--Part 2--

Jesus could have selected any child to illustrate the spiritual lesson of humility; but if He had selected one of the destined of hell then the analogy wouldn't have made sense. The child Jesus selected represented all children--just as Abraham represented Old Testament saints and David's son represented deceased children. By His actions and words, Jesus indicated that all children (and those who are mentally childlike) are destined for heaven.

Beyond the belief of David and the teaching of Jesus, consider the testimony of Scripture. Nowhere in the Bible are children condemned to ****ation. Of all the biblical descriptions of hell, infants or little children are never mentioned as residing there. Nor are infants and children described as standing before the great white throne of Revelation 20, which is the precursor to eternal punishment in the lake of fire. I believe this is another piece of evidence that argues strongly for the presence of children in heaven.

Finally, we need to recognize that the Bible distinguishes between inherited sin and the sin of unbelief. As we've seen, humanity--including children--has inherited Adam's guilt and corruption. The fact that everyone--including babies and children--dies is proof that we have all contracted the sickness of sin. Nevertheless, God distinguishes between inherited sin and deliberate sin. He declared that people are responsible for their own sins, not the sins of others:

The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. (Ezek. 18:20)

We find a greal illustration of the distinction between the guilt of adults and children in Deuteronomy 1. Because of their failure to believe in God's power to give them the Promised Land, God pronounced a sentence of death on the Israelites. They would wander in the wilderness until that unbelieving generation passed away. However, the Lord exempted one group of Israelites from His condemnation. The Lord said:

Moreover, your little ones who you said would become prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it. (Deut. 1:39).

God did not hold the children accountable for the sin of unbelief becuase they "had no knowledge of good or evil." In the Bible, the sin of unbelief is not simply failing to believe God; it is the deliberate choice not to believe what God has said. Unbelief is the willful rejection of God's revelation--a choice children and the childlike are incapable of making.

Again, none of these arguments is enough in and of itself to say definitively that children and the childlike automatically go to heaven. However, when we consider all of the evidence Scripture provides, I believe we can say that our loving God welcomes children into heaven. As Abraham declared, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?" (Gen. 18:25). We can depend upon God to deal justly--graciously--with those who are incapable of exercising faith in Christ.

Who will be in heaven? It is significant that, outside of those who lived before Christ and the children (and the childlike) who are incapable of trusting in Christ, there is no instance in the New Testament of anyone being welcomed into God's presence apart from a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To attempt to reduce the population of hell by ignoring that requirement and allowing other individuals or groups into heaven is something none of us has the authority to do--especially if we take seriously Jesus' claim that "no one comes to the Father but through [Him]" (John 14:6).

--End of Part 2--

Posted by Tammy:

Excerpt from Dr. Robert Jeffress' book--"A Place called Heaven," Chapter 7

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