#3...whatever you conclude about these matters, please keep in mind that however you assign...
...whatever you assign...
...to “infants” and toddlers...
...is likewise also applied to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of special needs’ kids & adults around the world...people who — intellectually speaking — are either at or not much beyond that level of development.
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No, under normal circumstances an infant will eventually develop the level of intellect to make their own choice.
A special needs individual, many times, will not. In both circumstances I don’t think any fair minded person would think God would not account for this fact and in both cases realize who is and who isn’t at one point capable of accepting Christ as their savior. The problem comes with an infant who is eventually told because they were baptized as a baby they are saved and going to heaven. They make no real effort to know Christ and be truly born again. I think today’s society is a very clear picture of what that leads to. Countless individuals who act in complete disregard to biblical teachings and the results speak for themselves.
#1...As far as "choices" go, nobody & their "level of intellect" gets the credit/glory for faith in Christ...for that belongs to the Holy Spirit alone: "No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit" (apostle Paul, 1 Cor. 12:3)
#2...Sorry, but faulty theologians who've taught about so-called "choices" and "decisions" for Christ really don't have actual verses to hang their theological hats on...they try with the one Revelation passage about behold Jesus stands at the door & knocks & people let Him in...but Jesus was writing to CHRISTIANS there...one of the 7 churches referenced in Revelation...the other verse is from the book of Joshua...also a bit of a reach.
The REALITY is that Jesus treated people as spiritually dead...like in Luke 9 when He told the (spiritually) dead to bury the (physically) dead. Or like in Ephesians 2:1-5 where the apostle Paul twice references people as being spiritually dead.
I mean, c'mon...in reading Lazarus' resurrection in John 11, you don't really think it was requisite for Lazarus to have a certain "level of intellect" to walk out of his grave, do you?
Rather, he found Himself suddenly re-alive, and he simply stumbled out...sorry to bust that "choice" bubble of yours.
Bottom line is we all reject Christ ALL the time, until the Holy Spirit graciously GIVES us the GIFT of faith, which we merely receive, just like ANY kid aged whatever to whatever plays that same "reception" role every Christmas...oh sure, there might be a gift that newborn Johnny won't appreciate til later...may not even "unwrap" it yet...but the gift is already there...initiated by his loving father.