FOLLOW UP FROM SERMONS ON ROMANS 5:12-21 – WHAT HAPPENS TO BABIES WHEN THEY DIE

09 Apr FOLLOW UP FROM SERMONS ON ROMANS 5:12-21 – WHAT HAPPENS TO BABIES WHEN THEY DIE

In our walk through Romans 5:12-21 we saw the clear teaching of scripture that all those who come from Adam (meaning all humans) inherit original sin or have what is called ‘imputed sin’, meaning we all stand guilty and condemned due to the sin of our first father Adam.

Therefore, not one person since Adam is ‘innocent’.  We sin because we are sinners from the beginning.  This clear teaching of Scripture must be addressed when answering the important question of what happens to babies or infants who die?  Or the associated question of what happens to those adults who are so mentally challenged that they cannot ever understand right and wrong when they die?

We sought to take just a few minutes in the 2nd sermon on this passage to explain why our elders believe that those in these categories (children too young to understand and those mentally unable to understand) do indeed go to heaven when they die.

To summarize our reason for this, as there is no one chapter and verse that address this directly, we stated:

1. God is good and always does good.
2. God is just and always judges justly.
3. God is merciful.
4. God is abundantly gracious.
5. Salvation is always, for any who are saved, entirely an act of grace, a ‘free gift’ (Rom 5:15-17), and even our faith – necessary to believe, is a ‘gift’ from God.  So salvation is 100% a work of God applying Jesus death and resurrection to us by grace.
6. We believe God applies this grace to those we are discussing who have never personally sinned, covering their original or imputed sin by Jesus atoning work on the cross.  God does this entirely by grace as well, without their having faith.
7. Plus it appears when final judgment is discussed in the Bible those sent to hell for eternity are sent their for their own acts and attitudes of sin (Romans 1:18-32, Rev. 19, etc.)

For further reading on this I would recommend the following:

1. Dr. Albert Mohler’s article HERE
2. Dr. John Piper’s short article HERE
3. Dr. John MacArthur’s three in-depth sermons HERE (you can read the sermon manuscript by just clicking on the sermon title or listen to the sermons by clicking ‘high’ or ‘low’).