Illegitimate children

William Branham did not believe that illegitimate children could go in the rapture:

Dear Brother Branham, if a baby is born of a--out of wedlock, can this child ever be saved or go in the rapture?

Saved? Why sure, I believe the child could be... The child can't help what's been done. That is true. But I... About going in the rapture... Saved, I'd say, "Yes." But in the rapture it's a predestinated seed that goes in the rapture. And I can't believe that adultery was a predestinated seed. You understand? See? I believe the people can--the baby can be saved; it has no--no rights of its own. It's a awful act and things.

But now, in the Old Testament when a baby was born a bastard child, it could not even enter the congregation of the Lord for ten generations, four hundred and something years, that curse was so bad. Just think of that. A innocent baby, its great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandchildren, just think, the baby's great, great, great, ten great grandchildren could not even come in the congregation of God. That's right.

But you see, there was nothing there strong enough to forgive that sin. The blood of the Old Testament did not forgive sins; it covered sins. But the Blood of Jesus Christ divorces it. That's different now. When the Blood of Jesus Christ comes in, it's the different.

I don't know of how many "quotes" there are specifically about this. I only knew this one off-hand. But the concept that Bro. Branham taught all the time was that "hybrid" seed does not produce "original seed". It produces death. It's a theme of his ministry. He ties "hybreeding" with "bastard" born children. You may not find more quotes (although there MIGHT be quotes) - but this all ties back to his concept of Serpent Seed. To Brother Branham, he believes that God regards natural seed lines above the Blood of Jesus. See this quote:

60-1113 CONDEMNATION.BY.REPRESENTATION_ JEFFERSONVILLE.IN V-2 N-13 SUNDAY_ 108 Like the perverted vine, Jesus said it wasn't so at the beginning. And it isn't so at the beginning. God wanted every seed to bring its kind. And we hybreed anything; we ruin God's program. You take a flower. The original flower, a violet is blue, or white. Leave it alone, it'll go back to white. You have to keep breeding it up all the time. God makes things different. He likes it different. And hybreeding is such a dangerous and damnable thing till it ruins God's plan, it ruins the human race. God even said in Deuteronomy that a bastard child would not even be permitted into the generation, into the congregation of the Lord for ten generations. That's how bad adultery is: ten generations: ten times forty: four hundred years before a hybrid...

109 A woman that's married to a man, or a man married to a woman that'll cross the lines of holy wedlock, and bring in a illegitimate child, the generations will not come into the Kingdom of the Lord until ten generations. Deuteronomy 30--23:2. All right, it won't come in--a illegitimate child, he or his generation, or his generation, or his generation; even though they're trying like Esau, weeping to find a place, it takes ten generations. Forty years is a generation. Can you see this damnable, corruptible world is ready for judgment? So evil, cross up--cross up what God has joined together. A woman live unclean to her husband; husband live unclean to his wife and bring a hybrid child. Oh, some woman'd say, "Oh, isn't he beautiful, great big tall fellow." That's the same thing maybe Eve thought. She brought a hybrid child, and the hybrid child was Cain; and through Cain come giants. It's always been the cursed of the Lord: hybrid. Stay away from it: hybrid religion. Don't mix it.

I disagree. When we are born into the Body of Christ, we become SONS and daughters of GOD, do we not?

Not only that, Galatians 3:29 says "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.". This is a faith-seed line....not a natural seed line. BY FAITH - righteousness is granted to us.

Romans 3: 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

If a person does not understand this, they do NOT understand the GOSPEL.

In otherwords, you might be the daughter of a prostitute, and not even know who your father is - and Jesus Christ can clean you - PURE and WHOLE.

THIS is the Gospel.

By the way - IF this were true, Preachers should be honest with their congregations - and preach it. Because there are many people sitting in their churches who don't quality for the rapture. And they ought to have the courtesy of being informed that they don't qualify for the rapture. I suspect many preachers don't qualify either. Maybe they should have the 'non' bride members leave, because they're not worthy. A healthy poll of the congregation to weed out the illegitimate children would be helpful.

I mean - it would be correct to teach, just so people don't have to keep striving for perfection. They're automatically 'foolish virgin', at best.