One of the most divisive theological issues I have personally faced is the very emotional question about the salvation of children. I have faced censure from church leadership to loss of friendship from close friends over the “answer” to this question …. To add to the angst, one of the large, often overlooked, problems faced by women, and even men, in the wake of an abortion, is long-term grief over the loss of the child. And, of course, if there is any uncertainty over the eternal fate of the child, well …
So, before I get completely shredded by the emotional backlash I’m sure I’m about to receive, let me say that I have children, that I have a sibling who didn’t live so that I could meet him or her, that my late wife had three abortions in her teen years, that my current wife had miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy, and that I have spent a lot of time around pregnancy clinics the last decade or more, so I’m pretty aware of many sides of this question.
I have also spent literally decades pondering this question, precisely because of the circumstances I just mentioned. And so, the question is: what is the eternal destiny of unborn children? And while the Bible says quite a lot about salvation, it is rather noticeably silent (not completely silent, but noticeably so) about salvation for children, and especially the unborn. So, let’s look at the written word.
David committed adultery with the wife of one of his captains. There was a child, but God through the prophet Nathan, foretold that the child would not live long, as a punishment for the sinful relationship of the parents (there’s another whole study there). David’s reaction to the child’s death is rather remarkable and does give insight into the question.
But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.
2 Samuel 2:23 (NIV)
Rather enigmatic, if you ask me. What does David mean when he says, “I will go to him”? Many commentators, based on the premise that David, the man after God’s own heart, would clearly be going to heaven when he dies, must be making the statement that the child is already there, where he knows he himself will be going. A nice sentiment, but I’m not sure that’s what David was saying. Clearly the main subject of the whole conversation is just death, not the afterlife, per se. What if David is just saying that he will (one day) join the child in death, but that the child will not return to the living. Occam’s razor: maybe the simplest explanation is best?! Don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble, but to me using this as a proof text for the unconditional salvation of every child seems a little bit much. It’s POSSIBLE that’s what David meant, but to me it’s also possible that conclusion is reading too much into the text.
Another “proof text” i’ve heard is Jesus’ statement in the gospel of Matthew:
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:14 (NIV)
Sounds a lot like “all the little children go to heaven”, right?! To me, again, that’s reading a lot into the text that may not really be there. Jesus, in the passage, was clearly telling His disciples that those worthy of heaven are those who, like those precious children, were RUNNING to Jesus to be blessed by Him. I’m not sure that we can infer much more than this, such as the main qualification is being a “little child” in age. I think the key phrase here is “such as these”. Jesus is making a comparison of these particular little children who just wanted to be with Him, to all those, who like them, also just want to be with Jesus. Which totally fits with Jesus’ statement that “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”. Being a little child isn’t “the way”, nor is even being LIKE a little child, “the way”. It is Jesus who is “THE WAY”.
BUT, having said that, Jesus also did say:
“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:3 (NIV)
So, clearly there are qualities of a little child that we must have in order to be called worthy of the kingdom. Does that mean that ALL little children have these qualities and are therefore qualified? I don’t think this passage says that, but maybe ….
So, I think we need to look even farther to find all of what the Scriptures say. So, let’s look to the New Testament in Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth:
For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
1 Corinthians 7:14 (NIV)
This is a pretty clear statement that children (still at home, living with their godly parents) are “covered” (in a sense), or made holy, by the believing parent (or hopefully, parents). That’s an awesome promise, and to me is a powerful incentive to be holy myself, and to be a godly parent in order to sanctify my children as well. AND it seems to be a pretty good indicator that the children of the godly are themselves “safe” in God’s grace.
I hesitate to extrapolate from one personal experience to a general doctrine, but I know that my late wife, who had three abortions before she became a Christian, was very distressed over the eternal fate of her three unborn ones. She told me that God had assured her that they were all safe in His arms. She was so comforted by this that she named them all: two boys, and a girl named “Zoe” (which means “life”). In this case, a specific, personal revelation to their mother gave her assurance that, at least in her specific case, God had seen fit to somehow save her unborn children, even though the mother herself was NOT saved at the time her children were aborted, though later on she was. So, can we take this as a general principle?
What, scripturally, can we learn about the consciousness of the unborn toward God? After all, John records this about the qualifications for salvation:
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 1:12-13 (NIV)
So, if this is true, and IS indeed a general principle, that those who are saved are those who have willfully received Jesus and believed in His name, how could an unborn child (especially a VERY young child, only a few weeks or even days after conception) do this? Isn’t there a certain age or level of intellectual development necessary to do this? Well, for starters, I hope not! Notice how it says that the children of God are NOT born of a human decision. And, secondly, if the salvation bought by the very life blood of the Son of God was not enough to save EVERYONE (regardless of intellectual development or understanding), then I submit that it was not enough to save ANYONE. But, thirdly, we have the example of perhaps the greatest human ever born, that is, John the Baptizer. In the gospel of Luke we read this:
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
Luke 1: 41, 44 (NIV)
This is a pretty clear indication that an unborn infant, John in this case, at about 6 months gestation could recognize Jesus, at this point only a month or two after conception, as He came close, still silently wrapped in His mother’s womb.
I submit that it does NOT require a certain age for someone to recognize and accept the person of Jesus, nor conversely to recognize and reject Him. This is a spiritual transaction, an act of will, which I submit is formed along with the soul and spirit of a person at the time of conception. I will frankly admit that I don’t have clear scriptural backing on this, and I don’t understand how anyone can make a “choice” without some level of conscious thought behind it. But, I have enough examples (in life, as well as in scripture) to convince me that somehow it is possible. Furthermore, as I said earlier, Jesus’ salvation was bought for ALL, for ANYONE, so that all might come to repentance.
So, the last thing I want to say has to do with free will. If there is any subject more controversial, theologically and philosophically speaking, than that of free will vs. God’s sovereignty, I don’t know what it is. But, let’s take a stab.
We know that God desires / commands our love. But love that is coerced or forced is not genuine love. I think we all know that from experience. Genuine love MUST arise from a free will, chosen, as it were, in spite of anything that says otherwise. After all:
Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.
Song of Solomon 8:7 (NIV)
To me, receiving Jesus, loving God out of free will, means that the only ones who will be in Heaven are those who WANT to be there – those who, like the little children, recognize Jesus for WHO HE IS and want to be with Him. Can you imagine anyone with a sour look or rolled eyes toward God, being in Heaven with Him for an eternity? I can’t. That would be torture. So, now, extending that to the unborn: what if God swept all the unborn, or all the little children who didn’t make it to some “age of accountability”, automatically into Heaven with Him? I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen some pretty mean, grumpy kids at age 2… Do you think they would be happy to be in Heaven with Jesus? And yet, on the other hand, I would find it hard to think that at the moment a pre-born baby was being ripped apart by an abortionist’s suction that he or she would NOT want to be saved by Almighty God if given the invitation by the omnipotent Creator and Savior!
Oh, there’s one more scripture I must include:
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.”
Matthew 18:10 (NIV)
God must be VERY concerned for the “little ones”! And unlike the disciples at the time, and unlike some today, HE WANTS them to be with Him! Does that mean they all WILL be with Him? I still don’t think I can say for certain. But I DO know for certain that I want to agree with God and do all I can to see that they are, to see that they are protected from slaughter by abortion, or abuse by others, to be nurtured and cared for and loved, to see that they hear the Good News about Jesus and His love, and to choose that love, and to worship and obey Him!
So, is there any comfort for a grieving mother or father of a miscarried son or daughter? Of course! Jesus loves the little children! He wanted them to be Him before even their parents were born. He gave His life so that all who want to can come in and eat with Him at His table. He is here! Turn to Him!
Thanks for reading!