Earlier this week I had a chance to discuss the issue of infant salvation with some of my friends from college.

Although opinions differed greatly we did come to a general agreement that Scripture has not spoken much on the issue and therefore we must trust in God to do what is good and just in His eyes.

Although we somewhat resolved the issue, I would like to ramble on for a bit and give some thoughts that I have had on the issue.

The ordeal of Infant salvation is a though one to discuss in todays culture.  In America alone we are surrounded by the murder of thousands of babies each year in abortion clinics, not to mention the ever present sad occasion of a still born child or other sad mis happenings.

Most humans have a tender spot in their hearts for new born babies, infants and toddlers, and I am no exception.  I think those feelings probably comes from the beauty we see in God's creation of the newness of life, that's what makes this specific issue of infant salvation so hard to discuss, especially for the Calvinist.

As a Calvinist, I believe Scripture teaches that when Adam fell, as our Covenant representative, we all fell IN him.  Therefore, all descendants of Adam are born with his corrupt nature which they receive at conception.

That being said, I do not believe it possible (or in line with Scripture) to state that all human children that die at birth or infancy are immediately ushered into heaven.

However, we look around today at the modern day church, or even to those church's who claim to be "reformed" or "Calvinistic," we see that many people today hold strongly to this doctrine.  People state different reasons for why they believe this, some of the more popular reasons are that "They are Innocent!"  This idea that children are born sinless and therefore cannot be held accountable for doing any evil.  Another popular statement is that "God is to merciful to send a child to hell."

Although both these reasons are appealing to our flesh, I believe that neither of them are in line with Scripture.

The first argument made (that human children are born innocent) I believe is in error due to the simple fact that all children are born with Adam's radically corrupt nature, and therefore all humans from birth justly deserve eternal punishment away from the face of God.

⁵Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
   and in sin did my mother conceive me.

-Psalm 51:5

The second argument made (God is to merciful to send a child to hell) I also must must frown upon from Scripture's view point.  As sad as it may seem, a child is still a human and still possesses a radically corrupt nature, therefore from the beginning of life they deserve what every other human deserves, separation from God.

So does this leave all those who die an infant to certain doom?  I believe this is not the case.  Due to by reformed beliefs, I acknowledge that since salvation requires no cooperation from the human, no prior learning is necessary to be regenerated and receive salvation.  How this happens, I don't understand, however I believe we get a clear snapshot of this from within Scripture:

   And the LORD afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick. ¹⁶David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. ¹⁸On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, "Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm." ¹⁹But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, "Is the child dead?" They said, "He is dead." ²⁰Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. ²¹Then his servants said to him, "What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food." ²²He said, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, 'Who knows whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?' ²³But 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."
2 Sam 12:15-23


David seems to be very clear in his speech that he will soon be reunited with His son in paradise.


This is really the only  Scripture we have that touches on the subject, and even this passage isn't real direct with it's message.


All in all, it really boils down to God will do what pleases Him and He will bring total glory and honor to His name in all that He does.  


And you can be 100% sure, that every single last thing that He has done, does and will do, is entirely Just in every aspect. 

As I was browsing Drudge this evening I came across this article that caught my gaze and I decided to quickly browse what it said and search for any decent information.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31839.html

I found it quite entertaining that the shocked Democrats, after losing a seat held by one of their own for 46 years, are done biting their tongues and have announced that they are finished blindly and aimlessly going along with this administration's ideals and goals.

I remember when the Health Care Bill first passed through the house, it seemed like nothing could stop it from reaching the President's desk.  True, there were many other difficulties that still had not been worked out, but it appeared that this would be a breeze for push and shove method of Obama's White House.  As any other citizen who has any idea what this country was founded on and has any comprehension of what freedom means, I was very concerned with what this bill might have in store for America, not to mention what it may lay the foundation for.  However, I did take solace in the fact that we have a Sovereign God who has passed through the heavens.  I knew from Scripture that nothing has ever happened that God has not ordained.  Therefore, I also knew that God had complete and total control over what was to happen to this bill.  However I DID not know why God would bring such a thing to pass, but once again I took solace in the words of Deuteronomy 29:29:

29 "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

ESV

Whatever God's reason for bringing this bill into existence, it was obviously not for me to know.

But after reading this article and seeing the anger that burns against Obama's administration, not only from Conservative America BUT ALSO FROM HIS OWN PARTY!  I am hoping that the reason God brought this bill before us is to show America the stupidity of those we have elected as well as to point us in the direction that we should go, which is of course a return to His word.

The Lord has begun the mock our elected officials by turning their so called "accomplishments" into a living nightmare for them.

I have no idea what God has planned, but I do know that it's to wonderful for me to imagine.  Therefore, I will continue to trust in Him, for as it was written:

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;

the Lord holds them in derision.

5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

and terrify them in his fury, saying,

6 "As for me, I have set my King

on Zion, my holy hill."

Ps. 2:4-6 ESV

Soli Deo Gloria

In Christ,

Andrew

Well after not posting on my very neglected Blog for over a year, I think it's probably high time I at least put a little effort once again in attempting to write something worth while.

This evening, the Covenanting heads of households of Coram Deo Fellowship met in our family's basement to begin a mens Bible Study that will eventually cover the rich and profound texts of Romans.  Unfortunately, due to the business of life not all could be present, but for those of us who were able to attend we enjoyed a very blessed time of studying the very foremost part of Romans.

First off we covered the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of Romans.  We discussed the Author, Paul, and how he wrote the inspired book of Romans through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as an Apostle of Christ.  We also covered the affect that the book has had throughout the past and how it has transformed the lives of many important Theologians and Scholars as well as laymen.  We discussed the date and the era that Romans was written so that we could put in perspective what troubles the church may have been going through when Paul was writing this Epistle.

After this brief introduction, we preceded to start reading Romans verse by verse and to discuss what these verses mean in the context of what we had discussed earlier and also how it fits in and brings together the rest of Scripture.

We enjoyed a lot of great conversation, but most notably we discussed the meaning of the word Servant in verse one of chapter one.

 ¹Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God

Romans 1:1 ESV

My Father pointed out that some versions use the words "bond servant" in place of servant.  We then began to search the Scriptures in order to find out exactly what a bond servant was, which we found in the reading of the law in the Old Testament. 

¹"Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. ² When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. ³If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone. ⁵But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' ⁶then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

Exodus 21:1-6 ESV

We see through the context of the Old Testament law, that a bond servant is one that chooses to serve his master for the rest of his/her earthly life.  It then follows that Paul, after being chosen by God as a member of His elect, has chosen to be a bond servant to God forever.  Serving Him by guarding Christ's church and teaching and preaching the word of God to His elect.

In light of this we also talked about how the terms "servant" or "slave" can be so offensive to people in the Postmodern era, especially in America where we so proudly flaunt our "freedom."  But we also realize that the slavery or servant hood of the Old Testament times (at least in the land of Israel) was more of an employer/employee relationship.  Obviously there are vast differences, but it is a much better picture than that of a beaten, abused and overly used human who is forced to labor at the commands of a demanding and violent master.  Obviously, God would not condone humans to be treated that way. 

This is just a very simple overview of what was discussed this evening, I am very much looking forward to our future studies and drinking deeply from the beautifully layed out and inspired book of Romans.

In Christ,

Andrew