The Bible teaches that children are innocent (witness
Jesus words in Matthew 18:3, "Except ye be converted, and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of God."). Unfortunately
there have been many through the ages who have tried to argue that since
the sin of Adam sins and their consequences have been passed on from generation
to generation. This is why many denominations "baptize" (actually
they tend to sprinkle or pour) their young. How do we know that a
child does not inherit his father's sins, and how do we know that a child
of God is not accountable?
First, we know that children are holy in God's eyes
and protected from judgment because they do not know how to do wrong.
Sin cannot be committed by them because they do not know what sin is.
They are not yet free moral agents. Different children leave this
stage at different times, but for the very young we can be assured that
there is no sin and that if they were to die they would not be lost.
This also applies to any children who die in the womb. Some use Psalm
51:5 to teach the opposite: that man is born in sin. Notice
that verse more closely (and from a reliable translation) and you will
see that the mother is in sin, not the child. Ezekial 18:20 reads,
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity
of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of
the wicked shall be upon him."
Second, we can know that children who die are saved
due to the fact that part of what is involved in one's salvation is belief,
or faith. Young children cannot have faith. Faith is more than
simply agreeing to something, it is and active living thing which must
be cultivated and used and no small child can to that. This is part
of the fallacy of baptizing infants, for Mark 16:16 reads "he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned."
Until the child has developed this capacity he is still under God's grace.