After Party Q&A #1: Do babies go to heaven?
The series we just completed, “The After-Party” has been a tremendously exciting series to put together over the past several months. The series has led to a lot of emails asking specific questions about Heaven, Hell, and death in general which is why I decided to end the series with a Q&A session. I originally planned to speed through 10 to 15 questions during the message but there was just too much to address in each question so I only answered the five most popular questions in the service.
I’ll spend the next several weeks then answering many of the questions I was unable to address from the stage via our Frontline blog. Depending on the day, I’ll have one or several questions answered each day.
Here we go…
What happens to babies/special needs people who cannot understand the Gospel?
This was the sixth most popular question until this week. It’s now become one of the top three questions in light of emails I’ve received in the past few days. This is one of those very important questions that I wish God would have dealt with directly. However, God chose in His infinite wisdom to leave the answer to this question somewhat ambiguous from a strictly scriptural perspective.
There is some biblical evidence that those who cannot make a decision for Christ are covered by Christ’s atoning work on the cross. When King David speaks of his dead son, he claims, “But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” We see here David understanding that he will go to be with his departed son when David dies. David knew that his right standing before God came by faith and we see him included in what some call the “faith Hall of Fame” in Hebrews 11. We can then surmise that, based in the inspired Word we read here, that David would indeed see his son again in Heaven when David dies as one who is saved by faith.
Secondly, there is no question that Christ’s death on the cross is sufficient payment for the entirety of mankind’s sin. We find this in 1 John 2:2: “the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” This does not in any way negate the need for every human being to come before God in repentance and accept Jesus as their Lord. However, it opens the possibility of God applying Christ’s atoning work to those who are incapable of understanding and therefore responding to the Gospel. This would include babies and some children as well as special needs persons.
I believe that this view is completely consistent with God’s character. This idea – some call it the age of accountability – puts forth this assertion, that Christ’s death on the cross covers those who die before reaching the maturity to understand their sinfulness and their need for Christ. We cannot though be dogmatic in our assertion of this view. We can though lean on the fact that our God is always holy, just, merciful, loving, and gracious. Whatever He does is always right and good.
4 comments:
I hold this position and can't wait until we know the answer finally. In the rapture we will meet Christ in the air and it will be interesting to see if the "unaccountable" will rise with us or not.
It will be a wild enough sight to see...Matthew 24:40-41 "Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left." ... but, imagine if also hospitals are emptied of babies, children fly from their parents' sides, and the mentally handicapped rise, too.
Either way the coming of the Son of Man is going to be an amazing event!
Dear Todd: Thank you very much for this wonderful series! I am very grateful for having you as our teaching pastor and I pray for protection and many blessings over you and your family.
I had been struggling with the truth about losing salvation, but after these series it was clear for me that Jesus' work on the cross was so perfect that it simply cannot be undone, hence, we cannot lose our salvation once we have been saved.
However, after reading Psalm 69:28
(May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous) and Revelation 3:5
(... I will never blot out his name from the book of life...) it might seem as if there was some possibility that someone who has been saved, and as a result, have his or her name written in the Book of Life, could also be removed, and I suppose, lose salvation.
Can you please give me your insight about this?
Matt,
While I completely agree with you that there is a rapture of the Church that is coming (1 Thes 4:13-18; 1 cor 15:51-52) and it is our "glorious hope", the text you quoted from the Olivet discourse has nothing to do with the rapture of the Church. In fact, the Church is not even in view in the context. that passage happened to end up in a Christian song called, "Left behind" and is poor theology. The Olivet discourse is about the tribulation and following. Actually In the context, believers on the earth at the time will be the ones who are "left behind" because those taken are taken in judgment (just as the passage cites the days of Noah). Dispensational theology holds to a pre trib rapture and I myself am a dispy but I don't know of one dispensational theologian who takes Matt 24 to be speaking about the rapture.
Blessings,
Will P
My opinion:
David was not referring to being reunited with his son in “heaven”. David’s comment is much more in sync with that of Jacob’s in Genesis 37:35-
‘All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said. "I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning." And his father wept for him.’
This is because David and Jacob had no expectation of going to a place called “heaven” upon their death; as it was their expectation to go to Sheol (Aka Hades), which refers to “the place of the dead”.
In fact, Solomon, who just happened to be the wisest man that ever lived, said that Sheol is the destination for everyone-
(Ecclesiastes 9:10) Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
And as far as the often mentioned “age of accountability”, it is completely unbiblical. The Bible clearly states unambiguously that ALL human beings, other than Jesus himself, are guilty of sin. This is clearly stated in Romans 3:23-
‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’
And “all”, would include babies. In fact, David himself states this very thing in Psalms 51:5-
‘Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.’
The question of what happens to babies when they die is a very difficult one to answer for most Christians, and even for their churches. (And FYI- I do attend MBC and Frontline faithfully)
And when this question gets raised, I think it’s kind of interesting to see how quickly most churches black and white teachings suddenly turn to gray; which is true on several other issues as well.
This is simply because they have a limited amount of answers to choose from; from inside “the box” they have built with their own established doctrines, and that same situation applies here.
Simply put, if your answers don’t fit within your own doctrine (and IMO yours don’t), maybe it’s time to start thinking a bit more outside that box! (As long as it’s supported by Scripture of course)
I do have my own opinion on this question; one which is supported by Scripture. However, the only problem is that it's not going to fit in your “box”.
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