Introduction:

In this life there is now and will continue to be turmoil and pain (Romans 8:18-20; Psalm 147:3; 2 Corinthians 4:9; 2 Timothy 3:12). This should not surprise Christians, for the Lord has told us that he came to restore all the brokenness we encounter (1 Peter 5:10). If we tease out the kind of restoration Christ has brought to this sinful world, we see that his work permeates to every single area of life, for no nook is free from corruption, and no cranny is absent distress. However, reading these truths in scripture usually gives us a simple cognitive awareness or a vague expectation of suffering in this life. Many of us, however, don’t actually know what suffering is – especially those in their younger years. But, although we know the scripture forecasts this on the horizon, we still try to avoid it at as much as we are able. We do whatever we can to prevent discomfort, and this is not altogether a bad thing (2 Timothy 4:13). But it is difficult to understand suffering, until the Lord has brought it upon you (Psalm 71:20).

All that to say, there is a kind of suffering that is altogether unavoidable: death. This is the last enemy that Christ will defeat (1 Corinthians 15:26). But alas, he is still among us. Whenever anyone dies it is a time to mourn, and remember, but when the youngest among us dies we feel like something truly reprehensible has happened. There is a sense of injustice, “he should have lived a full life!” There is a sense of regret, “she will never know the joy of having children…” There is a sense of despair, “I’ll never get to hold him or hear him giggle…” It doesn’t matter whether this child is still in the womb, or has been out of the womb for years, this pain is palpable. This pain is immense. And this pain can last a lifetime.

The publication of this revised and expanded article is for the benefit of all those who have lost their children in death, and eagerly await to see them once more in heaven, when every tear is wiped away, and death shall be no more.

 

Westminster Confession of Faith 10.3

Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit,a who worketh when, and where, and how he pleaseth.b So also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.c

a. Luke 18:15-16 and John 3:3, 5 and Acts 2:38-39 and Rom 8:9 and 1 John 5:12 compared together. • b. John 3:8. • c. Acts 4:12; 1 John 5:12.

 

Our Gracious God

The Lord is exceedingly gracious – I mean, he is gracious beyond what we can even think or imagine (John 1:16, Matthew 11:28-29). His grace goes beyond our human sensibilities, and we need to settle with this. I believe with all my heart what is confessed here, namely, that “elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ . . .” Generally, all reformed and/or Calvinistic believers will affirm this with me. But I would take it a step further. I do affirm that if a child dies, and is elect, he or she will open their eyes to their savior in heaven. What I also affirm, however, is that all those who die as children, no matter where they are, and not matter from who’s loins they are derived, are thus elect, and will open their eyes to their Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

The Goodness, Mercy, and Judgement of God

First things first. We need to establish the goodness and mercy of God if we are ever to understand the salvation of infants. So, for starters, who is God? Well, he is the almighty (Revelation 11:17). The foundations of his universal throne are righteousness and justice (Psalm 89:14). And he is an unending, everlasting, eternal, infinite, God (Psalm 106:48). I’ll stop here because this list could go on and on, and we would still never get off the ground to climb the mountain of who God is. But, despite all this, notice God’s perpetual posture given us in the scripture. He assumes a stance of gentleness, and of being lowly (Matthew 11:28-29). He stoops down and humbles himself in order that he may raise the poor from the dust (Psalm 113:6-7). God never has to be provoked to mercy, love, or patience. This is his most natural work. It is always his wrath to which he must be provoked (Deuteronomy 32:21). It is his wrath that is his strange work. We on the other hand are never in need of being provoked to anger, for this come naturally. It is to love that we must be provoked (Hebrews 10:24). So, we see that God has no lack of great love like we do in our fickleness. Frankly, we cannot understand the depths of mercy he has for his creation, and especially those that die in their innocence.  

God always (not sometimes, or most of the time, but in every single solitary instance) does what is just and right (Genesis 18:25). God is good and always and only does what is good as Psalm 119:68 declares. Additionally, Romans 3:1-7 shows the absolute righteousness of God in his judgements of the world and of his creatures. So, if all that God does is good, and his likewise judges sinners to eternal deamination, we must conclude that whether infants do or do not go to heaven when they die, then this is a good thing God does. God does not do things that we have decided are good; things are good because God does them. 

 

Infants In Heaven

In light of the considerations above, It is my confident assertion that while God would be just in sending infants to hell in light of their death, instead God decrees that all infants do go to heaven if and when they die in infancy, and I especially believe this position to be of a sincere value for the children of believing parents.

 

Elect Children

God saves only one kind of person: those who are elect. Likewise, God is free and can do as he pleases, so this means that he is not obligated to save anyone, not even infants who die in infancy. However, in God's Covenant, is a promise of faithfulness to the children of believers to be his or her God. The language found in Deuteronomy 1:39 is interesting. in speaking of the promised land, God says,

“And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.”

God is speaking through Moses saying that the children "whose age did not yet allow them to discern between good and evil” were going to enter the Promised Land, which of course was a foreshadowing of heaven. Far from absolving these children from the guilt of their sins, Deuteronomy 1:39 says, however, that they are unable to discern between good things or evil things. In other words, the children were not able to discern their sin, and so God shows a peculiar kindness to them. This would be why the bible harps so heavily upon fathers to instruct their children in the Lord (Genesis 18:19; Deuteronomy 4:9; Ephesians 6:4), Because they desperately need him.

Also, in 2 Samuel 12:23 after the death of David’s child, he expresses his hope to one day see this child again. David says, “why should I fast . . . I will go to him.” In other words, why should he do that which expresses mourning, because he knows that not only will he be reunited with him after he dies, but that there place they will both be can only be into the bosom of Christ himself.

Job 3:11-19 says, 

“Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest, with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves, or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light? There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master” (emphasis added).

This section of scripture lands on the heels of Job suffering a tragic loss, and so his words are striking, yet they are also fitting. Here Job laments his own birth, but he does not say that it would have been better for him to have never been born (never existed). Rather, he says - on two occasions - that it would have been better for him to come into existence (be conceived) and then perish. However, his description of what life would be like after he perished on this Earth is described as quiet, restful, comfortable, ceasing from trouble, easy, and free. Don’t miss this. His description sounds nothing like the place sinners go, where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched (Mark 9:48). This does not sound like a description of hell, but rather a place of great contentment, which can only be with Christ, the prince of peace. 

Furthermore, the sin of infants is different from the sin of adults. infants are not people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness as we see in Romans 1. They do not suppress and reject God’s general revelation, nor do they reject the Bible as God’s special revelation. By their very nature as infants, or unborn, they do not have the ability to reject God in their person in this outward, obvious, deliberate, objective, and conscious way. So, the things of God are not clearly seen by them. This does not mean that children are unintelligent, but this does mean that they possess mental and physical limitations that prevent them from seeing and understanding certain aspects of the world as plainly as adults do. And lest we forget the compassion of our God, he is the one who forms us in our mothers’ wombs. He brings us from that habitation and places us upon her breasts for sustenance. And this is described as us being cast upon himself to trust him (Psalm 22:9-10). He understands and has made the frame of these little ones. How stupendously compassionate is he toward us, as a nursing mother toward her children – and would we believe for even a moment that he would refuse to bring one of these little ones who dies to himself?

The Sovereignty of God

In this equation, we must also have a place for God’s sovereignty.

1 Samuel 2:6

“The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.”

Job 5:28

“For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.”

Revelation 1:18

“I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.”

Deuteronomy 32:39

“See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.”

If we consider that it is “God from all eternity [who] did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass (WCF 3.1), then we will settle with the fact that if a child dies, it is because of no other reason, than the Lord has decreed this child to die. This notion may be offensive to some, and I understand this. But a sober understanding of God and his immeasurable power is the only real way to move forward with him and receive the hope that he subsequently gives, and this is it: He knows those children whom he sovereignly takes life away from. He decreed that he was going to do that. He already knew their names. He already had as his plan to bring them to himself. And in this we cannot argue, but we must understand that it is “according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will” (WCF 3.5) that he has done this.

But, this means that those children who, due to no fault of their own, who were murdered by their mother and the abortionist, will be with the Lord. Those children who were still-born, will be with the Lord. Those mothers who would have died in giving birth and had to lose their child, that child is with the Lord. Those children who die in their precious years from cancer, or trauma, or countless other things, Will. Be. With. The. Lord!

 

The Opposition

There are those who will say that this position is “well-wishing” or “wishful thinking.” There are even those who confuse this confessional position with unbiblical ones. So, we must take aim and draw out that opposition, and respond.

1.  Age of Accountability

This position argued for in this article is often conflated and/or confused with with what is called the “age of accountability.” The concept of the “age of accountability” is that children are not held accountable by God for their sins until they reach a certain age, and that if a child dies before reaching the “age of accountability,” that child will be granted entrance into heaven. On the surface they seem alike, but for one crucial reason, they are not. The “age of accountability” must be rejected because of the reality of imputed sin. The imputation of sin is a fundamental doctrine stating, that the sin of Adam is inherited by all of his posterity. Imputed sin is something that the scriptures are not silent about. Paul says, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned . . . therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men . . . For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners” (Romans 5:12,18,19, emphasis added). This means that from the very moment of conception, from the very second the sperm and egg combine, there is a human being with a soul, and therefore there is guilt for sin. That person is guilty before God. This imputed guilt is enough for God to condemn us to hell for all eternity. Because of the inherent difficult in accepting this reality, the notion of a period of time where God does not hold us accountable for sin becomes attractive. But, nevertheless, it is terribly misguided.  

It is important, therefore, to continue with the assertion by some, that children are innocent of sin, or essentially sinless before the age of accountability. The age of accountability is nowhere to be found in the bible. There is nowhere when an age limit (as proponents of an age of accountability see it) is set by God to determine when a child becomes responsible for his or her sins. Rather, God tells us that the age when people become accountable is the very moment they come into existence; the very moment they are conceived. Not only was Adam’s sin imputed to all mankind but it also endowed to them the natural reaction of sin: hatred toward God. David harkens to this point in Psalm 51:5 confessing that he was sinful since conception and guilty of iniquity since his birth. In other words, from conception he was guilty, and from birth, he was practicing sin. God brings to bare the reality of our sin nature and it is made painfully clear in the pages of scripture. Infants, therefore, (because they do go to heaven) are not going there because they are innocent of sin. On the contrary, they are just as guilty as the vilest human adult who has ever lived. 

So then, when does God stop allowing infant or little children to automatically go to heaven when they die? For this answer, we must remember again, God has decreed every child that would ever die, and has therefore, from eternity, decreed that those who would die would likewise be elect, and despite their age, or guilt, would be with him in heaven.

2.  Estranged From The Womb

Others, while not denying that elect infants go to heaven, but denying that not all do, take a more biblical approach. They cite Psalm 58:3, which says,

“The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.”

At the outset, I would again affirm what I said above, that we are imputed with the guilt of Adams sin from conception. This guilt is what makes us worthy of damnation. Not this only, but that we are also actually sinners, and the fact that we die indicates this because “death spread[s] to all men because all sinned.” So, on it face there is no disparity.

But I would argue that it is God who makes these vessels of wrath which are prepared for destruction (Romans 9:22). The wicked whom the Lord has purposed for the day of disaster (Proverbs 16:4) had to come from somewhere, namely the womb. And it is those who grow and show themselves to be estranged from God. In other words, while the verse uses the words “womb” and “birth” this does not indicate that these are infants who die, but that those who are indeed wicked and destined for destruction, have been so since birth.

Additionally, if this were speaking about wicked infants as those who die in infancy, then three things would become an issue. First, it would be nearly impossible to square this with the large degree of certainty we see from Job and David regarding infant death. They speak in ways that leaves no room for questioning. David is certain he will see his son again, and Job was confident of what his existence would be had he died as an infant. Second, there would be no hope for the parents who have lost their children. The best you could say to a mourning mother and father is, “well...I just don’t know…she might have been elect.” And in the words of Steven Lawson “Give us some men who know the truth!” And third, it would call in to question Goods own words regarding the condition of children, and God’s tender heart toward them.

Jesus loves, with an immeasurable love, little children. On one occasion many “were bringing children (even infants) to [Jesus] that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them” (Mark 10:13-15).

Notice first, the indignation that Jesus expresses at the disciple’s ignorant refusal to allow the children to come to him. This means that what Jesus says next is an angered response due to their effrontery. If the hinderance of children who are alive and, on the Earth, would cause our Lord this much distress, why would our Lord, the one who “took them in his arms and blessed them” here, not do that very same thing to all the children in heaven? This answer is simple: he would.

 

Conclusion

In Christ our mourning can be turned to joy, and our sorrow turned to eager anticipation when we ponder the goodness and mercy of our God. The scriptures do not leave grieving mothers and fathers to wonder what - if anything - has happened to their little girl or boy. Our God is a Father who is full of compassion and will do right (Genesis 18:25). Trust in our Savior to restore you (1 Peter 5:10), to make all things new (Revelation 21:5), and to wipe all your tears away (Revelation 7:17; 21:4).

Heaven is utterly packed “with a multitude that no one can number” (Revelation 7:9) and many of these will be the little children who were taken into our saviors arms very early. When the most innocent perish it is a tragedy, but our God is just, and he only does that which is just. And in this we can rejoice!