hmmm...interesting. I was always told that if a child had Christ following parents it was safe until the "age of understanding" ... doesnt seem fair on the other innocent children who die young. Anyone else got any thoughts on this?
The Bible says that every human being is born with a sin nature and born spiritually dead. God regards all human beings as sinners, “speaking lies,” “erring from birth” and “conceived in sin.” The Bible gives no age at which sin begins except before Birth.
Psalm 14:1-6 – (ESV) There is none who does good . . . they have all turned aside . . . not even one.
Psalm 51:5 – (ESV) I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psalm 53:3 – (ESV) There is none who does good, not even one
Gen 6:5 - And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Psalm 58:3 – (ESV) They [the wicked] go astray from birth, speaking lies.
Romans 3:10 – as it is written, None is righteous, no, not one.
The Bible indicates that if a baby is saved, he is not saved simply because he has done nothing wrong (Romans 8 & 9, particularly 9:11). He cannot be saved apart from the regeneration of the Holy Spirit to believe in Christ.
I Timothy 2:5 – For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus
John 3:3 - . . . Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God
Acts 4:12 - Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
COMFORTS:
Wayne Grudem (Systematic Theology) says (of how many infants God saves), “Scripture does not tell us, so we simply cannot know. Where Scripture is silent, it is unwise for us to make definitive pronouncements.”
However, Grudem does say we should recognize the pattern in the Bible concerning the salvation of babies.
* While we cannot conclude from these passages that God automatically saves believers’ children, here is His pattern of saving them:
Gen 7:1, Heb 11:7, Josh 2:18, Ps 103:17, John 4:53, Acts 2:39, 11:14, 16:31, 18:8, I Cor 1:16, 7:14, Titus 1:6, Matt 18:10, 14.
But there were other children of believers who grew up and rejected the Lord that he did not save – Absalom, son of David – history begins @ II Samuel 15 & Esau, son of Isaac, son of Abraham – history begins @ Gen 25
* A baby, while possessing a sin nature, has done nothing yet, good or bad. Since Paul, in Romans 5:12-21 is not talking about individual sin, he couldn’t be talking about a baby’s sinful acts. Be careful, though, because Romans 9:11 says, “for the children, being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth . . .”
Here’s what the Bible says about what a man DOES:
Romans 2:6 – Christ will render EVERY MAN according to his works.
Colossians 3:25 – each person will be paid back for the wrong he HAS DONE.
While we cannot make a definitive argument one way or another, there is hope in these verses because we know they haven’t done any works yet.
* Some babies were regenerated by the Holy Spirit while yet in their mothers’ wombs. While we must remember that these babies’ lives were sanctified for special purposes, the events still bear hope: Luke 1:15 (John the Baptist), Psalm 22:10 (David), I Samuel 12:23 (David’s baby).
In II Samuel 12:23, David, in grief, says of his dead son by Bathsheba, “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” He COULD mean the grave. But considering God’s frequent pattern of saving the children of godly parents, it could also mean he would go to him in heaven.
There is even more hope when simply studying the attributes of God. Knowing that He is a just, compassionate, righteous God can be comforting when thinking of spiritual things that are beyond our comprehension: Deut 32:4, Job 24:10, James 1:13
Christ's,
Jessi