While we were working through our series on the 5 points of Calvinism in Sunday school recently, someone raised the question of the salvation of infants. We didn’t have time to address it in detail in the class but since this is such an important personal issue for many people, I thought it would be worth saying a few more things about it here.

Who are the infants?
I’m referring to all those who die before the age of responsibility. There are different views as to when this should be reckoned. My personal view is that this comes very early on. As soon as your child is capable of being knowingly disobedient, they’re capable of culpable sin. I’m not an expert on child-development but I’d say 12-18 months as an upper limit? Maybe even younger? Certainly I’m including all who die in the womb or at birth.

Infant salvation and election
The question was initially raised in the context of a discussion on unconditional election. And of course it’s true for infants as for adults that all who are elect will be saved and all who are not won’t be. For grieving parents, there may be some comfort to be found here. God is sovereign and powerful and good and you can trust your child into his good and just purposes.

But I think the bible does allow us to say a little more than this.

Infant salvation and the covenant
In general, we are not permitted to know the elect status of any person other than ourselves. Yet the bible encourages us to speak of and to the visible church as if they are elect. Paul does this all the time in his letters. We take the external evidence of professed faith, and the visible sign of baptism and on that basis we include people in the covenant body that is the church.

Children, before they are old enough to profess their own faith may also be baptised and included in the covenant body on the basis of the promises made to the children of believers. Again, we presume that these children are saved and we treat them as if they are elect.

Only if a covenant member falls into persistent, unrepentant sin do we consider them to have broken the covenant and doubt the genuineness of their faith. An infant who dies before the age of responsibility has clearly not broken the covenant. We need not doubt the genuineness of their faith and we can have as much confidence in their salvation as that of the long-serving faithful member of the church who dies aged 100.

Professed faith and saving faith
But some will say, how can these infants have saving faith when they cannot even name the Lord Jesus? Certainly an infant will lack intellectual assent. And there is no opportunity for public profession of faith. But saving faith is not an act of knowledge nor public profession; it is a gift from God.

Consider David’s testimony: ‘You made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.’ (Ps 22:9-10) This is David’s adult assessment of his infant faith. Was he conscious of such faith at the time? No, of course not. Was the faith his own doing? Certainly not. ‘You made me trust you,’ he says of the Lord. Was the faith saving and effective? Absolutely.

Infant salvation and judgment by works
So far I have only been considering children of believers who we may rightly include within the covenant and for whom we have many promises to claim. What of the children of unbelieving parents who die in infancy? Is there any hope we may offer them?

Here, I think the bible has less to say and we can only draw some tentative possible implications.

(i) Imputation of Adam’s sin
We know that in Adam all have sinned. Adam’s sin is imputed to (counted against) all people, including those who die in infancy. All are, therefore, potentially subject to judgment for this sin.

But the passages which speak of judgment for all do not make reference to Adam’s sin. Rather there is an emphasis on each bearing his own responsibility for the deeds that they have done. (See, for example, Ezek 24:14; Rev 20:13) If we argue that infants are judged on the basis of Adam’s sin, not having done any deeds, we are arguing from silence.

Similarly, if we argue that infants are counted in Christ, since they cannot be judged for any wrong deeds they have done, we are also arguing from silence.

(ii) Jacob and Esau
Here we have an example where the election and reprobation of these two was known from the womb. Their later actions went on to prove the original statement correct, but Paul is very clear that God’s purpose of election was decided before they had done anything good or bad (Romans 9:9-13): ‘Jacob I loved but Esau I hated.’

Esau was the object of God’s hatred (and thus, presumably his wrath and judgment) before he was born or had done anything good or bad. Of course, he later went on to do many bad things deserving punishment. But this does suggest that infants may be the object of God’s wrath and thus indicates the possibility of infants not being saved.

Conclusions
I’d say that we can give strong, confident hope to believing parents who lose a child in infancy that they, like David, will one day be reunited with that child. There are promises made for our children that we need not be hesitant in claiming. See, for example, Jer 32: 37-41.

And for unbelieving parents who lose a child, I’d say we can at the very least offer them the possibility that their child may be safe. I’d be hesitant here, not wanting to offer a false certainty, but I’m persuaded that there’s at least sufficient doubt that we’re not faced with the awful prospect of having to tell someone that their child is certainly in hell.