The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum where do they go???

When a young baby dies say at the age of 1 day old upwords,what happens to it's soul.
Matthew 18:10-14.
(although i dont post much i have learnt alot over the past month from the board)
john.a

I don't think we can say with any certainty except that God is loving, merciful, and just. Our confidence and hope is with Him alone.

If you are asking about an age of accountability, I do not see that as being taught in the Bible.

Westminster Confession
Chapter X - Of Effectual Calling

I. All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed time, effectually to call,[1] by His Word and Spirit,[2] out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ;[3] enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God,[4] taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh;[5] renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power, determining them to that which is good,[6] and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ:[7] yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.[8]

II. This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man,[9] who is altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit,[10] he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.[11]

III. Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit,[12] who works when, and where, and how He pleases:[13] so also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.[14]

IV. Others, not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word,[15] and may have some common operations of the Spirit,[16] yet they never truly come unto Christ, and therefore cannot be saved:[17] much less can men, not professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature, and the laws of that religion they do profess.[18] And to assert and maintain that they may, is very pernicious, and to be detested.[19]

The authors of the Westminster Confession of Faith wrote that elect infants who die in infancy or at a tender age [implied] are saved and are received in glory by God due to the merits of Christ's blood being shed for them. All others are destined for damnation as is their just lot; they being born with Original Sin as are all of mankind. (Eph 2:3; Gen 6:5; 8:21; et al). I believe they are correct in their summary of biblical teaching on this delicate subject.

In His grace,

Pilgrim


Yes God not only can but certainly does regenerate infants COVENANT CHILDREN and convert children, so some infants ARE "special" to God.


These must be CHILDERN OUTSIDE THE COVENANT as both election and reprobation are from eternity.

It seems clear that the promises are to the Elect even at baptism. So CAN believing parents be certain of the salvation of a child born in the Covenant which will eventually manifest themselves by the means of the preached and teached Word and the singing of psalms as wheat from the tares?

John a May-be a little off topic sorry I don't mean to confuse anyone.



Trying to understand,
Thanks, William

William,

I believe we have been round this block before, yes? And as everyone should know by now I openly and categorically reject this type of presumption in regard to infants, covenant members, or anyone else. I hold firmly and consistently to "UNCONDITIONAL Election", i.e., without regard to family, covenant, nationality, race, gender, or anything whatsoever to do with the individual. Esau was no less a covenant child than Jacob and yet God only loved Jacob and hated Esau. The majority of Israeli "covenant children" perished in unbelief and were doubtless reprobate.

Election and Reprobation were indeed decreed from all eternity but again the decree is UNCONDITIONAL and is not based upon "covenant", i.e., all good little covenant children are elect and evil little non-covenant children are reprobate. Not that it means much, but I am NOT a "covenant child", but rather the off-spring of two pagan parents as were their parents and so forth, back as far as history records the family lineage. So, once again, salvation, predestination, and election are NOT about "covenant" but rather they are all of God's FREE SOVEREIGN GRACE.

The ONLY things a believing parent can presume are: 1) the child(ren) are born spiritually dead and under the wrath of God and therefore are in need of Christ, 2) that God uses means to call His elect to faith and thus it is a serious responsibility to raise the child(ren) with those means, and 3) the God of all the earth will only and always do right. Thus not one of God's elect will ever perish and no amount of presumption will ever save a sinner, whether it is an unborn covenant child or a 100 year old grandmother.

In His grace,

Thank you all for your response to my question, there is certaintly a lot to think about i was always under the impression that infants would go to heaven,but i see from the Westminster Confession
Chapter X - Of Effectual Calling, that is not so. I know when reading God's Word we must rubber stamp the Sovereignty of God on each page wither we like what we are reading or no. I do believe in unconditional election.
john.a

John a,

I also believe that only God's elect go to heaven including babies. There is not much information concerning this subject in the Bible. Otherwise we wouldn't have to ask these questions.

Still, the other side of this coin is that there is nothing in the Bible that says that all babies that die in infancy are not elect. God knows who will die and when they will die. He knows that a baby will die. There is nothing wrong in believing that God elected infants that he knows will die in infancy (or in the womb.)

I know that some here will jump all over this and that's fine. I've been around this block too as Pilgrim said. It is indeed a sensitive subject. These are my own thoughts on it...

Michele