Are Dead Infants Saved?

Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ: You were saved because God loved you, chose you, and called you to himself through the preaching of Gospel. He gave you faith to receive his Gospel truth– to receive that Jesus lived and died for you. He then gave you assurance of your election – objective and subjective assurance! But what about babies of the covenant who die in their youth? There is nothing worse than to bury a young child. Pastor Al had to recently bury a 5-day-old baby - only as pastor - and it almost broke him. Imagine the sadness of a Mom! She sees the dead body…and she thinks of the child's soul. So what is the state of that young baby girl Pastor Al buried? Should the parents worry? This issue of the eternal destiny of babies who die has caused a lot of consternation. Baptists and Arminians say babies are not part of the covenant, so their parents' faith has no effect on the babies. Because of this view, they have to come down on 1 of 2 sides. a. That babies who die in infancy are lost…which is the logical conclusion. b. Or others (Spurgeon, Gill, Hodge) taught God saves babies because they were innocent. This denies the doctrine of total depravity…and holds God would save a depraved baby. More on the Arminian problem later. Let's consider 2 things the Bible says on this matter. These two things should answer a lot of your questions. Our headings are: Infants of Believers are Holy Parents of Dead Infants Shouldn't Worry about Their Salvation Our goals are: That parents will find confidence in Lord who promised to save us and our children through faith in Jesus' person and work.