What Do Reformed Baptists Believe About Children Who Die In Infancy?

preview_player
Показать описание
Is it possible God regenerates some infants? I'm Baptist, but I don't totally buy into an “age of accountability.” I also really want to trust God's mercy for kids. What are your thoughts?

*Register for our RIGHT RESPONSE CONFERENCE: “Theonomy & Postmillennialism”
May 5-7, 2023 | Georgetown, TX
SPEAKERS: Dr. James White, Gary DeMar, Dr. Joe Boot, Pastor Joel Webbon

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content like this!

Subscribe to Theology Applied full episodes below:

#theology #moses #biblequestions
_________________________________________________
Keywords: theology, Reformed theology, podcast, Christian podcast, theology podcast, theology show, Christian show, the gospel, bible, exodus, book of exodus
Рекомендации по теме
Комментарии
Автор

Between the birth of our son and the birth of our daughter, my wife and I lost three babies due to miscarriage. I know that the concept of an “age of accountability” is not in the Bible. Put two three year olds in a room with a single toy and see what happens. But it is clear that unborn children are most certainly fully human (Luke 1:41; Psalm 139:13-14).
A really good book we bought when still heartbroken back then was “Safe in the Arms of God”, by John MacArthur. He deals with this difficult conversation very well, and I really recommend it for anyone who has lost a baby or young child, which is the worst thing any of us who are parents can go through.
Where are my three babies? I trust God, and leave it at that.

patrickc
Автор

What I find most bizarre is it seems Calvinists will hold there children accountable under the law from toddler on but their children’s confession of faith isn’t accepted until later on in life when their actions can prove they are regenerated.

WoodrowKlassen
Автор

I believe the terminology used in the 1689 is actually “elect infants.”

justanotherbaptistjew
Автор

I hope so, I’ve believed so, and I hope we’ll recognize each other. I had a miscarriage on Mother’s Day and the following year on Mother’s Day weekend, I miscarried a fraternal twin. The other is 28 years old. John MacArthur wrote a book many years ago, “I’ll Hold You in Heaven”, on this subject.

In 2 Samuel 12:23, after King David’s baby with Bathsheba died, he stopped fasting and praying and cleaned himself up, “But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” ESV

JRPLawyeress
Автор

I would like to hear your understanding of:

Acts 2:39 "For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

And:

1 Cor. 7:14
For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

jpfiero
Автор

No where in scripture does it say outright, infer, imply that babies who die in infancy go to hell.

ryanfoster
Автор

What we do know about God is that He is merciful and He is just. Whatever it is that He decides to do, even if we can’t understand it, we have to assume He knows something we don’t and He is always justified in what He chooses to do.
That said, my assumption (just my assumption) is that the babies whose days were numbered short who never had an opportunity to confess, is probably a soul whom God elected in the first place.
But if this is not the case, the first is still true. God is a JUST creator, author and ruler.

caitlynyoung
Автор

Pretty Clear he finally answers the question that some infants who die will go to hell and some will not. Calvinism provides a theological straight jacket to these type of questions.

Jamesful
Автор

This is a great weakness of reformed theology. Total depravity teaching guilt from birth and inability to do good is not only not found in Scripture, but gives a horrific view of God's character

noelenliva
Автор

John Piper, Todd Friel, John MacArthur, R.A. Webb, and Steven Lawson all disagree. As do I. Here is a beautiful excerpt from R.A. Webb, I hope this can give someone peace:
“If a deceased infant] were sent to hell on no other account than that of original sin, there would be a good reason to the divine mind for the judgment, but the child’s mind would be a perfect blank as to the reason of its suffering. Under such circumstances, it would know suffering, but it would have no understanding of the reason for its suffering. It could not tell its neighbor—it could not tell itself—why it was so awfully smitten; and consequently the whole meaning and significance of its sufferings, being to it a conscious enigma, the very essence of penalty would be absent, and justice would be disappointed of its vindication. Such an infant could feel that it was in hell, but it could not explain, to its own conscience, why it was there.”
So I think God in his Mercy and Grace reaps the innocent children (as Jeremiah states) into his kingdom due to his love of innocent children (made clear in the gospels Matt 19 and Mark 10).
And there is precedent for this in 2 Samuel with the expectation from David of reuniting with his infant son.

Have hope! If you have lost an infant, and had an abortion or miscarriage, your child is resting in the ever loving arms of their creator.

bentankersley
Автор

Would the Creator of the universe do wrong?

gregshirk
Автор

Do you believe that infants of Christians are regenerate? My mother had a stillborn before she had me. He would be 32 today. The thing that gives her the most peace about losing a child it the possibility of seeing him someday.

ellenbertran
Автор

Just think about this if God punished sin in little children who can’t make rational decisions God will be judging a child who has no idea what’s going on and will be growing up in the darkness of hades and when the kid reaches maturity it’s not going to know why it’s there or how he got there because we don’t remember when we were young so that is completely unjust.

“but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭19:14‬ ‭

Jesus talked a lot about children and he talked about them having a childhood innocence.

““Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭9:42‬ ‭

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭22:6‬ ‭

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭127:3‬ ‭

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:4‬ ‭

Children need to be taught trained up in righteousness.

Controle
Автор

So how many aborted babies by God's decree were reprobates and sent to hell?

joshcarz
Автор

Thanks for this video Ps Joel. It's good to understand the basis for different doctrines on various topics. I attend a Presbyterian church, but the more learn about the 1689 Baptist Confession, the more I think I align more with it, than the Westminster Confession of Faith (there are a lot of similarities though).

davidrogers
Автор

A distinction: while we are 'conceived in sin', whose sin? I think the sin is clearly the sin of the parents, not that of the baby who has been conceived even though they are born with a sin nature due to the sin of Adam. Joel, Appreciate what you say but you didn't quite answer the question, but what you did say would lead me to think you believe that infants in the womb or babies who die are hellbound sinners. I recognize the conundrum, but help us out who are doubtful or struggling against the idea that infants in the womb or little babies who die are sent to hell.

JR-rsqs
Автор

The point of view that’s not addressed in this video is that the pre-born, infants, and toddlers are too young to understand the gospel or sin at all. Toddlers barely understand language, and certainly infants and the pre-born don’t understand language (other than tone, if that), so there is no way to communicate the gospel to them. They don’t have the mental capacity to accept Christ, even if they’re capable of sin, so I believe that God saves them for this reason. God is a gracious God, and much more merciful than you paint Him to be in this video.

I’d ask how it would be possible to expose the pre-born and infants to the gospel to give them a chance to accept Christ before death, but I expect that the Calvinist response would be that God arbitrarily chooses which ones go to heaven and which ones go to hell. This video is horrible and the reason I stopped following this channel. The constant “I’m a Calvinist, so I’m right” thing was irritating, but I was willing to sit through that to see your opinions on other issues. However, if Calvinism eventually leads to believing that infants can go to hell, I want no part of it. I’ll stick with believing that Jesus died for all, not just the elect.

mrs.puffincarnate
Автор

Been loving the recent content Pastor Joel. I had a question that might be an interesting topic for one of these episodes. I’m a regular listener to the Theocast podcast as well, and they (very) briefly addressed theonomy in a recent episode (their latest episode during a discussion with a couple Presbyterians). They said that they believe theonomy is directly opposed to the 1689 confession. There wasn’t too much more to what they said regarding the topic. But since theonomy is popping up more and more, and I’ve been introduced to theonomy through reformed baptists - is the 1689 confession opposed to theonomy?

Note: For further context, the guys at theocast are also reformed baptists and subscribe to the 1689 confession

handcraftedbymd
Автор

I don't believe God's grace passes over any infant who dies. Those who didn't know 'their left from their right' were going to be spared by God in Jonah's day.

divinenatureonline
Автор

But if God decrees all things, He has in His hands the souls even of those who never had a chance to do evil, and "I will have mercy on who I will have mercy"; "the God of heaven will do right"; and those who "don't know the difference between their right or left arms". There is precedent for God's mercy that goes beyond the normal law.

divinenatureonline