Can you explain the words of the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 7:14): "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the (believing) wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the (believing) husband; else were your children unclean (sinners under condemnation, unjustified, unrelated to God, aliens from His care and blessing) but now are they holy"?

The disobedience and alienation of Adam and Eve from the Heavenly Father brought alienation to all their offspring. Whereas, the reconciliation of the Lord’s people through the merits of the great atonement brings them back to harmony with God. Their children as well are counted as justified through their parents, up to such a time as the child shall have an intelligence and will of its own. The question is more complex, however, when one parent is the Lord’s and the other is a stranger and an alien from Him; but the Apostle assures us that in such a case God counts the child as His, through whichever one of its parents is the Lord’s disciple. The standing of the believing parent is counted as offsetting and overruling the standing of the unconsecrated parent, so far as the child is concerned.