A Clarification on Sunday's Sermon

I deeply appreciate a phone call I received today from a church member who asked me about a statement I made in Sunday’s sermon.  Before I get to the point of the call let me explain something you may not know.  Each week I preach from an outline, not a manuscript.  This outline includes main points, sub-points and detailed sermon points that I plan to make from the text.  I go over the outline several times and preach the message to myself before I deliver it on Sunday morning.  Still, all that you hear in Sunday’s message is not written down or fully rehearsed.  Some of what I say is not in the outline and is not pre-planned.  Most of the time of the time this is not a problem.  Yet things can come out in a way not intended or can communicate something not intended.  That happened this past Sunday for this member.  She may not be the only person that had a question about the meaning of my statement.   

One point of Sunday’s sermon was this:  Jesus’ mission was salvation because that’s what the world needs.  I stated that Jesus did not come into a neutral place where some needed saving some didn't; where some needed judging and some didn’t.  He came into a fallen world where every inhabitant is a sinful rebel against God.  He came to a world where “None is righteous, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-11)

In the context of this point I made this statement: “My grandchildren were born condemned”, and I then referenced Psalm 51: 5 and the truth that David declares when he states, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”  The question from the member concerned the statement I made about children (my grandchildren) and what this means in regard to the death of an infant or young child. 

This is an issue we all will probably face in one way or another during our life.  It is a question for which I believe there is no easy, crystal clear answer.  It is an issue that for which there is no clear consensus among great teachers and writers of the faith.  That being said, let me briefly explain what I believe about what happens to infants who die?

I believe all children who die in infancy are saved.  While this is the predominant view in Christian circles, I hold this position because I believe this position is supported by the overall theme of relevant passages in Scripture.  Again, the Bible is not explicit here, but I hold that those who die in infancy/ young childhood are secure in God’s grace. 

Dr. Al Mohler and Dr. Danny Akin have written an excellent article on the topic.  This excerpt summarizes their position:

We believe that Scripture does indeed teach that all persons who die in infancy are among the elect. This must not be based only in our hope that it is true, but in a careful reading of the Bible. We start with the biblical affirmations we have noted already. First, the Bible reveals that we are “brought forth in iniquity,”(1) and thus bear the stain of original sin from the moment of our conception. Thus, we face squarely the sin problem. Second, we acknowledge that God is absolutely sovereign in salvation. We do not deserve salvation, and can do nothing to earn our salvation, and thus it is all of grace. Further we understand that our salvation is established by God’s election of sinners to salvation through Christ. Third, we affirm that Scripture teaches that Jesus Christ is the sole and sufficient Savior, and that salvation comes only on the basis of His blood atonement. Fourth, we affirm that the Bible teaches a dual eternal destiny – the redeemed to Heaven, the unredeemed to Hell.

What then is our basis for claiming that all those who die in infancy are among the elect? First, the Bible teaches that we are to be judged on the basis of our deeds committed “in the body.”(2) That is, we will face the judgment seat of Christ and be judged, not on the basis of original sin, but for our sins committed during our own lifetimes. Each will answer “according to what he has done,”(3) and not for the sin of Adam. The imputation of Adam’s sin and guilt explains our inability to respond to God without regeneration, but the Bible does not teach that we will answer for Adam’s sin. We will answer for our own sin. But what about infants? Have those who die in infancy committed such sins in the body? We believe not.

One biblical text is particularly helpful at this point. After the children of Israel rebelled against God in the wilderness, God sentenced that generation to die in the wilderness after forty years of wandering. “Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers.”(4) But this was not all. God specifically exempted young children and infants from this sentence, and even explained why He did so: “Moreover, your little ones who you said would become prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good and evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it.”(5) The key issue here is that God specifically exempted from the judgment those who “have no knowledge of good or evil” because of their age. These “little ones” would inherit the Promised Land, and would not be judged on the basis of their father’s sins.

We believe that this passage bears directly on the issue of infant salvation, and that the accomplished work of Christ has removed the stain of original sin from those who die in infancy.  Knowing neither good nor evil, these young children are incapable of committing sins in the body – are not yet moral agents – and die secure in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  http://www.albertmohler.com/2009/07/16/the-salvation-of-the-little-ones-do-infants-who-die-go-to-heaven/

There is much more that could be written on this point, and I welcome your individual questions and comments.  When I stated that “my grandchildren were born condemned" I was not saying that if they (or other infants/young children) died they would be condemned to hell.  In hindsight I could have done a better job illustrating the point of the text and more careful in the way I stated it.   I deeply appreciate the feedback of my church family and the willingness to discuss difficult issues and go deeper into God’s Word.    

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  John 3:17-18