Presentation on theology of salvation by Todd Linn, PhD; soteriology;

1. Do Babies go to Heaven
when they Die?
How would you answer this
question . . . from the Bible?

2. BIBLE BASICS
FOR THE FAMILY
A Study in Systematic Theology

3. Soteriology: The Study of what the
Bible teaches about SALVATION

4. Just how important is it?

14. So, how would you answer the
question about babies and heaven?

15. Some are quick to answer the question
out of sentimentality

16. Others trust in the unbiblical
teaching of Universalism

17. But we must always ask
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

18. Article published in SBC Life, May 1998
“The Salvation of the ‘Little Ones’:
Do Infants who Die Go to
Heaven?”
R. Albert Mohler, Jr. and Daniel L. Akin,
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

19. Psalm 51:5
“Behold, I was brought forth in
iniquity, and in sin my mother
conceived me.”

20. • We all are born with the stain of
original sin (see also Romans
5:12).
• There is no such thing as an
“innocent” baby.
• However . . .

21. The Bible teaches:
• We are to be judged on the basis of our
deeds committed “in the body.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, that each
one may receive the things done in the body,
according to what he has done, whether
good or bad.”

22. • 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 person will answer “according to what
he has done,” and NOT for the sin of Adam.

23. • 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.
• So how about infants? Have those who died
in infancy committed such sins “in the
body?”
• NO.

24. Deuteronomy 1:35
After the children of Israel rebelled against
God in the wilderness, God sentenced that
generation to die in the wilderness after 40
years of wandering.
God said, “Not one of these men of this
evil generation shall see that good land of
which I swore to give to your fathers.”

25. Deuteronomy 1:39
However, God specifically exempted
young children and infants from this
sentence, and even explained why He did
so:
“Moreover, your little ones and your
children, who you say will be victims, who
today have no knowledge of good and evil,
they shall go in there; to them I will give it,
and they shall possess it.”

26. The Key Issue:
• 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 fathers’
sins.

27. Therefore . . .
• This passage bears directly on the issue of
infant salvation. The accomplished work of
Jesus Christ on the cross 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.

28. Other helpful Scriptures:
In Mark 10:14, Jesus instructed his
disciples that they should “Let the little
children come to Me, and do not forbid
them; for of such is the kingdom of God.”
2 Samuel 12:23 . . .
“But now he is dead; why should I fast?
Can I bring him back again? I shall go to
him, but he shall not return to me.”

29. Charles Spurgeon
(A sermon preached in London, Sept. 29, 1861)
■ “Now, let every mother and father here
present know assuredly that it is well with
the child, if God hath taken it away from
you in its infant days . . .”
■ “Many of you are parents who have
children in heaven. Is it not a desirable
thing that you should go there, too?”

30. ■ “Mother, unconverted mother, from the
battlements of heaven your child beckons you to
Paradise. Father, ungodly, impenitent father, the
little eyes that once looked joyously on you, look
down upon you now, and the lips which had
scarcely learned to call you father, ere they were
sealed by the silence of death, may be heard as
with a still small voice, saying to you this
morning, ‘Father, must we be for ever divided by
the great gulf which no man can pass?’ Doth not
nature itself put a sort of longing in your soul that
you may be bound in the bundle of life with your
own dear children?”

31. Summation:
• We may infer from the Bible that
our Lord graciously and freely
receives all those who die in
infancy—not on the basis of their
innocence or worthiness—but by
His grace, made theirs through the
atonement He purchased on the
cross.

32. John Newton, minister and writer of
Amazing Grace:
Writing to close friends who had lost a
child:
“I hope you are both well reconciled to the
death of your child. I cannot be sorry for
the death of infants. How many storms do
they escape! Nor can I doubt, in my
private judgment, that they are included in
the election of grace.”

33. AMAZING GRACE
Amazing grace! How sweet the
sound, that saved a wretch like
me! I once was lost, but now
am found, was blind but now I
see.

34. AMAZING GRACE
‘Twas grace that taught my
heart to fear, and grace my
fears relieved; how precious
did that grace appear the hour
I first believed.

35. AMAZING GRACE
When we’ve been there ten
thousand years, bright shining
as the sun, we’ve no less days
to sing God’s praise than when
we first begun.