Why is it that there is a preconceived notion that infants undoubtedly go to Heaven? Talk to anyone, believer or non-believer, that has lost a young child and odds are they believe their child is in Heaven based on the fact they were too young to be able to reason. This idea of an age of accountability taught in Sunday School is nowhere in the Bible, yet we stuff it into our God Box because it makes us feel better about our view of Him.Some say that the Bible indicates infants go to Heaven based on an idea that children will be covered by the blood of Jesus, and they will come to faith in Heaven. They hold to the notion that because of the goodness, grace, and mercy of God, He will not condemn those who do not have the mental capacities to have faith. Those who believe the Bible supports infants going to Hell cite things such as original sin. I honestly don't know which camp I fall into on this issue, but I lean towards children going to Heaven.
Irrelevant to what we believe, there is one wrong view…the ingrained view of injustice. The question becomes not what happens to infants when they die, but is God justified if, in fact, infants go to Hell?
Let's be honest, the thought of children going to Hell because they did not have the mental capacity to believe in Christ seems grossly immoral. But why is it that we feel this view makes God unfair? If you think about it, who are we to judge fairness when we ourselves have been shown grace? Who are we to demand that God show others the grace we were given?
Some argue that it makes God unfair because we have a right to be given a chance of making a decision to accept or reject Christ. But this argument is self-defeating because, in reality, isn’t it theologically correct to say that it's God who seeks us? That my free will is what damns me, and it’s in God’s grace that He rescues me from that bondage.
So if we’re honest and say we are born into sin, God would be fully justified in sending infants to Hell. God cannot just forgive us in the way we forgive people…this why Christ had to die. This is why even though He is God, He didn’t just decide to change His own rules. It’s His nature to be just. Anything else would be a contradiction of His character. Which is why someone had to pay for our sins, and it’s only in His grace that He provided that payment. And since I hold this to be true, would He not be justified in sending everyone to Hell, including infants…or would this be unfair?
So the question is not what camp I fall into on the issue of infant salvation, but rather which camp do I fall into on the issue of God’s justice?
