Question: My question is about the salvation of an infant or a very young child
that dies prior to accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. If we are all born into sin and
"all come short of the glory of God" it would seem that the child is condemned
to Hell. I don’t think this is true but I can’t find any scripture that refutes
it. I’m sure I’m not the first person to ask this question. Can you shed any
light on this issue?
In Christ,
Bob
Answer: Dear Bob,
This is a long and involved question. I have just a few minutes, so this may be
garbled:
- The afterlife is not described with a great deal of specificity in the Bible. We know
that eternal life, life in the presence of God, is the future that awaits those who are in
Christ. We will be given a glorified body and will live eternally with God.
- There is a judgment for those who refuse God’s gracious call. When,
how, how long, how "hot," etc. are all matters of conjecture, and
Christians differ on these issues. You may wish to read
my cover story in the
November 2007 issue of The Plain Truth magazine (http://www.ptm.org/07PT/Nov/SelectArtcl.htm).
- Christians also differ about how someone is judged to be one of the goats of Matthew 25.
In terms of children, some believe in an age of accountability. One of the reasons given
by those who favor infant baptism is that this act would "seal" eternal life for
those who are baptized. However there is much debate about this issue. There is also
debate about whether a baby, who has not been baptized, is lost. Similar debate takes
place about those, who through no fault of their own, have never heard the name of Jesus
Christ.
- Some believe, and I am inclined to this view (but I do not have any view
that could be viewed as absolute and dogmatic about hell, other than it is
not a place/time that anyone of us want to be) that God will make righteous
provision for those who are unsaved and who have not rejected his plan of
salvation. For example, the thief on the cross was given a
"death-bed" opportunity to be saved, and was.
There is much literature from a variety of denominational perspectives about the after
life, and particularly about hell, although not much conjecture about the fate of babies.
Some can become dogmatic and "hot" about this topic – I believe that we
will find out more about this age to come, and that our speculations until that time are
just that.
Hope this helps!
In Christ,
Greg Albrecht