What Happens To Infants When They Die?

A few years ago, my wife and I attended the funeral for a 20-month-old girl who died in a drowning accident. Believe me when I say, this was one of the hardest funerals I have ever been apart of. My wife and I asked ourselves, "Would we look at the baby if the casket was opened?" We could not answer one another until we got there and the casket was opened. We did not go to the front because, to be honest, I am not sure what we would do if we saw this little girl's lifeless body. We mourned with the family and prayed for them and with them.

As we left Burkburnett, the city this family lived in, I began to think about the question, "Are we sure this child is in heaven?" The preachers at the funeral gave the audience assurance this child was in the Father's arms right now. I wish I could say I found some good definite answers, but this is one issue that seems to come time and time again especially when tackling the issue of abortion. Matt Perman wrote a great lengthy post as he biblically answers this question:

This is a difficult and sensitive issue. Any answer must take into account that all of us are born sinful and thus worthy of judgment. The consistent New Testament emphasis upon the need for a second birth indicates that our natural state is that of sin, not innocence (John 3:1-12; Ephesians 2:1-5; cf. Psalm 51:5). We are "by nature children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3).

In addition to having sinful natures, we also come into the world with Adam's sin imputed to us. Because of our union with Adam, we are born guilty of his first sin (Romans 5:12-21). We go into this doctrine in detail elsewhere, but for now it is enough to point out that, according to Paul, the fact that all die physically (even those who, like infants, did not have the opportunity to knowingly transgress a law of God-Romans 5:13-14) is a demonstration that we are connected with the guilt of Adam's sin.

If we are all born under sin, and salvation is by faith in Christ (which infants do not seem to have the mental capacity to exercise), then it might at first seem that no infants can be saved. We are not, however, aware of anyone who actually takes this position. We are convinced that it would be a premature, unbiblical conclusion.

One reason is that there are apparent examples in Scripture of infants who were saved. We are told that John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit while yet in his mother's womb (Luke 1:15). In Luke's theology, being filled with the Spirit is consistently seen as an aspect of the Spirit's work among those who are regenerate (Luke 1:41, 67; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 6:3, 5; 9:17; 11:24).

Read the rest here.