Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
Where do babies go when they die?
Where do babies and children go when they die? Will they be taken in the rapture? These are common questions within Christianity.
Most churches believe in the age of accountability. They believe that every child has a certain age where they will have enough understanding of salvation and right and wrong that they then become responsible for their own beliefs. Some churches even put an age to it. Typically it is around the age of 13 years old. The children who pass away before reaching the age of accountability are believed to be saved by God's grace for they did not have the understanding to chose to follow Jesus. The truth is, there is extremely little in scripture that clarifies what happens to a child when they die.
2 Samuel 12:21-22 (NASB)
21 David’s servants said to him, “Why are you doing this? When the baby was still alive, you fasted and you cried. Now that the baby is dead, you get up and eat food.” 22 David said, “While the baby was still alive, I fasted, and I cried. I thought, ‘Who knows? Maybe the Lord will feel sorry for me and let the baby live.’ 23 But now that the baby is dead, why should I fast? I can’t bring him back to life. Someday I will go to him, but he cannot come back to me.”
David seems to believe that the child would be in heaven and someday when he died, he would see his child in heaven. This is a large reason why many believe that babies and young children would get a free pass to heaven if they died. Only the truth is, it doesn't actually say that.
There is something that people seem to ignore when reading scriptures. Not everything people believe in the scriptures is right. David was a great man of God, but I don't believe he was always inspired by the Holy SPirit to always know the truth. He made mistakes. He had a man killed so he could take the man's wife. The child was taken from him because of that sin. Is there not a chance that David believed something that was not fully correct? There is no reason to think he knew something that nobody else did. There is a good chance that David only believed that his child was going to paradise and he would see him again when he died. Just as Christians now believe the same things. Remember, this was David saying he would go to the child. It was not something the Lord said.
Before I go on, I want to clarify that it is completely possible that God does save all the children who die before the age of accountability. I am not saying that belief is wrong. I am only saying that the scriptures supporting it are slim evidence. We don't know for certain. Personally I don't believe the age of accountability is correct, but that is just my belief. God has not told me personally one way or the other.
Protection of the Parents!
Some believe that the children of believers will be saved and the children of unbelievers would not be saved. This belief is based on the following scripture.
1 Corinthians 7:12-14 (NASB)
12 For all the others I say this (I am saying this, not the Lord): If a Christian man has a wife who is not a believer, and she is happy to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a Christian woman has a husband who is not a believer, and he is happy to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 The husband who is not a believer is made holy through his believing wife. And the wife who is not a believer is made holy through her believing husband. If this were not true, your children would not be clean, but now your children are holy.
I have a little problem with this believe for one reason. It also says the spouse is considered holy even though there would be no doubt that they are of the age of consent. And one thing any Christian would agree with, is that no unbelieving adult will be saved. So if this scripture cannot be interpreted to say the unbelieving spouse will be saved, it is then wrong to interpret it that way for the children.
God Uses Foreknowledge!
Personally, this is the belief that makes the most sense to me because it is supported by scripture more than the other beliefs.
There is a teaching that many fight against, but the truth is the Word of God is clear on it. It is called "Predestination". If you want the scriptures to support it, please read my article on Predestination.
Basically what Predestination is, is that when in our sinful state, we are not even able to turn to Jesus. For us to become a believer, God must first give to us a new spirit that desires Him. So God must first choose to save us, before we have the choice to follow Him. He chooses us using foreknowledge.
God is all knowing. God is perfect. He knows who will turn to Him, well before they are ever born. So those who will turn to Him, when the time is right, He changes their spirit so they can believe. Now if God knows who will be saved even before they are born, then I believe God knows which children would have grown up to be believers. Those children are saved. The children God knows would not grow up to be believers will not be saved.
Some will cringe at the thought that God would cast any child into hell when they never had a chance to grow up and accept Him, but to see it that way, you are thinking there is a possibility God could be wrong. God is never wrong! If God says the child would never have turned to Him, there is absolutely zero chance that child would have ever been saved. So God would be completely fair and right to judge someone according to foreknowledge. We don't know what would have happened so we would naturally want the child to have a chance before being judged, but we are not God. God does know, so His judgment is perfect.
What about the Rapture?
This same belief would work for the rapture. God knows if He had waited until the child was grown before coming to rapture His saints, whether that child would have turned to Him or not. The children who would have turned to Him will be raptured. The children who would not have turned to Him, will not be raptured.
However there is always a chance that a child (if allowed to grow up before the rapture) would not have turned to Jesus before the rapture, but would have turned after witnessing the rapture. These children who die during the tribulation who would have become tribulation Saints if they had the chance, will come back to life with the rest of the tribulation Saints. The children who would have continued to reject Jesus and take the mark of the beast? They will be sent to Hades to await the day of Judgment.
I understand this is not what you might want to hear. If you lost a child or know a child who has passed away, you may be wanting to hear they are saved. Again, that is possible and if you want to believe that, you are not wrong to. My belief however is that God decides using foreknowledge, just the way He saves everyone else. All we can do is teach our children the best we can. Raise them up by teaching them about the Lord. The more understanding they have of Jesus as children, the higher chance they will grow up and turn to Christ. Know that if you are a Christian, then there is a good chance that your child would have been raised right by God, and that could have made all the difference.
The absolute truth is, the only way you will ever know for certain if a child who dies goes to heaven or not, is to make certain you get to heaven. For if you do not, then there is no chance you will ever see them.
Most churches believe in the age of accountability. They believe that every child has a certain age where they will have enough understanding of salvation and right and wrong that they then become responsible for their own beliefs. Some churches even put an age to it. Typically it is around the age of 13 years old. The children who pass away before reaching the age of accountability are believed to be saved by God's grace for they did not have the understanding to chose to follow Jesus. The truth is, there is extremely little in scripture that clarifies what happens to a child when they die.
2 Samuel 12:21-22 (NASB)
21 David’s servants said to him, “Why are you doing this? When the baby was still alive, you fasted and you cried. Now that the baby is dead, you get up and eat food.” 22 David said, “While the baby was still alive, I fasted, and I cried. I thought, ‘Who knows? Maybe the Lord will feel sorry for me and let the baby live.’ 23 But now that the baby is dead, why should I fast? I can’t bring him back to life. Someday I will go to him, but he cannot come back to me.”
David seems to believe that the child would be in heaven and someday when he died, he would see his child in heaven. This is a large reason why many believe that babies and young children would get a free pass to heaven if they died. Only the truth is, it doesn't actually say that.
There is something that people seem to ignore when reading scriptures. Not everything people believe in the scriptures is right. David was a great man of God, but I don't believe he was always inspired by the Holy SPirit to always know the truth. He made mistakes. He had a man killed so he could take the man's wife. The child was taken from him because of that sin. Is there not a chance that David believed something that was not fully correct? There is no reason to think he knew something that nobody else did. There is a good chance that David only believed that his child was going to paradise and he would see him again when he died. Just as Christians now believe the same things. Remember, this was David saying he would go to the child. It was not something the Lord said.
Before I go on, I want to clarify that it is completely possible that God does save all the children who die before the age of accountability. I am not saying that belief is wrong. I am only saying that the scriptures supporting it are slim evidence. We don't know for certain. Personally I don't believe the age of accountability is correct, but that is just my belief. God has not told me personally one way or the other.
Protection of the Parents!
Some believe that the children of believers will be saved and the children of unbelievers would not be saved. This belief is based on the following scripture.
1 Corinthians 7:12-14 (NASB)
12 For all the others I say this (I am saying this, not the Lord): If a Christian man has a wife who is not a believer, and she is happy to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a Christian woman has a husband who is not a believer, and he is happy to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 The husband who is not a believer is made holy through his believing wife. And the wife who is not a believer is made holy through her believing husband. If this were not true, your children would not be clean, but now your children are holy.
I have a little problem with this believe for one reason. It also says the spouse is considered holy even though there would be no doubt that they are of the age of consent. And one thing any Christian would agree with, is that no unbelieving adult will be saved. So if this scripture cannot be interpreted to say the unbelieving spouse will be saved, it is then wrong to interpret it that way for the children.
God Uses Foreknowledge!
Personally, this is the belief that makes the most sense to me because it is supported by scripture more than the other beliefs.
There is a teaching that many fight against, but the truth is the Word of God is clear on it. It is called "Predestination". If you want the scriptures to support it, please read my article on Predestination.
Basically what Predestination is, is that when in our sinful state, we are not even able to turn to Jesus. For us to become a believer, God must first give to us a new spirit that desires Him. So God must first choose to save us, before we have the choice to follow Him. He chooses us using foreknowledge.
God is all knowing. God is perfect. He knows who will turn to Him, well before they are ever born. So those who will turn to Him, when the time is right, He changes their spirit so they can believe. Now if God knows who will be saved even before they are born, then I believe God knows which children would have grown up to be believers. Those children are saved. The children God knows would not grow up to be believers will not be saved.
Some will cringe at the thought that God would cast any child into hell when they never had a chance to grow up and accept Him, but to see it that way, you are thinking there is a possibility God could be wrong. God is never wrong! If God says the child would never have turned to Him, there is absolutely zero chance that child would have ever been saved. So God would be completely fair and right to judge someone according to foreknowledge. We don't know what would have happened so we would naturally want the child to have a chance before being judged, but we are not God. God does know, so His judgment is perfect.
What about the Rapture?
This same belief would work for the rapture. God knows if He had waited until the child was grown before coming to rapture His saints, whether that child would have turned to Him or not. The children who would have turned to Him will be raptured. The children who would not have turned to Him, will not be raptured.
However there is always a chance that a child (if allowed to grow up before the rapture) would not have turned to Jesus before the rapture, but would have turned after witnessing the rapture. These children who die during the tribulation who would have become tribulation Saints if they had the chance, will come back to life with the rest of the tribulation Saints. The children who would have continued to reject Jesus and take the mark of the beast? They will be sent to Hades to await the day of Judgment.
I understand this is not what you might want to hear. If you lost a child or know a child who has passed away, you may be wanting to hear they are saved. Again, that is possible and if you want to believe that, you are not wrong to. My belief however is that God decides using foreknowledge, just the way He saves everyone else. All we can do is teach our children the best we can. Raise them up by teaching them about the Lord. The more understanding they have of Jesus as children, the higher chance they will grow up and turn to Christ. Know that if you are a Christian, then there is a good chance that your child would have been raised right by God, and that could have made all the difference.
The absolute truth is, the only way you will ever know for certain if a child who dies goes to heaven or not, is to make certain you get to heaven. For if you do not, then there is no chance you will ever see them.
