Dear Crystal:
For twenty
centuries, Christians have
debated the question of how God
deals with the death of young
children. In ancient times,
infant mortality was very high,
so to make sure that infants
would inherit eternal life,
certain Christians began
baptizing infants as soon as
possible after birth. In fact,
Catholics and a few
Christian’s groups currently
believe that baptism is a
requirement for eternal life, so
they apply the sacrament
of baptism to infants as soon as
possible. (See John 3:5) On the
other hand, most Protestants do
not accept the idea that
sacraments are necessary for
salvation. Protestants believe
that salvation comes through
faith in Christ alone and baptism
is regarded as an ordinance. (An
ordinance is something that a
believer does to show publicly
that he or she is a follower of
Christ, but it is not a
requirement for salvation.) As
you can see, baptism means
different things to different
Christians, but the question
still remains, “What happens
to children who die before
reaching the age of
accountability?” Are they
saved because they were baptized,
are they condemned because they
were born into the curse of sin
or does God deal with them as
though they never sinned?
I believe that all
children, in all religions and
cultures, are born in a
“saved” state. Yes, the
Bible teaches that all human
beings are born with fallen
natures. We come from the womb
having a natural tendency toward
selfishness, sin, and rebellion,
but I believe God does not impart
guilt to children for their sins
until they reach the age of
accountability. For normal
children, the age of
accountability (knowing the
difference between right and
wrong and having the ability to
follow through with a
conscientious decision to do
right or wrong) varies somewhere
between the ages of 7 and 14.
In other words,
God does not condemn a child to
eternal death because (a) Adam
sinned, (b) the child’s
parents are sinners, or (c) the
child is a natural born
sinner. If the blood of Jesus can
justify an adult who has
willingly sinned, then the blood
of Jesus can also justify
a child whose ability to reason
is limited and knowledge of right
and wrong is incomplete. A
child is a living trust given to
parents until he or she is
intellectually and emotionally
prepared to bear the
responsibilities of adulthood
– or age 18, whichever comes
first. Because the emotions of
children can be easily swayed,
because children cannot reason
adequately, and because children
do not have a well-defined
understanding of right and wrong,
they do not have accountability
during their first years of life.
In fact, this is why we call them
“minors” until they are
18 years old. Minors do not have
the same rights as adults. Minors
cannot enter into legal
agreements, own property, vote,
or get married without parental
consent. Because child lack
judgment (intellectually and
emotionally), they are not
generally held to the same
standards of conduct as adults.
(Occasionally, there cases in
juvenile courts where minors are
charged and sentenced as adults
because the court proves that the
minor knew the difference between
right and wrong and chose to
willfully do wrong.)
If, in our fallen
state, we realize the
insufficiency of minors, surely
God does, too. Notice how God
deals with insufficiency of
Gentiles (those who do not know
God). “Indeed, when
Gentiles, who do not have the law
[of God, that is, a revelation of
the will of God], do by nature
things required by the law, they
are a law for themselves, even
though they do have the law,
since they show that the
requirements of the law are
written on their hearts [by
the Holy Spirit], their
consciences [when they do
right are free of guilt] also
bearing witness, and their
thoughts now accusing [when
they do wrong, they know their
guilt], now [their actions
show their faith] even
defending them [in God’s
sight].” Romans
2:14,15 insertions mine)
Paul makes the
point clear that when Gentiles
follow the leading of the Holy
Spirit, God accepts them as His
children even though they do not
know Him! God justifies Gentiles
who do not know Him because He
sees the heart of Jews and
Gentiles alike. A person’s
salvation is not based on the
purity of his beliefs about God.
Instead, a person’s
salvation is based on his
response to the Holy Spirit. Our
response to the Holy Spirit
reveals our faith. God called
Abraham to leave his homeland.
The Bible says, “By faith
Abraham, when called to go to a
place he would later receive as
his inheritance, obeyed and went,
even though he did not know where
he was going.” (Hebrews
11:8) When God called Abraham,
one could say that Abraham was a
Gentile! God tested
Abraham’s faith by asking
him to leave his family and home
behind, and Abraham passed the
test because Abraham loved God!
Similarly, God knows that many
Gentiles are honest in heart and
they would gladly do all that He
commands if only they had the
knowledge of His commands!
Therefore, since God is willing,
through the blood of Jesus, to
justify Gentiles who do not know
His ways, God also justifies
insufficient minors with the same
blood!
Carefully consider
this passage: “Therefore,
just as sin entered the world
through one man, and death
through sin, and in this way
death came to all men [that
is, death was imposed upon all
mankind because of sin’s
curse], because all sinned
– for before the law was
given [at Mount Sinai],
sin was in the world. But sin is
not taken into account [that
is, God does not impart guilt] when
there is no [knowledge of
the] law [right and wrong]
…. Consequently, just as
the result of one trespass was
condemnation for all men [the
curse of sin was passed along to
the offspring of Adam through his
sin], so also the result of
one act of righteousness [Jesus
living a perfect life for us,
without sin] was justification
that brings [eternal] life
for all men. For just as through
the disobedience of the one man
the many were made sinners, so
also through obedience of the one
man [Jesus Christ] the
many [sinners] will be
made righteous [before God].”
(Romans 5:12,13, 18,19 insertions
mine)
Paul affirms three
important facts in Romans 5 that
every Christian should know.
First, Adam’s offspring
inherited Adam’s fallen
nature. Thus, everyone, but
Christ, has sinned because we
have Adam’s sinful nature.
Second, even though a person will
eventually die because of the
consequences of sin, God does not
impart guilt to a person who sins
ignorantly. God is more than
fair. He does not hold a person
accountable for things that does
not or cannot know. However, God
does hold a person responsible
for refusing to learn the truth.
Third, God reconciled the world
to Himself through the blood of
Jesus. Jesus voluntarily came to
Earth and died in our place so
that God could legally save
sinners through the process of
covering our life’s record
with the perfect life of Christ.
(The process of covering our
sinful record with Christ’s
sinless record is called
“justification.”) The
net effect of God’s love is
truly beautiful: In spite of
Adam’s failure and our
sinful nature, each child starts
out in life “saved”
through Christ’s perfect
life until a time comes when as a
adult, that person insists on
rebellion against God,
nevertheless], we were
reconciled to him through the
death of his Son, how much more,
having been reconciled, shall we
be saved through his life
[the gift of His sinless life
which covers our sins]! Not
only is this so, but we also
rejoice in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom we
have now received reconciliation.
(Romans 5:10,11, insertions
mine)
The Holy
Spirit Has Two Objectives
When a baby is
born, the Holy Spirit begins
working with that baby. The Holy
Spirit understands the sinful
nature that the baby has
inherited. The Holy Spirit also
understands the rebellion that is
in each human heart. The Holy
Spirit also understands the
language and culture of the baby.
He also understands the religious
training that the baby will
receive. The Holy Spirit knows
all this, but He has two
persistent objectives. First, He
wants to impress on the child the
importance of honesty and truth,
that is, firmly standing up for
what is right and good and
abhorring whatever is wrong and
evil. Second, the Holy Spirit
works on every person to bring us
into submission with the will of
God. (For some people, this
happens in childhood, and for
others, submission occurs in
adulthood.) Obviously, the Holy
Spirit has many obstacles to
overcome such as arrogance and
ignorance, but eh greatest
obstacle for the Holy Spirit is
man’s natural
rebellion toward God’s
authority! For example, God says
love your enemies. Human beings
do not naturally love their
enemies. God says not to steal,
commit adultery, covet, or lie.
God says, take care of your
parents, no not commit sexual
immorality, do not take His name
in vain, do not worship idols,
and do not forget to rest on the
seventh day, as He did. So, what
is the problem with doing all
that God wants? “Those
who live according to the sinful
nature have their minds set on
what that nature desires; but
those who live in accordance with
the Spirit have their minds set
on what the Spirit desires. The
mind of sinful man is death, but
the mind controlled by the
Spirit is life and peace; the
sinful mind is hostile to God. It
does not submit to God’s
law, nor can it do so. Those
controlled by the sinful nature
cannot please God.” (Romans
8:5-8)
The Holy Spirit
may work on the heart of a person
for many years, attempting to
bring that person into a
“born again state.”
Being born again means starting
all over in life. Paul says it is
a whole new beginning, a new
life! (Romans 6:4) Finding
submission to God’s will as
a joyful experience is only
possible after being born
again. Some people have “on
again – off again”
experiences with the Holy Spirit
for years. Fortunately, the Holy
Spirit does not give up until He
sees rebellion cannot be
overcome. I have known people who
have resisted the Holy Spirit for
most of their lives, and then at
the end of their lives, they
finally relinquished their
rebellion and surrendered their
will to the Lord before it was
too late. I have also seen people
resist the Holy Spirit and die
without appearing to have any
interest in God or spiritual
matters. Of course, I am not in a
position to read the mind or
heart of anyone, but I am saying
that the hope of salvation is lost
when we grieve away the Holy
Spirit. Once the Spirit leaves,
there is no return and in His
absence, there is no further
interest in spiritual things or a
desire to glorify God. “If
we deliberately keep on sinning
after we have received the
knowledge of the truth, no
sacrifice for sins is left, but
only a fearful expectation of
judgment and of raging fire that
will consume the enemies of
God.” (Hebrews 10:26,27)
Conclusion
From birth,
everyone has a sinful nature.
Therefore, a minor will sin, but
a minor is guiltless in
God’s sight because he or
she is intellectually and
emotionally insufficient. Jesus
has reconciled the whole world to
the Father through His perfect
life and sacrificial blood. This
means that God is permitted to
legally wrap every minor and
every submissive person in the
perfect record of Christ’s
life (justification). Salvation
is a gift from God for everyone.
Salvation does not come through
sacraments, rituals, or observing
ordinances. What matters to God
is our response to the demands
that the Holy Spirit imposes on
us. If we are honest-hearted and
love “the light of
truth,” we will embrace the
truth, and then upon experiencing
rebirth, we will make every
effort to conform our lives to
Christ’s gospel through His
power. If we remain self-centered
and rebellious and we allow our
fallen nature to control us, we
can be sure the Holy Spirit is
not making headway in His
struggle to bring us into
submission. Obviously, the Holy
Spirit tests different people
with different things to see if
they are willing to obey God. Do
you remember the story of the
rich young ruler? (Luke 18:18-24)
He failed the test of selling his
material wealth for Christ’s
sake. He loved his religion and
his money more than he loved God.
He could not walk away from his
wealth and his status in Israel
and follow Jesus. On the other
hand, King Nebuchadnezzar is an
example of a rich ruler who was
tested with humility, and after
being humiliated by God’s
Spirit for seven years; the king
finally became a believer.
(Daniel 4:35-37)
In closing, “Jesus
said, ‘Let the little
children come to me, and do not
hinder them, for the kingdom of
heaven belongs to such as
these,’” (Matthew
19:14) Crystal, if you accept the
idea that minors are freely
justified by God’s grace,
this text will make perfect sense
just as it reads!
I hope this helps!
Larry Wilson
