Thank you for your good questions. In Luke 1:11-17 we read about John the Baptist’s father Zacharias getting a visit from an angel. These verses state: “And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Verse 15 makes it sound like John the Baptist was saved while in his mother’s womb. However, this verse does not say that he was saved in his mother’s womb. It says that “he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.” We know that John the Baptist could not have been saved in his mother’s womb because of Acts 10:34. This verse says, “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.” John was thought of highly by the Lord Jesus for his role as the Lord’s forerunner. However, John the Baptist needed to be saved the same way that everyone else is saved because God is no respecter of persons. As we read in Acts 20:21, “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We know that beginning on the day of Pentecost that all believers on Christ receive the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:1-36). Since the day of Pentecost, each person who places their trust on the Lord Jesus Christ is immediately given the Holy Spirit to indwell them. We read in Ephesians 1:13, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise” (NASB).

However, John the Baptist lived before the day of Pentecost. Throughout the Old Testament and up until the day of Pentecost, there were times when the Holy Spirit came upon people. Sometimes those people were believers and sometimes they were not believers. The first king of Israel, Saul, was not a believer and yet this happened to him. We read in 1 Samuel 10:10, “And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him (King Saul); and the Spirit of God came upon him (King Saul), and he prophesied among them.”

Therefore, John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost while still in his mother’s womb, but he was not saved until he placed his faith in Christ. No one is saved while still in their mother’s womb. However, how wonderful it is that we can be saved at all!  The free gift of salvation is available to everyone! We read in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (DJ)  (606.6)