Are babies saved? A scriptural analysis of the “Age of accountability”

We sometimes use terms of convenience to describe teachings found in the Bible, even though the actual term itself doesn't appear anywhere. The word, Bible, for example, isn't in the Bible. Neither are the words Christmas, Trinity, rapture, and many others. We know what these words mean and can usually direct people to passages that support our understanding. We need to be careful, though, because sometimes we think things are in the Bible which aren't really there. Have you ever heard someone quote the Bible, saying, “The lion shall lay down with the lamb”? Would it surprise to hear that those words don't appear in any verse in the Bible? Don't believe me? Search for yourself. It's really not there!

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A term I've heard used a lot in Baptist churches is, “the age of accountability.” This is one of those terms of convenience which basically means there comes a time in a person's life where he is mature enough to understand repentance and faith. At that point, he needs to make a decision to accept Christ or continue in continue in unbelief. After that point, he will be held accountable when he is judged. However, should a child die before he is old enough to understand, he will automatically receive grace from God. Is this one of those things we can easily point to even if the term isn't found in any verse? Or is it one of those things that we think is there but it's really not?

I've heard people argue that, because of who God is, He would necessarily show mercy on infants. Certainly God is loving but we need to be careful before saying how we think God should act. Our sense of fairness comes from our limited understanding and our sinful hearts. We should never project onto God what we think He should do. As always, we must look to Scripture to support any belief we claim is doctrine.

The Bible talks a lot about salvation but says surprisingly little about the disposition of children who die before coming to a saving faith in Jesus. I would start by noting that the idea of infants who die being with the Lord is not a new idea. When the infant son of David and Bathsheba died, David said, “While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:22-23).

It seems that David believed the child was gone to be with the Lord and that someday he would be with him again. David, of course, being one of the authors of the Bible, had a relationship with God that very few people have had. Though David did not have the full canon of Scripture that we have, something led him to believe his child would be with the Lord. Because we know that David received revelation from the Lord, we should not quickly dismiss his confidence as though it was simply the vain imaginations of a grieving parent. David may have had a type of “inside knowledge” about the matter.

Moving forward to the New Testament, I also have noticed something very interesting about Jesus' ministry on earth. Jesus often spoke openly about the spiritual condition of the people around Him. He told the woman who touched the hem of His robe that her faith had saved her (Matthew 9:20-22). He told the Pharisees that they were the sons of their father, the Devil (John 8:44). Jesus often judged the spiritual condition of those around Him but we can see it is only among adults. Concerning children, Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come to me and forbid them not” (Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16). Nowhere have I ever seen Jesus discern the spiritual attitude of children the same way He did among adults. Certainly He never condemned them. Rather, He used them as examples to us. In Matthew 18:1-3, we read this, “At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

There is still another passage of Scripture that I believe bears greatly on this subject. In Numbers 14, God judges the nation of Israel and tells them that, because of their disobedience, they will not inherit the land which He promised them. Numbers 14:31, though, says, “But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.” Admittedly, God chose the age of 20 as the dividing line (Num 14:29) but even so, we can still see that the wrath of God's judgment falls on the older generation while the younger generation is spared.

Though the Bible speaks very little about the subject directly, I believe it has much to say about it indirectly. From these passages and others, I believe we can have confidence in knowing that children who die before they are able to understand the need of a savior receive God mercy nonetheless.