God’s Grandchildren

If you are wondering who my title might be referring to, the answer is no one. Of course. My reading through the history books in the Old Testament has driven that reality home for me. The potential grandparents of the Bible greats – Adam, Noah, Abraham, Samuel, David, Solomon (though he followed in his father’s footsteps for a while) – all had to watch their children stray. I am thankful for godly parents who raised me in a Christian home, but until I made the decision to follow Christ on my own, I was headed for the same Hell as everyone else.

I want to take a rabbit trail and explain that last sentence. Because Adam’s rebellion brought death into the perfect creation of God – physical and spiritual death – everyone of his progeny (that’s every human) is destined for an eternity apart from God. The name for that eternal separation is Hell. This is why we must accept God’s gracious offer of adoption into the family headed by Christ. The family headed by Adam is going to Hell. Paul makes this abundantly clear in Romans where he calls Jesus Christ the second Adam. God’s first family (Adam’s family) failed the test of obedience, so God sent His unique Son to start a second family that would be assured of an eternity in the Father’s presence based on the perfect obedience of His Son.

A generation or two after the Apostles died, theologians began interpreting the Bible, and they realized the awkwardness of no grandchildren. They instituted infant baptism as a way to bring a second generation into the church: grandchildren. Defenders of infant baptism have long said that it is a continuation of God’s covenant with Abraham which was signified with circumcision. Baptism is their Christian equivalent to circumcision as a rite of entrance into the covenant. Except it’s not. The record of the Old Testament plainly shows that not all who were circumcised were God’s children; Paul points that out saying, “Not all Israel is Israel.”

Even before the Cross of Calvary, it was not the sign of the covenant that made one God’s child, it was always faith. This is Paul’s argument throughout all his epistles, particularly in Romans. Believing and trusting in God has always been the golden ticket to the Heavenly train. A parent may feel better having baptized a baby, but until that child makes a profession of faith in Christ, the ceremony of baptism is just a ritual bath. Absent the profession, that child is on the same road as every other descendant of Adam: the highway to Hell.

I know that sounds mean, uncaring, judgmental. But it is biblical. It also raises a thorny problem for some people. If one believes in necessary prerequisites for salvation, whether baptism or profession of faith, how do you handle the “innocents” who die without either? First, there are no innocents. As I have pointed out already, one is either in Adam or in Christ and eternal conditions are predicated on the family tree. However, something in us wants to believe that God won’t condemn people to Hell who had no other choice. I’m one of those people. I hate to think that the millions of lives that have been sacrificed on the abortion altar of convenience are not taken to be with God. I don’t like to think that people with limited mental capacity can’t find some loophole in the law of faith. I’d also like to think that people who never hear the gospel message can somehow receive God’s grace.

I dealt with this feeling of unfairness more fully in another article. (see “What Happens to People Who Never Hear the Name of Jesus?”) I will summarize my position here. I believe God can do whatever He wants. I also believe that though the Bible is sufficient for salvation, it may not be exhaustive. There may be other ways God applies the blood of His Son to those whom He chooses. As I said in the previous article, there are many things that are true that are not specifically stated in the Scripture. It is the height of arrogance to say that God cannot do something that is not specifically excluded by Scripture. Having said all that, nothing else I said precludes the necessity of gospel proclamation. As I wrote in “Why Witness,” we have all the reason we need to continue evangelistic efforts in this one thing: Jesus commands it.

Something else you should not take from this article is that it is not important to impress upon children that need for profession of faith. “Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord,” says Paul. He is echoing the Old Testament Shema in Deuteronomy 6: teach them, train them day in and day out. I am blessed to have three children who made a profession of faith in Christ Jesus. (Sometimes I think it was in spite of my parenting.)  I also have grandchildren who are following the Lord. This is a legacy I cherish, but I know that each one had to make a decision; there’s no sliding into Heaven on Mom and Dad’s coattails. If you have children, they are your number one evangelistic priority. After them, you have all the rest of Adam’s family to reach. How? I like what Francis of Assisi suggested: “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.”

Related posts: What Happens to People Who Never Hear the Name of Jesus; Understanding Salvation; Why Heaven Matters; Lies We Have Been Told