The Salvation of Infants and the Mentally Disabled

Ultimately, we don't know. We can only rest in the fact that God is a god who is rich in mercy and just. And through both of those attributes, His Will will be done in this situation, and that His Will is far superior to our desires or tendencies. We sometimes want answers to provide us comfort, and I am glad we don't have the answers. Because without that answer, it forces us to have faith in God and hope in His attributes on a daily basis.

I like that answer.

When He has given an answer topically and in words, we still have to “have faith… and hope in His attributes,” but there is a whole different flavor of faith and hope when the only answer we have is who He is. And we’d be the poorer without it. … So I think I get what you’re saying.

I have been on this journey in the last 18 months. And while I desperately want answers, there is silence. C.S. Lewis captures it very well when searching for answers from God, when none is given, "A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence."

Not knowing, produces a work in us of daily reliance, that no one typically sees that doesn't experience "where a child goes". There is trepidation and fear at first. But you begin to settle into a level of comfort that can be as strong as a clear outline in Scripture.

I have never found David’s statement in 2 Sam 12:23 all that helpful regarding this question. It could just mean, I can go to the grave (where his son is) but he can’t come back to life (where I am). Going to the grave seems to be the idea in 1 Sam 28 when Saul is petrified of going to where (dead) Samuel is.

My reasons for believing in the salvation of infants and mentally disabled are as follows:

Character of God – Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right (Gen 18:25b). All through the Scriptures, starting with Adam and Eve, we see God taking the initiative to provide a means of salvation for those who are lost, his enemies, and completely unable to save themselves – one would reasonably expect that he would do that for infant.

The better state of those who die in womb – Job 3:11, 16-17. Eccl 6:3-5, where stillborn babies enter rest not torment.

The Bible recognizes the category of “innocence” – Jonah 4:11; Isa 7:16; Jer 19:4; how God allowed those in this category to enter the promised land, Deut 1:39.

The illustration Jesus uses in Matt 18 -- In Matt 18:5-6, 10-14, you have Jesus holding an innocent child in his lap and says it is not the will of the Father than any of these little ones should perish. In context, the little ones are his disciples, but it appears he is using the child as an illustration. As MacArthur says, “otherwise, the analogy doesn’t make sense. God no more wants his children to perish—his spiritual children to perish – than he wants a little one to perish.”

AndyE,

I agree with your assessment on 2 Sam 12:23, and that is the way that I often looked at it, but have never heard anyone discount it.

2 Sam 12:23 is VERY helpful. Literal translation: "I going to him". The 2 personal pronouns emphasize people, not a place or condition. David is not only talking about "the grave" but also going to a person.

I wish 2 Sam 12:23 was more definitive in my mind. It just isn't, even given the pronoun usage that you mention. It is not clear (at least to me) from the passage that going to the person means anything more than dying like the child died. A very similar passage exists in 1 Sam 28:19, where (dead) Samuel says to Saul, "tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me." Pronouns are used there, too, and it is clear that Saul takes it as he is going to be killed, not joining Samuel in paradise (or wherever OT saints go while waiting for the resurrection).

I think David is simply saying, I can die just like my son did, but he is not coming back to me (even if I fast).

I could be wrong about the text and it could be more concrete than I am making it out to be, but as of now, my study of the passage doesn't help me personally with the question.

Is 1 Samuel 28:19 clear? I think it is just as vague of a passage. It is talking about the general abode of the dead? Sheol. Or the abode of the righteous? It isn't so clear.

"I going to the grave" offers no comfort neither to David nor to Bathsheba.

1 Sam 28:19 "be with me" in the afterlife. Lack of clarity in OT teaching on this subject reflects limits of progressive revelation. If the OT offered only 2 places to go, then babies were either with Samuel or with Saul. Unless someone accepts Limbo for babies, which does not offer comfort.

2 Samuel 12:22 And he 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? 23 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.

If David's statement, "I shall go to him," merely meant that David expressed that he was also going to die someday, the statement seems to be inexplicable and pointless in its context.

In that case, the passage should have been something like the following:

2 Samuel 12:22 And he 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? 23 [altered] But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? He shall not return to me.

There is no reason for David to comment that he is also going to die someday if all David had in mind was that the child is dead and cannot come back to me, so it is time to stop fasting, weeping, etc.

Regarding these two passages, my main point is that they are not clear, so it is hard to be dogmatic in what they are teaching. One thing we know for sure in the 1 Sam 28:19-20 passage is how Saul reacts when Samuel says he and his sons will be with him tomorrow. Saul falls on the ground filled with fear. He was not comforted at all by those words because it means he is going to die. That part is clear. What is not clear is if he understood anything from Samuel's statement regarding his eternal destiny. My opinion is that Samuel was not communicating anything more than you and your sons are going to die.

As for David in 2 Sam 12, he gets the word from Nathan that his child is going to die (v 14). Then, vs 15, the child gets sick. So, David starts praying on behalf of his child (v 16)...maybe God will be merciful and spare the boy. In vs 18, the child dies. In vss 19-20, David finds out, gets up from the ground and goes to worship God. His servants don't understand David's actions (v 21), so David explains. Verse 22 -- while the child was alive, I fasted and wept, because maybe God would be gracious and spare the child. But, vs 23, now that he has died, I need to accept God's judgment and will. I can't bring the child back. The only thing I can do is one day join him in death. He is not coming back to life, so I'm going to get on with my life and serve the Lord.

So, maybe David is thinking he will see is son in the afterlife, and perhaps he comforted Bathsheba with that idea (v 24). But it could also be that he comforted her by having another child with her, one that the Lord loved (v 24).

In both stories, the only thing that is absolutely clear is that Saul going to Samuel, or David going to the child, means that they will die. What either passage says beyond that is less clear.

I agree AndyE. I think people extrapolate from Samuel's discussion with Saul that he is discussing his eternal destiny, and I again, I don't think we can be dogmatic. He will die. And yes, there is fear in all for death. That is why Scripture says fear not. It is to combat our natural tendency to fear death. It is a curse after all.