What happens to children when they die?


The Bible states that children go to heaven when they die. Take a look at this example:


Take careful note that once the child died, David stopped weeping. The child was beyond David's reach, but David looked forward to joining his son after death. David knew the child was with God. The significance of this event is even stronger when you see David's reaction to the death of his son, Absalom (II Samuel 18:33; 19:4). David had no such hope for Absalom.

The reason is simple. It has only been made muddied by those who claim that sin is inherited from Adam. If you realize that sin is not inherited, then the answer is clear. "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself" (Ezekiel 18:20). John tells us that sin is the breaking of God's law (I John 3:4). Infants have no opportunity to break God's law. Even children are safe, not because they don't break laws, but because there is an age where they do not have the knowledge of good and evil (like Adam and Eve before they ate of the forbidden fruit). "Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it" (Deuteronomy 1:39). While they are without the knowledge of good and evil, they are not held accountable for sins.

See "Is Sin Inherited from Adam?" for more details.

April 10, 2011