Hello beads!
beads wrote: But you would serve a God who says "there is no other way to the Father but through the Son" and then turns around and lets babies into heaven by default? It seems to me that if God lets babies into heaven by default, then Jesus is a liar when He says "no one comes to the Father but by me." But God cannot lie.
You are absolutely right when you say that Jesus would have to be a liar to say that someone can see God without remission of sins through Christ!
Take a look at these verses beads.
James 2:10 - For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Romans 7:8 - But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
Romans 7:9 - For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
The Holy Spirit convicts and reproves the sinner and exposes their guilt which is a result of knowing the law, a baby is born without knowing either the law and knowing guilt. It is until the law and conviction of God that he/she experiences guilt.
John 3:36 - He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Is a baby capable of believing or believing not on the doctrine of Christ and accepting it into His heart?
At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the {guiltless}. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. Matthew 12:1-14
It appears that Jesus Himself had broken His own commandments!
which would make Him a hypocrite!
I think not!
In the Old Testament they would sacrifice animals for the covering and not complete cleansing of sin, and only by the removal of sin can one be in the presence of God, the prophets in the Old Testament were taken to paradise after Jesus was crucifed for the
removal and cleansing of their sins, but still remaining in
paradise in hades/sheol and being comforted even without the cleansing of their sins, because only Christ is able to remove that even from the so-called righteous of the Old Testament.
So if these prophets of the Old Testament made their way to a paradise before the crucifixion of Christ which is able to cleanse their sins that were only covered by the sacrifice of animals, how much more than the babies who know not guilt as in comparison to the prophets who knew the law and were only covered by the blood sacrifice of animals and not by the Son of God!
Within these two verses lies the answer!
John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 5:22 - For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son
God Bless!