 66 books of the Bible? I believe he's talking about the books — when it talks about the books, you have the Book of Life. Is your life in there if you're in Christ? Because Christ is the standard by which we're judged. I don't think that's referring to the 66 books of the Bible. However, the Bible testifies from the very beginning, Genesis all the way through Revelation, to the perfect righteousness of Christ, the one who would take away our sins. So in a figurative way, yes, you could say that.

Matthew 16:27, "For the Son of Man will come in His Father's glory with His angels, and He will repay each one according to what he has done." You're judged according to what you have done in this life.

Flip back over on the front.

The application is this for number seven. Why is the conduct of our kids important? Why is the conduct of our kids important? Why should you try to keep them on the right path?

They may be judged one day by their deeds, by their works.

Conduct is very important. There is a philosophy in parenthood these days, we'll say, we're gonna let the kids free-range. Let them learn from their mistakes. We're not gonna tell them right or wrong. Let them touch the hot stove, see if their finger gets burned. Let them stick that needle in their arm, see if they live or die.

Yes, sir, Wayne. So the conduct in the Old Testament of the disobedient child was stoning. They would see judgment came early. Yes, yes. They would be disobedient. They would be kids who would know the difference between right and wrong, right? As we mentioned, while an infant or a newborn or a very young child may not be able to discern right from wrong, we all know from our families, we've raised children and we've seen young children come to know Christ. I came to know Christ when I was eight years old. And I understood the guilt. I had done wrong at school, got into trouble, and I remember bawling my eyes out because I felt the weight of conviction on my heart. My mom came and she shared with me the gospel, right? And so young children can know the difference from right and wrong, but that's why stoning even applied to kids, right? Because they were culpable for their guilt. To say, hey, your kid to your 26th according to the US government and you can be on your mom and dad's insurance, that's pushing it.

I would not say that that would be a model to follow.

(Audience member speaking off mic.)

Yes.

Yes.

(Audience member speaking off mic.)

Wow.

I had in the news recently, you may have recalled, a fourteen-year-old up in New Jersey who I think killed both of his parents in the most horrific way.

Bible point number eight, we are saved by grace, but damned by unbelief, which results in willful rebellion. We are saved by grace, but damned by unbelief, which results in willful rebellion. Unbelief always results in sin. Infants are incapable of unbelief or suppressing the truth.

John 3:36, this is Jesus saying, "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. He who does not believe in the Son shall not see life." But what? "The wrath of God abides on him." Unbelief — if you do not believe in the Son of God, you will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on you. Unbelief is the kernel, it's the root of sin, right? In the garden, Adam and Eve, they disbelieved God, right? Has God really said that in the moment you eat of this, you're gonna die? You know he's trying to keep you from knowing what he knows, from being like God. They chose to disbelieve God and to believe Satan there in the garden. They fell before they even bit that apple.

I got a question. I know you're going through this real quick, but so when a person is born, they are born into unbelief, right? Because they are in a state of fallenness.

When they mature, yes, they are born with a sin nature. They are born with inherited depravity, but that depravity hasn't manifested itself. When you're a baby, the only thing you know is trust, to trust your parents. But when you watch a baby, you can see the selfishness, the self-centeredness. You don't have to teach a baby or a toddler how to do wrong, they already know how. They know how to — they know how to — they're behaving in a sinful way, even as an infant.

Yes, they can have what we refer to as sinful behavior, but do they understand law and guilt? Do they understand grace? Do they understand the consequences of their sin? I would argue no, not as a child. They don't even know their right hand from their left hand. They don't know good from evil, is what we just read in the Old Testament. What is natural to them, which is, you know, even crying, they are doing what we call sinful things, but they don't understand and have the capacity to even grasp what they are doing fully. They're just acting.

How do you reconcile Psalm 58:4? "The wicked are estranged from the womb. Those who speak lies go astray as soon as they are born." Yeah, they are doing evil from a very young age. And I would even say from before they could — what you would even count as being able to speak, for example, let's say a kid learns to get really good linguistically, maybe around the age of three or so. I think they know the difference in many aspects between right and wrong, but what they know though is that it's wrong because mom says so. It's wrong because dad says so. But their concept of God at that point, they don't understand that. They don't grasp that yet. They still don't have a true knowledge of good and evil. They are doing wrong because they're acting according to their nature. But should you be punished for something that — if God declares you innocent as a child, as He did here, and as He says you don't know your right from your left, if He were to punish you for that, would He be a just God or an unjust God? It would seem like He's speaking on both sides of His mouth.

Yeah, there's a difference between conduct that's willful and antagonistic to God. In this case, these are children who, yes, they do have depravity, and they're gonna act according to their depravity, but they don't have a full idea or concept of the ramifications of what they're doing. That's what we talk about by not knowing what the right hand or the left hand is doing or even being able to grasp basic morality. We're not denying that they have a sin nature. We're not even denying that they are capable of doing wrong, but are they cognizant of it? Are they culpable for it?

So if you were to think about all the aborted babies, and if they had lived, would all those aborted babies have been believers? I think that every single aborted baby is instantly in the arms of God.

Whether they were never ordained to live — we can't get into the decrees. Or it gets into His — yeah, once they get old enough, they're gonna make a choice. Once they have the culpability, they can choose between good and evil, and they understand the ramifications there, but naturally they are going to be with that bent in their nature. They're gonna do wrong, but they don't understand it. Is what these verses are implying in the Old Testament, they have no knowledge of good and evil. They're not able to understand, even between the right hand or the left. God calls them innocent. And so we have to walk very carefully. Sometimes we will let systematic theology color our interpretation of Scripture, whereas we gotta let Scripture interpret our theology, if that makes sense. And we have to approach it very humbly.

Bible point number eight.

Let's flip over on the back. We actually read that just a minute ago, but now we're gonna read John 3:18 through 20, talking about unbelief. "He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed the name of the only begotten Son of God." Unbelief is sin. It's right there at the root of sin, if you will.

The application for number eight. Why does unbelief always result in sin?

If you don't believe God, if you don't trust God, are you gonna obey Him? What did Jesus say? "By your love, you'll know that you are My disciples," right? "If you love Me, keep My commandments." But if you don't trust Him, if you have unbelief, there's no way you're gonna want to obey the Lord.

Bible point number nine. Infants and children illustrate the submissiveness and trust that are necessary to partake of Christ. A child is therefore the best illustration of a believer. Infants and children illustrate the submissiveness and trust that are necessary to partake of Christ. A child is therefore the best illustration of a believer.

Matthew 18:2 through 4. "Then Jesus called a little child to Him and set him in the midst of them, and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.'"

He's saying, unless you, you adults, become as little children, become converted, you'll by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. He's using an analogy here. He's saying that the child with this childlike faith, his childlike trust, is someone who's emblematic of the kingdom of God, right? Saying if you as an adult want to be saved, you need to have that same trust, that same faith that even little children exhibit. "Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me."

The application is this. How are we to be childlike in our faith? Jesus says that if we want to be great in His kingdom, if we want to be a partaker of His kingdom, we have to be like a little child and be converted and have faith. How can we have a childlike faith?

How about just trusting and obeying, right? What the Lord says, I believe, right? I'm gonna believe His promises even when they don't make sense to me. I'm going to bless those who curse me. Does that ever make sense to you? Is that your natural reaction, to want to bless someone who curses you? To pray for those who despitefully use you? But God says, "Do it, so I'm going to do it," right? I'm going to trust His word.

When you think of the littlest children, don't they have such inherent trust in their mom and dad?

You could tell them that elephants fly and they'd believe you, right? Don't do that. Don't betray their trust. But that's a picture of a child's trust and that's the picture of what it takes to be in the kingdom of God, right? That trust and faith by which we are converted.

Bible point number ten.

God's special care and compassion for infants gives us certainty of their salvation. God's special care and compassion for infants gives us certainty of their salvation. I hope that you'll wrestle with these verses, that you'll have the certainty of children's salvation, because Scripture, I believe, witnesses to it, both the Old Testament and the New Testament. We're going to look at the witness of Jesus Christ here in Matthew 18:10 through 11.

"Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones." He also has the little child probably on his lap that he was discussing back in verses two through four that we read in Bible point number nine. He says, "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost."

He's saying here that little ones are precious to Him. And he said, "Well, he's probably speaking here of believers, adult believers who have childlike faith." Well, even if that's the way that you read that, for that analogy to work, must the analogy be true?

The analogy makes no sense if it's not true, if God doesn't have special favor and salvific purposes for children. "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of the Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost." Matthew 18:14, "Even so, it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones shall perish."

That's a pretty strong statement from Christ Himself.

The will of your Father is that not one of these little ones shall perish, right? Now again, if you believe He's speaking of adults here, of those who have Christlike faith, then the analogy only makes sense if He's talking not just about His spiritual children, but as He's comparing them to physical children as well. It's not His desire that even one of these little ones should perish.

Flip over on the back.

Matthew 18:6, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he was drowned in the depth of the sea."

One of these ones with childlike faith, one of these who've come to Christ as a child, if you take a weak believer, if you take someone and you cause them to stumble, God says, "Watch out."

"It'd be better for you to take a millstone." Have you ever seen at the end of a driveway a round circular stone about four feet tall with a hole in the middle of it? In Texas, we got them everywhere. You'll have them on both sides of the driveway. Those are old millstones. Going through that hole used to be a post, and between the two stones, they'd put grain, and they would have oxen or longhorn in Texas tethered to them, and they'd walk circles around. The stones are grinding against each other, grinding the corn, grinding the whatever it is into flour, right?

He's not talking about a little millstone. The word that's used here is for one of these great big millstones. They can weigh several hundred pounds. He's saying, "It'd be better that that was put around your neck than if you caused someone who has childlike faith to stumble." If God's so concerned about adults who have come to Him with childlike faith, the analogy only makes sense if He cares the same about natural children as well, right? Not just spiritual children.

Flip over on the front.

The application is this. How does childlike faith unite us to Christ? How does childlike faith unite us to Christ?

What is the nature of faith? Isn't it to lean on?

Isn't it to say, "God, I'm a sinner. I don't have what I need"? Just as a child throws himself on his mother because he doesn't have nourishment. And his mother feeds him, right? His mother comforts him. His father provides for him and protects him. He throws himself on his parents. Isn't that the nature of faith? Total trust?

Well, even faith says that. Forsaking all, I trust Him. Amen, what a great acronym. Forsaking all, I trust Him. It's an acronym for faith. That's what faith is. It's not simply some beliefs that we regurgitate. It's an actual act of trust. Just as you're sitting on your chairs right now, you're trusting that those chairs are gonna uphold your weight, right? You didn't test them before you sat down on them. You just trust them. You know that. And the same with Christ.

Flip over on the back. Look at Matthew 19:13 through 15.

"Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray. But the disciples rebuked them." The disciples were like, "No, we don't want these kids here. They're not that important to Christ." But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me and do not forbid them, for such is the kingdom of heaven." And He laid His hands on them and departed from there. When He laid His hands on them, it was to bless them.

It was to pray for them. Jesus, nowhere in the New Testament, nowhere in the Gospels, does that for ungodly, unrepentant, hardened sinners. He only lays His hands on His children, on those who have faith in Him. And He says, "Therefore little children were brought to Him that He may put His hands on them and pray." And Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me and do not forbid them, for such is the kingdom of heaven."

Their trust, their faith, their natural state of innocence, of not knowing the right hand from the left, but just totally trusting in the Lord is the model for us, right? To follow. That's where we should aim our faith to be.

Bible point number eleven. "As salvation is God's work, from first to last, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, salvation is the work of God." Salvation belongs to whom? To the Lord, right? As salvation is God's work by grace, apart from our works, it's God's work, not our works. The infant's regeneration is likely in connection with the infant's first view of Christ. We don't know the mechanics of exactly how God would save a baby who is a stillborn baby. We don't know the mechanics of how God would save a baby who has sudden infant death syndrome and dies in his or her crib. We don't know the mechanics of that, but we do know that salvation is from first and last the work of God. It's not our work. It's not depending on us being able to express faith. A child or someone who's mentally incapacitated wouldn't be able to do that, right? They may not even be able to comprehend that. But salvation is God's work. And it's likely done not after death, but in death. I believe that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, comes for that child. And in the moment of that soul's first consciousness of Christ, they are changed in a moment.

So Scripture relates to us in our glorification, right? What does it say in 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He, Christ, is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

Flip over on the back.

2 Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." We're becoming more and more as adult believers in the image of Christ every day by the Spirit of the Lord. And I believe that right at the death of an infant, the Holy Spirit comes to them, regenerates them, and they are brought into the arms of Jesus.

Application is this, was King David certain that he would see his son?

Was King David certain to see his son? Remember, he had lain with Bathsheba, gotten her pregnant, to try to cover his tracks, he killed Uriah.

So he was under God's punitive justice here, he was being punished by God, he was being chastised by God, if you will, and that baby was taken.

And David says, "I'm not gonna fast anymore. I'm not gonna mourn anymore. He can't come to me, but I will go to him."

That baby was in the arms of Jesus at the moment of his death. That is the hope that we can share with everyone who's lost a child, with everyone who has miscarried, with everyone who's had an abortion. We often speak of the evils of abortion, but let's not forget that our pews are filled with ladies who've probably had an abortion at some point.

And they need to hear the whole counsel of God's word. So I pray that these verses would give you peace, the peace of Christ.

Thanks for coming.